Lucie inside her Point Chevalier home waiting for a treat. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n
From the hind legs down she is paralysed, a condition that happened in unknown circumstances \u2013 Greta was told by her previous owners that it was from cancer in the spine \u2013 and required a life-saving surgery at a cost of about $10,000.<\/p>\n
After paying for the surgery, managing Lucie\u2019s condition became too difficult for the older couple.<\/p>\n
When Gislason saw Lucie\u2019s profile advertised at a rescue centre in 2021 she fell in love with her good-natured looks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted a golden retriever and when I saw her that was it, I knew I had to have her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say the first two months were a challenge. I cried every day because I thought, what have I done? This dog is actually paralysed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like having a newborn baby, nappy on, toilet every few hours, and that was not what I was expecting. For some reason I just didn\u2019t think it would be as intense as it is. I think I was a little bit naive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owner Greta Gislason and Lucie: the pair are inseparable. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n
She had to adjust to tasks such as carrying Lucie up the stairs and knowing her toileting routine, as she also suffered from constant urinary-tract infections at the beginning and needed consistent vet treatment.<\/p>\n
After five healthy years, Lucie\u2019s cancer has returned with a tumour found in her spleen in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never stopped her, she\u2019s paralysed but she\u2019s just a normal dog apart from that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why we haven\u2019t put her down with the diagnosis of cancer and her getting increasingly sicker, is because she\u2019s still so happy and normal. She\u2019s eating, she plays with her toys, she goes on dog walks, she still goes swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Herald on Sunday followed Lucie in her wheelchair to a field by their home, that becomes immediately clear \u2013 she bounds across the lawn fetching her favourite ball and races happily alongside Gislason, who always walks her without a lead.<\/p>\n
It is phenomenal the bond the pair have; Lucie obeys Gislason\u2019s every command and watches her attentively, as she lifts her out of her wheelchair and helps her into the house with her dangling hind legs.<\/p>\n
Lucie has learnt to navigate smoothly in her wheelchair and easily runs to fetch balls. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n
Lucie shows no signs of pain with her condition as she hurries to pull out a squeaky toy from a box in the lounge and then offers it in her mouth to the Herald\u2019s cameraman. <\/p>\n
She is always sidling up to people for a cuddle, and Gislason has noticed that children often will respond with great interest to Lucie on her walks, they always want to know what happened to make her paralysed and if she is in pain.<\/p>\n
Gislason is finishing a postgraduate diploma in psychology and also works as a dog walker. Lucie is the pack leader on these dog walks and is often the first dog in the water and keeps the new recruits in line.<\/p>\n
Healthy Pets New Zealand trustee Dr Cath Watson says, for vets, the timing of when to put an animal down is not a simple, straightforward decision, and often it will be based on discussions about the quality of life of the dog and also the family who are caring for the animal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hard question to answer because there\u2019s no hard and fast rule for it,\u201d Watson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith some cases it\u2019s very clear cut and you know it\u2019s time, but some pets have a slow progression of symptoms and you have to monitor their condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPCA Hawke\u2019s Bay centre manager Tamra Hay says their teams have a lot of success rehoming special needs pets and animals with medical requirements.<\/p>\n
They have rehomed blind and deaf kittens and puppies, one-eyed cats, animals missing limbs, and puppies and kittens with cerebellar-hypoplasia, a condition that causes a lack of co-ordination.<\/p>\n
Part of this is helped by social media, as the SPCA teams have found sharing the backstory and details of an animal can help to generate interest in these cases, to find a specific home or adopter that can manage the extra workload.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important the new owners understand the extra responsibility, veterinary care, exercise regime and dietary requirements that animal will require, Hay says.<\/p>\n
The expensive pink wheelchair Lucie wears was purchased through a community fundraiser. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n
Watson says there are some people who go to amazing lengths to care for animals and show incredible commitment.<\/p>\n
Particularly in her career as a vet, she has noticed people coping with animals with ongoing skin conditions are an incredible example of this, as intensive care regimes and maintenance are required for pets with skin diseases.<\/p>\n
She also sees examples of people who hold on to animals for too long. Often this can be because they are living with a sick animal and the subtle decline isn\u2019t obvious until an outsider such as a vet notices and tells them it\u2019s not okay.<\/p>\n
Deterioration in quality of life can happen over time or quite suddenly for animals, she says.<\/p>\n
Gislason knows from working at dog rescue centres that it is often hard for deaf or blind dogs to get adopted because of their higher needs, and she wishes more people would be open to the idea.<\/p>\n
From her own experience, she knows it is extremely hard at the start but just takes settling down into a rhythm with the additional care before it becomes natural and isn\u2019t an arduous task.<\/p>\n
Showing off her favourite ball. Gislason says Lucie’s personality is “a true diva”. Photo \/ Corey Fleming <\/p>\n
Watson says pets with disabilities are a common sight for vets, such as three-legged dogs or cats missing a paw, and because dogs have such terrific other senses often they can cope a lot better than humans with loss of eyesight or hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s all sorts of disabilities out there from an animal perspective, but they just get on with life.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also extra costs that come with these lucky pets.<\/p>\n
Gislason had to fundraise for an expensive wheelchair early on in Lucie\u2019s life, and because she has now become incontinent from the progression of her cancer, she wears human nappies around the house.<\/p>\n
There are no dog nappies, so Gislason purchases human ones and cuts holes in them for Lucie\u2019s paws.<\/p>\n