Bianco's Update from Home - August 10

Finally some pic/videos to upload!!!

Here's just to few to show you guys some improvements made by Bianco.... its been errmmm... 2 wks since the last pic/video update...

The video shows bianco trying to use his right hind to move. At least he has managed to get his motor skills back on his right hind. Despite this, his right hind is still fairly weak and his lower half of his body will be dragged down by the weight of left hind, which till now, still can't really move much.

He can hop awhile... at most 4 hops before setting back down on the floor

As you can see from the video, there is a green mat next to his mattress. It is actually a yoga mat. It helps to give him the firm grip on his paws when he moves away from his mattress. It will also assist him with his balance when he takes his first step out from his mattress. Till now, he still has problems walking on marble flooring especially so on his hind legs. Which is why most of the times, he'll drag himself.

Bianco is still pretty comfortable drinking the green bean soup, so there is no need for any force feed. So from yesterday, we will monitor him for a week to see how the consumption of the green bean soup would help him with his skin condition.

Bianco's Update - August 9

Bianco's appointment for his accupuncture on National Day was at 4pm. Despite it being a public holiday, Dr Oh was still available for appointments.

We told him about Bianco's skin condition and he told us a secret. That is to boil green bean soup. The very first boil we can use to cook his food and also feed him with it like water. It is supposedly to cool his body down and also help with his skin condition. Dr Oh think that its becoz of internal heatiness that is causing all these flaking. He told us to try for about 2 wks to see how it goes.

In fact, the flaking of the skin caused a slight odour on his body and caused his pigmentation to get worse.

After his session, we went to the chinese medical centre to get some green beans to start his course of green bean soup.

We brought Tequila with us thinking that hes so poor thing staying alone at home. But it was a mistake as he kept whining and that caused Bianco to be nervous and Bianco was just trembling throughout his accupuncture session.

Through this experience, we have decided not to bring Tequila with us to Bianco's accupuncture sessions ... guess Tequila jus dun learn.... Hmmmm

Bianco's Update from Home - August 7 till 8

I notice that Bianco has a lot of blister like dots on his body. It has actually been around for some time and we were getting a little concern.

It doesn't cause him to itch as he hasn't been scratching it at all, but its pretty unsightly as these blisters look those caused by chicken pox. It starts with a red dot, gets inflamed, becomes a little tiny blister, turns dry and becomes a dry scalp on his skin which flakes off in a few days.

From the last picture taken that I have uploaded, about 3 wks back, it has gotten worse and its all over his body especially the sides and top of his body.

As his fur has grown quite a fair bit since he was discharged from the hospital, I decided to shave all his fur off again to just let his skin 'breathe'. Shaved him and run him under the shower and his skin was really in a mess. Lotsa dry scalp can be seen and when dry, all flakes off like dandruff.

We didn't know what was wrong, but tot that we''ll wait for another day and during Bianco's accupuncture session, will ask Dr Oh what is wrong and how can we manage it.

Bianco's Update - August 6

It's my mum's turn to take leave today, and together with my Dad, they brought Bianco for his accupuncture.

My mum told me that whenever she brings Bianco for his accupuncture, he does not want to sit still in the car and always climbs on her, wanting her to carry him. It has become a habit even at home. So looks like he knows who he can bully and who he can't. Usually with us, it has never been this case as he would sit quietly on his towel till he hears the car's reverse signal.

Even at the animal hospital, while getting his accupuncture done, he wasn't able to sit still and was still trying to climb on my mum to get her to carry him. But eventually he gave up as he knew that he has to sit on the table for his accupuncture to be done.

We are still trying to get him to stand on his hind legs but Bianco is still lazy at times. He has gained some strength on his right hind, but we were hoping to see some strength on his left hind. He is still on the chinese medicine given by Dr Oh and also on the liver tonic pills.

The transfer factor for both tequila and bianco had run out and am now contemplating if I should buy for them to continue taking it. But it is rather expensive....however, if they do help these two furry darlings of mine.. I may just let them take it temporary to see its effectiveness....

Bianco's Update - August 2

Its the 7th session with Dr Oh and after each session, there seems to be some improvements to Bianco's movements, motor skills and strength.

Bianco can stand longer on his four legs tho he still can't move his hind legs to balance himself... but he is trying.

Dr Oh also told us to give him more time..... and try not to push him too much.. but Bianco can be really lazy.... each time when we want him to crawl, he'll whine wanting us to carry him.

We asked Dr Oh how many more sessions of accupuncture does Bianco need and he said perhaps another 2 more mth.... my.. tats like $175 x 8 wks!!! Bianco... pls start to walk soon otherwise mummy will become a pauper hhahahaha...

After his accupuncture session, we went for lunch at a bak kut teh eating place opp Beauty World...... and he as some wantons and pork meat!..... lucky pooch....

In the end, we bought some muffins for poor Tequila whos left at home......

Bianco's Update from Home - July 31

The last day of the month... its been exactly 45days since Bianco's accident, June 14.

Today, Bianco has some visitors.... Alice and Neb..... I got to know Alice from Pets Channel Forum as I was reading about her input on dogs who are temporary paralyze and just need some help. She has experience with Ah Gal who has some hip problems and couldn't walk for a few mths....Neb is her ex-colleague.. both of them were just amazing..... and friendly.... I just couldn't ask for me...

When they came to see Bianco.. Bianco was a little apprehensive about them.. but after an hr.. he warmed up to Alice and even went to her, wanting her to carry him.. and Tequila ... as usual warms to everyone and had a nice massage session from Neb...

Alice and Neb were amazed by his recovery as it was only less than 6 wks since his accident and he was already crawling..they encouraged me not to give up on him and hopefully in 2-3mths time... we'll be able to see him at least able to walk on 3 legs.

When they left, I told them feel free to drop by, as it will do Bianco good to get in touch with strangers too.... but so far... hes been doing pretty well with strangers... surprisingly....

Anyway, I do hope Alice and Neb will drop by again... as they are really true inspirators.......tks Neb and Alice.....

Bianco's Update from Home - July 30

Took a day's leave to be at home and bring Bianco for his Wednesday's accupuncture.

Akoh joined me as she wanted to see how it was done. It was a really funny session as we were speaking to Dr Oh on whether he use different needles on different animals and he said yes.... I asked him how big is the needle used for an elephant during accupuncture. He told us that he has it here and he took it out... oh my gosh! It was like 30cm long and he pass it to Akoh... hahaha the look on her face.. priceless! hahahha

Bianco had like 4 needles on his head and the look on his face ... BLUR!.... however as usual, he was quite relaxed.

We left pretty late despite having a 1pm appointment with Dr Oh.

Akoh was cool enuf to get lunch for me and my dad.... had sushi, sashimi with compliments from her.... TKS AKOH!!!

In a quick passing moment, it was oredi like 4pm in the late afternoon and well... soon, the end of the day and next day back to work with a heavy heart...

Would love to stay with Bianco and Tequila at home... but too much work and trying to save my leave just in case of any emergencies......

Bianco's Update from Home - July 28

Back to another work week and I reckon Bianco and Tequila knows that its another 5 days that no one will be at home with them during the day.

Yes, we kept to our word that Tequila will be kept in the kitchen and he was, despite some displeasure from him as he was heard whining as I left for work. However, we do not want him to pee on the floor and having Bianco to rub his body on the pee as he crawls around.

When we got back from work that day, as usual, we'll get a big welcome from Bianco and each time he gets really excited seeing us back home. Sometimes, being too excited, he'll pee ..but most often, we'll try to get him to pee before he can dirty himself.

So far, he'll wait till someone is at home before he poos. Either when my dad returns home mid day to check on him or in the evening/night when we are at home. I am not too sure if he is holding his poo so that someone will be around when he expels it. But so far, we definitely have no complaint over it as his habit is keeping him clean. As long as it doesn't cause any health issues, we have no issues on it as well :)

Bianco's Update from Home - July 27

Being a Sunday and since Bianco has been home for 5 wks now, we initiated a short family outing, coupled with lunch and movie - The Dark Knight, while leaving the two rascals together.

It has been awhile since we actually went out as a family over the weekend, as we have been busy fussing over Bianco after he was discharged from the animal hospital. Now that Bianco is more mobile and the fact that Dr Tan has assured us that Bianco will be fine even if he lies on his back, makes it easier for us to introduce some outing back into our lives.

We left Tequila and Bianco from 12.30pm till about 5pm. We thought that with us gone for that 4hrs or so, everything should be alright. Boy, were we wrong and guess who is the only culprit? Tequila of course..... he pee on the legs of the dining chairs, climbed on the coffee table and started shredding some kitchen papers that we have folded for Bianco's emergencies when he poo and he played around with Bianco's towels......

So, we have come to a conclusion... back to the kitchen on Monday for Tequila.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 26

Today, Bianco had an appointment with Dr Tan for his follow up as its been about 2 wks since his last review. Following that, accupuncture with Dr Oh.

Dr Tan said tat Bianco has gotten back most of his neuro system back since he has been using his right hind to scratch his ears. The only thing is to get him to work on his strength and motor skills on standing and bending his hind legs, which till now, isn't really quite up to it.

Dr Tan also said that to tune a dog's mentality vs that of a human is different. First is the level of understanding between a human and a dog. He gave an example that if a human is paralyze, you can tell that person to try to move his legs. This person will then try to use his brains to give instructions to move his legs. Whereas a dog can never understand or even comprehend such complexity of instructions.

The other thing that Dr Tan mentioned was that his concern is Bianco being too comfortable with his surroundings and also his crawling that he is contented. As such, he will not push himself to try to walk and perhaps may even forget what walking is all about and how it is being done.

It was really a wake up call for me when Dr Tan said that as I know that Bianco is pretty comfortable where he is now but to forget how walking is being done? I mean, someone like me who does not have any experience.. how should I handle Bianco and fine tune him to try using his hind legs? As it is, he is getting lazy for sure. Each time when I stand him on all fours, he'll use his front legs to push himself back and then goes into a seating position.

We have also tried standing Bianco elevated. We'll prop his top half on a stool and force him to use his hind legs to support the rest of his body weight. It is tiring, but at least it will help him to gain some muscles over time.

Dr Tan suggested putting Bianco back to hydrotherapy. He said that Bianco is not a swimmer but with most cases, dogs who go through hydrotherapy, recoveres faster. Only thing is that Bianco is known to be a lazy swimmer.

After the review with Dr Tan, Bianco went for his accupuncture. We spoke to Dr Oh about Dr Tan's suggestion to put Bianco thru hydrotherapy, but Dr Oh thinks otherwise. He feels that its too early for Bianco to try walking, as it will take about 6wks for him to get himself in place. He told us to give the little fella more time, as he is still confident that Bianco will start to walk. He is still confident that Bianco is stronger on his left hind compared to his right, but I still think otherwise. I'm still quite puzzled why he thinks that Bianco's left hind is stronger. Perhaps time will tell.

Bianco went through the accupuncture with ease and was resting throughout. Dr Oh used some low heat treatment and it caused Bianco to pant.

While waiting for payment to be made, we were chatting with this lady whos dog came for accupuncture as well. Usually when we meet other owners with dogs in the same situation, we'll exchange some info on what happened etc and how we are handling our furry ones back home.

She told us that her sis boyfriend bought her dog out for a walk. He came across a drain and jumped across it. However, not realizing that the dog has limited jumping ability, he made her dog jump across the drain too. As the drain was rather wide, her dog, a cross of maltese and shih tzu, didn't manage to jump across, fell into the drain.

The next day, she was wondering why her dog couldn't control the bladder despite being toilet trained and the 2nd day, was in total paralysis. She told us that the first sign of paralysis, as mentioned by the vet is that the animal will lose control of the bladder.

Since the incident, she also started accupuncture sessions and was hoping that it'll help her dog as well.... (haiz.. the ignorance of some ppl, to cause such unnecessary misfortune to the animal and the owner)

After everything, we went to Holland V to leave Tequila with Pet Lovers Centre for grooming. Knowing our experience, they really ensure that Tequila is well taken care of. We headed for the XO fish slice noodles and Bianco had a jolly good time eating the fish from the noodles. While waiting for Tequila, we went to Coffee Bean to have some coffee and as usual, Bianco in his pram attracted some stares.

When we went to pick Tequila up, we were introduced to get a product called 4 Life, which is good for the animals as it'll help to boost their immune system and also help their body to easily absorb all the nutrients from the food that they eat. As I haven't heard about it, I just took a trial pack, which costs me $20.50 (and can only last me a week!) Am now trying it.. so will update my review on this product a wk or so later :) .. but in the meanwhile.. will try to read up on this product and what are the benefits when consumed.

Website: www.4life.com

At the end of the day, Bianco was totally knocked out from the tiredness and was sleeping in the car all the way back home.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 23 till 25

Bianco's recovery has slowed down quite a bit. The initial 5 wks have been fast on recovery as we see different movements from him and him trying out new and different things.

Though it has been pretty stagnant, we will still 'push' him to try on his own

Nothing much has changed and also there was no deterioration.

We are hoping that he'll progress slowly from here. At least for now, we have managed to get him mobile in the sense that he can crawl.

Sometimes, when he crawls, we can see that he is trying to push himself... but we're not too sure if its becoz he doesn't have the strength or he is too lazy to try. Perhaps getting a little comfortable crawling since he was introduced to this motion.

On Wednesday, July 23, my mun and dad had some probs bringing him for the accupuncture as he could not sit still in the car and kept moving around. They were concerned that he may just fall. During the accupuncture, he also tried to avoid Dr Oh and was scrutinizing him with each movement as he place the needles on him......(hhhmmm.. funny, coz I didn't have such problems with Bianco when I'm with him)

The few days since we were trying to change his pee habits, it worked quite successfully. He can go without wearing a diaper at night. Every 3 hrs, we'll get him to try to pee standing up on all fours, with support of course. This practise has gone really well. This even goes on during the night when we sleep... I'll get up mid early morning to just get him to empty his bladder before putting him back to bed. So far, it hasn't been tiring for me as long as I don't have to pacify him to sleep..... he's been a pretty good boy so far .....

Sometimes, during the night, should he needs to go urgently and when we didn't get up, he'll whine to let us know...overall, Bianco likes to keep himself clean if possible, tho the occasional mess... but he'll try to move himself out of his mess if he can

On Friday, July 25, before I left for work, I thought that since its the last work day of the week, I want to try something. That is to allow Tequila to be with Bianco in the living area. Usually during the work week, we'll separate both Tequila and Bianco. But thinking that just in case Tequila is thinking why is he always locked up in the kitchen, why don't give him that chance to prove himself? After a huge speech with Tequila before I go to work, telling him not to be notti, don't any how pee and also don't bully Bianco, I don't think he gets it.

Coming back home from work, the only mess came from Tequila, who actually pee on Bianco's pram. In the end, had to clean it all up before attending to Bianco. Looks like I have to see if I can try leaving Tequila with Bianco again sometime soon, just to see how he gets along with Bianco alone.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 21 till 22

Another new week for Bianco to be alone at home. After a week of it, we were quite certain that he is going to take it better.

But as usual, somehow he knows that we're going to work that very day, he'll look really bored and quiet.

As usual, I hope that Bianco will pee and poo before all of us leave for work.. so that at least the mess is minimal. So on Monday morning, I was asking Davion if Bianco has poo yet and he said not yet.... in less than 2 mins.. I hear a cry "Dear... Bianco's shitting"... I was in stitches as I saw Davion's hands were smeared with Bianco's poo..... and both of them just looked at me helplessly......

So I had to clean Bianco up before taking a shower and Davion gotta clean himself up to get dressed for work... luckily he didn't wear his long sleeved shirt while handling Bianco hehehe...

Bianco's condition is still the same but at least now when we stand him up, he is able to hold himself steady for awhile... his motor skills on his hind legs are still lacking... that is the reason when he crawl, he drags his hind along with him.

Hopefully soon, he'll be able to bend his hind legs on his own and work on his motor skills.... but at least him being more mobile now, the chances of him trying to use his hind will be higher. Hopefully.......

Bianco's Update from Home - July 19 till 20

1st and 2nd Picture: Bianco sits himself on the flr

3rd Picture: Bianco sitting on the flr close to Tequila

For the videos: I do apologize for the 2nd to 4th video as it was taken in a portrait sequence but shown on a landscape version.

1st Video: Bianco walking on his 2 front paws (finally managed to post a video on Bianco walking on his two front... guess that the video size shouldn't be huge)

2nd to 4th Video: Bianco walking, dragging his hind legs

We have been trying to get Bianco to pee standing on the newspapers in the kitchen every now and then. As he can stand on his two front legs, we just need to lift his hind legs waiting for him to pee. He still need some help to empty his bladder, therefore we would need to express his pee. By getting him to pee on the newspapers, it will help us to reduce the use of pee pads and also hopefully help him to recognize where his usual pee spot is before the accident.

The last few days as he empty his bladder at about 11pm, most of the night, he did not soil his diapers. First thing in the morning when I wake up at 6.15am, I would bring him to the newspapers, pull his diapers off quickly and get him to pee.

Saturday, after his usual morning pee on the newspapers, I placed him down on his mattress and when he heard Tequila's bell from my parent's room, he wanted to walk over to their room. When he reached there, he started whining. We thought that he wanted my mum to carry him (as he always do that)... she did and he shitted on her bed. Luckily his stools were hard, so it did not stain much. However, I think he, whinning at that time, was an indication that he wanted to poo.

Tis morning, the same thing happened. At 7plus in the morning, he was whining quite desperately that I woke up from my sleep. I carried him and rushed him to the kitchen. Unfortunately I didn't notice that his 'little brother' was out from the diapers and as he couldn't control any longer, he started spurting his urine along the route to the kitchen. Because of the little mess he made along the way, a cleaning session has to be done after everything.

Bianco's accupuncture on Saturday was an easy one for him. Unlike his Wednesday session, he was pretty relax and was almost dozing off during his accupuncture. When Dr Oh took out the needles from him, one of them close extracted close to his spinal cord actually started bleeding. He said tat it was bad blood......and sometimes, such things occur when there is an increase flow of blood travelling within. However, there is nothing to worry. The next day, I notice that there was a little bruise in that area. There was no pain as I pressed a little to test it. So I reckon Bianco would be alright.

Dr Oh asked a lot of questions that day; questions like: Is Bianco depressed at home? Is his stool alright? How is his appetite? Was he more active and starting to have more movements? All questions got positive answers..... and Dr Oh is more optimistic this time about Bianco's condition. He even emphasized that Bianco's left hind is stronger and that it is normal for dogs to try to start the use of their third leg when they are ready. He even added that once Bianco can use his left hind, it'll be approx another month before he will start using his right hind.

Am really looking forward for the day to come when Bianco can use the third leg and then following that.. the fourth. Hope that I don't have to wait too long for that to happen... perhaps in about 2 mths time?

Anyway, I guess that you all would agree that there is a great improvement on Bianco's conditions based on the pictures and videos that you have seen.

Last week, on Saturday, during Bianco's first accupuncture session, we saw a dog, about 3 times Bianco's size.... he too had an operation on the spinal cord. It's been a week since and Concordia was telling me just yesterday that that dog wasn't as lucky as Bianco. They have been trying to pinch him on his hind for the whole week and till now, there hasn't been any response.

I do hope that this dog will recover soon and at least get back the use of his 3rd leg. I also hope that this dog's owner wouldn't put him/her down without trying. But I guess letting him/her go through a surgery is a chance given.

As I have said many times... Bianco's recovery or even being alive is a blessing ...and will always be a blessing.....regardless of how his eventual recovery will be......

Bianco's Update from Home - July 17 till 18

Picture: Bianco with some allergies on his skin

The next two days, whenever we opened the door, Bianco would be close to the gate at the kitchen. Guess he must be there so that he will be close to Tequila.

We kept Tequila in the kitchen as we don't want him to jump on Tequila or be rough on him. The diapers worn on him during the day when we are not at home didn't really help much. When we return home from work, his diapers will always be off or either that, his 'little bro' will be out in the open.

Either way, each time back home, we would have to clean up the entire floor and also Bianco. He has also started to get some rashes between his scrotum and inner thighs. We are trying to contain his rashes with some antiseptic wash and cream given by Dr Tan's assistant.

On Friday, when we are back from work, we notice that a floor mat left near the chair in the living area will damped in pee. What we gather is that perhaps Bianco may have gone on it and peed on it so that it'll absorb his pee, keeping him dry.

We have also noticed that with the pee on his the last few days, it may have also started some allergies on his skin as you can see in the picture attached. We are actually quite hesitant to apply more creams on him as having pee on his will always be existing till the day he can start walking and pee on his own.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 16

Bianco went for his second accupuncture today.

The accupuncturist (Dr Oh) was asking my brother if Bianco is more active after his first session on Saturday and he was informed positively. Dr Oh said that there some slight improvements from the last session and that we should keep a lookout to see if there would be any other improvements.

Based on Dr Oh's observation, he said that Bianco's left hind is going to be stronger than his right hind. However, we told him that Bianco would always straighten his left hind and lock it whenever he wants to move.

Whenever Bianco tries to stand on all fours, he would use his left hind to help support but his right hind would be pulled back up, suspended midair.

Bianco wasn't as comfortable as he was the first time round. As feedbacked by my brother, he seems to want to move away from Dr Oh and each time Dr Oh inserts a needle, he'll try to move away from him. Which is unusual as we had no problems with him when he went through his first session.

P.S I do apologize for the late update as during the weekdays, am hardly at home due to work. Therefore, may miss out certin of his progress or actions while at work. Therefore, do be patient with me and will definitely update all of you accordingly.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 14 till 15

Its two days that he has been left alone at home and each day when we come back... theres a lot of cleaning for us to do.

Initially we were concerned that Bianco will bark when no one is at home... but the last 2 days.. he was pretty alright and just slept.

My dad came back to check on his mid day and yesterday, wiped him clean and changed his diapers. I guess that my dad didn't know how to put the diapers on him properly... when we came back... his diaper was on the flr, off him and he was soiled with his urine, lying on his pee. We have to clean him up and wash the flr thoroughly. It didn't really take us long... about 30mins to attend to him before making dinner for him and Tequila.
Monday night, I showed my dad how to put on Bianco's diapers...... Tuesday, he did that... but when we came back.. diaper was on but his little 'bro' was out peeping! LOL.... and yes, he soiled a couple of places but didn't really soil himself much. Cleaning was much easier and we had to once again sanitize the flr.

Each day when I come home, besides looking forward to seeing him everyday after work.... am also thinking what kinda mess he'll make. To me, the mess he make is secondary.. but seeing him after work... is something that gets me going and looking forward to seeing him somewhere around the house.

Today, when we opened the main door, he was there greeting us. God knows how he got there..but I guess when he heard our keys ... he must have rushed there.. or perhaps even drag himself to the door real fast.

He can move really fast even from crawling.... that is why we must never leave him out of our sight when he is placed on the bed... just in case......

Bianco's Update from Home - July 13

1st Picture: Bianco's fur plucked from his ears and cotton buds showing how dirty his ears are

Video: Bianco using his right hind leg to scratch his ear

Have been trying to upload a video on Bianco walking with his 2 front paws but to no avail. Been trying for the whole day. Will see if I can convert it to AVI format before trying to upload again :)

It has been more than a mth since Bianco's accident and it has been longer since his ears were cleaned. With all the hydrotherapy and showers... his ears smelled a little foul. So I decided to powder the inside of his ears and pluck his fur out. Look at all the 'treasures' found in Picture 1 :) hahhahaa.......to end it off, a liquid antiseptic was used to ensure that it helps to ease off any infections.

Bianco has been trying to walk on his own. However, he is just as happy walking on two legs as it gives him freedom to move. Will try to take another video of him walking on his two front and load it up sooner. Perhaps its the file that is too big for upload.

Holding his hinds and walking with him have been also tiring as we have to bend our backs and follow him from behind. Sometimes, he gets excited and starts running. Looking at this, there is definitely no doubt of some improvements on his motor skills.

At night while he was resting on the bed, he was trying to entertain himself and his right ear itch.... he lifted up his right hind leg to reach his ear and luckily, the camera was just next to the bed.. I managed to take a shot of the video...

He's due for another accupuncture this Wednesday. Will have to see how much accupuncture can help him and hopefully it does.

Right now, am trying to get him to pee on the newspapers (every 2-3hrs and of course with our help to hold his hind) in the kitchen. At least it is something familiar to him and at the same time.. it can help to slightly reduce the use of pee pads. It is also more hygienic this way as the pee will not be in contact with his stomach.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 12

1st Picture: Bianco in his 'Mercedes Benz'

2nd to 4th Picture: Bianco undergoing accupuncture

Video: Bianco under Electrolysis

5th Picture: Bianco doing hydrotherapy 3 hrs after accupuncture

Bianco's appointment with Dr Oh, the accupuncturist, was at 10am. Having met with Dr Oh, he went through Bianco's x-ray and also his current condition on how much has he improved.

He tried standing Bianco up and was rather optimistic about his condition. He said that he never believe in putting an animal down unless really necessary. He would try his best to do whatever he could through accupuncture to help an animal. He has been working in the Zoo for many years and have been accupuncturing both humans and all kind of animals in his line of job. To me, I thought he sounded really experience and was glad that such a type of specialization exist so that more animals can be helped.

Initally when Bianco saw Dr Oh, he looked very worried and flustered and was trying to move from the table. But after the needles were in and Dr Oh sent little waves of currents, Bianco was more relaxed and even rested his chin on the towel that we have prepared for him. The session took 15mins. After the session, Dr Oh said that Bianco needs to consume some chinese herbal medicine which will help his kidneys and joints. We were also advised to only do hydrotherapy 3 hrs later after an accupuncture.

Bianco has to go back for two sessions of accupuncture per week and Dr Oh will explain on his improvements each time we go back. A 15min session of accupuncture costs about $86 and his chinese medicine... $130 for 130pills which he has to take 6 each day!.....

We bought Bianco to Holland Village for lunch before going back for his hydrotherapy. Him being in his 'Mercedes Benz' brought on a lot of attention. Two kinds of ppl... one kind that think we are nuts and the other think that its cute to see him in a pram.... not knowing that he cannot walk.....

At about 1pm we went back to Mt Pleasant for Bianco's hydrotherapy. We thought that he'll be looking forward to it.. but he looked scared. He was shivering and his hydrotherapy only lasted 15mins as we did not want to stress him out too much. His front paws were paddling but his hind legs were just floating and his lower half body was just flipping from side to side.

At the end of the day, he was just so smashed out that he was sleeping most of the rest of the day.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 9

Tried updating some videos to show yer guys how bianco used his right hind leg to push himself.. unfortunately trying a few times.. it wasn't successful.

Not too sure if it was bcoz of the size of the video... (does anyone know?)

Anyway there isn't really much update as we're still exercising him regularly and also trying to get him to stand whenever possible. But it seems that it is tiring Bianco out quite a bit as most of his weight is all to his front two paws.

He is getting more excited now and tries to get up on his own... but still unable to. Our concern is that he may just topple over or even sprain his hind legs by doing so, as most of the times, he is dragging his hind legs.

Will keep trying to upload the videos if possible... as from the video you can see that hes trying to use his right hind to push himself forward.

Updates will come soon.... I do apologize for the delay as been spending time taking care of him after work and too tired to do anything much at night.

Bianco's Update from Home - July 5 till 7

1st Picture: Bianco trying to crawl

2nd Picture: Tequila and Bianco sleeping on my bed

1st Video: Bianco pushing himself up for awhile when he sees food

2nd Video: Using of snack to motivate Bianco to walk in water

3rd Video: Bianco entertaining himself

We went to see the surgeon last Saturday and when he checked on Bianco he said that Bianco has gain some strength.. but its still not enough to support his back or even stand on his own. However, he can stiffen his legs straight to support his back for a while.. but still very wobbly.

He has also stronger resistance on his right hind compared to the last few days and his pullback when tickled is more apparent. Right now, we are using the same method to just trigger him to pull back his left hind leg.

The only thing that can excite him is food. Only the use of food will encourage him to move himself. It is the only thing that can keep him alert. Otherwise when we come back from work, he'll be excited only for awhile... which ends up peeing on himself due to him being too excited to see us.

We have also made an appt with the accupunturist tis coming Saturday to speak to him on Bianco's condition and to see what is his suggestion. Most likely is that we'll put him through accupuncture treatment.

While we were at the hospital, there were some intersting animals that we met:

1) A jack russell that just went into full paralysis for no reason. After 3 mths of accupuncture, the JR can walk and even run and jump up and down chairs in the hospital

2) An owner actually brought her rabbits in for accupunture as it has also lost the use of its limbs

3) A golden retreiver who was there to do her hydrotherapy and her owner is going into the pool with her to motivate her (I will do that with Bianco this saturday as we got the idea from her. Dr Tan said that Bianco is a lazy swimmer... so I guess that we have to find alternatives to motivate him)

4) A JR was brought in as his hind legs suddenly went limb during a jog with its owner in the morning. The JR is unable to move and just laid on the flr.....

** Apparently what we found out was that conditions like these are very common in JRs.... so to all those owners with JRs... please take note yea....

Bianco's Update from Home - July 2 till 4

Picture 1 and 2: A walker made by my Dad for Bianco

Video: Bianco trying on the walker, but it is of a better use to support him so that we can do leg exercise for him

It's been 3 days since the last update.

The above was made by my Dad about 2 days ago. Initially when we introduce it to Bianco, he was skeptical and really scared about sitting on the walker. He cannot balance himself and each time he moves, he'll pull his body towards the front of the walker which can be rather dangerous. Therefore, he has to be fully supervised whenever its in use.

Today, he is more comfortable with the walker. But after a while, when he gets tired, he'll just lay limp on it while I massage his hind legs. In fact, I feel that instead of using it as a walker, it is better as a support to sit him in so that we do not need to have 2 person holding him and 1 person massaging his hind legs.

Bianco's bowel has been pretty good and everyday, he got some output...... and today.. interestingly, he output when I put him on the walker.... it was easy to clean him up.

Each time when I massage his hind legs, I would tickle him to see how his response towards the tickle is like. Today, he was able to pull back his right hind leg away from me when I tickle him. However, it was not so apparent on his left hind.

Tis morning, he surprised me by using his right hind leg to reach his ears and was trying scratch them. He managed to reached his ear... however, was unable to scratch it as there wasn't enough strength for that action to be made. In the end, I have to help him scratch his ear :)

It's close to a week since he came back from the hospital and tomorrow, we have another appt with Dr Tan for his follow up. Will have to update Dr Tan on his progress for the week and also find out what is wrong with Bianco's bark as it is almost inaudible. However, he is still able to yap pretty loudly........

I do see some slight improvements day to day and hope that he can regain some strength on his hind legs esp his left one. Guess we'll only know in due time........

Bianco's Update from Home - July 1

Picture: Bianco under his blanket

Top Video: Bianco playing around with his blanket

Centre Video: Bianco eating some snacks

Bottom Video: Bianco hates being blown at....

It's 2 weeks since his surgery and 4 days since he's been home. I am on leave starting afternoon today so that at least the next 5 days, there will be another person to take care of him other than Davion.

Hes been doing well so far but there isn't much improvement on him being able to walk. He was playing around with me after I got home and we took an afternoon nap together on the flr, including Tequila.

After his nap, we made him stand on all fours again and after resting for abt 45mins, I tried putting him in a bath tub filled with water. His hind legs are still not moving, but he used his front legs to stand in the water. We're not too sure when he'll start using his hind legs but we're trying to see what we can do to get him to hopefully use them as they're still limp.

However, I notice that he is getting into this bad habit of licking his little brother very often especially when he is leaking. So each time, we'll try to express out his urine to prevent him from doing that, or at least use his lickinn as an indiccation that theres still urine in his bladder.

Tis evening while he was happily eating.. he startin pooing at the same time, yet he didn't even try stopping for while .... it stained his sheets and we had to stop him from eating, change his sheets before he went back to eating.... well.. at least he poo-ed.....

Will see tomorrow how else to motivate him to move as currently, the only motivation is food... but we cant be using that as a form of motivation or him....

Will update yer guys soon... till then.....

Bianco's Update from Home - June 29 till 30

Bianco's been home 3 days now, today inclusive.

His appetite has improved quite a bit and hes drinking more water when we feed him from the bowl. Tats also a reason why he has been peeing a lot these few days. We have also started feeding him calcium pills and done a stew and blend of chicken necks as Concordia told us that the bones from the chicken necks are good natural source of calcium... but it has to be boiled really long to soften the bones.

Eating twice a day, he has yet to pass any motion as yet since he came back from the hospital. The last time he poo was last Friday evening when we went to see him. We stopped the calcium pills and chicken neck mix yesterday as we were concern that it might cause constipation. We were a little worried and called Concordia to check with her how can we help him to pass motion. She told us to add some olive oil to his food to help his bowels.

We did that yesterday evening during his feed and was hoping that at night, he would poo.. but he didnt... today morning, I was thinking that by noon if he does not poo, I'll have to call Concordia for further advise. My last 7 mins before I leave home, was spending some time with him and he poo-ed!!! It's amazing when he does little wonders like this to just ease my worry. The first was before his surgery and now this. Its funny how this little guy reassures just when it was at the height of a worry.

It was nice of Concordia to call today to check on Bianco and she was glad that everything is alright. At the mention of 'Aunty' referring to Concordia, Bianco will raise his ears and look around for her.....

We have also been doing his routine rotation of his joints on all 4 legs once every 2.5hrs.......hopefully it will help to strengthen his muscles especially on his hind legs. Today, as I was doing some stretching on his hinds, I spread open his paws wide and tickled him .... his muscles flex a little and there was some real slight resistance trying to pull back..... hopefully its a good sign

Everyday during his feed, we will support him to stand up on all fours while eating. Hopefully it will help on his digestion and also help strengthen his muscles everyday.

Will try to take some videos during his feed tomorrow as my leave will start Tuesday PM till Friday. Hopefully during tis week, there'll be more improvements before seeing Dr Tan on Saturday.

Bianco's Home - June 28

1st Picture: Taken while he was sleeping on my lap, on the way back home
2nd and 3rd Picture: Bianco and Tequila on Bianco's new mattress
4th Picture: Taken when they were taking a snooze at night

It was great to have Bianco home finally....

We went to see Dr Tan at 10.30am to speak to him and at the same time have Bianco discharged.

Bianco's temperature was back to normal but there was no session for hydrotherapy just to be safe and keep his temprature at check. When speaking to Dr Tan, he told us that he has spoken to a Neuro Surgeon who treats humans and he told him that it'll take about 2-6mths to see any improvements. In the meanwhile, he feels that Bianco, coming back home to us, with lots of TLC, would recover faster. We too hope so that he would as we will try to get him back on his feet ASAP (of course allowing him to take him time to do so too).

Dr Tan told us to come back a week later for a review and he will speak to us on the possibility of starting accupuncture for Bianco.

Bianco can eat normal food and recommended would be a mix of proteins, carbohydrates and vegs........and of course with his dosage of medication including all the vitamins, liver pills and anti-biotics.

We have to also incorporate the flexing of his muscles and joints from time to time as he can't use his hind legs as yet. So looks like we have to go trigger happy on his joints and muscles....

On our way back home, we had to get meat, fish, carrots and broccoli for him so that we can cook for him the next couple of days.

The moment Tequila saw Bianco, he can't wait to be let out of the kitchen. We settled Bianco on his new mattress and he was just feeling so tired.

It sure wasn't easy looking after him. There were a lot of washings to be done on the towels, a lot of changing of the pee pads from time to time so that his skin would be always kept dry.... and also a lot of cleaning him up after each pee.

As he is drinking a lot of water since he got back, directly from the bowl, he has been peeing quite a lot. Each time when he pees, we would have to stand him out to help him express out any urine that might still in his bladder. Otherwise it will cause bladder infection. However, he has not pass any motion yet.

His appetite is still good.. so for that we are not concerned about it.

A day's of taking care of him really left me dead tired at the end of the day. He slept in our room on the flr and I heard from Davion that he has been whining quite a lot during the night. But I guess I was so tired that I didn't hear any of it, considering that I was a light sleeper.

Looking at the amount of care he needs, its is definitely going to be trying and challenging.. but with the help of my love ones.. I'm sure that we can rough it out with Bianco......

Bianco's Update - June 27

Today, when we went to visit him in the evening, we were told that he has a slight temperature.... it could be becoz after the hydrotherapy, they showered him that caused it.

He has been feeling bored the last few days and looking listless..... but hes still eating and drinking well.

Even when we spent time with him tis evening, he was just dozing off. We just let him relax a little as we didn't want to aggravate his temperature to rise.

We checked with Concordia on what should his diet be and she said that Bianco requires the same nutrients as humans. That means rice for carbohydrates, meat, fish, vegs...... am surprised to hear that as I was told by a staff in a pet shop that it is not good to feed them rice.... hhhmmm

After we left the hospital, we went to get a few things for Bianco in preparation for his return tomorrow.. we bought for him a small pillow, a litte mattress and pee pads.... will have to get his diapers for him and calcium pills tomorrow.... and also do some grocery shopping for him.

When we got home, we cleaned the flooring so that it will be clean for his return tomorrow.

We have made an appt to see Dr Tan tomorrow and at the same time discharge Bianco. Dr Tan has informed Concordia that he would like to speak to us about the option of considering accupuncture. Guess, we'll have to see what he has to say on this tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, do keep checking his site as I will continue to update on his progress even when he is back home...

Do keep him in your prayers everytime.... THANKS!

Bianco's Update - June 26

First 2 pictures: Bianco feeling tired and bored

Next 2 pictures: His stitches were all taken off today as his wounds have already healed

Vidoe: Bianco trying to stand on all fours

Concordia called me this morning to inform me that they have been trying to stand Bianco on all fours. Although his hind legs has tighten a little, it is still weak.

The good thing is that he is able to be discharged this Saturday and come back home. They feel that he is getting bored at the hospital and is not making much progress if he continues staying. Therefore, they would rather he comes back home to us and would be more motivated to move more.

Dr Tan has spoken to a spine expert and both feels optimistic abt his condition.

They gave him a hydrotherapy this morning and hes still moving his front legs but not his hind.

We went to see him at night and he does look tired. Perhaps it was because of the hydrotherapy. Concordia thought that he was pretty quiet today, not much response from him till he saw us in the evening. She told me that today they suspended him on all fours for about 30mins. Perhaps that explains his tiredness....

However, we still make sure that he did some exercise with his legs, both front and hind.... just to try to strengthen them overtime. So with my bro's help, we tried to stand him again for about 3 times, each about 3 mins ... in 15mins frequency.....

We left when he was started dozing off.....

We will be seeing him early saturday morning to witness him doing hydrotherapy.. wil ltry to get some snap shots during his session.... ther are also many things to do in preparation for his coming back home. Therefore we will need to check with Dr Tan to see what he needs....

We cant wait for him to come back home.. .and I'll be taking leave to take care of him while his back.. and Dav will take care of him the next 2 wks... hopefully we'll be able to see more improvements during his time with us. I guess he would also need his weekly hydrotherapy..........

Bianco's Update - June 24 till 25

We didn't take any pictures these 2 days as there isn't much improvements on Bianco's condition.

Mt Pleasant have started hydrotherapy yesterday on Bianco for a short while. Initially I was a little concerned as he has never been in a pool before. However, they told me that he wasn't frightened about being in the pool. He managed to waddle a bit using his 2 front legs.. but his hind legs were still...... they also were hoping to see him using his hind legs and they think that perhaps hes still not ready to use them yet.

I have also found ticks on him and been told that its inavoidable since its a pet hospital.. they gave him frontline.. hopefully it will help to control the situation.

Today (June 25), I was told that they will not do hydrotherapy on him today since they applied frontline on him yesterday. At the same time, they didn't want to stress him up too much, in case he rejects the hydrotheraphy sessions. So, hydrotherapy sessions will be done on alternate days instead.

They have also stopped the injecting of medicine and fed him the medicines orally. Bianco is getting to know that each injection will inflict pain and he is trying to snap at them each time they inject him. Since he is eating it orally without much force, I told them to just continue with his oral feeds.

Bianco looked tired today and didn't feel up to doing anything much. We managed to get him standing on fours trying to place his hind legs standing.... his hind legs muscles tightened and he managed to stand up on his hind legs without support for a second or two. We hope that its a good sign..... we'll try to do that with him again tomorrow and will try to take a video/photo on us doing that with him.

Look out for that :)

Bianco's Update - June 23

Top Picture: Bianco's left hind leg with stitches and some bruises

Lower Picture: Stitches on the body where the insertion of the metal plate took place and bruises on the body caused by the accident

Today we spent time with Bianco, out on the hospital flr where he can shift his upper body left and right.

From the video, we can also see distinctive wagging of the tail that was not so apparent the last few days.

There's still no improvement on his hind legs. We tried standing him up but his hind legs were just limp and touching the flr like a puppet on strings.

Concordia told us that Bianco is not drinking water from the bowl. We tried to get him to drink water from the bowl and he did. I think he was just being selective on whos feeding him. We left him on the flr to just explore his suroundings. However, he did not managed to move much. It was still the left and right movements that we usually get from him. But what we observed was that he was able to bend more side by side then he did previously.

We are still trying to encourage him to use his hind legs. We will always try to stand him up so that he can feel the flr using his hind legs and hopefully see some improvements overtime.

Bianco's Update - June 22

1st and 2nd Picture: Bianco's cardboard taken off him
3rd Picture: Bianco eating some chicken meat off a plate

Bianco's cardboard has been removed today. This allows him better movements and he is able to explore his surroundings better.

He had also been rejecting water from the bowl. Therefore, Concordia suggested water to be added to his chicken, to entice him to drink some water. As seen in the 3rd picture, it worked! He was slurping it up and we just topped the water up for him before allowing him to eat the chicken.

We are still looking for signs on his hind legs movements, but still nothing as yet. However, we are quite please with his front legs movements tho he is not able to push his upper half body up with his front legs... guess we have to take it slow and see his progress.

Each time when we visit him, we will massage his legs and do simple joint rotation for all legs.

Bianco's drip and pee tube have been removed. Tho he is able to pee on his own, he still requires help to express his pee as the accident may have damaged some nerves or otherwise, his nerves around his bladder may still be sore/bruised. Hopefully overtime, he would be able to pee on his own.. but right now, he'll require the use of diapers and pee pads to keep him dry.

His wound is healing well and in about 3 days time, they may remove some of his stitches and try to get him to try hydrotherapy.

Today, we are encouraged to carry him out of his cage and seat him on our lap. We were advised to carefully support his body as it is still quite sore after the surgery and fragile.

Finally, hes able to feel our body warmth next to him and he was just feeling so relaxed.

Bianco's Update - June 21

Top 4 pictures: Taken at Bianco's recuperating area 4 days after surgery

1st Video: Bianco yapping away and drinking from a bowl

2nd Video: Bianco snoozing away after a long day.....

It's 4 days since his surgery and hes recuperating better. He's more alert now as they have taken the morphine off him.

He has also started drinking water on his own off the plate and his appetite is better compared to the last few days.

Bianco has been trying to move his two front paws, shifting himself from left - right - left. Although his hind legs still have deep pain sensation present after the surgery, his hind legs are still limp and unable to move, always being pressed down by the back weight of his body. At times, he'll just fall over on his side because the hind legs are not strong enough to support the lower half of his body.

They have changed to a better cardboard, wrapping around his body and have decided to not use a cast. Reason being is that with a cardboard, Dr Tan is able to check on his wound and stitches as and when required. His wound and stitches are recovering well and the cardboard may soon be removed.

His yapping has intensified and calls out to us more, whenever we visit and we have been informed that he is starting to get defensive and growling at nurses whom he is unfamiliar with.

But right now, he will still need to stay in the cage and not be handled too often so that the metal plate on his vertebrae can set in better.

Recovery at Mt Pleasant - June 18 till 20

Top 2 pictures: 2 days after the surgery (They had to partially shave Bianco as he was still panting heavily)
Last picture: 3 days after the surgery (They shaved him clean so that he'll feel more comfortable by keeping him cool)

After the surgery, Bianco was moved to Mt Pleasant at the Referral Centre as only Dr Tan's patients are kept there for recovery. They told us that Bianco will need to stay at the Referral Centre for 2 wks.... besides monitoring his condition, they will also need to access how much he can recover during these 2 wks.....

He started eating (some digestible chicken meat) on the 2nd day after surgery. His appetite is somewhat mild compared to his usual self but that is to be expected since after that horrific incident. However, he still have not started much water. Besides the drip that was on him, the water he drinks is given only through a syringe.

His front paws are starting to move a little and he can lift his neck up a little higher than before, to take a better look at us when we visit him. The nurse, Concordia, that looks after Bianco has also placed a fan in front of him to keep him cool so that it will help to regulate his panting. Fortunately, his temperature has remained normal....

Bianco has also started to yap when he sees us.... but his yapping sounded different.... it would be something he would do when he wants to 'talk' to us. I believe more so a complain for now really.... for awhile, Concordia thought that he was yapping in pain. But after awhile, she realized that he only does that when he sees my mum and me.

He has yet to wag his tail..but we are hoping that it will slowly progress and see some improvements over time. Slowly but gradually.......JIA YOU Bianco!

June 17 - Meeting with Bianco's Bone Surgeon

We met Dr Tan whos overseeing the surgery for Bianco.

It was about 10am in the morning as he ran through the x-ray that he had taken, which was clearer than the previous one taken at Sunset Way.

From the x-ray, he explained Bianco's spinal cord is fractured and that a surgery requiring the insertion of a metal plate has to be inserted to hold his vertebrae together. He added that we should make the decision soonest as it involves nerves that are living and any delayed decision may cause these nerves to die. Once the nerves are dead, it is really useless for anything. Besides this, Dr Tan also mentioned that there are other things to consider - the hefty cost of the surgery including the post surgery recuperation. The other thing that we should take note is the amount of care required for Bianco after the surgery.

Putting all these aside, my only concern was if Bianco can survive the surgery - the experience that he has been through since June 14, will it be too much for my little one, to put him through a surgery? Dr Tan said that Bianco has more than 90% chance of surviving the surgery.... the 10% is to consider his bruised liver and whatever complications that may occur during the surgery. With that 90% chance, we told Dr Tan to proceed with the surgery. As far as we are concern, keeping Bianco alive is our utmost priority and at the same time, giving him another chance at possibly being able to stand again.

We were told to go and see Bianco before his surgery took place. This little fighter of ours was calling out to us.... something that we have not seen in days .... sounds like an assurance to us that hes going to be alright.... and its a huge relieve to see a reaction like that from him before his surgery. I can't help it but it did put a smile on my face.

The surgery took about 3.5hrs and at 3.30pm that same day, I received a call from Dr Tan that the surgery was a success. However, the next 3-4 days will be critical, as they will have to monitor Bianco to see if he has any reaction to the post surgery recuperation.

We were allowed to see him that very evening but he was going in and out of consciousness due to the morphine that he was given. He has this cardboard wrapped around his lower body to give some support. There wasn't much response from him that day... but we were just glad that he made it through the surgery. For the recovery, we would have to take it day by day.