Zorro’s Story

As told by Zorro’s owner: 

Zorro is a handsome and sweet Pembroke Welsh Corgi who was having issues with pain and walking. He had initially been treated conservatively with rest, steroids, and pain medications, but in early January for 2019, he began having more difficulty getting up and moving his head. In April, his symptoms became much more acute. He had difficulty getting up and walking (both front and back legs were affected) and he was in significantly more pain.

Zorro’s owner Trish understood all too well what her boy was going through. She had disc deterioration in her lower spine and a lack of discs in her cervical spine. She recently had an MRI and a steroid injection and was unable to work because of her medical condition.

Bandit’s K9Care paid for Zorro to be seen at the University of Illinois where the ER vet determined that Zorro’s pain was in the cervical discs (his neck) and was most likely due to the compression of his spinal cord. Unfortunately they could not take him into surgery until the following week, so we reached out to the University of Missouri’s Small Animal Hospital for an MRI and surgery.

Zorro’s MRI revealed compression to cervical discs 2 and 3. Zorro was scheduled for ventral slot surgery, the most common procedure for disc herniation in the cervical spine. It was a complicated procedure and because of the amount of disintegration of the disc they could not remove every fragment of the ruptured disc for fear of causing more damage. That said the surgery was considered a success and Dr. Coates, the head of neurology and neurosurgery, stayed in for the entire procedure as part of the wonderful surgical team.

Zorro did so well after surgery that he was released from the hospital a day earlier than anticipated. He has continued to do well and has been healing up nicely. The biggest challenge his owners faced during his first month in recovery was keeping Zorro calm, because for the first time in many months he was feeling good! Zorro is now walking and acting as a normal, healthy and happy Corgi should, thanks to all of his donors and a fantastic medical team!