{"id":699,"date":"2024-07-03T10:18:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T09:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/?p=699"},"modified":"2026-02-03T16:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:02:52","slug":"owners-delight-as-spinal-op-transforms-paralysed-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/owners-delight-as-spinal-op-transforms-paralysed-pet\/","title":{"rendered":"OWNER\u2019S DELIGHT AS SPINAL OP TRANSFORMS PARALYSED PET"},"content":{"rendered":"

A paralysed dachshund is back up and running again after intricate spinal surgery at one of the UK\u2019s top veterinary hospitals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three-year-old Lola had dramatically lost the use of her hind legs overnight and was rushed to Kentdale Referrals for expert care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A CT scan revealed a <\/span>large disc extrusion<\/span> was <\/span>compressing<\/span> Lola\u2019s <\/span>spinal cord,<\/span> and Kentdale Specialist Gemma Holloway immediately to remove the extruded disc material and relieve the pressure on the spinal cord.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Incredibly, Lola was up on all paws again the following day and allowed home that evening, much to the delight of relieved owner Steph Leaver, from Blackburn, Lancashire.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steph admitted it had been an emotional roller coaster, saying: \u201cLola suddenly lost the use of her back legs and it was immediately obvious she needed urgent treatment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe rang K<\/span>entdale<\/span> Referrals, where she had been treated for back pain a few months before, and by the time we arrived at 11am, she couldn’t even stand up.<\/span> Due to the rapid decline and lack of movement, Gemma recommended spinal surgery. She explained that as Lola could still feel pain, this was a good indication that following surgery, Lola would regain her mobility.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was still very scary to be told she\u2019d need surgery, though, and there were lots of tears handing her over.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>We were very worried about how she\u2019d react to the operation and what the outcome would be, but we were confident that she was in the best hands.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/span>teph\u2019s confidence was well placed as treatment progressed rapidly and, even more importantly, successfully.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>She added: \u201cWe can’t thank Kentdale enough for being so quick, kind and thoughtful with us and Lola.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe knew how important it was to act fast, but I think this must be some kind of record! One for which we’re extremely grateful.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe arrived at 11am and by 3pm the surgery was complete \u2013 Lola was awake and recovering well. The next morning, she was already walking again, less than 24 hours after our initial phone call to Kentdale.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLola\u2019s pain medications were reduced throughout the day and by the afternoon the vets were amazed with how well she was doing and recommended we take her home where she would be more relaxed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe picked her up at 6pm and were greeted with the most excited little wiggles and tail wags.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Lola is doing amazingly now. She had regained full movement by the time of her four <\/span>week <\/span>post-op check-up and she is now back out on walks and loving having her freedom back.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so thankful. Everyone at Kentdale treated\u00a0 us and Lola with care and compassion and kept us informed on her progress at every step of the journey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019d definitely recommend them to other pet owners. The vets, nurses and reception staff were all incredibly kind and thoughtful. They made us feel at ease and we knew we could trust them with Lola. We knew she was in the best of hands.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lola<\/p>\n

RCVS Specialist in <\/span>S<\/span>mall <\/span>A<\/span>nimal <\/span>S<\/span>urgery, <\/span>Gemma <\/span>focuses on<\/span> O<\/span>rthopaedic and S<\/span>oft Tissue<\/span>\u00a0S<\/span>urger<\/span>ies and has a particular interest <\/span>in spinal procedures. <\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/span>he detailed Lola\u2019s care and treatment, explaining: \u201cShe had suddenly become unsteady on her hind legs and displayed a progression of symptoms that morning, including being unable to urinate or defecate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAt the time of Lola\u2019s examination here at Kentdale, she was ambulatory paraparetic and unable to move her hind legs.\u00a0<\/span>The function of her right hind leg was noted to be weaker than her left. There was no pain on palpation of her spine, but she did appear a little tense.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLola was admitted for a CT scan which confirmed a right lateralised mineralised disc extrusion which was causing significant spinal cord compression.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe was taken to surgery and a hemilaminectomy was performed to allow decompression of the spinal cord.<\/span> This type of surgery entails an incision through the lower back to gain access<\/span> to<\/span> the damaged disc allowing us to work to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSurgery lasted an hour and a half and Lola recovered very well and was allowed home the following day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>She came back to see us a month after surgery and was walking well so we\u2019re very pleased indeed with the positive outcome.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steph shared Lola’s remarkable story on the dachshund\u2019s very own popular Instagram page. To keep up to date with all of Lola\u2019s daily goings-on, search for @dogfriendlylancs on Instagram.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A paralysed dachshund is back up and running again after intricate spinal surgery at one of the UK\u2019s top veterinary hospitals.\u00a0 Three-year-old Lola had dramatically lost the use of her hind legs overnight and was rushed to Kentdale Referrals for expert care.\u00a0 A CT scan revealed a large disc extrusion was compressing Lola\u2019s spinal cord,… <\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":896,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions\/896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentdalevets.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}