Tuesday, August 11, 2026

We had our first visit with the folks at Healing Arts Animal Rehab and it went really well. They loved Harold (obviously) and were able to get him fitted for a new harness for assisted walking, gave him lots of treats, showed us some PT exercises, explained his new supplement regimen, and even had time to do some red light therapy on his spine.

As of today he is unfortunately still paralyzed but hasn't gotten any worse in any regard. His reflexes seem to be getting better overall when we stimulate them but there is still very little/no muscle tone in his hind legs and they don't bear any weight.

Looking ahead we have 6 weeks of rehab already on the schedule which is great and we're feeling cautiously optimistic!

Sunday, August 9, 2026

Harold is still paralyzed but morale is improving day by day! At this point we have Harold set up with a 4'x4' pen in the living room - this means one of us gets to sleep in the bed! (No more floor sleeping, yay!)

Overall, he's getting better about taking his medication - the Kraft singles seem to work again which is really helpful. He has completed his round of prednisone so now he's just taking trazodone to keep him calm and gabapentin to manage any remaining nerve pain. The schedule is also much more manageable - we've landed on 7:00am, 3:00pm, and 11:00pm.

We walk him around the apartment a couple times a week with his sling and he seems to really enjoy it. Without fail he makes a b-line straight to the kitchen - the only place he's not allowed at home. While unstable he can really get going in the sling - it's quite impressive.

Over the last few days we've noticed Harold is starting to wiggle his toes in his sleep when dreaming which is great! Still not indicative of voluntary movement but we're taking it as a win! Another new thing is that his legs have begun to tremble occasionally during his stretches! Again - not a definitive sign but an exciting change nonetheless.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

We had a virtual consultation with the folks at Healing Arts Animal Care in Beaverton to figure out a plan of action for Harold. The physical therapist we spoke with gave us lots of really great information and explained their approach to healing and what kinds of rehab we'd likely need to enroll in.

Harold was basically prescribed the entire list of options: Hydrotherapy & Underwater Treadmill, Red Light Laser Therapy, Electro-Acupuncture, Physical Therapy, and Supplements. Since he is still paralyzed and there are no real signs of feeling, Harold is still sitting around worse case scenario (permanent paralysis and no feeling)- meaning any and everything could benefit him at this point.

We were encouraged to let Harold move around in his pen as much as he likes (until he starts to gain the ability to run) and were cleared to leave him home along for a few hours at a time if needed. At this point Harold is comfortable and not in any noticeable pain. The name of the game right now is to help reconnect the nerves and improve brain-body connection. We were told that tickling his toes and pressing his pressure points is actually really helpful. At this point - his whole foot kind of jolts when we press between his toe pads which is exciting!

Monday, July 27, 2026

Leading up to this day, Harold had gotten pretty used to the new system but was definitely frustrated he couldn't use his back legs. While he's still paralyzed he has begun sitting up on his own and trying to scoot around (honestly a pretty terrifying image watching him scoot full speed at you dragging his hind legs pointed in different directions).

We're all getting used to the whole manual bladder expression thing - it's a pretty weird sensation (for all parties I'm sure). With all of the medication we've had to get pretty creative - using Kraft singles and pill pockets both seamed to work for the first 48-hours or so but the caught on pretty quick. It varies from day to day whether he takes the pills willingly or if we need to help get them down.

It took about 6 days until he pooped for the first time after surgery.

Throughout the week we would periodically check his reflexes and signs for feelings. While there are no signs of feeling still we did start to notice some ticklish toes! This is not indicative of a full recovery or not but is a good sign in terms of nerve health.

We had a one week post-op visit with the surgeon. The check up went well and the doctor seemed really pleased with Harold's progress since surgery. She checked him for any complications and was able to confidently say we were out of the woods - now it's just a waiting game for recovery. We were cleared for rehab and referred to a facility in Beaverton. The doctor also gave us some input/ideas about our routines at home to help improve our medication schedule and sleeping situation.

Wednesday, July 21, 2026

We got up that morning cautiously optimistic and received a call that we could go pick Harold up. When we arrived we got to talk to the surgeon and discuss how surgery went and what our new normal would be.

The doctor re-explained that while surgery went great, it's still only a 50% chance at recovery and that we would just need to be patient. She said there's an initial 4-6 week recovery window consisting of cage rest and physical therapy.

When we were done chatting with the doctor, Harold was brought in by a vet tech for discharge. To our surprise the door swung open and Harold scurried in with the vet-tech using a sling for his rear legs already. He seemed so much more comfortable and more or less back to himself. (The process of walking with the sling was actually really comedic). Harold was discharged with a whole cocktail of prescriptions consisting of trazodone, prednisone, codeine, and gabapentin.

We got home with Harold later that afternoon and set up an entire compound of blankets in the living room with his bed and tons of potty pads. The new system would be one of us sleeping on couch and one of us down on the floor sleeping with Harold. This was not ideal but let us keep a close eye on him and help him turn over through out the night.

The schedule for the first week or so: 5:00pm, Meds + Dinner. 1:00am, Meds, 9:00am, Meds + breakfast. Manual bladder expression and helping him turn over to avoid bed sores sprinkled throughout.

Tuesday, July 20, 2026

After getting some sleep (not much, but some), we got up first thing in the morning and took Harold to the new vet for surgery. Comfortability was still pretty touch and go for Harold that morning - we were able to get everything packed up in the car without any major incident.

The drive was about 45-minutes and we ran into a few bouts of the extreme pain that was present the night before. One of the instances was pretty bad and Harold accidentally bit Jaren - this was somewhat surprising as Harold has never shown any signs of aggression. This really showed us how much pain he was in.

We arrived around 8:30am and the vet techs came out to the care and took Harold straight in for their initial exam. The vet techs and surgeon were extremely professional, kind, and patient with us. They gave us a lot of confidence leaving Harold in their care.

The MRI confirmed a herniated disc around the L1 & L2 vertebrae. The surgeon said his initial exam went well and she was feeling good heading into surgery.

We got a call later that afternoon when he was all done with surgery. The surgeon said the procedure went really well - there were no complications and she didn't find anything new that concerned her. She was able to confirm the diagnosis of IVDD during surgery. The procedure consisted of removing the disc material that had ruptured and conducting some preventative measures on the discs above the injury. She said that they would keep Harold overnight for observation but we'd likely be able to bring him home the following day.

The rest of our afternoon was spent balanced between grieving, resting, cleaning, and running last minute errands since our entire home routine would be flipped upside down once Harold came home.

Monday, July 19, 2026

Getting up that morning before work, Harold seemed pretty similar to the night before overall. You could tell there was still some soreness but nothing had changed too drastically. After going outside we gave him his breakfast and medications before heading to work. Jaren got home from work around 12:00pm and went to let Harold out of his crate but he wouldn't come out. Upon a closer look, his hind legs were completely paralyzed.

Jaren took Harold to go pickup Leiana from work early and went back to the vet. They did a quick exam and found that he had no feeling or motor function in his hind legs. They also tested for signs of deep pain sensation which came back negative. They had no way of testing for sure but pretty confidently diagnosed him with IVDD and explained our options. Harold's paralysis classified his case as Stage 5, the most severe stage of IVDD. While we could theoretically try to manage him medically (strict rest and pain killers), spinal surgery is highly recommended if possible. The surgery can cost upwards of five figures but only has about a 50% success rate - a successful surgery results in the return of motor function and feeling. Most 'unsuccessful' surgeries still alleviate the pain and discomfort though.

Even though we knew we didn't have the money for the surgery we still decided to take Harold up to an emergency vet in Vancouver to get a second opinion and more information. They did a more thorough exam and came back with the same suspected diagnosis - Stage 5 IVDD. The doctor explained to us that they wouldn't be able to 100% confirm this diagnosis without doing an MRI. The MRI and advanced imaging is only recommended if surgery is an option financially. With a five figure estimate that was a pretty loaded question. After contacting family and breaking the news they graciously stepped in to help make surgery possible. Unfortunately the neurology department at the hospital was not open that day so they would not be able to perform the surgery and referred us to another hospital in Portland. At that point in the day it was too late to go straight there but we were able to get an appointment for first thing the following morning. The doctor sat with us and answered all of our questions and taught us how to manually express his bladder (due to his paralysis, bladder retention is a gamble and going potty independently is highly unlikely). We went home with new medication and Harold was given some methadone which really helped with the discomfort - he was pretty zonked for the rest of the afternoon.

When we wrapped up at the vet we went straight home and tried to get some rest with Harold. Overall he seemed pretty comfortable and slept most of the afternoon. As it got later in the evening we could tell that the medications were beginning to ware off. Jaren decided to sleep on the couch with Harold on his chest (one of Harold's safe spaces). It went fairly well but there were a few occasions where Harold yelped in extreme pain pretty intensely when he was repositioned.

This was new - we had never seen him in that much pain before.

Sunday, July 18, 2026

Sunday morning he showed a bit more discomfort that morning so Leiana decided to take him to the vet just in case. It was a pretty quick visit - they prescribed him an anti-inflammatory & muscle relaxant and told us to keep an eye on him but he should be all good to go. He was very excited and came running out when we picked him up. He still had some discomfort but was walking just fine through most of the afternoon. There was a bit of stiffness in his hind legs when we went outside before bed but we didn't think too much of it thinking his pain meds had just started to ware off since we were between doses.

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Harold began showing some signs of discomfort. There was some tenderness/pain when he was picked up certain ways and he wouldn't jump onto furniture like usual. This was out of the ordinary but didn't seem too serious. He was walking fine and otherwise acting himself.