By NOEL MURPHY
MEET Monty the peripatetic paraplegic pug and his pusher.
After surgery failed to fix his spinal problem, owners Sheridan and Nathan Billings, of Clifton Springs, put a simple stroller to good use as a simple prosthesis.
“He’s a paraplegic with no use of his back legs – his little tail doesn’t curl up anymore when he’s happy,” Ms Billings said.
“It’s kind of breaking my heart.”
The couple spent more than $5500 trying to make Monty mobile until they adopted his makeshift chariot.
“Pugs are real people dogs – Monty follows me everywhere,” Ms Billings said.
“He follows me from room to room with a bit of miserable look on his face. If I put him in his stroller he can come around with me most places.”
Monty was eight years old and already wobbly when the couple first brought him home last year.
They used massage and doggie chiro to ease his strife but his condition deteriorated this winter.
A CT scan detected “wonky” vertebrae blocking messages from his brain to his legs, Ms Billings said.
The couple is making up for his condition with TLC in spades, posting almost-daily images of Monty on Instagram or Facebook.
“His spirit is inspiring,” Ms Billings said.
