Meet Jackson, my Narcoleptic Labrador

 

When I was a kid, I was a big animal lover (and I still am), but I especially loved dogs.  I wanted to get a dog soooooo badly, but my mother said that I couldn’t, but maybe I could get a kitten.  Maybe.  Then, I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy, and I was very upset about it.  But it turned out that having Narcolepsy came with a surprising perk. 

Shortly after I was diagnosed, someone called from the Narcolepsy research center at Stanford (where my sleep doctor was) and asked my mother if I would be interested in having a yellow Lab, who also had Narcolepsy.  There were two dogs left, both 8 months old and perfectly healthy, and we could have one of them for free, provided we promised to get the dog spayed.  They were done observing these dogs and were looking for loving homes for them with people who would understand Narcolepsy.  Needless to say, my mother couldn’t say no, given what I was going through and how much I wanted a dog.  I got a dog.

We went to Stanford and looked at the two dogs.  Jackson’s brother wasn’t too interested in us, but Jackson (his name then was Haagen-Dazs) loved me and couldn’t stop licking my legs (I was wearing shorts).  We picked Jackson, and I came home with a dog.  My own dog.  :-)

I was unbelievably happy, and for the next few years I was yellow Lab obsessed.  My science fair project was about Labs, my birthday presents were Lab items, my English project was about a Lab, and so on.  And Jack was special: he was the only being that I had ever met with Narcolepsy – and he was awesome.

I was very lucky.

As far as I can remember, it wasn’t so important to me that Jackson had Narcolepsy, although I thought that was pretty cool (Jack was just like me!).  What was important was that Jack was a dog – and not just any dog: a Labrador!  Smart, ultra friendly, cute and energetic (and as you can see from the picture, very hairy, lol).  I had originally wanted a female Golden Retriever, but a male yellow Lab was close enough for me.  What was important was that I knew that I wouldn’t have gotten a dog if I didn’t have Narcolepsy (although my mother never said that, exactly, but I understood). 

I think having a dog made it a little easier for me to deal with having Narcolepsy.  Now, as opposed to feeling depressed about having this life-long sleep problem (although I expect that I did some of that too, I don’t really remember very well), I was busy playing with my dog, telling stories about my dog, etc.

Jackson was a god-send. 

I suppose I should tell you a bit about Jackson’s Narcolepsy.  Jackson had Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, but he didn’t need any medication or special treatment.  He slept a lot, but only when nothing interested was going on (I’m not sure how much he slept in comparison to other Labs).  If something was happening, then he was there at the heart of it, full of energy. 

Jackson’s Cataplexy was the most noticeable part of his Narcolepsy.  Jack’s Cataplexy revolved entirely around food (This shouldn’t be that surprising, given that Labradors are kind of known for being pigs, lol.).  Apparently food was what made him most excited. 

At dinner time, when you set down his bowl of food, he would sniff it and then move backwards away from the bowl into a sitting position as if drawn backwards by some invisible force.  Apparently the excitement would make his knees get weak, which would cause him to back up and sit.  (The funny part about this was that when people would see this, they would say, “Oh, your dog is so well trained!  He sits when you give him his food!” lol.)  However, if he was really really excited about the food, he would collapse and fall asleep for a few seconds after he sniffed the yummy treat or tried to bite it.  This was always really sad for me to watch, that Jack would have a hard time eating a bone or ice cream for dogs because he would keep falling asleep.  He would end up lying on the ground, slowly eating his treat, with me clapping to wake him up when he fell asleep (this would wake him up and he would get up).  After a little while, he wouldn’t be so unbelievable excited and he could eat whatever it was that made him so excited.

He didn’t seem to mind this, but of course he didn’t know that anything was wrong or unusual.

Now that I think about it, Jackson did have terrible cataplexy attacks very rarely, where he would shake on the ground and drool and be very scared for a number of minutes and we would have to comfort him.  But I only remember this happening a few times, all of them when he was a full grown adult or a bit older.  I remember one of these happening when he heard a very distant storm, as he was terrified of thunder.  I don’t have these sorts of attacks, but I am pretty sure that this was cataplexy.  It was very scary to watch an attack like this, and we felt so bad for him, but after it was over he would be fine.

The only other thing I noticed with Jackson as far as his Narcolepsy goes is that he used to dream during some of his naps.  I could tell that he was dreaming, because while he was sleeping on the ground, sometimes he would grit his teeth and growl a little or make noises and his eyelids would flutter a bit.  Or his legs would kind of move a little bit.  I’m not sure exactly what was going on here (hallucinations? just ordinary REM?), but I was sure that this was because of his Narcolepsy.

Jackson may have had Narcolepsy, but he just seemed like an ordinary, very happy dog.  He was a bit of a troublemaker, constantly finding new ways to outsmart our underground electric fence (ways the fence company hadn’t even seen before, lol), but he was a great friend, silly and loving and always up for doing whatever it was we were doing.

So the bottom line is, if all of us were Labradors, having Narcolepsy wouldn’t be so bad.  (I can just see it: Note to self: Ellie’s posts always offer helpful tips like, one way to successfully deal with Narcolepsy is to become a dog.)  Lol.

Anyways, I miss him very much.

One of these days I am going to have to get a dog again, but this time it’s going to have to be a breed that doesn’t shed so much because my husband is allergic to animal hair.  (Sorry, Jack, you were great, but you shed A TON.)  Maybe a Labradoodle?

I have heard some other Narcoleptics say that having a dog helps them cope with Narcolepsy, especially as far as getting out of the house and combating depression is concerned.  I am just reluctant to get a dog right now, as living in an apartment I don’t have a backyard and also because I know how big of a commitment it is.

One of these days, it will happen.

P.S. I am going to have ask my dad if he still has this video clip of Jackson’s cataplexy that I used once in school for a presentation on Narcolepsy.  I don’t have it anymore, but if I can find it I will certainly share it with all of you.