Having a daily routine can keep a pet and their owner’s lives running smoothly. But the disruption of these routines also can be helpful and sometimes reveal a cause for concern.

Traci Florian was tipped off that something might be wrong when she noticed that Ozzy, her eight-year-old Cockapoo, was having trouble getting up on the bed. He was also having trouble moving and using the bathroom, so Florian took Ozzy to Northwoods Clinic, where he had an evaluation and overnight stay. By the next morning, Ozzy’s lower body was paralyzed.

“Our vet saw a slipped disc on the x-ray,” Florian said. The veterinarian referred Ozzy to the MSU Veterinary Medical Center, where Ozzy met with the Neurology and Neurosurgery team for an MRI and evaluation. In addition to the slipped disc, Ozzy had no deep pain perception, which meant that he had a severe spinal cord injury that required immediate action. 

“After the Neurology team looked over the MRI, they recommended surgery to repair the slipped disc,” said Florian.

While surgery was the best course of action, there were some risks. Florian was prepared for a slow recovery and understood that Ozzy may have life-long neurological impairment and urinary incontinence. Knowing this, Florian opted for the surgery.

“The team felt that after the surgery, Ozzy was young enough that he could still have a very happy and normal life with rehabilitation,” Florian said.

She said that the MSU Neurology team was very supportive.

“They were very professional but also understood the emotional side we were dealing with at that time,” Florian said.

Dr. Drew Armstrong and Dr. Kathryn Winger performed Ozzy’s surgery to remove the extruded disc material and decompress the spinal cord. During recovery, Ozzy’s deep pain perception and continence improved, and he regained some motor function. Dr. Winger recommended rehabilitation for Ozzy to continue improving.

Ozzy began working with the rehab team while still recovering from surgery, receiving round-the-clock care at the Hospital. Ozzy started with targeted neurologic retraining exercises and laser therapy with Becky Rathbun, licensed veterinary technician, and acupuncture from Dr. Elizabeth Carr. Once Ozzy was sent home, he practiced prescribed exercises with his family.

Two weeks after surgery, Ozzy started out-patient rehabilitation therapy at MSU’s Dr. Elwood and Linda Collins Rehabilitation Center. Over the course of the next three months, Ozzy completed nine sessions. He also had frequent follow ups with the Neurology team. Ozzy did hydrotherapy in the underwater treadmill, therapeutic laser over his surgical site, strengthening and body-awareness exercises, and more acupuncture. Each week, Ozzy showed more progress and was able to advance in the level of exercise difficulty.

“The rehabilitation team was great, gave us updates, and was very friendly,” said Florian. “Very professional."

At the end of his therapy, Ozzy was able to easily perform sitting, standing, and “down” transition exercises, weave between cones, walk over cavaletti boards, walk backward and to the side, and perform balance exercises. He regained full motor function and continence with minimal deficiencies, and is now back to his normal routine.

“Everybody we dealt with during this process was fantastic,” said Florian. “The knowledge and compassion they have is nothing we have dealt with before…They became friends to us over the last few months—a great team at MSU, and we are very glad we went there for help.”