# An update (positive) on our Schnauser who had a heart attack



## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

I posted a few weeks ago about our 2 year old Miniature Schnauser (Maisie) who suffered a heart attack under anesthetic prior to surgery to correct a liver complaint. Her heart stopped beating for nearly 15 minutes and unsurprisingly she suffered brain damage. When we collected her on 18th December all she could move was her head; she was also deaf as well as blind. We had to give her food and water through a syringe and carry her outside for the toilet. Not only was it desperately sad to see her so unwell but we were struggling to know whether it would be kinder to have her put to sleep or whether she might recover enough to permit a reasonable quality of life. 

It has been an extraordinary experience to watch the animal body (or brain) slowly recover. Initially she spent nearly all her time sleeping but a couple of weeks ago she started eating and drinking again on her own and then a day or so later she started walking, albeit unsteadily. Then on Monday of this week we realised that she could hear again and she now responds to her name. We had feared the worst for her vision but to our enormous delight (and her's as well no doubt!) her vision returned yesterday. It seems very limited but it is enough to permit her to walk around without crashing into the furniture. She is still sleeping a lot which I imagine is part of the recovery process and we are hopeful that she will continue to steadily improve.

She is happy in herself and we are happy that even if she improves no more, she now has an acceptable quality of life. I would like to thank everyone who posted on the original thread and also everyone who sent me pm's. It was the support of people on MHF which gave us the determination to help see her through these very difficult five weeks and I am of course delighted to be giving such a positive update. My thanks again to everyone. Peter


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Great news Peter.

Thanks for the update.

Dave


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## MrsW (Feb 8, 2009)

Fantastic news Peter, thanks for updating us!


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## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks for the update, you deserve 10/10 and a HUGE pat on the back for sticking with her.


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## Jodi1 (Mar 25, 2010)

What a lovely story and a happy ending.

It is so difficult to know if you are doing the right thing with a pet in these circumstances. We took the difficult decision to have our dog Jodi put to sleep last week. She was deteriorating and we tried so hard to keep her going, but eventually we had to call it a day. She died before the vet had finished injecting the first syringe which told us all we needed to know

Good luck with your little dog and I hope she continues to improve.


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Delightful news. Let's hope she continues to make small improvements. 
Sue


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## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

Mother nature and time can sometimes work wonders.


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Very, very pleased for you both. I hope it bodes well for the future.

Malcolm


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Good to hear positives


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## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

So glad, and thank you for letting us know. You may well see even further improvement, she's a young dog and so has a lot going for her; not to mention very caring owners.

Linda


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Wonderful news! Long may her recovery continue. Well done to you for putting all the hard work in.
The thing with dogs is that they just accept what happens to them. They don't worry about yesterday and they don't worry about tomorrow


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