Story

Thirteen chapters. Two Frenchies. One June.

The full memoir of Babi and Juju's IVDD year, in our voice, with cited clinical evidence braided in.

Act one · Ch 01–04

The onset

3 AM on 11 June 2025. Juju starts panting. By morning, she yelps when I touch her neck.

CT scan, two days later. Multifocal IVDD across the spine. The conservative call.

Two weeks of crate rest, gabapentin, meloxicam, and watching for the signs that this isn't going to be enough.

Babi at 4 AM, two weeks after Juju. Different vet. Same signs. The household runs two protocols at once.

Act two · Ch 05–07

A pause for the reader on a different path. What happens when the dog can't recover.

When conservative isn't working and the conversation shifts. The clinical and emotional math of saying yes.

9 July, 5:45 PM. Drop-off. The hours of waiting. The phone call that says the surgery is over.

Act three · Ch 08–10

Post-discharge. The crate, the body leash, the medication schedule, and the first week home.

Late July. The signs return. The medication cycle starts failing. The decision to re-scan.

5 August. The second ventral slot at C4 to C5. Different vertebra, same dog.

Act four · Ch 11–13

The playpen, the body leash, the Tapo camera, the seven-day meal prep, the structured walking. What ran for two months.

Babi at the two-week recheck. Juju graduated. What recovery is, what it isn't, and what it lets you do.

If I could go back to the first yelp. The five things I would say. None of them about the medicine.

All thirteen chapters were drafted between June 2025 and April 2026. They go live on the site as we finish editing them.