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It’s drizzly and gloomy today, but I don’t mind a bit because the sun is shining in my heart. Finally, after a difficult month, my sweet Bubba is able to walk again. Not far, but he can easily get to the end of the street and back with his tail wagging. His gait isn’t pretty to watch, and we go very, very slowly (think Tim Conway’s old man slow), but Jack is himself again. He wants to go out and explore all the smells and as of yesterday, he’s able to lift his leg again to leave behind a smell or two of his own. The past few weeks Jack has had to pee standing up and he couldn’t direct the stream, which he found frustrating. I found it frustrating, too, because he often peed all over his front legs, requiring a post pee sponge bath several times a day.

We’re very lucky to have a good vet whose clinic is nearby. She has started Jack on an injectible bone-building drug called Cartrophen in addition to an oral anti-inflammatory and Tramadol for pain and collectively they’ve set Jack back on track.  He’ll never have his light prancing gait again, and our future adventures will be smaller, but he’s happy and comfortable, and I can finally take a deep breath. I know we’re entering the difficult times in the life of a big dog, but for today the wind is at our backs and life is good.

©voyager, all rights reserved

I’ve been struggling to write this post for 2 weeks, but I can’t keep putting it off, so here goes.

Jack and I haven’t had many adventures over the past month because Jack’s gone lame. The problem is mostly with his front end somewhere, but we can’t quite pin down the problem, and his walking is continuing to deteriorate. It may be due in part to the return of Larry the Lump (warning – the bottom photo is gory), who has taken up residence in Jack’s Rt. elbow, but his left shoulder is also inflamed. We see the Dr. again tomorrow, and hopefully, an x-ray will give the vet a better idea of cause, effect and treatment options. He has been started on pain pills, and they allow him to rest comfortably at home, but he isn’t himself.

There is some small good news, however. We have successfully weaned Jack off of his steroidal allergy tablets and onto a plain cetirizine (Reactine) tablet, which means he’ll soon be able to take an anti-inflammatory to help with his arthritic hips and knees. Right now, it’s one day at a time, and I’m letting Jack decide how much he wants to do. On a good day, he goes to the end of the street and back, but on a rainy day like today, Jack only wants to go out to the yard.

About a month ago, when things were better, I took Jack to the wee woods for a walk and did some videotaping while we were there. I’ve put together a small youtube movie of our walk, and I’ll be releasing it on Saturday, Dec. 5th, as part of our Winterfest celebration. It’s my first attempt at videography, and there was a pretty steep learning curve, but I’ve managed to put together about a 5-minute clip that I’ll be releasing on Sat. Dec. 5th as part of our Winterfest celebrations. It’s nothing special, but I’m damned proud of myself for learning a new skill, and some of you might even enjoy it. I had hoped to add singing to the end of the clip, but Jack isn’t in the mood to sing right now, so that will have to wait for our next video. In the meantime, I’m hovering over Jack and waiting on him hand and foot. I’m also struggling with the existential crisis of figuring out what happens to Jack’s Walk if Jack can’t walk.