Real-Life Sawtelle Dogs

Oscar

Our Sawtelle dog is Oscar. We rescued him from a pound in Phoenix. One day, I came home from work and noticed Oscar dragging his back leg. We took him to the ER vet, and they sent us home with a prescription and a diagnosis of bulging disc. The next morning, we called our vet as Oscar had completely stopped moving.

Oscar had degenerative disc disease, was paralyzed and underwent spinal cord surgery. Oscar survived but remained paralyzed. He was outfitted with a wheelchair and remained happy. We swam Oscar, massaged his legs and performed our own physical therapy at least three times a day.

That summer, (we run a girls summer camp in Wisconsin) before 145 girls, we vowed Oscar would walk for them if they sang loud enough. We chanted in unison, "Slide to the left, slide to the right. Oscar, Oscar, fight, fight! You'll walk tonight, you'll walk tonight." We took him out of his wheelchair, and I promise you, he walked!

— Pamela