Iggy Wilson

Iggy's story is considerably happier than most in our memorial section as he's still alive. Despite a high-strangeness veterinary experience involving chunks of meat being shoved into him (21-84), he's still with us and doing well. His family has given us some information so you can learn more about him.

Iggy Pup is a chihuahua/dachshund mix who turned 7 in July of 2023. He became paralyzed when he was only a year old and was diagnosed with IVDD. We ended up rehabilitating him on our own without veterinary assistance as they were unhelpful—and he did make a full recovery! He learned to walk again and returned to being a little bundle of adorable chaos. He does still get flare ups of pain that come and go.

His regular vet would always give steroids and an anti inflammatory but over time, it stopped working—to say nothing of the horrible adverse effects long-term usage of these medications have that he was suffering from. We considered surgery but it seemed to be a never-ending rabbit hole of referrals to different specialists and vets contradicting each other, some saying he didn't need it while others said it would be better to do it now than have it worsen and do it later.

Concerned about the possiblility of spinal surgery going wrong, we stopped the medication, spoke with other owners of dogs with IVDD, and tried other methods. For the last year and a half, we have been keeping him on nightly crate rest for 8 to 9 hours (except to go potty) and he has not had any more flare ups since we've been doing this! It's not a cure, but thankfully it seems to be working better than any other remedy ever has.

Iggy's favorite things in the world are cuddles, treats, chasing cats and being told he's just a puppy. He thinks he's a big tough guard dog, and to his credit, he is a very strong little guy for all he has endured! When Iggy was 4, we ended up with another chihuahua, Bella, as she needed a home. The two of them fell in love and have been partners in crime ever since. Bella was very attentive during his last flare up and was so gentle to him‐I think she has helped renew his spirit after all the pain and struggle between medical issues and incompetent vets that he's been through.