Jake 12-038 [1]

Sponsored by:

Dennis and Joanne
"To help Jake on his way to better health and golden happiness"

Craig Greenwald

Sharron T.
"Paws up from Abby 08-218 and Buddy 11-371"

"In memory of another senior boy, Mic" From Kathleen Guinn

Jakey, I Love You!! From Morgan

January 29, 2012

One thing about RAGOM that makes me proud to be a volunteer is the willingness to take in the "unknown", to bring in the senior dogs and to ensure that they are treated with dignity, get proper vetting and are loved. Jake is no exception to this! RAGOM received the call from animal control that an "older" golden was found as a stray and his hold time was up. He "may" have bad hips, he "may" be hard of hearing but that he was friendly towards dogs and people.

So, two days later, welcome Jake to RAGOM! Jake is an elder gentleman, we'll get a better age guesstimate when we go to the vet this week. When he arrived, I noticed that he is incredibly skinny, his nails are so long he has trouble walking on them, he had an odor about him I cannot begin to describe, he is full of lumps and bumps and he has a wheeze.

The first order of business after his guardian transporter brought him to my house and helped introduce him to the wild resident pack (thanks Craig!) was a bath! He tolerated this and did not overly enjoy this experience, but it was definitely a necessity! I have a feeling that this will be the first bath of many because he still has some scabs, matts and dirt but we got the first layer of grime off.

While we were relaxing after the bath, his breathing became more labored. He had had the wheezing before but now he was outright gasping for air and unable to lie down or relax. So, off to the e-vet we went. They are fairly certain he has an upper airway obstruction, likely larangeal paralysis, but without a full work up they can't be certain. One thing they were confident of is that his condition didn't require an emergency work up so we'll delve into this a little more in depth when he sees Dr. Quast this week. They suggested he be given a couple benadryl for some mild sedation as being relaxed should help him breathe a little easier. Larangeal paralysis is basically when the epiglottis doesn't work properly and it's like trying to breathe out of a straw. If anyone has had a panic attack, you'll know that the harder you try and breathe and the less air you get, the more air you need, you panic and you start gasping for breath, which is what they think happened with Jake.

He weighed in at 54 pounds and he should be closer to 70 pounds, so we have some work to do!

Jake does have some spunk and he has been witnessed rolling on his back on the carpet with utter glee. He met the pack with zero issues, the cats came and checked him out and he wasn't even curious about them. He has let me manhandle him (pick up to put in the tub, pick up to get in/out of the car, pick up to lay on the couch by me) without issue. He found the toybox and decided he might like to chew on a hoof. So far he has gone to the door when he needed to potty, so that's an excellent sign in my book!

All in all, Jake's in pretty rough shape but I'm hoping with love, regular food, love, soft beds, love, a roof over his head, love, good vet care and some love he will be an excellent dog for someone wanting that senior with spunk. Please keep Jake in your thoughts and I'll keep everyone updated as we know more about this beautiful senior boy.

Jake riding shotgun