The Miracle of Boquet
Beginning when Boquet was a puppy, she was always an active, energetic little dog. She learned very early to jump straight up in the air, glide through a hoola hoop, and ran races with her father, Bo. I had read that you should wait until dogs are one year old before doing a lot of jumping tricks or agility. However, I figured that it would probably be all right for a Chihuahua to start at six to eight months old.
My theory was proved wrong when at two and a half years old, Boquet started experiencing some trouble walking. The previous year she had also experienced the following problems: an arched back, walking stiffly, and big eyes telling she was in pain. Also, when I tried to pick her up, she would cry out in pain. On Friday, July 1, 2005, when I took Boquet out of her crate, she yelped and her back was arched. She walked slowly and acted lame all day long. All she wanted to do was lay down. She was definately not herself, and I knew that something must be wrong. I thought that it might be her spine or her knees, but I decided to wait until Tuesday to call the vet. I figured that by then she might be better. However, the next morning, she was the same and didn't want to walk or run at all. I was concerned for her, but I took my worries and concerns to the Lord Jehovah as I prayed over her. I knew that God was in control of the situation.
Sunday morning, I opened her crate, and tried to call her out. She sat up, but didn't move. I reached into the crate and took her out of her crate. She suddenly shook all over, and I looked down at her back feet. They were bent back in the opposite direction. I knew something must be wrong, but I didn't let my mind wander too far. I carried her outside to relieve herself, and when I set her down in the grass, her legs gave way under her. She sat unsually with her back feet almost reaching her front feet. I picked her up again and put her in a standing position. Her hind legs fell limp again, and I thought, "Oh, No! She's now paralyzed!" I immediatly laid hands on her and prayed that Jehovah God would heal her, and that she wouldn't be paralyzed. I didn't know what to do with Boquet, but her father, Bo hadn't releived himself yet. So, I took Bo over to the bushes to relieve himself, and continued to look back at Boquet, who just sat there in the grass, unable to move. After I had somewhat ajusted to the shock of her being paralyzed, I took her inside and reported to my parents all that had happened.
In the evening we called the vet, and he suggested to give her a baby Asprin. She didn't improve overnight, so we took her to the vet the morning of July 4th. When we took her into the vet, he felt her back & saw that she couldn't hold her back up for more than a second. He diagnosed it as a ruptured disc, meaning that the disc between her vertebrae had extruded or swelled up to the point of bursting. He gave her a steroid shot & a pill to prevent ulcers. He told us that if she recovered to the point of walking, Boquet would be retired from doing jumping tricks and dog agility. Boquet was sent home with an antacid and a steroids, as well as, confined rest and as little as possible movement. He said that we might know within a week if she has fully recovered or not. Meanwhile, we had to take care of a paralyzed and incontinent little dog that couldn't understand what had happened. To help her maintain body strength, and to avoid the discomfort of lifting her, we made a "walking sling", using a dog towel that we put under her belly. This is how we got her in and out for her daily constitution. Her front legs grew stronger as she learned to pull herself around while we supported her hind legs. We also took her for rides around the yard in a wheelbarrow.
On July 9th, the vet changed to medicine. to Predizone, because the steroid had caused to swelling to go down, but it didn't cause Boquet to be up and walking. By the next day, I started to see more improvements, like trying to stand up on her own. On Monday, we put her in a small portion of the 50-ft fenced dog run. When we came home, she had pushed through the fence that separated her from the rest of the dog run, and had dragged herself the whole length of the run. We were shocked, but also humored at her determination. On Tuesday, she held up her back while dragging and (every other step) pushing with her right hind leg. We fixed the fence and put her in it, hoping that she wouldn't escape again. Even so, when we got home, there she was dragging her hind legs, trying to walk, and stand in the dog run. On July 13th, we tried putting her in the dog run again after fixing it up more. Again, we were amazed to find that she had pushed up the fence and climbed over a tall board. She hobbled over to the gate, was bouncing, and walking like an arthritic dog, but was so happy to show us her stuff!
During this time that Boquet was recovering from a ruptured disk, she was also incontinent. She couldn't hold it either way. We used a Dell computer box lined with newspapers. It was great for the messes she made, and it also confined her.
By July 21st, Boquet was pulling her hind legs forward when she walked. She couldn't hold up her back very well, so it sloped almost to a sitting position. However, she was beginning to walk, even though it was baby steps. She continued to improve each day on standing for longer periods by herself, and walking with all four feet more & more. During this whole time, many people have been faithfully praying for her. We believe that the Lord Jehovah healed Boquet through those prayers, as well as, the medicine. The impact of how much of a miracle that she is now walking was revealed, when I read an article online about Intervertebral Disk Disease . I learned that dogs that are paralyzed but have some feeling have a success rate of 25% chance of recovery without $5,000 surgery! Besides that, usually dogs that are paralyzed and have surgery rarely fully recover unless a miracle takes place. When we saw the vet again, he was amazed that she was walking and standing. He shook his head and said, “First, you didn’t give up. Second, you gave her love, and that can do amazing things.”
My Mom added, “ Third, we had people across the country praying for her.”
He responded, “ Those prayers can do a lot more that any medicine could."
We praise Lord Jehovah for his awesome deeds, because Boquet should be not walking, but in a K-9 Cart, unable to even move her hind legs. Speaking of a K-9 Cart, the Heart of the Catskills Humane Society let us borrow a Doggon Wheelchair for Boquet.
We used it for physical therapy in order to strengthen her hind leg muscles, because they are atrophied from lack of use. She tried it out several times, and she walks in it. That is, she moves all four feet, but she doesn't have to expend so much energy. I noticed that after she uses it, she can walk better by herself than she did before using the cart. Boquet loves to prance around the yard in the cart, down the nursing home halls, & anywhere if she can get a hot dog!
She is very energetic and despite continual confinement or restrains on activity, she wants to go, go, go! Whenever I let her out of the dog run, she bounces up the hill. She has learned that it is easier to walk rather than to run everywhere. But, we still have to really keep an eye on her if she is loose, because she loves to go off. These are her new regular speeds: walk, bounce, bunny hop, and run. We carry her up the stairs, but occasionally she'll go up a few steps with no problem. She sure has determination!
When Boquet walks now, her hind legs aren't going the same speed as her front legs. She may not have her beautiful prance or trot anymore, but what really counts is that she can walk. I've read stories about other dogs that have had similar disc problems, and had surgery, hydrotherapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, etc. That dog recovered to about the same level of activity that Boquet has, who didn't have any of those things. Instead, she was healed by the blood of Jesus Christ working through the Body of Christ in means of prayer and the anointing of oil.
We are So grateful to Jehovah for this wonderful Miracle in our life! His Wonderful Works are quiet and humble. Boquet's miraculous healing was over several weeks. It wasn't overnight, and there was no booming voice telling us that she would be healed. As we trusted in Him to safely bring us through, he quietly healed Boquet.
Updates on Boquet's Canine Disc Disease
I will bless the Lord Jehovah at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Thank You for Sniffing my Website!
Last Update: Wednesday, June 14th, 2006
