April of 2018 Jett went to continue his training as a sheepdog. I had been doing some work with him, but he would progress faster if he got to work everyday instead of once a week and if he was trained by someone who has much more experience than I do. I would see him every week and get emails and videos on his progress. About two weeks in when I went to see him and his feet seemed sore. I mentioned this to Viki and she said that he had been running around a lot with the other dogs and doing laps around the barnyard trying to get in with the sheep. I didn’t think much of it and she said she would give him some rest to allow his feet to heal. That was a Friday. On Wednesday I got a call from Viki saying that Jett wasn’t very well, could I come look at him. He had had a collision with a sheep and she thought he had hurt his back. She also said that he wasn’t eating well and was growling at the other dogs, which was very unusual for him. Viki said she would lay him off until I came to see him on Friday. As soon as I saw him on Friday I knew something was up. He was having a hard time lifting his head and was obviously in some discomfort. I took him to see Dr Liz Pask as we still thought his discomfort was because of the collision with the ewe. She took his temp and it was normal, so she treated him with laser and Tens and some ice packs. He wasn’t looking much better the next day so I took him to my regular vet Dr. Barb Deter. When she took his temp it was hovering about 40 degrees and given his other symptoms she thought it might be meningitis. She prescribed pain meds and antibiotics and also took some blood and sent it off for testing. The results were not good. Jett was clearly fighting some type of infection and he was also anemic. We hoped that the oral antibiotics would beat back the infection and we would see improvement in about 48 hours. Poor Jett was not interested in food, was losing weight and was extremely unhappy to be around any other dogs, even his own pack now that he was home. I was beyond worried for him. He was 15 months old, he should be out racing around fields and having the time of his life being a young healthy dog.
After 10 days (I think) we did blood work again, I thought Jett was improving a little bit. He was eating a little bit and wanted to go for walks, but his rear end didn’t seem to be very strong. Barb sent the blood off to a specialist at OVC who confirmed what Barb feared, this was not enough of an improvement and he would need to sent for intravenous antibiotics and hopefully an actual diagnosis. I was sent to a referral clinic to see a neurologist – Dr Andrea Finnen. Jett was quickly scheduled for an MRI, spinal tap, more blood work and was given two types of intravenous antibiotics. I was beside myself with worry, but the time I got him to Mississauga, an 40 min. drive he was noticeably worse and was his rear end was so weak he could barely stand. Despite this he wagged his tail at the anyone who came to see him, to weight him or give me any information while I waited. I will never forget, nor be able to stay dry eyed, when the Dr. Finnen replied “I am trying to be optimistic” when I asked if he would live. My heart was breaking, the thought of my lovely boy in pain was making me sick to my stomach. He was admitted so that they could treat him and do the tests that needed to be done. I was sent home with instructions to call anytime for an update. Shortly after I got home that night Dr Finnen called me to tell me his fever was coming down and he appeared a little bit brighter.
The results were meningitis, He had obvious swelling of his spinal cord. The results were not back from the spinal tap yet. Now we needed to know , was it bacterial or viral? The only way to find out was to continue with antibiotics and hope that he responded. If not then he would need to go onto heavy doses of steroids for a long period of time. After four days Jett got to come home. He had started to walk again, although still quite wobbly and he couldn’t lift his tail at all. He had lost a lot of weight, but he was happy to see me. Slowly Jett seemed to get better. Although thinking back on it now, there were things he couldn’t do that he should have been able to, but we didn’t know how long it would take him to recover all of his strength and co-ordination, he definitely had a neurological deficit on his right hind leg. He remained on two doses of antibiotics for about 6 weeks as well as pain meds. Once he was weaned off the meds it was a wait and see scenario. I worked with him all summer to rebuild his strength. My fingers were crossed that things were turning around for him. Like most dogs, once he wasn’t in pain anymore he just wanted to live in the moment and get on with his life. I was certainly worried for him and was very cautious with what I allowed him to do.
In late October I sent him back to finish off his training with Viki, I was excited for me and Jett – he loved it so much. The first time Viki worked him, Jill was supposed to be having a lesson, but she didn’t seem to be feeling very well, so I asked Viki if she would work him instead. I knew I couldn’t because I would be so focused on what he was doing and if he was okay I would be useless as a handler. Viki worked him – he loved every second of it – I sat in the Polaris and cried. My beautiful boy was back doing what he was meant to do. He went back to stay with Viki for 3 more weeks. I missed him terribly and I worried about him everyday, woke up every morning hoping he was okay. At the end of three weeks I got my lesson with him and started to learn what he knew and how to handle him – he is VERY different from Jill or Maddie.
Every November Viki does the herding demos at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. I sometimes offer to go and help, Viki lets me come be part of the show. This gives her dogs a break from doing the show, they can learn some pretty bad habits after doing 10 days of shows 3 times a day. This time I got to take Jett! He and I had a blast. He was a very good boy (mostly!), he was very excited – his pupils were so dilated I could see his brains (ha ha). Everything seemed great!
I was having some concerns about his heeling . I couldn’t seem to be able to get him to hold his head position. I was unsure if this was because he rear end or back wasn’t strong enough yet or if he wasn’t comfortable holding his head up. He was certainly keen to train, he always had a blast and was very happy in his work. Because I was uneasy about the reason why I avoided doing too much heeling until I could figure out what to do.
Christmas was coming up fast, the first Christmas in our new house and new training hall. I was so looking forward to having the CDT Christmas party and getting lights for the new house. One night at class I walked by where my dogs stay while I am teaching – they have a very comfy area with their own couch and lots of dog beds- I spoke to Jett and he didn’t lift his head to respond. I said to the class “Isn’t that weird” I knew, I just knew something was up. Two days later on my son’s 19th birthday Jett was back at the vets with a fever and what appeared to be all the same symptoms. I was terrified. I have to say Dr Deter went well and above what is normally done. She got records organized, got history done, spoke to class mates that specialized in neurology. She gave me her personal cell phone number and I was told to call anytime – even if it was just to say that he was doing better. Sometimes she was talking to me while she was riding her horse, trying to enjoy her own life, while helping me through Jett’s personal hell. Christmas ve at 6:30 am Jett was admitted for a second time with an uncertain prognosis. He had another MRI, another spinal tap and he also had joint taps done. The suspicion was that it he had SRMA (Steroid Responsive Meningitis Arteritis). The big danger was that Jett had been getting Medicam for pain. It was risky to start him on steroids without a five day “wash out” period. Once it was confirmed that SMRA is what Jett was facing we had to make the decision to not wait the five days and take the risk that the Medicam and steroid together would not cause a major bleed in his stomach. He was given something to help, at this point I can’t even remember what it was. Luckily he was fine and Jett responded quickly to the steroids. On Christmas morning Aydon and I went to OVC to see Jett and were told that if Jett responded well to seeing us that she would consider sending him home. He was happy to see us and seemed SO much better. The neurologist agreed that Jett could go home – THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER. He would be facing about 6-8 months of steroids, more rehab. He has a 30% chance of a relapse. SRMA occurs in dogs under the age of 2 (Jett was 23 months old) the doctor thought that he probably got better in spite of the antibiotics and that this second occurrence was probably his relapse.
In April of 2019 Jett was weaning off the steroids, but was resuming some regular activity. I was still noticing that Jett stood with his hocks underneath him and his back seemed sore. He seemed to limp quite often on his front left shoulder. Then after one herding lesson, he was quite sore and didn’t recover in 24 hours. I rested him, but it was simmering in the back of my mind that something was going one. I kept taking his temperature just to be safe. If he came down with a temp. I would be on my way back to OVC. Things didn’t resolve with the lameness and Jett was due for a recheck at OVC. They were concerned enough to see him immediately and it was ruled out that whatever was going on was neurological – whew!!! But what was it?? I was referred to orthopaedics. They were sure it wasn’t a back issue, which my regular vet thought it might be, I’ve never been so glad that my vet got it wrong in my life. Jett had an ultrasound on his shoulder and it was discovered that he had a torn Bicep tendon. More rehab and pain meds. I felt so sick for Jett. He was back to walking on a lead and having not much in the way of quality of life. It was just going to take time. I tried to keep him happy and entertained, he had been sick for more than half of his life. I guess he was use to it, but I was struggling with what I knew he should be doing and what he could do.
So here we are near the end of March 2020. Jett is on NO meds of any kind. He has made a full recovery from his injury. He is walking off lead, playing in the river, doing some obedience including some low jumps and yes he is back to herding. We are still working on building his strength back up and the only way to do that is to have him do the activity. He sometimes seems a little stiff after resting on the days he goes herding, but he is over it within a few minutes and it seems to get less and less each time. His obedience is coming along wonderfully. He is so much fun to train and be around. I still haven’t solved the question of his head position. But I am just going to let Jett take the lead on this one. He is attentive and very willing, it just isn’t the picture I am use to. I’ll have to get over that and enjoy Jett for Jett, which is not hard to do.
UPDATE: February 2021. Jett continues to be healthy and active. He is preparing for his debut in the obedience and rally ring (hopefully) this year.