Jersey’s owner, a female in Boston, KY called that her 5 yr old female Shitzu’s back legs all of a sudden went paralyzed.

Jersey’s owner lives in a camper with no running water or electricity behind her cousin’s house for the last three years. She is epileptic and disabled and trying to get disability benefits. Jersey’s owner also told POTH that her son had recently passed away and Jersey is her only family.

She took Jersey to a vet Saturday night, and they examined Jersey and told her she had a disc problem, and that her dog needed a $4,500 surgery. We asked Jersey’s owner to call the vet and release information to POTH. We called the vet that examined Jersey and he mentioned that it might be best to call another hospital who might be able to perform the surgery for less. We called the other hospital, who was extremely helpful and offered us a 20% discount on services.

Jersey had a surgeon’s evaluation on Aug. 11, 2015. The diagnosis is that Jersey may have a lesion in her lower back, a herniated disc, or a possible disc lodged in a blood vessel. Dr. called to share good news, that Jersey was not in pain, and her owner mentioned that she is urinating on her own, and has shown improvement since the weekend. Therefore, Dr. has prescribed strict cage rest for 4 – 6 weeks, and believes that Jersey is not a candidate for surgery at this time! She recommends a recheck in 2 -3 weeks. We have approved this recheck and we are very hopeful that Jersey continues to improve!

Jersey’s owner sent us this photo above in an email thanking POTH for helping Jersey. She goes back to the dr. in 2 weeks and will see if she has to have surgery. She wrote, “Thank you so much. I really appreciate everything you do for me and my family (jersey) I know she thanks you too. God bless you and I will let you know what is going on with her follow up appointment. Yours truly jersey”