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Thread: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)- Jackson gained his wings

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    Spring Valley, Il
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    178

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Hi Julie! Good to hear about Jax but sorry to hear he is having problems. I haven’t posted on the the site for months, only because Annie has been stable and I guess I didn’t want to jinxed it. I hope you guys are ok in Chicago. We are just holding our breath here in Spring Valley. Blessings, Karen

  2. #32
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    Jun 2018
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    Chicago Suburbs
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    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Hi Karen. So good to hear from you and to hear that Annie is doing well on her meds. I searched through posts yesterday to see if I could find a recent post from you and see how Annie was doing. Jackson is my first dog as an adult and I will be honest, I am struggling watching him age and wondering if I am going to know when life becomes too hard for him. I have a lot of cries just anticipating that awful day. Ok, that is too much heavy stuff.
    I’m surprised to hear you are still in Spring Valley. I thought you were planning on moving back closer to grandkids.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    rural central ARK
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    14,549

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Hi Julie,

    Good to hear from you and Jackson again!

    My Squirt developed dementia in her latter years and it was heartbreaking to watch. The worst was when late afternoon and evening came. She had what in humans is called "sundowners" which caused her to be extremely restless and disconnected. She would pace for hours on end even tho I could see how badly it hurt her to keep moving....she simply couldn't stop until she was exhausted. Then often as not, she'd rest a bit and be back at it for a few more hours. I couldn't reach her at all during this either, it was like she couldn't see or hear me. She was 15 when this started. We did use Anipryl and it helped a little bit but what really worked was an OTC product that is sadly no longer available called Novifit. It was a stable SAMe, meaning it could be taken with food for one thing. I called the company and asked them what made their product different from regular SAMe and they explained that it had to do with the molecules. I sat on my end of the phone and nodded "sagely" but didn't understand a word other than it was something about the way the molecules were arranged that made it different from the typical SAMe. I just googled to get some info on it for you and find that the company that makes it, Virbac, has kept the trademark current and some sites are saying it is available only thru a veterinary prescription now. But others still say it is unavailable. It is referred to as Novisame now too so hopefully these small changes mean something positive. I would contact Virbac and talk to them. It was a miracle for my Sweet Bebe! I will tell you that it did not work for all dogs tho. But I used it in two of mine and in both it worked like a charm. So it is worth looking into. I would also ask Jackson's vet if they know anything about it or would see what they could find out about it. Here is a link that give contact info:

    https://www.drugs.com/vet/novifit-s.html

    I also gave a product called PS100. Here is some info on it:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2966935/

    As for the therapy for muscle improvement, I would check and see if there was something available in your area that could do hydro especially that was not in a vet setting. Some place that he wouldn't associate with the vet at all. Some areas have these sort of spas for dogs I guess you could call them that do offer hydro, massage, and other things that might help without causing him added stress. We were lucky in that we had an above ground pool we could use and it did help. Squirt hated it but it did help quite a bit to build up a little mass and help her have better control. I would carry her to the far side of pool, let her go and do my best to beat her to the other side where we would start all over.

    Let us know how he's doing and especially if you learn anything about the Novifit/Novisame!
    Hugs,
    Leslie
    Last edited by Squirt's Mom; 08-20-2020 at 08:51 AM.
    "May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"

    Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Chicago Suburbs
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    26

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Leslie, thank you so much for the info. I will definitely be looking into the meds. I believe Jackson is experiencing Sundowners as well. He gets very anxious in the early evening and paces and whimpers for what seems like an eternity. I do feel Jackson would benefit from some therapy so think I will also see if there is an alternative to therapy that won’t be at his vets office.
    Thank you again. This is such a great group to be a part of. I know I will always get knowledge and kind words.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Spring Valley, Il
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    178

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Quote Originally Posted by jaxr0806 View Post
    Hi Karen. So good to hear from you and to hear that Annie is doing well on her meds. I searched through posts yesterday to see if I could find a recent post from you and see how Annie was doing. Jackson is my first dog as an adult and I will be honest, I am struggling watching him age and wondering if I am going to know when life becomes too hard for him. I have a lot of cries just anticipating that awful day. Ok, that is too much heavy stuff.
    I’m surprised to hear you are still in Spring Valley. I thought you were planning on moving back closer to grandkids.

    Hi Julie

    OMG! You just took the words right ought of my mouth! Annie is 12 now,by the grace of GOD, but she has been through the worst of it and she still wants to go for rides in the truck with her dad to Starved Rock.
    I “m so glad you posted your fears because those are what I think of every day.

    Annie also has cataracts and will see her eye doc in Elgin,Il next Mon. I’m hoping for the best, which is stable. I won’t go because of COVID. When Jerry gets there, he phones in and they will pick Annie out of the truck and bring her back when she’s done .


    We are still planning on moving back to Kansas City when it is safe. I just cannot get my head around this virus stuff. We are so safe it’s laughable. Yesterday Jerry was working in the garage and he had a phone call on our home phone. Well I put on my mask, hand him the phone with gloves on , and he just looked at me like I was an idiot-which I was. I’ll own it.

    Anyway, back to Jax, you mentioned a med I never heard of and I wrote it down to ask my vet—I have noticed trembling in her hind legs. I’m just like you Julie—Blessings to you and your family. Karen

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Chicago Suburbs
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    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Hi Everyone -

    I've been struggling to sit down and write this post but I am hoping it will be cathartic. Our little Jackson gained his wings on 2-14-21. He would have been 15 in May and we had him for 14.5 of those years. We helped him pass at home in his bed on his favorite blanket. That day and the day before we ate cheeseburgers and ice cream and gave him as much love as we possibly could. It was as peaceful as the worst day of my life could be.

    Life was getting harder for him which was making his anxiety worse. His sight was going, we don't think he could hear much and his back legs were SO weak. He had been using a ramp to get in and out of house since late summer because he no longer could navigate the stairs. He started declining more rapidly in December. His legs now couldn't support him long enough to finish his meals. It was really hard for him to get up and out of his beds. He would fall and then panic and howl when he couldn't get himself back up. He was starting to lose control of his bowels and would occasionally poop in his bed when he was sleeping. He also had canine cognitive dysfunction which the vet wasn't really treating because his liver was too compromised for most meds. We did our best with CBD and melatonin but it wasn't very effective. Most mornings he was up between 3 and 4:00 and there were many nights when he would pace, pant and whimper for hours on end. It was hard to see him struggle but I wasn't ready. My husband and I were having the hard conversations but it took a trip to the vet for a previously scheduled senior check up to snap me out of my denial.

    Due to coronavirus, a tech came out and got Jackson along with a long list of items written on a piece of paper, that I wanted to talk to the vet about. We stayed in the car waiting for the vet to call us when she was with Jackson. The tech came out fairly quickly after taking Jackson in and she said the doctor wanted us to come in. When we met her in the exam room she said she wasn't going to put Jackson through any type of exam, blood draw or anything else that was going to stress him out more than he already was. She said there was no reason to. There was nothing medically that was going to bring back his quality of life. I started crying (ok, lets be real I was bawling). My husband inquired about in home euthanasia, she recommended we start tracking the number of good days versus the number of bad days, but honestly that day is a blur.

    We gave ourselves a few more weeks with our little guy but when the bad days started to outnumber the good we didn't want to see him suffer any longer. I am definitely struggling since his passing, feeling guilty and questioning if there was more we could have done but I know deep down in my heart that we gave him the best life possible and it was time.
    I apologize for any missing words or typos. It's hard to see the screen through my tears which have been falling since I typed the first word.

    I am so grateful I found this group when we were trying to figure out Cushings. It is a wonderful source of information, love and compassion. I can't thank you enough for guiding us through the tests and trials of living with a Cush pup. I'll still be out here following along with everyone's journey and prayer for the well being of all the pups and those of us who love our pups beyond words.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Glen Cove, NY
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    1,941

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    I'm so sorry, Julie...I'm crying reading this. You did everything you could for Jackson and he knew you loved him, that's what matters more than anything. Making that decision is just so hard and when you were ready, you let him go.
    Joan, mom to my Angel Lena, Angel Gable, Angel Phoenix, Angel Doree, Cooper, Sibble, and now Raina.

  8. #38
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    Jun 2018
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    Chicago Suburbs
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    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Thank you for the kind words Joan. Every day I feel like my heart heals a bit.

  9. #39
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    Jan 2016
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    Glen Cove, NY
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    1,941

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    That's good...you will be able to remember and smile. It took me years, but I can. I still cry for Lena a lot, but it has gotten easier. Sometimes it's harder, but I've gotten used to missing her. There are days when it still hits me so hard that I can't talk about her, but then there are others where I want to talk and hear what everyone else remembers about her. She was a huge part of my life and I will always love her.
    Joan, mom to my Angel Lena, Angel Gable, Angel Phoenix, Angel Doree, Cooper, Sibble, and now Raina.

  10. #40
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    Apr 2009
    Location
    Georgia
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    15,292

    Default Re: 13 year old dog with "Cushings Light" (words the vet used)

    Oh Julie, I’m so sorry, too, for your loss! We so appreciate you coming back to tell us, though, and I do hope that having the chance to write to us may have brought you at least a bit of comfort. When I lost my two babies through my years here, I know that coming here to share my grief was one of the few things that did help me to ease my burden of sorrow and regret. So I hope the same will be true for you. I don’t think it’s humanly possible not to feel regret and not to second-guess our actions. But as Joan has said, all your decisions for Jackson were made out of your love for him, and you were doing your very best to keep him as happy and healthy for as long as you could. No doggie could ever ask for more.

    Although his passing is so sad, we are grateful to be able to join you in honoring Jackson here on our special memorial thread of honor:

    https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/sho...Us-(2020-2021)

    If it would please you, it would be our privilege to add a photo link to his memorial line. Whenever you might wish to do so, you can send us a photo at k9cushings@gmail.com, and we’ll take care of the rest.

    In the meantime, I truly hope your loving memories will keep Jackson forever alive in your heart and in your mind’s eye. Now that his spirit has been released, I hope the picture you’ll always envision is him running strong and free, healthy and whole.

    Sending many hugs to you from across the miles, Julie. Thank you so much for all of your kind words about our group. And please know that we’ll always be here for you, any time you want to talk.

    Marianne

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