Jezi Today

 A chat with Beth the vet this morning has given us a plan of action. She suggests we take Jezi off the previcox for a couple of days to see if they are affecting her stomach. She said that vomiting is not a normal side effect of her condition and is concerned that something else is going on. I am very careful to always give Jezi her pills in food, she said if I need to I can give her paracetamol twice daily for 2 days. Beth also reminded me that without an X-ray there is no proof that Jezi has an osteosarcoma, it was her conclusion on the day and from what we reported, but without an X-ray she can't possibly be certain. Yes, I've always had that in my head, but it was always easier to believe she had it than maybe try to hide from it. With Jezi's lameness being less apparent now, we have considered the two options, the painkillers are doing a great job or that what was/is hurting in her leg was not osteosarcoma. People who saw her in April would agree she was in a lot of discomfort, and we expected that to increase, but it hasn't! 

So what is going on? Jezi is clearly not well. Her temperature is Ok, her colour looks Ok, but she is in obvious pain, her expression is enough to tell us that. She has vomited several times again today and has not eaten, she is lethargic and quiet. When I let her out to go to the field this morning, she came bounding out enthusiastically, but only got as far as the caravan and stopped. Loki and I continued, and I left her to decided for herself, she eventually followed but walked behind me like an old dog, oh hell I know she's an old dog, but she wasn't like this a week ago. As I set off for my second circuit, Jezi came home. I found her again lying out by the bathroom window, she'd had enough. Because dogs get tense and hide pain I suggested to Steve that we pretend to towel dry her and see if we can find the source of the pain, and we did. Jezi has a pretty serious belly ache going on there, I'd commented earlier that she looked bloated, but my sidekick didn't agree ... is it the tablets? Beth had reminded me that osteosarcoma would increase in pain dramatically, but as we "towel dried" Jezi over her legs, shoulder etc there was no pain response .. but an obvious pain response in her stomach/intestine. We'll see if coming off these pills help now and unless there is cause for concern sooner, then we contact the vet on Wednesday.