Bekkis Union Jack
'Shah'

Sometimes, people say that they have had a terrible year, but for one of our members, Sue James, 2005 truly was a terrible year.

Firstly, Shah went lame and had to rest for some weeks. When he returned to training, he just started to get back into the swing of it when he went lame again! This continued for some months until it was recognised that the intermittent lameness, the difficulty in controlling his weight and the hair loss could be due to an under-active thyroid. Shah started taking Soloxin tablets and made really good progress. After a short while, the vet gave permission for him to start agility again.

Last December, when all seemed to be getting back to normal, he became unwell again. One Wednesday afternoon he had difficulty keeping his balance, almost as though he was drunk. This resulted in another visit to the vet, who was unable to determine the problem. A blood sample was taken and Sue was told to keep a close eye on him overnight. His situation continued to worsen, and by midday another visit to the vet resulted in an immediate admission to Langford Hospital. By the time he arrived, poor old Shah couldn’t even stand without falling over.

Over the next few days, he continued to deteriorate. He had an MRI scan, which eliminated the possibility of a brain tumour. They analysed the fluid around the brain, which ruled out Mengitis. Every test they did proved negative and the mystery only intensified. The MRI scan and the results of the various tests were sent to specialists in Newmarket, but even they were baffled.

Daily visits to Langford became extremely painful for Sue. At his lowest point, Shah could hardly lift his head off the ground to greet her, a slight twitch of the tail was the best he could muster. Eventually, the vet raised the subject that she had dreaded, it was unfair on Shah to continue the suffering, and it was agreed that the decision would have to be made after that weekend.

That very weekend, Shah miraculously started to improve. Once it began, the recovery was remarkable. He began to look brighter, he started to get ‘chatty’ again when visited and he regained that ‘sparkle in the eye’. By the Monday, he was able to stand, albeit with help from a sling under his rear end.

The vet was astounded by the speed and magnitude of the recovery. This continued to the extent that Shah was allowed home, just a couple of days before Christmas – and what a wonderful Christmas Sue had! The early days were difficult as he effectively had to be house-trained again, but it was all very, very worthwhile.

They say that “All’s Well That Ends Well”, and it is certainly true in this case. Although not knowing what was actually wrong with Shah, he is back at agility classes, initially on low jumps to build the strength in his rear legs and for enjoyment only. He then moved on to standard size jumps, but again Sue was convinced that it would be for his enjoyment only.

Then last week was the Lansdown Show. Sue had entered Shah into Starters Jumping to see how he would get on, AND HE CAME FOURTH. It is so fantastic to see him with his beautiful mane regrown, jumping well and enjoying himself again, an emotion heightened tenfold when remembering back to how he was just 6 months ago!

Sue and Gary would like to thank everyone at Severnside DAC for their support during that difficult period. They would also like to thank everyone at Langford for all their efforts looking after Shah when he has so desperately unwell.