My Lovely Old Jack

[silverfish]

Poor old Jack did the splits with his back end and couldn't get up today, and he was crying. We had to get his harness on and DH had to support his knees before he could get to his feet.

 

I do hope this isn't the beginning of a big problem with his back end. He's been a little saggy from time to time, as the old ones are, and he's on Previcox which seems to help him a lot. But because of his gastritis issues, it's a few days on and a few days rest.

 

I can not lose another one so soon!! He's thirteen ...

 

The vets over here don't seem to do the depo-medrone spine shots.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Oh poor fella Have you tried acupuncture? It made a world of difference for Boss.

Will Keep Jack in my prayers.

[turbotaina]

Sending good thoughts for your boy.

[IndyandHollyluv]

Poor Jack. My Indy, 11, has mild to moderate LS and disk protrusion. He is not a candidate for surgery (and I wouldn't subject him to surgery at this point anyway), so neurologist recommended a three-drug cocktail. I was concerned about all the potential adverse effects so instead have given him Tramadol and Metacam as necessary.

 

In November, I took Indy for his first acupuncture treatment (I live in the US). Returned for a second treatment in December. So far so good. I am going to take him monthly. I imagine more frequent treatment is recommended, but it's the best I can do.

 

Don't know if there is a vet who offers acupunture in your corner of the world, but worth inquiring. Otherwise, be generous with meds and keep him comfortable.

 

This is for Jack.

[scullysmum]

The vets over here don't seem to do the depo-medrone spine shots.

No...We weren't able to find a vet that would do the depo shots for Ben's Jupp....does he have LS? (sorry I am not always up to date with all the different seniors health issues) or is it just arthritic changes? Ben found that Adequan injections helped his old girl Charmant with her arthritis...in fact the difference was truly dramatic, would that be an option for him?

Edited January 19, 2009 by scullysmum

[gazehund]

Oh no Judy!! I worry constantly about this with Future on the ice this time of year. So far, so good.

Please give Jack a gentle kiss from me and here is a for you

I am sure you are very scared for your old man.

[silverfish]

Thanks, everyone.

 

The reason I'm so concerned about Jack - apart from the obvious - is that one, he is such a twitchy little soul that I'm not sure we'd be able to do acupuncture, and two, he has gastritis and we're having to be very very careful with his arthritis drugs. Metacam is awful for him, and Previcox works well, but has to be rationed or he pants and paces and occasionally throws up. He's on Zitac for the gastritis.

 

I talked with the vet about the Adequan injections, and he said that sadly, he could react the same to that, and then he'd be in trouble because it's so long lasting. I'm not sure whether to risk that or not.

 

So, what do you think? Should I ask for a referral for him? I seem to always end up asking for referrals and I don't think the vets like it much. Trouble is, for two out three of the previous dogs, it proved that we had indeed missed something. One should have been picked up (Susan's kidney cancer) and one was picked up on the MRI (Renie). I don't want to always be the pushy owner, and I don't want to subject him to unnecessary testing, but I also do NOT want to miss something that can be treated, or miss getting some more specialist advice.

[patricia]

Sending prayers for Jack. Kiss him for me.

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Poor old guy! Spencer did the splits not too long ago and it hurt him as well. Was Jack on tile flooring? I try to minimize the amount of time Spencer has to spend on tile as he has a hard time with it. Give Jack a hug for me!

 

 

[silverfish]

No, not in tile. He was on Flotex (industrial carpet - we have it in our lounge because of 'old dog' accidents, got it for Jim ) and a sheepskin rug. His back end was over the Flotex. He just frog-legged when he tried to stand.

 

Thanks for the hugs and kisses.

Edited January 19, 2009 by silverfish

[Guest Beth]

Our male has arthritis, and we get him acupuncture treatments as needed. He, too, is a nervous sort, but he rarely reacts to a needle going in. We also give him Adequan shots - I'm sorry that the vet seems to think that could interact negatively with the gastritis meds, because it does our guy a lot of good. If you can find a canine acupuncturist, I'd recommend trying that. Although it sounds odd, the acupuncturist may be able to alleviate the gastritis somewhat. The Chinese have been doing it for centuries, so there must be something to it, no?

[Guest jettcricket]

...prayers for your sweet boy.

Edited January 19, 2009 by jettcricket

[Remolacha]

I am going to push the acupuncture as well. I took Sugar for her back end issues. She was painfully shy and hated being around anyone she didn't know, but she did very well with the acupuncture. Nervous the first time, but fine after that. My acupuncturist said she had actually done it on cats, rabbits, and ferrets! It helped her backend weakness, her incontinence, and her bad heart.

for Jack

 

[Guest Tenderhearts]

Oh dear! I have no advice but am sending tons of gentle hugs to sweet Jack from over the pond! :grouphug :grouphug

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Thanks, everyone.

 

The reason I'm so concerned about Jack - apart from the obvious - is that one, he is such a twitchy little soul that I'm not sure we'd be able to do acupuncture, and two, he has gastritis and we're having to be very very careful with his arthritis drugs. Metacam is awful for him, and Previcox works well, but has to be rationed or he pants and paces and occasionally throws up. He's on Zitac for the gastritis.

 

I talked with the vet about the Adequan injections, and he said that sadly, he could react the same to that, and then he'd be in trouble because it's so long lasting. I'm not sure whether to risk that or not.

 

So, what do you think? Should I ask for a referral for him? I seem to always end up asking for referrals and I don't think the vets like it much. Trouble is, for two out three of the previous dogs, it proved that we had indeed missed something. One should have been picked up (Susan's kidney cancer) and one was picked up on the MRI (Renie). I don't want to always be the pushy owner, and I don't want to subject him to unnecessary testing, but I also do NOT want to miss something that can be treated, or miss getting some more specialist advice.

 

I know you said that Jack is twitchy but I, along with a lot of other people, recommend you try acupunture for him. It has helped Spencer tremendously and I can't say enough good things about it!

 

[silverfish]

Thank you, everyone. I'm taking him in to the vet tomorrow, because he has a problem with his eye, too, so I'll ask about the acupuncture then. I'm willing to give it a try. Jim had acupuncture, and it did help him, for sure.

 

He's doing OK for now. We waiting till this afternoon before walking him, and we took him for a very gentle, short pavement walk. He was quite stiff setting out, but I massaged him as well as I could, and as he walked, he freed up quite nicely. He's been fine getting up and down since, so hopefully it was just a glitch ... but one that I expect will happen more and more as he ages.

 

It's hard to know what to do for the best. Limiting his exercise more, will just mean that the muscle he does have will atrophy and make the problem much worse. But clearly, too much exercise would be a big no-no. Compromise .. I guess that's the key.

[Xan]

No advice but hugs!

 

Well, maybe one thought: How about something sticky - booties or goo or something - for his feet, to help avoid slipping? I've got a TheraPaw cushy paw slipper for Wabi, and I think it helps. There are also Pawz, those rubber balloon-like things. They're pretty cheap, too, which always helps.

 

Hoping you all get some relief soon.

[silverfish]

Yeah, we have some Pawz. They're very good .. but there's no way I'd get one on Jack. When I say this dog is twitchy, I mean he's really twitchy. I have to cut his nails two or three at a time and stop when he gets too stressed, or he starts screaming and thrashing about. Our vet refuses to try to cut them at all.

 

Jack panics. And when he panics, he throws himself about and has been known to 'frog-leg' as a direct result of that. Sadly, his feet are one of the areas he really, really hates being touched.

[gazehund]

I am glad you are taking him to the vet Judy. Hard to decide what to do for the old timers for the many reasons you have already brought up. I had to take Future to the vet recently. I hated to do it because he hates riding in the car so much now. But he was losing weight and I couldn't just let him waste away to nothing. We did numerous senior tests, all coming back negative. Best we can determine is he is just getting older and his system does not work as efficiently as it once did. His weight has since stabilized and he has even gained a pound or two.

 

I had to know that though.

 

Good luck with Jack. Please let us know how you make out!

[Peppersdad]

Hugs and prayers for jack and yourselves

[silverfish]

We just got back from the vets. On his very short walk this morning, he began to fall on his bottom, and stagger as if he was drunk.

 

Seems he has some neurological signs, he knuckles on his rear feet, and sinks when examined. He's hard to read though because he's such a twitchy old guy that he'll sink anyway, just because. I don't like the knuckling though. He picks up his front feet PDQ when those are turned over, but not the back ones.

 

She doesn't think there are any fractures, or any major damage, but is reluctant to put him under GA at his age to find out for sure. For now we have Vetergesic for him and he's comfortable. If he gets worse, or fails to improve in four or five days, then we may have to see a neuro. *sigh*

[Batmom]

Sending prayers for your boy, Judy.

[gazehund]

More good thoughts for you and Jack Judy. Good to hear he is comfortable. Please keep us posted in Jack's progress.

[crazygang]

Oh Judy, I'm so sorry to read lovely Jack has hurt himself, the poor sweetheart.

 

I definitely 100% think that accupuncture is worth trying.....it helped my old girlie a lot.

 

Sending healing prayers for your lovely boy.

 

Snowy sends woofs and licks to Jack too.

[SAVED2]

My big boy Andy has done the splits twice now on the slippery floor , he screams , I pick him up buy his stomach then he goes out and runs like normal it has never hurt him.