Paralyzed Missouri Tornado Dog Walks Again

Joplin Dog Walks Again

May 22, 2011 was a day that Joplin Missouri high school teachers Steven and Debbie Leatherman will never forget.

As tornado sirens sounded around them, the Leathermans quickly headed to the safety of their concrete-walled storm shelter basement with their 10-year-old Cocker Spaniel, Sugar. Sugar quickly became panicky however, and bolted back upstairs to her own “safe area,” a spot under one of the beds. Debbie Leatherman tried to pursue her, but Leatherman’s husband grabbed her and pulled her back into the safety of the shelter and closed the doors above them.

Minutes later when they emerged from the shelter, debris was all that remained of their home and their beloved Sugar was missing.

Thankfully however, a few days later it was learned through a Facebook page that a dog resembling Sugar had been taken to the Joplin Humane Society. A good Samaritan had found the injured animal in a flooded storm ditch several blocks from the wreckage that was the Leathermans’ house. Paralyzed, Sugar had been unable to pull herself to safety and was in danger of drowning had she not been rescued when she was.

As the Joplin Humane Society was unable to care for Sugar, the Leathermans rushed her to the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, where veterinary neurology technologist Stephanie Gilliam and Fred Wininger, an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery examined her. There it was determined that while Sugar had no use of her hind legs, she did have pain sensation in her paws. It was then determined Sugar had sustained a traumatic T12-13 intervertebral disc rupture and required immediate surgery.

Within hours, Wininger performed a surgical procedure known as a hemilaminectomy, which allowed him to decompress the disc that was pushing on Sugar’s spinal cord.

Two days after the surgery, Gilliam, who provides rehabilitative therapy to veterinary neurology patients, began electrical stimulation on Sugar’s hind limbs to help prevent muscle atrophy. Sugar received the treatment once per day for seven days. Gilliam also began underwater treadmill therapy once per day to find signs of movement in the dog’s hind limbs.

Then on June 6, two weeks after the tornado, Sugar began to show movement in her hind legs for the first time. Gilliam and the neurology team continued the underwater treadmill therapy once per day and started additional therapeutic exercises to help Sugar strengthen her muscles.

A little more than a week later, on June 14, Daniel Leatherman collected the family’s beloved pet to continue her recovery at home. “We are so warmed by everything that has been done,” he said. “It has given us back our family.”

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files

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Hmelanie6323
Hmelanie6323
12 years ago

This was so wonderful that ya’ll was able to help sugar,hope she is getting so much better,god bless you sugar

MarshallFamily4
MarshallFamily4
12 years ago

Yeah Sugar! So happy for everyone. Thanks to everyone that came together to insure that Sugar lived to tell her story. Awesome!

Heather Blackburn
12 years ago

go Sugar! i really hope she goes from strength to strength, blessings to her and her family.xx

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