Did you know that intervertebral disc disease, or IVDD is very common in dogs. In particular daxons, or commonly known as sausage dogs, with their long back and little legs, they need to take special care of their backs. Especially because of their predisposition to intervertebral disc disease, or IVDD. In this short clip with our friends at Pooches at Play, Gyton catches up with daxon owner, Sarah to hear their personal experience with IVDD.

Video Transcription

Gyton: With their long backs and cute little legs, daxons, or commonly known as sausage dogs, need to take special care of their backs. Especially because of their predisposition to intervertebral disc disease, or IVDD. Owners need to be especially aware of it.

I’m here with Sarah and her two daxons, Maluka and Avalon, who are also ambassadors for Daxon Rescue Australia. They’re also a bit media and fashion savvy on the social media platforms.

Gyton: Hi Sarah

Sarah: Hello, thank you for having me.

Gyton: Please tell us abit about your girls?

Sarah: Thank you, well this is Maluka. She is three and a half years old, and Avalon is eighteen months old. We’ve been very fortunate to have these girls come into our life. My husband and I don’t have any children, and the girls have just change our life for the better.

Gyton: So what’s your experience with IVDD?

Sarah: Well unfortunately, Maluka did have an episode just after she turned three. We knew IVDD was an issue, one in four daxons do come down with it. We hoped it would never happen to us, but it did, and with two of them we doubled our chances of that. We woke up one Sunday morning, and I had made the girls their breakfast, and Maluka just didn’t want to get out of her bed. She just stayed there quite tense through the body, and just didn’t want to walk to her food which was highly unusual. I went downstairs and said to my husband, Maluka’s backs gone we gotta get her to a vets.

Sarah: We went straight to the vets and after less than three days we were left with nearly two and a half thousand dollars worth of vet costs.

Gyton: So I assume you didn't have pet insurance?

Sarah: No, we didn't. We just had to rely on savings that we had a little bit put aside for a rainy day. But no, no insurance. So it makes it very difficult.

Gyton: So if someone's in a position where they cant even have some savings for that rainy day or afford pet insurance, what are their options?

Sarah: Well, there’s not a lot of options other than hope that family, friends, or somebody can help them out. Worst case scenario is the dog doesn't get the surgery, attention and the vet care that they need, should that happen. I mean, it happens in a matter of hours that you are faced with. Happy health dog, and then a few hours later you've got a dog that doesn't want to walk anymore.

Gyton: That's just something we don’t want.

Sarah: Yeah exactly!

Gyton: On a lighter note, how is Maluka doing now?

Sarah: Oh she is doing wonderful, thank you. We did spend two months rehabilitating her with some work in the water just in the bathtub, getting her swimming and stronger. Also, some exercising at home to strengthen up all her muscles, and make her a really strong little dog, just to avoid any impact that she may have in the future. Just to really help her chances of the episode not returning. Since we’ve got her back to her being a strong, little happy self, we’ve been attending events, we’ve attended dog lover shows, both in Sydney and Brisbane this year. Also, we are very lucky actually, something we did get to share with our Facebook and Instagram fans. The girls attended the ARIA awards in 2016 and carried by Peking Duck.

Gyton: Peking Duck are one of my favourite bands. I am pretty jealous of that.

Sarah: So, yes a very little exciting event for us. Other than that, since IVDD we’ve continued to do things and treat her as normally as we can, just taking the precautions at home. But, yeah she’s on a tv ad at the moment. She’s working more than me!

Gyton:  Well it's great to see they are doing so well.

Sarah: Thankyou.

Gyton:  Now while prevention is better than a cure, injury and disease can still occur. An unexpected surgery bill is the last things owners want to see. If you want to learn more about pet insurance, head to the HIF website. In the meantime, I’m going to hang out with Avalon and Maluka, and we’re going to have a wonderful afternoon.

For more health tips and advice visit the Pooches at Play website.