Jax Medical Emergency

WHATS GOING ON?

First off I want to say the outpouring of love and support for Jax brings me happy tears

Hello. Jax woke up yesterday (Sunday the 17th and was not able to walk. I did my normal routine and set his bowl of food up and took a shower. Normally when I get up it’s because he is asking for his meal. I woke up on my own and when I looked jn his bowl his food was still there. I figured he was having a lazy bones type of day. So I go pull back the covers and says good morning and he wags his tail. I tell him it’s time for food which usually gets him up like and running but this time it didn’t. He struggled to lift his front half up and scooted to the edge of the bed where I have stairs for him. He used his front paws to go down and his back end slid down. As he tried to get up he collapsed again. At that point it was very clear Jax was having serious complications and not his normal ones. When Jax was a puppy he tore both ACLs which at the time he wasn’t even a year old and they gave me the option of 2 very expensive but usually successful surgeries or I could have him put to sleep. Option 2 was not even a thought, I vowed from that moment on no matter , this dog is going to live a long healthy life. At times his knees limit him on what he can do but other than that he has lived an extremely happy life.

He is on a special diet which has him just under weight so that his knees are never an issue unless he runs around all day. At 9 years old he looks like he’s 5. Which is why this comes as a surprise.

EMERGENCY VET VISIT:

Dr John answered the emergency line for the animal mansion seeing as this was a Sunday, no vets were open. He unfortunately couldn’t help but referred me over to Harmony Animal Hospital who had a doctor that was about to go into surgery but waited for us to show up so Jax could get diagnosed. After some blood work and a new laser technique to treat pain we still had no answers. We had blood work done and sent away to check for anaplasmosis which is a tic borne disease that he has had before which displays symptoms like this but never to this extent. We were given 5 medications. Prednisone, some muscle relaxers and something to help him urinate. Mind you it’s been close to 24 hours without using the bathroom. We used a stretcher to get him into the car and brought him home. Made him a nice bed and I sat up with him almost all night. Around 12 am I got in touch with my vet through facebook and was told to come in first thing in the morning.

DAY 2 - VET VISIT #2

The next morning there is no change, if anything he has gotten worse because now he is full of food and wants to use the bathroom but can’t. I had no one around so I had to lift him into the car at which point he was in so much pain and was screaming bloody murder. We got him to the vet and they immediately got him out and put into a room and we started to diagnose what’s wrong with my beautiful baby. The anaplasmosis test was positive but we expected that since it just tests for anti bodies meaning at some point Jax had anaplasmosis. The test from the first vet which is being sent to a lab will be able to confirm if he has it currently or not.

The doctor did x rays which didn’t show us anything to be worried about. American Bulldogs are known for having hip/back problem due to the way they sit. As of right now we have no idea what is going on.

The doctor said that when a dog gets anaplasmosis that it usually will attack the weaker part of the body in this case it would be Jax back/knees/hip. He’s home now in bed sleeping.

He’s on 6 different medications to help with the pain. He currently has a catheter and can’t walk without the assistance of a sling and Me holding his back end up. So far the bills are over 5000 and there is no diagnosis. I just hope my dog is ok and this ends up just being a bad few days.

I’ve had a lot of people reach out and offer financial help. I’m always used to giving not getting so it melts heart that people are giving to help Jax out.

I will post updates as I get them. Thanks for being apart of our journey although it’s not exactly. It’s bitter sweet to see how many people care it just sucks to see it because my best friend is hurting. Thank you all so much for the kind words and suggestions. They were relayed to the vet, especially people suggesting a blood clot which he didn’t completely rule out but based on symptoms and everything he’s done it doesn’t appear to be a blood clot. Thank you all so much.

UPDATE #3

They are saying it’s definitely disc related and want to do an MRI. They also offered to euthanize Jax. That was not an option for us.

The vet later called and told us that Jax has a herniated disc T3-t4 which is compressing 8% of his spinal cord. He was prepped for emergency surgery. He’s a fighter and has always been one.

UPDATE 4:

Jax is out of surgery. They said it went well there was a lot of blood so it was hard to see the extent of the damage. Now the hard part begins. The next couple days are crucial in his recovery. They said there is a 30 percent chance he will be incontinent and need a wheel chair. I believe he’s going to come out of this with a full recovery. I know my Dog and he’s a fighter and will make a full recovery. It’s gotten very expensive.

UPDATE 5:

The day after surgery he is still not able to put any weight on his legs. He has a long recovery ahead of him. He is eating and taking medicine. He will continue to stay in the hospital for a few days while we prepare for him to come home and arrange for his recovery.