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Now We Know What's Wrong W/ Jackson


Guest VelvetEars

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Sending lots of prayers, Meredith. Glad you could get him seen last night.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest Spencers_Greyt

Poor Jackson! I have never heard of that problem with the lungs! Wow! I hope things will resolve themselves! Hugs to you both!

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Guest VelvetEars
In people, we do an esophagram - swallow contrast and look for leaks with x-ray. If no contrast leaks out, we assume a partial tear and treat by resting the esophagus (nothing by mouth). If contrast does leak out, it usually needs to be fixed. I would just check with your vet and make sure it is part of his/her differential (list of possiblities).

 

Here is a link I found that discusses pneumothorax (air in a lung cavity) vs pneumomediastinum (air in the mediastinal space where the heart, esophagus, and great vessels are).

 

edited because I clicked "send" too soon

 

Thanks for the link. Very helpful. I had a hard time finding good info last night when I got home. I will def ask about a contrast xray tonight.

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Hugs and scritches from us too, Meredith. You should have a ton of good Lucas karma to draw upon in this situation! ;)

Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13).

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Guest VelvetEars

just checking in. nothing new to report. he's resting, which is good, although it makes my heart hurt to see him unable to flop down like usual. he does the "meet'n'greet" lay, with his head on the floor and his back legs just barely to the side. seems to be the best way for him to breathe.

 

got him to eat a little canned food this morning - wanted to cushion his stomach from the tramadol (just overly cautious). other than that, he's not interested in stuff like dry food or cookies. makes me wonder if there is a tear in the esophogus that makes it painful for him to eat crunchy stuff. he's had a little water. not much. so the wet food will help w/ the overall water intake.

 

it's hard, too, not to have him following me everywhere, laying in my lap and competing with the laptop for space. he's on the floor by my feet. i've probably spent way more time watching him breathe today than working. i just feel so helpless. and i'm terrified that he's not going to get better.

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Non-stop prayers coming your way from The Girls at our house. Hope today's xrays show improvement.

Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p>

:candle ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK :rivethead

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Guest VelvetEars

back from the vet. if there's improvement, it's very slight. the vet reviewed yesterday's films with the head vet at the clinic, and he thinks it's a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). the biig question still remains -- why? it's something they'd expect to see if he had sustained major trauma, like being HBC. I asked for a barium contrast on the xrays - didn't show any leaks. so we've ruled that out. we're going to do panacur, just in case he had some strange parasite (the only way to test for them is invasive and requires going into the lungs, which i'm not interested in doing). I'll keep him on the tramadol as needed, keep him quiet, and take him back for a recheck in 2 weeks, assuming he's not getting any worse. if he does get worse, then we'll have to talk about aspirating some of the air w/ a syringe, which can have bad outcomes.

 

do you think this is something that Dr Couto would consult on? is it worth giving him a call? i'm going to check w/ our regular vet tomorrow morning, just to see if he has any ideas. the vet who saw him last night and tonight is stumped....but appreciates my willingness to test and try different things. (as though i have a choice, really?)

 

worst case scenario is still cancer. nothing obvious on Xrays, but that doesn't mean it's not lurking somewhere. could require a CT scan to diagnose. but for now, i think i'm going to just be conservative and play the "wait and see" game.

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