Annie

On the 16th of November 2024 our world came crashing down! We had Annie and Daizy at SprintDogs™ and half way through Annies second run something went wrong. Very wrong. She fell, she was panicking and couldn't stand up. With her adrenaline still pumping it was quite difficult to settle her and determine what had actually happened. Once we had her somewhat settled we raced her to WAVES (WA Vet Emergency Services) after an x-ray it was confirmed that she was not suffering a Spinal Fracture...This was good news. This left the possibilities of either ANNPE or FCE one of these would be confirmed after an MRI a few days later.

Her MRI was scheduled for Monday morning, I got a call from the vets saying that mid way through her MRI she had suffered a Cardiac Arrest and did I want them to continue trying to resuscitate her? Of course I said YES! After 18 minutes they got her back and stabilised (*we know her heart was healthy as she had recently had her Echocardiogram with good results, however sighthounds can be at risk when under anaesthetic and we understand this was what happened - She had had anaesthetic a couple of times prior to this time with no issues though) They did not get the results from the MRI but did manage a CT scan which showed it was not ANNPE. So the diagnosis was an FCE.

What is an FCE?

An FCE is a Fibrocartlegenous Embolism (also known as a Spinal Stroke) A microscopic piece of cartilage breaks away and enters the blood stream blocking it. This causes instant paralysis in 1, 2, 3 or all 4 limbs. The paralysis may be mild or severe with different recovery times for each dog. Very little is known about them.

They can occur in any breed of dog but are more common in the giant breeds. Although most dogs who suffer them, do so during physical exercise this is not always the case.

We do know it was not caused by her sport, exercise regime or any pre-existing injury or health issue. She was super fit and super healthy which have both gone a long way in assisting her recovery.

Annie was a stage 4 (out of 5 which is the most severe), She had Deep Pain Responses but could not mover her hind limbs at all.

Her immediate recovery was hampered by her cardiac arrest as this left her temporarily blind and deaf! I chose to stay with her at the vets from this point, I slept next to her on her bed for the next few nights until she was discharged. Her hearing came back after a day and her sight returned after 2 more days.

Annies Recovery

After coming home we had to give Annie a few weeks of crate rest. We started her Physio at Vogue Vets and Wellness Centre in Stirling. There she had weekly Acupuncture, Massage, Laser Therapy, TENS and Aqua-therapy. At home I did Range of Motion exersises with her 3 times a day as well as exercises designed to keep her muscles from atrophy. It took weeks before we saw her move her feet by herself, then more weeks of the same until one day she got up and tried to walk, she was wobbly and looked like a drunken sailor, falling down after only a couple of steps.

Initially we used a "Help em up" harness and then transitioned to a "wheel chair"

She remains as happy and alert as she ever was and now enjoys chasing the ball in her wheels. which she loves! In June we were able to let her have a short chase of the lure at lure causing and she absolutely loved it (as did the other club members, she holds a special place in all their hearts).

She wobbly walks on her own every day and her limb control and balance are improving every day.