Dobleve

We went to the veterinarian again last week for a one-month checkup on Milo. At our last visit the vet told us that if Milo were to get better it would be within the next 4-6 weeks; Milo is walking pretty well now so we went to the vet with high hopes. We went in and placed Milo on the usual metal table and began explaining how he had improved greatly; the vet wanted so see him walk so we all went outside. To Milo I’m sure this seemed like the quickest trip to the vet ever so he hit the ground running as we left the vet.

Unfortunately the vet was less impressed with his progress, and we went back inside to complete the exam. The vet repeated the reflex tests from before to see if signals were getting from his feet to his brain and back; they are not. Milo has apparently learned to walk without being able to get feedback directly from his back legs. He can move them and move his back as well, so his walking is like a balancing act; he puts most of his weight on his front legs and with a combination of moving his back legs in time and swinging a little he’s able to walk pretty effectively. In fact we’re no longer sure that he would have passed the tests prior to the start of this episode.

The vet indicated he could still improve more but honestly he wasn’t very hopeful he would regain whatever capacity has been lost in his nervous system; we’ll return in a month for another followup.

Despite his not regaining sensation Milo is markedly better. He is able to move around anywhere he wants on his own by walking and his personality is back to normal. While we are disappointed he hasn’t recovered his capacities, to us it seems like he is back to the same old Milo and for that we are incredibly happy.

Going to the vet can often be tricky; we don’t have a car so often we rent one or take a taxi. Not all taxi drivers are big dog fans (some are huge fans though!), so take Milo in a little carry bag to help make him more attractive to the skeptical drivers; a dog in a bag is less likely to mess up your interior we think. Incredibly Milo likes being in the bag so it works out for all of us.