Maggie’s story is miraculous. The dog, a specimen of Shweenie, had begun to crawl around the house under the surprised and worried eyes of Megan and Jacob, the two owners of her. The couple became suspicious and took her to a vet. The doctor’s response was reassuring: probably the animal, which was three years old at the time and is five today, had gotten a tear. Nothing serious, they could all go home.
It’s right at home that Maggie’s legs start to bend and her hind ones get paralyzed. At which point Megan and Jacob rushed her to Northwest Referrals veterinary clinic (we are in Merseyside, England). Here they receive a tremendous verdict: fibrocartilaginous embolism, causing a spinal infarction. It is a pathology that can lead to serious, sometimes irrecoverable, neurological damage.
The vets say that Maggie’s injuries are very serious and they suggest killing the animal.
However, Megan and Jacob had no intention of losing their dog and started giving her all possible treatments: hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture… and then a muscle stimulator, a massage tool and actual massages, for improve circulation. But the symbol of the couple’s dedication is the fundraiser organized to give Maggie a dog wheelchair. In fact, expenses represent no small problem: Megan and Jacob repeatedly wonder how long they will be able to cope with it.
Also because the months go by and the dog doesn’t get better. “The vet had told us that a full recovery would take no more than three months. When we passed that date I started to think that Maggie would be paralyzed forever; it was a terrible time,” says the owner. However, she and her partner did not let her discomfort win them and made her continue the therapies.
In August, after months of trying, a wonderful surprise: Maggie starts walking again without external help. Megan’s joy is uncontainable, also because she and Jacob can finally feel repaid: all those sacrifices weren’t made in vain.
Now Maggie not only walks, but is also able to run. If you’re looking for her, you’ll probably find her on the beach playing with Sid, a five-year-old Maltese Shih Tzu, and Elodie, Megan and Jacob’s daughter.
Elodie was born two years ago: she therefore accompanied the long healing process of the dog first from the cradle and then from the stroller. For her as and more than for her parents, life without Maggie is unimaginable.
