Zak

Zak

UPDATE 4/4/06 - It is with sadness that I want everyone to know that my baby Shak (aka Zak) passed away yesterday afternoon. As I have reported to you in the past, Shak had Degenerative Myelopathy which started in March 2005. In Nov. 2005, I got him a wheelchair which was a great help. Shak was euthanized yesterday afternoon at 3:30.

I had to make the decision though I never wanted to let him go, because he's condition has gotten worst. Not only that he has completely lost the use of his back legs but few days before the weekend, he was getting weaker and weaker and he was struggling to walk. After our evening walk on Sunday, he would not eat his food nor take his medication anymore. He sipped a little bit of water. All night I slept with him on the floor and waited for a change the following morning but there was none. He could barely move.

Shak also lost control of his bladder and bowel. I got him a diaper but most of the time he spent his time cleaning up himself which was very heartbreaking to watch.

Inspite of his condition, I did my best to make him feel that I was there for him, that I cared for him, that I loved him very very very much! Even when I was holding him yesterday, I told him that I am sending him somewhere where he can play all day long without any pain or use a wheelchair. That he can use his legs again to run. That he doesn't have to take any medications. That he can eat anything he likes. Shak struggled with IBD (irritable bowel disease), arthritis, AS (Ankylosing Spondolysis - fusing of the spine), and DM (Degenerative Myelopathy).

Letting him go was the hardest decision I ever made in my life because Shak has become a part of me. To me he was not a dog. He was another person just wanted to be loved. When I got him two years ago, my only goal was to love him and make sure that he would feel that. I even made up a one liner song just for him which I would sing to him - "This little Shak of mine, make him shine, make him shine." - and he did shine! He was loved not only by me but by everyone else that met and have known him!

I terribly misses him right now! I miss his smile. His cry. His warmth when we cuddle. His softness. His snoring. Everything about him. I MISS YOU SHAK!

Sending him to the rainbow bridge yesterday was against my will but I had to. I could no longer watch him suffer. DM is a slow killer for dogs! It should not have happened to Shak because he was an amazing dog!

He will be in my heart and wherever he is right now, I pray that he is not afraid because I am not with him, and that he is happy and healthy!

I would like to thank SCBR especially Leanne, Jackie, and Judy Dill for taking care of Shak before he came to me. I also want to thank Arthur Alexander for finding him.

This also came to mind this morning that SHAK took care of me! THANK YOU SHAK!

Thank you SCBR.

Nancy (very proud mom to Shak)

UPDATE 8/8/05 - It is with sadness that I want to tell everyone that knows Shak (aka Zak) that Shak's condition has taken another turn. Shak has degenerative myelopathy which is equivalent to multiple sclerosis in people. If you want to know more about DM, here's a link to one of the American Boxer Club sites that talks about this disease http://www.americanboxerclub.org/DM.html. Out of the 4 progressive stages, Shak is now experiencing toe dragging and knuckling over, crossing of the back legs and mild loss of side-to-side hip control. Our daily walk is becoming shorter and shorter because he gets tired easily and when he's tired he drags his right hind leg so bad. When he poop, I have to hold his harness so he doesn't fall backward. I'm very sad and upset right now! Shak doesn't deserve this!

UPDATE 1/23/05 - For those of you who know Shak (aka Zak), Shak turned nine years old last
week!

Shak was brought to stay with me here in Canada from Buffalo back in May
2004 though he was adopted in January 2004.

Shak and I went through some hurdles before he finally find his comfort with
me. First, Shak would have constant "bloody" diarrhea. What a stressful
times for me as well because I would find him in a "pool" of diarrhea in his
crate when I came home from work. Thank goodness, the animal clinic is just
a block away from were I live. I would wash him and bring him to the clinic
and after that I would spend another couple of hours cleaning his crate,
living room, and bathroom. This happened four times in one month and a
half. It's under control now. We even switched him to prescribed
hypoallergenic kibbles which eventually got rid of the gas! Other than
this, I also do a little bit of cooking just to add another nutritious food
and "aroma" on to his meal.

Then about couple of months after that he was in pain one afternoon. He
couldn't move. He was constantly making a "yep" sound every time he would
make a slight move. I realized that he was having a back pain. It happened
right after our evening walk and the animal clinic was closed so I waited
until the morning but all night long I cried and slept with him on the
floor. His vet told me that Shak has Ankylosing Spondylosis (inflammatory
disease of the spine). Shak's spine is all fused. He was injected with
steroid and metacam. I took a leave from my work for two days just to be
with him. It took him about four days to recover from it.

On top of that, Shak has a knee arthritis and separation anxiety. If ever I
go to work or I feel that I will be out for hours, I let him get inside his
crate otherwise he will chew the main door.

To sum it all, I give Shak three lifetime medications everyday (for his
diarrhea, back pain, and arthritis). But when I took him to the vet last
week for regular checkup, we decided to stop giving him the medication for
his diarrhea for now, just to give him a rest from it. But I am continually
giving him metacam for his AS on a very low dose because all NSAIDs have
side effects. His vet just did a blood test few weeks ago and Shak has
adopted well to metacam. His taking natural supplements for his knee
arthritis.

Before the start of winter, I kind of worried about him, but I think we're
doing well right now. Every time I take him out for a walk I make him wear
his fleece jacket and boots. He looks very cute and everybody that sees him
loves him.

I guess for the first four months that he came to me, Shak was always with
the vet. The clinic became a familiar place for him that whenever we happen
to be passing by the clinic on our way home from his walk; he would stop
outside of the clinic and put his nose on the door like he wants to go in.
I would tell him either the clinic is closed or his doctor has already left.
Funny this may sound, but this is true. Other dogs stop in front of the pet
store which is just few feet away from the clinic while Shak stops in front
of the animal clinic.

Shak's spine problem cannot be reversed. The only thing that can be done is
make him feel comfortable and I make sure that he feels that every single
day because Shak is one great dog with so much to give in his own simple
ways. He doesn't realize it but he has brought so much joy and sanity into
my life and for that I do my very best every single day to make him feel
comfortable and make him feel that he is loved and taken care of and by just
looking at him, I know that he is happy being with me. He just doesn't like
it when I leave him alone but I always tell him that I am coming back
because I love him.

For those who doesn't know Shak, he's a white boxer and looks like the dog
from The Rascals.

Thank you SCBR members for reading this.

UPDATE 6/27/04 - Shak is doing well in his new home here
in Toronto and has adjusted well to his new routines.

Even before Shak moved to Toronto, one of his major issue is having a very
sensitive stomach. He doesn't adapt well to even the slightest change in
his food and I found out how extremely his stomach can be sensitive the hard
way. I took him to the Vet for check up and his stool came out free of any
parasites. After trying out what's best to feed him, boiled rice and
chicken and kibbles seems to agree with his system. Because I'm giving him
natural chicken meat, his tendency is to spit out the kibbles. To solve
this problem, I would ground his kibbles and he now licks his bowl clean!

Shak's attitude towards socializing with other dogs has improved
tremendously. The every afternoon walk to park has paid off. Just before
today, I never let him off the leash because I have noticed that being
outdoor becomes too overwhelming for him and today, I took him to the same
trail in the park with his leash off and even took him all the way up to the
"dog hill" to socialize with other dogs and he did great! I'm so proud of
him. Shak and I have bonded each other so well that he now listens to me
when I call him back and he keeps an eye of me too, making sure that I'm
around that when he gets a little bit far from me he would stop and wait for
me. This a good progress from him and I'm so proud of my Shak! Shak's
"socialization" behaviour is one of the issues that I'm working out with him
and he makes me proud of him.

Shak is also going for his obedience training on July 6 for 8 weeks and I'm
so looking forward to it.

I have no doubt that Shak feels comfortable with me now and I'm glad that he
is with me.