SherylM
Completely Boxer Crazy
Its been a while since I posted anything about Jack. Just thought I'd take a little time and fill you in. As expected Jack's DM is progressing. He now has muscle wasting in both of his rear legs. His flanks looks so skinny. There is very little resistance in either leg when you try to manipulate it. Therefore he is extremely wobbly when he walks and he crosses his back legs while walking like he doesn't now where his feet are being placed, thus he falls a lot. He actually looks like a drunken sailor when he walks. He is refusing to adapt to a special rear harness I have for him, its called a Hartman Hip Helper. Every time I put it on him he freaks out and tries to scramble out of it or if we are outside he tries to run for the door. He will not do his pee or pooh in it. Because of this he has to be supported when he's taking care of business. And if we aren't right behing him when he doing it he, he will fall right over and into. We always have a huge supply of baby wipes at the back door!! And he gets a lot of showers! We do have a cart for him which we are trying to get him to take care of business in the cart but he's also resisting that. He will shake and cry like crazy while he's in it, then we take him out, he does his business and will gladly go back in. Brat!!! We put him in the cart now when he gets his meals because he can't stand long enough to eat. He's pretty happy about that, he waits patiently for me to get him strapped in and then charges for his food dish. He does not like the cart when he's outside on our property, he refuses to budge, he would rather stumble around on his own, but if I put a leash on him he knows we're going for a walk and he races in that cart like there's no tomorrow! All this is the crummy stuff that breaks my heart. The good part is he still HAPPY! His eyes are bright and clear. He happily wobbles across the room to steal Indy's bone when he's not looking, and then will fiercely protect it when Indy tries to take it back! He never misses an opportunity for a treat when he hears Joe in the kitchen, but if he's too tired to get up he makes sure his neck is stretched up as high as it will go so you will be sure to see that he wants some too. Thankfully his appetite is still pretty good. We have non skid runners all over the house so he isn't slipping on the hardwood, we call it Jack's runway! We also have beds in all the rooms so we can take him from room to room with us so he doesn't miss out on anything. He particularily likes being downstairs on the couch. This room is carpeted and he gets around a lot easier there and its easier for him to get to his water bowl (which he drinks a lot of). Its also very cozy in front of the fire! We do have to carry him up and down the stairs! However the other day when I was putting the dogs in their crates when we were leaving to go out he managed to slide down all 13 stairs by himself so he didn't have to go in his crate! Brat! Usually we have a baby gate at the top of the stairs to he doesn't fall as he is wobbling by them. You can tell by the way he walks that he probably won't be mobile for very long, but if we can just get him doing business in his cart or with the harness on, he'll be mobile for a lot longer. The very sad thing about this disease, like Multiple Sclerosis, it effects all the muscles and take away the ability to walk or do things for yourself, but it doesn't effect the brain. He is very, very alert. When I see him so alert yet hardly able to walk, it breaks my heart. It was June 2007 when he was diagnosed and they told us he would probably only be with us for 6 - 12 months. Its almost 8 months and I sure hope they were wrong.
