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Tragedy; But It’s Just the Latest Hurdle…

  • Writer: Samantha Knight
    Samantha Knight
  • Feb 3, 2022
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 6, 2022

On the 3rd February 2022 my beautiful baby boy Lloris the French Bulldog, at just 3yrs old, injured his spine doing nothing more than his usual daily bouncing around.

The injury has been so severe (he slipped 4 discs causing internal bleeding) that he has been left paralysed … at least for now.

He is diagnosed with Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) and as I later come to find out, he is of course Grade 5, which is the worst.


This is a very common but unpublicised disease with this breed and just as in our case, can ‘hit them’ one day very much out of the blue.

French bulldog doing yoga probably not good for spine IVDD
Not sure such yoga poses as a puppy would be helpful for this disease!

Following surgery the same day, he has been given a 50/60% chance of ever walking again. It is now down to him and I as a team to get him back behaving badly on the beach again!



I’ve googled the life out of how to best rehabilitate him, looking for any tips, tricks or must do’s and searching for success stories to give us hope but Google seems to be offering me little and drawing many blanks.


As we navigate our way through this heart breaking road to at least some level of recovery, we hope our stories filled with tips, what worked, what didn’t and how to find strength to carry on will be of some help to others.

Maybe it’s actually the sharing of our journey through this blog, that will give me the outlet to ignite that fight inside me that’s needed to get us through this!

If you were to think this has been Lloris’s only set back in life, you would be hugely mistaken. He is not nicknamed the ‘Miracle Pup‘ for no reason. This is just yet another major hurdle to overcome in his short time in this world so far.

Read on… I will share his whole story for anyone interested to listen ….



 
 
 

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THANK YOU’s

Whilst it goes without saying that a big chunk of credit for Lloris’s rehabilitation to being a walking puppy dog again goes unquestionably to him! There have been many helping hands along the way that are more than deserving of a mention … 


Thank you to; 

Davies Vet (Johnny & Alex) for their remarkable surgery, prompt action and after care. He came home a calm and happy dog…even if his legs weren’t working…his wound has healed remarkably well without scaring.


To Dr Rinnert van den Bergh - The Holistic Vet who never raised an eyebrow at his little accidents and always progressed him further after every treatment.  Lloris is especially grateful for the liver paste you would win him over with! 


To Nisha from Paws & Hooves - Hydrotherapy.  You have been remarkable in your patience with Lloris. Thank you for answering the phone when many others didn’t that day.  Finding you was meant to be.


To Willow Vets in Newport Pagnell who took Lloris on as a new case for his cancer straight away and operated within two days. The entire team of staff have been nothing but kind and professional and whilst Lloris will continue to hate you all (hate may be a bit of strong word…. But I’m not so sure?!) I on the other hand think you are all amazing. 


To his Uncle Cristian for building his ‘Frenchie Bouncer’ was a big game changer in our rehab! 


To his Grandad for building his Pig Pen which he has grown to love 


To his Nanny for his the daily love and company not to mention the endless cleaning of him and my house!  We truly couldn’t have got through this without you, you gave me the break I needed to keep my sanity. 


To Matt the Chippy for his back door ramp! 


To the IVDD Facebook support group.  I learned so much from you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/178483559398659/?ref=share


To my friends and family who reached out to help me. Everyone of you that messaged, read our blog and paid an interest in both his and my well being made such a difference on both the dark days and the light.   Lloris loves people so the visits and gifts all lifted his spirits and snapped him out of the sulks!


To Dan, Lloris’s dad. You stepped up when he needed you the most and answered our cry for help to get him to the hospital that day.  It will always be a shame we couldn’t stay the family unit we had wanted for him. We certainly tried!  Thank you for letting him live with me, I can’t imagine the heartache of giving him up. 


To the friend in my life that gave me focus from day 1 when I asked for help bringing him home … he said something like  “I have the dentist so can’t help you that day, I would if I could but … you’re going to have to get used to handling him and lugging him about on your own, so you may as well just get on with it now”. I thought he was being an unhelpful arse at the time but actually that was the best piece of advice I could have been given. Man up and get on with it.  You can’t turn back time or change anything. You are where you are, so take a deep breath and in the words of Nike - Just do it. 


And that we did! 

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