Jack Again!

[silverfish]

I won't ask when it will all end, because I'm afraid of the answer to that one.

 

Jack is having a health crisis. So soon after we got over the scare of his back end going all wobbly on him, too.

 

It's his breathing. He's been getting a little more raspy over the last months, especially when he's excited. We've been saying 'well, he's an old man'. Yesterday, he was feeling so much better after the acupuncture that we let him off the lead for a very short walk in the field, and he was so loving it, just ambling about for the first time in about two weeks. Then the silly old guy did a little bouncy run - only about ten yards. His hind legs and spine are fine, but he suddenly went into some kind of spasm and he simply could not haul breath into his lungs.

 

We got him out of the field, and DH went and fetched the car while I rang the vet to tell them to expect us straight away, and - wouldn't you know it - as soon as we got him into the car and he laid down, it all stopped and he was breathing perfectly normally when we got to the vet.

 

Now, as it was an emergency, we had to see our least favourite vet. To be frank, I don't much like or trust her. She insisted it must have been his heart and said the usual 'enlarged heart' 'slight murmur' stuff. I kept trying to explain to her that the problem was in his throat, that I could HEAR the wheeze was coming from his larynx, but she brushed me off. I asked her why, if his heart problems were mild, as she said, it could result in such a dramatic and scary episode. She (you guessed it) brushed my off and said 'heart problems can be like this'. She wanted to keep him in for observation, but, as I said, I don't like this vet so we chose to bring him home for obs, since he was perfectly normal at the time. She gave us theophylline, and fair enough, in an episode, it might well help with oxygenation, so we took them and gave him one when we got home.

 

Last night for no real reason, it happened again in a fairly minor way, so, as it sounded to me like LP and as I thought I remembered readying that the larynx can swell during an episode like this, we wondered if taking him out in the cool air might help. WRONG. He almost immediately got 100% worse and his ribs were heaving as he tried desperately to drag air in. DH took a short video, and I rang the vet - this time, as it was after hours, we got our original vet, who is the practice head. I explained what had happened, and played the vid over the phone to him. He agreed it sounded like inspiration, not lungs but larynx and said, no, almost certainly not heart. After hours, we have to leave a message and have the vet ring back, and naturally (although it was only about ten minutes) he'd stopped again by the time I was talking to the vet, so I didn't ask him to come out.

 

So. Here is his video. Does this sound like LP to you? It's not as severe as the two episodes where I called the vet, but it's the same noise. Notice how, at the end, he is quite suddenly breathing normally again.

 

Click

 

We're taking him in for investigation under sedation/GA this morning. I have a feeling they're going to say LP, although there is of course the possibility it will be cancer - or if we're really lucky, maybe nodules or cysts on the vocal cords.

 

Any good thoughts, prayers, white light, or whatever you feel appropriate to send his way would be most appreciated. Thanks, everyone.

[Bevd]

I don't have any experience Judy but just wanted to send lots of good thoughts for Jack when he has his investigation

[Batmom]

I'm sorry he's having an issue.

 

You might PM madeara and KennelMom as they've both dealt with LP.

 

Sending gentle scritchies and best thoughts to your sweet boy.

[dante2zoe]

Healing thoughts coming your way. You have had enough in your home. I don't have personal experience with LP, but my sister's lab did. She eventually had the tie-back sugery (she moved to a high altitude area and it made it too difficult for Kiva). The surgery was a success. She had to be careful with feeding and whatnot, but Kiva lived for several years after that and passed due to old age and other, non-related, factors. Please keep us posted.

[Guest vahoundlover]

I'm no help either. Sending lots of prayers

[Fiona3]

Your Jack is such a lovely boy. I don't have the experience either but just want to send good thoughts to you and Jack. I hope the examination will give you some answers and a way to treat his breathing difficulties.

[silverfish]

Thank you all for your good thoughts. We've dropped him off for the day, and the vet examined him thoroughly before we left. He was doing some heavy raspy panting, but he seems to think it may be his heart after all.

 

Wish us luck! I'm to ring up at about 4pm - that's UK time, of course.

[ZoomDoggy]

It could have been an LP crisis by your description. My Chancy had LP. During my self-imposed crash course on the topic, I learned that it is not uncommon for LS dogs to also develop LP (Chancy also had LS). If your Jack has had recent flare-ups of wobbliness caused by LS, it seems easily possible that he is now having LP crises. Especially if he was already a "raspy" breather as you described.

 

For Chancy, keeping her cool and calm was key for a good long time. Thankfully, she never had a major breathing crisis episode, just gradually got harder for her to breathe. When she got to the point where her breathing was just too difficult, she had unilateral laryngeal tieback surgery. In her case, my only regret was not having done that sooner.

Edited January 28, 2009 by ZoomDoggy

[Burpdog]

Trevor would pass out and I'd rush him to the vet and he'd be ok by the time we got there. I thought I lost him so many times

 

If it is decided that he has LP, get some valium to give him rectally when he has an episode.

 

Is it possible this is allergy related since he got worse outside? Or, perhaps the stress of moving him outside shut his airway down more?

 

There is a way they breathe that sounds different than a normal dog. Kind of a very soft roar.

 

Sending lots of prayers.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Sending many good thoughts for Jack

[dmswartzfager]

It sort of sounds like LP, but not quite. I have a video of Frazzle from early on in his LP, before we knew what it was and before he had that raspy breathing any time he was walking - you can't really hear it until halfway through, once he's done playing with his toy -

.

 

Thinking good thoughts for Jack.

[MerlinsMum]

I'm so sorry to hear this, Judy I'm afraid I've not experienced LP at all, so I have no advice, but I wanted to send you :grouphug anyway.

 

I guess you'll be calling the vet in just over half an hour, let's hope the news is not too bad. I am sending lots of good thoughts your way, and have my fingers very firmly crossed for Jack.

 

 

[carronstar]

Sending many good thoughts and prayers to lovely Jack.

[gazehund]

Keeping Jack in my thoughts and prayers Judy. Please let us know what the vet has to say.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Sending many many good thoughts for your sweet old fella

[Remolacha]

Judy, I am so sorry Jack is having more problems! I have no experience with LP, so all I can offer is

[MP_the4pack]

My old Lady Onyx had a tieback 2 yrs ago. She's now 13 and going strong. I noticed a change in her bark, raspy panting during walks, etc when I took her in to be checked.

 

Other than no crumbly food, there's little maintenance.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

[Guest jettcricket]

Prayers for your sweet old man....

[Guest TBSFlame]

My old girl Tessie had LP. I can tell you those spells are the most scary thing I have ever gone through. I thought I had lost her several time. Tessi spent the 6 months of her life laying under the AC unit. She was happy to just lay there as she was a homebody anyway and hated to go anywhere. There are a few things you can do. Keep him calm, no more running lose, use a harness, valium, I have heard that oxygen will help. The only thing to do is tieback surgery. The problem comes when both sides of the larynx becomes paralyzed. This is what happened to Tessie. By the time we got her to the E vet her lungs were filled with blood. They knocked her out but could not get the oxygen level in her blood back up. The thought was that something else was going on. She was 13. We let her go. I have lost 2 dogs to osteo but this was horrible to watch. She hated vets. That is why I elected to not do the tieback surgery. I now wish I had. If it is LP and you think you might want to do the tieback surgery don't wait too long. The only way to dx it is to knock them out and look at the larynx. Good luck to you and your baby. I am so sorry he is having to go through something else.

[crazygang]

Checking in to see how Jack is after his vet appointment...........Sending healing prayers.

 

Both he and you are going through it lately [hugs] from us.

[Guest LoveMyJoseyBean]

Good thoughts and prayers for Jack.

[Guest D_MansMommy]

Oh Judy I have no experience with this. All I can offer is good thoughts and prayers for sweet Jack. You and Andy are in my thoughts as well

[Xan]

Thinking of you and Jack!

[MandysMom]

No advice, just lots of prayers.

[duncan41]

I think most of us are in the same boat - no experience but sending monsterous prayers for you and Jack. We will be waiting for an update.