Waiting...

I actually have lots to write about- Elliott just turned 10 months old, I spent all weekend working on a project with my new sewing machine, and we had a reunion with our Mom and Baby group yesterday- but instead I'm kind of holding my breath until we hear from the vet.

When we woke up yesterday morning, Jack seemed fine. David took him outside, and when he came back we noticed Jack looked a little stiff. I thought maybe the cold weather was hurting his joints or something, because he sort of shuffled up the stairs and into the kitchen. David gave him breakfast, and he ate it and laid down. Then we set out to fix the issue of the dead battery in our car. We had a friend come over and jump the battery, and David went to go replace it.

Elliott and I were settling in to play, and I noticed Jack was sitting down and looked like he was dragging his bottom across the floor. I was about to yell at him to stop, but then I realized he was really trying to get up to come over to us. He couldn't seem to get off the floor. I ran out and stopped David to come look at him, and he helped Jack stand up by lifting his back legs. His right leg didn't seem to do anything, but his left leg shuffled him across the floor. His body swayed toward the left leg shakily, and he came over to us slowly. David checked him for pain and he didn't seem to have any. I called the vet while David went to the auto parts store, and I decided we would take him in tomorrow, since something was definitely wrong, but he didn't seem to be hurting and was eating and not sick.

Later that afternoon, Jack hadn't moved that much. He could get to his back legs after trying for a while when we checked him out, but by 5 pm he couldn't get up at all, couldn't support his back legs, couldn't go to the bathroom when David carried him outside. We fed him his dinner and I watched as his front legs quaked trying to support his weight while he tried to lower his head to his bowl. He still managed to eat his dinner and drink some water, but it was obvious that he was getting worse. David took him to the emergency clinic at the vet. I had to sit at home with Elliott and google everything I could find about a dog suddenly losing the use of his hind legs, finding everything from a spinal injury to hip dysplasia to a saddle thrombus. Nothing looked super promising.

When David came back he said that Jack had to stay in the vet while they ran tests and gave him medicine and tried to figure out what was wrong. Our house is too quiet. There are no clicks on the hardwood, no water bowl scraping the kitchen floor, no squeaks from Jacks decapitated duck. I miss him.