Swan

@SwanTheFrenchFrenchie

Swan is a French Bulldog from Peronnas, France. He is four years old and lives with Intervertibral Disc Disease (IVDD). Swan has been paralysed since August 2017 after suffering several disc herniations.

The first herniation was operated on in April 2017. Swan recovered very well  from the first operation and walked perfectly. One morning in August 2017, Swans owner, Coralie, woke up to find Swan's in her bed with paralysed hind legs. She was operated on emergency to two relieve two new hernias but unfortunately did not recover the use of her hind legs as well as his bladder.

Can you describe what a normal day with Swan looks like?

Swan lives with his family, David and Coralie in a small apartment of 55m2 with an outdoor terrace of 30m2. Until a few weeks ago, and since the first signs of hernia in 2016, Swan was sleeping in a cage. Today, she has several small beds in the house and goes from one bed to another.

Swan's morning routine starts early, around 5am, before we go to work: We empty her bladder, clean her private parts, clean her bed or the floor if she pooped, we fill her bowls, and finally, of course, give her full of hugs to start the day !

At about 12am, I have a break at work allowing me to go home. Same routine: empty the bladder, clean, hugs and more, I install Swan in her wheelchair and open the door for her to walk between the apartment and outside on the terrace. I take this moment to eat and afterwards, we play or do physiotherapy exercises for a while before taking a nap together.

At 4pm I go back to work, before leaving, new bladder check. Then, David returns from work around 6pm, always the same ritual, check the bladder, clean if necessary, etc. He plays a lot with her and her stuffed animals, in her wheelchair or not. And when I get home from work at 7pm, everyone is excited!

In the evening Swan never leaves us, always in our paws, she follows us to the shower, around the kitchen, everywhere! We usually finish the evening with all three of us on the sofa watching Netflix. Before going to bed, we empty Swan's bladder, hug her, put her in her bed, wish her a good night, and in general, a few minutes later, we can already hear the snoring.

How do you spend your weekends?
Weekends usually look like week days because we also work regularly on weekends (I am a nurse and David is an educator and a volunteer firefighter). But we usually take this opportunity to go to my parent’s house, who have a large garden, where Swan can run with her wheelchair, let off steam, walk around and play with my parents yorkshires.

​What products, tips or tricks would you recommend?
The first thing we recommend is a wheelchair. It has really changed and helped our daily lives, both in Swan and us. It gives us more freedom and it's perfect. For the rest, it's finally just a matter of habit and organisation. The first weeks after paralysis, we were afraid that our lives would be completely upset by all this.  It has changed of course, but over time, we found our balance and the handicap isn’t a brake for Swan, or for us. 

What advice would you offer someone who has a dog in a similar situation?
It is always difficult to give advice in cases like this. You have to be aware that disability requires a lot of time, money, organisation, concessions. I remain convinced that it is much more difficult for the masters than for the animal. Swan has adapted so quickly to her handicap, it's incredible, she has never been sad or weak, she has always remained the same: joyful, playful, greedy, cuddly and lively! So I would say that before making the choice to "accept" or not a disability, you must be certain that you will be able to commit (at all levels: time, money, etc.) and if your animal will also be able to adapt (if he is sad and unhappy, I feel that he should not be forced to live that kind of life). There is no good or bad choice to make, you just have to listen to yourself and listen to your pet and you will make the best choice for all of you.

What does the future hold?
Swan has been doing hydrotherapy, laser and physiotherapy for 5 months now. Her sensitivity has improved considerably. She has even started to reproduce a walking motion! We still have hope. If she manages to walk again, all the better! 

Follow Swan's adventures on Instagram @SwanTheFrenchFrenchie

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