Max is a 7 year old Jack Russell that was diagnosed with a nerve sheath tumor in his left lower spine about 2 months ago. The tumor caused his rear left leg to be paralyzed, but he got along fine other than that. He has been on .5 mL of Gabapentin 3 times a day since we found out about his cancer. Initially, he did wonderfully, no pain, no more restlessness, etc. He did recently begin to have some issues where he would tinkle a bit if his bladder was full, but we figured it is due to his gradual nerve damage.

However, about a week and a half ago we realized he wasn't going #2. At first we were worried his tumor had damaged the nerves that helped him poo, but after seeing him squat and try to get something out but nothing was, we realized it must just be constipation. A few days passed and we began giving him a bit of pumpkin everyday to hope to losen things up. He did begin using the bathroom, and getting a semi-productive diarreah-like consistency out. But then, he'd usually squat a second time and wouldn't be able to. We considered giving him some sort of enema but haven't yet… What began as sometimes has now escalated to every time, even if his poo is productive, he comes in the house shaking and uncomfortable. This lasts for awhile. We didn't know if it was his nerve damage hurting (from squatting), so we tried giving him about .2 mL more of Gabapentin (inbetween doses) to see if it would help, it doesn't seem to help whatsoever.

In the past 2 days, it seems this shaking and uncomfortable is paired with very shallow breathing and a runny nose/runny eyes. It seems he is only okay at about late-evening until he goes to do #2 the next morning. The symptoms do come and go, but this past day they seem to be more constant… like I said, he seems to be fine until he goes to the bathroom

Could this be a bad case of constipation? Or is this something much more serious?

I should also add that his appetite and/or drinking as not changed at all. The only thing that's changed is his activity level and mobility. He is still alert, but seems to just want to lay around more, but that could also just be accredited to his cancer progressing…

Thanks for any answers and help

Mandy