Elderly Jack Russell issues

[Eve]

our 13 year old Jack Russell has aged a lot over the last 6 months and seems to be getting older on a daily basis.

She had a check up a few weeks ago at the vet and they declared her in excellent shape for her age, but over the last few days she is doing an awful lot of downward dog stretching and arching her back. She's also very snuffly ( worse after being in garden - I wonder is it hayfever) , also being more picky over her food - so was wondering if a sore stomach.

Just now she has stood up from her bed and her back legs are shaking.

I will take her to the vet again , but wondering if anyone else seen similar symptoms in elderly dog?

Shes not a dog that I would put through investigation procedures or invasive treatment - she wouldn't like it.

The behaviour you are describing sounds very much like acute severe pain. Id get her checked out for pancreatitis. I think she needs seem urgently x

Does she eat random stuff?

This does sound like a dog that's suddenly in pain - I'd be going back to the vet ASAP

no eating random stuff - shes a picky eater generally.

She doesn't seem to be in acute pain - more uncomfortable as apart from this she's quite happy.

Sending support. I have an ageing JR, 15 years old.

First thing that came to mind from your description was Pancreatitis. Definitely sounds like acute pain. I would get her to the vets as soon as you can.

The stretching, arching and shaky legs are all signs of pain. Dogs are very good at being stoic and not showing clear signs of pain, so it can be very hard to tell.

When my other boy had pancreatitis, he showed all the symptoms you described, which eventually progressed to vomiting. I didn’t realise what was happening till he started throwing up, but if we’d got him seen sooner he may not have needed to be admitted, nil-by-mouth, on a drip for almost a week.

thanks all - shes seeing the vet later.

Oh, I hope she's ok. I love Jack Russells, such loyal fun dogs.

Bless her! Good on you for taking her to the vet. My JR aged very suddenly at the same age.

Glad the she’s seeing the vet. Fingers crossed it turns out to be something simple.

Let us know how she gets on.

My boy is 14 i keep telling my colleagues that isnt old. Poor bugger just bumbles about hes definitely aged more in last few months. Jack Russells are little bastards - i love them

I love JRTs. My dad’s lived till she was over 19, with barely a day of ill health in her life, although by 19 she had no teeth left!

She was a proper hardy little terrier and a real character.

Mine also lived till 19, they are tough little loves!! Hope the vet can fix her!

Vet did indeed confirm pancreatitis, and thinks she has a tooth that’s infected and is possibly source of the issue.

Antibiotics for 7 days which she takes happily disguised in a small piece of cheese.

Bigger decision is what to do about the teeth as will require anaesthetic! Vet is 50/50 on the operation v’s using regular antibiotics to keep under control.

…and she hasn’t been arching her back all day which is good.

Glad she is on the mend - great news. Dogs recovering from pancreatitis should have a low fat diet if possible. Although cheese as a pill incentive is fine so long as thats it.

My JRT is prone to pancreatitis and i avoid any high fat food and if he gets an attack i put him on a veterinary low fat diet and ensure he continues to eat.

Good to hear she seems more comfortable already. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

My boy was hit harder by it, as he had a nasty underlying health condition as well.

It took us ages to find a low fat food he could tolerate. For the first few weeks he was on tiny, but regular, meals of steamed white fish and brown rice or quinoa (specialist vet recommended the quinoa, as it has lots of different amino acids and supports their bodies processing protein more effectively). We eventually added in steamed salmon and the only commercial food he could tolerate was tinned Original Chappie.

My old boy has a dodgy tooth right at the back, but isn’t able to have a general anaesthetic. Our vet advised us to do daily mouth rinses with Virbac Hexarinse, then apply Dentisept once a day, which keeps down the levels of bacteria in his mouth. We clean his teeth as we have always done, then do the rinse and finally apply the dentisept, which coats the teeth and gums to keep them protected. I guess oral antibiotics would be an adjunct if a tooth had an active infection.

If she’s insured, you could ask for a referral to a veterinary hospital, where they will have specialist anaesthetists who can supervise an op. We discussed it, but our boy has a lot going on now and it was decided it wouldn’t be in his best interests.

He is on a robust pain management regime for other issues, so didn’t need anything extra specifically for his teeth, but I would have thought your girl would need pain relief to keep her comfortable if she can’t have the infected tooth removed.