Meet Rigel
Rigel is a six year old Dachshund who, in his hurry to get to the back fence and bark at the dogs on the other side, would run out the back door and fly off the deck to the grass below. The deck is about 1 1/2 feet high. After so many times, he damaged his back. He started whining at the bottom of the deck steps and wouldn't come up them. We had to start carrying him up the stairs. We took him to our veterinarian who performed X-Rays and discovered Rigel had a damaged disc. We couldn't afford surgery, so we tried to keep him contained to his bed in one area. We would carry him outside to use the bathroom, but he continued to get worse. Soon he couldn't stand on his hind legs and he would pull himself around with his front legs, his back legs dragging behind him.
This all took place during the latter part of October and the better part of November.
I didn't think he would ever walk again.
Then we decided to try the hyperbaric chamber. We did two sessions near Thanksgiving. By the week before Christmas he was able to stand and balance himself and start walking. By Christmas Eve he was back to his old self, although he still had to regain some more strength to his back legs. I am sure that the extra oxygen he received in the hyperbaric chamber helped him recover much quicker.
(Special thanks to Rigel's family for writing his story.)
