Dorey was purchased as a puppy in Southern California. Unfortunately, after just a few months, her family noticed that she was having difficulty standing and walking using her hind legs. A neurologist diagnosed her with a severe spinal deformity. Dorey was then taken to see one of the few surgeons who could perform a corrective procedure. That procedure would have been quite costly and afterwards Dorey might have needed additional surgical procedures. After this news, Dorey’s family made the difficult decision to surrender her to FBRN.

Dorey does not have IVDD, like many of FBRN’s other foster dogs.  She actually has a spinal deformity — her official diagnosis is: “T3-L3 myelopathy secondary to a severe thoracic vertebral malformation (hemivertebrae and kyphosis) resulting in instability and severe extradural spinal cord compression, causing a non-ambulatory paraparesis.”  As you can see from the photo of her spine, Dorey is able to use less than 20% of her spinal cord.

She came into FBRN’s care as an 8-month-old puppy who was already losing the use of her hind legs and becoming incontinent. You can see the hump in her back and her extended sternum hump due to her misshapen spine.  Because her condition was worsening with each neurology visit, the neurologist suspected her myelopathy had a high chance of continuing to worsen, and that she would not have long to live as the spinal cord damage progressed.  With her misshapen body, the vets were concerned she would not survive anesthesia for a spay or cherry eye surgery, either.

Dorey immediately visited a rehab veterinarian and started twice-weekly rehab sessions with cold laser therapy and water treadmill workouts as well as twice-daily physical therapy exercises at home.  Despite the odds stacked against her, Dorey regained use of her hind legs and can now walk! Spinal cord damage is permanent, so she will never regain use of the damaged part, but the worsening progression of spinal cord damage has halted! Dorey may not be able to jump over things, but she has built up her muscles and continues to keep them strong with daily physical therapy exercises, along with regular walks and leash-free playtime (especially the running!) with other small dogs in the park.

Dorey was eventually stable enough to be spayed and have her cherry eye repaired. Although she wore diapers for a long time, she is now able to use a ramp to get off and back onto her foster mom’s bed for potty breaks in the middle of the night! (She is trained to use a pee pad inside.) Only on rare occasions does she have a nighttime accident. So no more diapers, which makes both Dorey and her foster mom pretty happy. She stopped growing at 9 months and is a petite 16 pounds, which makes it easier for her foster mom to carry her up and down stairs. Her back may go out at any moment, which would make her paraplegic, but this little miracle girl would not let that stop her!

Her foster mom got a new job during the pandemic, which meant moving from Washington to Northern California, and though they found a new rehab center, ultimately the constant running during daily doggie playgroup time has kept her muscles strong enough to keep her walking and keep up her continence, so she has gone over a year now without therapy and is doing great!

However, the warmer weather has posed a significant challenge. Dorey began to have increasing episodes of respiratory distress and would overheat even if it were only 55 degrees outside. A visit to the specialist ultimately resulted in BOAS surgery to trim her soft palate, remove her saccules, and widen her nares. She unfortunately has stage 1 laryngeal collapse and an extremely narrow trachea – it is only the width of a McDonald’s straw. Excitement and warm temperatures make her breathe harder, which makes the tissues swell, which reduces her capacity for air intake – a vicious cycle. So her foster mom is now very strict at limiting any activities that cause overexcitement, including playing at the park or visiting people or places, which is so hard for such a little social butterfly of a Frenchie! Dorey also wears a special cooling harness all year round and gets to sit in front of the AC on full blast in the car (too exciting) and at home (whenever it’s over 70 degrees).

These extra health issues add to her care challenges, but she still happily serves as an FBRN ambassador for special needs hospice dogs. She LOVES people, swimming in the ocean, chasing her small dog playmates at the park for the ball, and solving treat puzzles, as well as sleeping in late and getting belly rubs!

Dorey lucked out and found the perfect home with her foster mom who knows how to keep her in tip top shape despite her extensive list of challenges.

Many of our Frenchies require ongoing medical care and our hospice dogs are no exception. If you’d like to donate, just click on the button to become Dorey’s sponsor. She’ll thank you with lots of kisses!