Border collie Jack passed away on February 28, 2022

[peggy0]

Re: Jack the project!

Poor Jack. Times like this when you wish you could explain what the heck is going on. I know you'll do what's best for the poor guy, whatever that ends up being

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

Well, Natalie, you ARE having a difficult time! Decisions, decisions! with the situation being a bit muddy! Not fun! To Marianne - it's great to see you back on the forum - give us your news some day!

Natalie -I'm delighted you got to say hi to Dr. Nancy Kay! She had mentioned somewhere in her blog, first, that she highly appreciates forums like this one, where people study in depth, and also, that she likes to have people introduce themselves to her.

Jack certainly is being a trooper - good for him! Yeah, it's hard! That was a really long haul for him. (Hang in there, Jack; hope the MetaCam gives you some relief in the interim.)

Natalie - I had written a post I had to give up for some reason, or maybe I wrote it to somebody else - guess so - even on a different forum - but - Kwali and Kumbi each had ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments, a year apart (2004 for Kumbi, 2005 for Kwali). This was a clear-cut situation, unlike Jack's. The ligaments required repair.

My own vet did the surgery, not being a surgical specialist, though she does specialize in Internal Medicine. Another of her vets assisted.

Neither Kwali nor Kumbi, once recovered and healed, showed any sign of pain thereafter - for years! - the knees held, painless, till each died.

Of course, I gather it's not known whether Jack has something that surgery might fix! The whole thing sounds very, very tricky.

If ever you need a Patience Hat, Kwali and Kumbi will make you one, and Camellia will adorn you with it. She's never seen one of those things before. She will donate a Patient's Hat to Jack. He's earned it! Kumbi took his to the Bridge, where he wears it from time to time.

Love and hugs,
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:17:02 (PDT)

[pgcor]

Re: Jack the project!

Natalie - when I read "But I would feel terrible to find out 10 years from now that we could have relieved him of pain and medication with a single surgery that would allow him to run and jump and cavort pain free all those years"...it dawned on me that those feelings are what drive me nuts about diabetes.

It's those moments when you're not sure you doing the right thing and they can't talk!!!!!!!!!

I hate that, and I feel for you and Jack. But Natalie, no one has to tell you to follow up and read all you can and go the extra mile - because you automatically do that.

I'm sorry you have to wrestle with this - it really does suck, But you don't need a pep talk from me - maybe just a little reminder of your skills, you know you have that!

What I can't believe is that 7 hours or so of tension didn't put that boy down! I think Pip would have gone for a nap by then.

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Jack the project!

Hi Nat,

Poor wee Jack I hope he has recovered from the journey and all the manipulations.

I pray everything works out for you's Nat you really deserve it

Hugs to you all

Margaret

[Patty]

Re: Jack the project!

But I would feel terrible to find out 10 years from now that we could have relieved him of pain and medication with a single surgery that would allow him to run and jump and cavort pain free all those years.

My sense is that the docs think the scenario where a surgery would fix it is not all that likely, but since they can't identify the source of the pain, they can't rule it out either.

So this week we get Jack back on Metacam and think about whether we want to follow this diagnostic path all the way out.

I'm glad they were able to narrow down the source of his pain somewhat. Definitely a difficult decision in deciding how to proceed from here. And not an inexpensive one if it turns out the Metacam truly is the best solution for now. A lot of questions/unknowns.

Guess I'm just offering my support in your decision making process and understanding it's not an easy one.

Patty

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

Jack is one very very tired boy today.

We left yesterday at 9am and were at the vet's from 11am to 2:30pm (Jeff and I did skip out for lunch quickly while waiting for the surgeon to have a chance to check Jack, who stayed at the clinic while we were gone so he was ready when she was). Got home at 4:30pm. Between four hours in the car nonstop standing up looking out the window and three and a half hours at the vet with two different people contorting Jack's limbs in every direction, he's exhausted.

Natalie

[buddingartist]

Re: Jack the project!

Natalie, I am just catching up on the posts.

I am so sorry you are having to go through this. Having just lost a furry friend and worrying about another one is emotionally exhausting like you mentioned in your post and I feel for you.

Despite all this, you are selfishless and still find the time to help others. You deserve a great big special hug. Thank you

Hope you and Jeff can find a solution to alleviate Jack's problem and giving him the best of quality of life. I do know Jack couldn't be in better hands

Louise

[k9diabetes]

Neurology visit

We had our second appointment with the neurologist today after Jack had been off of Metacam for a week. The neurologist was able to see the kinds of gait issues that occur without the NSAID - Jack walks stiffly, rolls his hip, sometimes limps, and bunny hops when he runs - and he got some reaction from Jack when he manipulated the right rear leg between the hip and the knee.

It's still not completely clear what the problem is other than it's definitely in that right rear leg and not in the mid-back area where the damaged disc spaces show up. He had their surgeon manipulate the knee and hip and she agrees that there's something going on in there but it's not clear exactly what. They both agree that the knee feels really stable and there's no obvious sign of problems with ligaments, etc.

It's possible that there is pressure on the nerve root coming off the spine down into that limb.

Because our appointment was later in the morning and then there was a delay while waiting for the surgeon to have time to take a quick look, we didn't want to pursue any further diagnostics today and wanted time to think about what we want to do.

The next step would be x-rays of the rear right leg from the knee up to the spine in that area, with anesthesia since he wouldn't hold still for those positions anyway, and then, depending on what was seen in the x-rays, put him into the MRI.

Basically to cover all of the bases and just be absolutely sure there isn't something that could be fixed surgically.

Jeff is not at all sure he wants to go there. I have mixed feelings. I would like to know what is causing the pain so I know what options we have for dealing with it.

As I told the doc, Jack does okay on Metacam. Not great... but okay. It's not that we couldn't get by with things as they are. But I would feel terrible to find out 10 years from now that we could have relieved him of pain and medication with a single surgery that would allow him to run and jump and cavort pain free all those years.

My sense is that the docs think the scenario where a surgery would fix it is not all that likely, but since they can't identify the source of the pain, they can't rule it out either.

So this week we get Jack back on Metacam and think about whether we want to follow this diagnostic path all the way out.

Sidenote: Got to meet, just very briefly, Dr. Nancy Kay!

Natalie

[rhodesian46]

Re: Jack the project!

Hoping for some good news Nat. There is going to be a solution to all this. They are going to get Jack better. I just know it!!!!

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

Yeah; what Patty said!

Dr. Kay will want to say hi to you, so ask for her, if you get the chance! I'm going by all she said when she was a guest on the Yahoo DogRead group, and also in her blog.

I'll be watching for your report - waving our magic wands here!

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:24:17 (PDT)

[Patty]

Re: Jack the project!

Prayers for your guy Natalie. I imagine he's going to be a tired, sore pup tomorrow. Hoping it yields some answers.
Patty

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

Our second neurology appointment is tomorrow.

Jack has definitely been in pain this week. He limps or walks stiffly at times and he's been subdued and a little "edgy" in that his tolerance for fearful situations is not as good. This is something we saw in October too, before we had him on Metacam every day.

I'm hoping for a chance to say hi to Dr. Kay also.

Natalie

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Jack the project!

Natalie,

Poor wee Jack it must have been painful for him............I am hoping and praying for a good outcome to this Natalie.

Jeff was his protector he was looking to Jeff to say "Don't let this guy hurt me"

It would be nice to get a proper diagnosis..........I know how you feel

Hugs

Margaret

[Soaphie & Sydney's Mom]

Re: Jack the project!

You do have a tough week coming up - please keep us posted on how he is doing. I sure hope you can capture some of the moments of pain on video.

Good luck Natalie!!

Tami

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

I think I like this vet who examined Jack. I like the thoughts and the plans. And I LOVE it that Jack leaned into Jeff!

Jack is tired? (haha!) You also must be really, really tired; yet you continue to help others on the forum.

Sounds like a bit of a tough week coming up, but undoubtedly worth the experiment. I'm also very glad to know Dr. Kay's hospital has such a good neurologist. OUGHT to have, in theory at least, but it seems to me the guy is excellent; I like the approach.

Now, for about the umpteenth time tonight, I'm off to bed - shortly, anyway!

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 21:43:10 (PDT)