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Jeffrey Orlando Pug Rescue Jeffrey is a sweet 2 year old pug boy that has a Cyst on his spine and a bulging disc from an injury when he was a puppy. He has very little feeling in his back legs, but he doesn’t know he’s different from other pugs. He is a calm, loving, endearing guy that likes to catch a ball; play with his dog friends; chew nylabones; and hang with his human 24/7. Jeffrey’s spinal problems create two challenges for him everyday: WALKING: The Cyst is pressing down on his spinal cord and interrupting the messages from his spine telling him to move his legs properly. He has done his best to overcome the walking challenge and at least for now he gets around pretty good. Being young he still has the strength to pull him self around. He can’t go very far or very fast and when he does try to go fast, he often scrapes the tops of his feet raw. FECAL INCONTINENCE: He doesn’t know when he has to poop. He stays on a regular feeding schedule to reduce the number of surprises. But it’s not his fault. The poor buddy wants to be good; he just doesn’t get any warning. Everyone that meets Jeff loves Jeff and we were no different. When he arrived at OPRA we took him to a local Neurologist but they basically wrote him off. Fortunately, we didn’t give up. We kept digging for information about Jeffrey’s past until we came up with enough information for a second opinion. When I asked one of Jeffrey’s favorite Vets, Dr. DiNatale in Winter Park, to recommend a different Neurologist, she recommended Dr. Hopkins, a Neurologist in Jacksonville. She thought he was the best, and now, so do we. Based on Jeffrey’s symptoms, Dr. Hopkins felt a MRI was warranted and the MRI revealed his spinal problems that can be treated surgerically with Jeffrey having a very good chance at a normal life. This surgery is rare but has had an 80% success rate. Now comes the challenging part for both Jeffrey and OPRA. Jeffrey will be in the Hospital for at least 5 days after surgery. Then he will probably be totally paralyzed for 2-3 weeks, due to inflammation in the spine. Then he’ll have restricted activity for awhile. OPRA has arranged for a 6 month payment plan to buy us some time to raise the funds to pay for Jeffrey’s bill, which when all is said and done will total between $6,000 and $7,000.