Star Hamilton dog with over 12,000 followers saved by MRI

Max, the Affenpinscher X Bichon Frise, is Instagram famous with over 12,000 followers.

A Hamilton dog with a large social media following had a brush with death this year.

Heidi Collins came home on January 13 to find her 11-year-old dog, Maximus (Max), paralysed.

Max has more than 12,000 followers on Instagram, many in the United States, who Collins calls her “dog moms”.

Collins said Max was barely moving. He was panting heavily and dragging his back legs behind him when he did move. She said it was “absolutely dreadful”.

The emergency vets said it was either intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), arthritis, or a spinal stroke.

“They didn’t know what it was.

Max after surgery at ARC Vets in Auckland, with Dr Georgina and Katelana. Photo / Heidi Collins

“They would hold him and give him painkillers, they didn’t have a plan for him and said they couldn’t release him to us because he was in so much pain. He couldn’t come home.”

With Max paralysed over the weekend, Collins felt stuck. Waiting until Monday wasn’t an option, but vets warned any treatment would be costly or they could put him down.

“I was like I cannot put my son down, this is terrible ... I was beside myself.”

Collins got in contact with her fellow “dog moms” who told her an MRI and neurologist were essential for Max.

She knew technology like that would be accessible in the US, but she didn’t know about New Zealand.

“At 3am, me, my husband and some dog moms were calling all these people figuring out what we can do, which is when they found someone in Auckland.”

ARC Vets in Freeman’s Bay, Auckland, did have the right machine and the family drove him up the next day under heavy sedation.

Max’s diagnosis was revealed after the MRI.

“It showed he had two ruptured discs and one entrapped nerve in the T13 and L1 spine which was significant. He wasn’t going to get better with painkillers, he needed spinal surgery,” Collins said.

“The MRI gave the specialist the ability to know what was needed and what area needed attention going into surgery. It gave us confidence that he was going to recover.”

The cost of the MRI, Collins said, was about $5000, and the overall cost was about $14,000.

She wasn’t sure about other pet owners, but said the cost was “worth it” to her.

A family selfie of Heidi Collins and her husband with their 11-year-old fur baby Max.

“He is the most important thing to us and without the MRI, Max would’ve suffered and we would’ve suffered. It saved his life.

“We got him when he was 3 months old and when I got him, I just knew I had to be his mum.”

Now, six months post surgery, Collins wonders if her Instagram-famous dog with over 12,000 followers would still be here without the technology.

She told Waikato Herald she aimed to raise awareness about MRI for pets, not having heard of it before, and only after learning about it from international pet owners when Max needed it. She said for Max, an MRI was “key” to an accurate diagnosis.

“The MRI took away all the assumptions of what he could have. Human error creates a lot more ... I guess it slows everything down and the MRI allowed the process to be as speedy as possible.

“He presented with this on January 13, two days later he had the MRI and then surgery the day after, it was a speedy treatment pathway.”

Max is back to his usual “rascal, naughty, and cheeky” antics, says his mum, Heidi Collins.

Collins said Max recovered well after surgery and was back to his usual “rascal, naughty, and cheeky” antics.

“He’s learned to walk again and put pressure on his legs, there’s a little wobble to it but he’s okay. The only thing he can’t do now is jump a lot, so he doesn’t aggravate his back.

“He’s not on any heavy-duty medication and now has a good quality of life.”

Collins believes there is no awareness of MRI for pets and thinks it should be talked about more.

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.