A Happy Tail, A Pawrents Perspective: Vida the Weimaraner

"Vida is a very active dog and the boss of our pack of pups," says Alicia of her eight-year-old Weimaraner. "She's always been a spitfire with no health issues."

They hiked a lot, but last fall Vida started to limp, so her primary vet put her on Rimadyl, which initially helped. Then Alicia noticed her posture was off and sensed something was wrong with her neck. Her primary vet suggested rest–until Vida suddenly collapsed screaming.

Alicia rushed her to Pet+E.R. where she is a patient care coordinator. There Vida was referred to VNIoC, who also consulted with Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists to ensure that the problem wasn't orthopedic.

After an MRI showed a disc Alicia says was "totally obliterated," Alicia was given the choice of rest and steroid or surgery. She opted for surgery, saying, "Vida's too active a dog for prolonged rest!" Dr. Mannix and Dr. McDonnell performed the ventral slot surgery that showed the problem was worse that originally thought.

After an overnight stay at Pet+E.R., Vida was up and walking, ready to come home.

"She recovered beautifully and today is back to being the very active leader of our pack," according to Alicia (and as you can see in the photo at left, taken six months post-surgery). "We did have to confine her to one room and stay with her 24/7 at first so she wouldn't hurt herself. At first we used a sling, then a harness, just to be safe.

"We're so glad we did the surgery! Vida now has a great quality of life. We're so grateful to the entire VNIoC team!"