MaryJane

He could try Apple slices, canteloupe or watermelon - my dogs happen to love this stuff. One of my dogs loves the stem of romaine leaves and she also loves the european cucumbers. I can't make a salad without her right next to me wanting her share ....

Also, try and remember if you were using any different household cleaners as certain scents can be a trigger. If 3 seizures happened in 24 hours, then meds are needed ASAP. There are different meds that are used and each has it's pros and cons - a neurologist can explain the differences and you can decide which one suits. MOST IMPORTANTLY - you need to get rectal valium or some other cluster buster ASAP. This would be used after the 1st seizure and would hopefully keep the next one from happening too soon after the previous. If you don't already know, "status epilecticus" can occur which is non-stop seizures and is a life threatening event. The rectal valium gives you options and would also (hopefully) allow you enough time to get to the hospital. My Lucy has had seizures for 5 years now and is on 3 meds for the seizures (Keppra, Zonisamide, and Sodium Bromide) along with rectal valium after each seizure. The 1st year of the seizures was not bad, then for 2 1/2 years it was tough going but, that settled once we found the right cocktail mix and it has been decent for the last 1 1/2 years. Good luck.

If it is a food allergy, the protein is likely causing it. One of my dogs cannot handle chicken at all (or noodles), another one can handle chicken for 2 or 3 days and then get mush poops, and my last one has IBD so she only gets fish. I suggest switching from the chicken to a hamburger (lean) and adding some cooked oatmeal (5-minute type) to the food. Or, you could try fish - don't do tuna fish as that can cause upset tummies in some dogs. All my dogs do fine on white rice but, if you think it might be a problem, use potatoes instead or noodles.

I don't give much yogurt - about 1 to 2 tablespoons for him. 1 cup of the yogurt has 8 grams protein - he doesn't even get a 1/10 of that. At one point I analyzed all his food and calculated the total grams of protein he was getting versus what he should have and he was right on. I can tell if he gets too much protein because he increases the water drinking and along with that, how often he has to urinate. Larry has been on this diet for 10+ years (he's 13 1/2 now) and the low protein it has not effected his quality of life. There are also protein dipsticks for urine that you can use to see how protein is being excreted and increase/decrease food protein intake depending on the levels. I stated off using it on the first morning specimen and gradually got to the point that I was only checking once a week and doing minor adjustments. I used that for my angel Onyx when he had acute kidney issues. Also, what was the specific gravity of the urine and the amount of protein in the urine?

Larry is on a low protein diet. He gets about 5 level tablespoons of meat twice a day. One egg would probably be about 5 tablespoons - so you could give one egg twice a day but, probably no other major protein source. Larry also gets white rice. veggies, oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce among other things. I suggest that you check web sites for the protein content of foods and adjust the meals appropriately.

Could the tick have been on you?

Get a halter -- it will be dangerous to walk her without it now that she has backed out of it once. You don't want it to happen again - you were lucky once. Hopefully others here will suggest the type of halter to use. As to freezing - check her feet for corns (you might need to muzzle). My dog has corns and refuses to go further than a few blocks. If the activity is too much for her, then take her out to a quiet part of the street and just stand there for 10 minutes. Then try walking for a minute or two and then stand again for 10 minutes. A few dogs that I fostered had this problem and I had to stand at the end of my driveway for days until I could go down the street - so it might take awhile. Key is not to push it and to take small steps.

Thanks for sharing. It was a good read!

I just noticed that you are giving it once a day -- talk to your vet about doing 1/2 dose in AM and 1/2 dose in PM. That should make it easier to get it down. Also, you don't worry so much if a dose gets missed because there will be another one later in the day. Also, talk to the vet about switching to NaBr (Sodium Bromide). It has less of the side effects that the Kbr has.

Do you know what the specific gravity of the urine is? Also, was it a first morning specimen? If he is not concentrating the urine and the creat is a bit high, then it is reasonable to start looking at a lowered protein/phos food for the diet. My Larry has had this for years and is managed so far on a home-made diet which has been working well.

I would suggest doing a urinalysis but make sure that it is a first morning specimen so that they can check the specific gravity. My Larry always run a higher creat and he also has a lower specific gravity. With both of these, he gets a lowered protein/phos diet. He's had this for about 10+ years now and has never caused a problem just as long as I do not feed too much protein in a meal. He gets a yearly urinalysis along with a senior blood profile and it has pretty much stayed where it was.

I usually stay away form any preventative that controls more than 1 pest. I had to recently move Lucy to a new heartworm because she has IBD and the last one could cause GI distress. Well, the new preventative that was recommended not only did heartworm, but also fleas. Lucy is also a seizure girl and the new preventative caused a seizure. The more that is controlled with a preventative, the more of a load to the immune system ... some greyhounds can do OK, others not so much ...

Thanks for all the information - I've ordered it from Amazon. I'll let you know how it works in a couple weeks.

Just got back from yet another ultrasound on my youngest Adam. He starts off having a full stream of urine and then it goes to a dribble and then after a few minutes (yes, a few minutes), it returns to almost full stream. He has been like this on and off since he adopted me. Some times it's worse than others, currently it's not bad. He has had bloodwork, prostrate exam, urinalysis, urine cultures, and ultrasounds -- all of which are not showing anything remarkable. He has had his regular vet exam him and an internist and neither are finding anything of note. Today, the vet and I are leaning towards thinking that it might be stress (or hyper) induced and because of this, will next try "Rescue Remedy" along with the Adaptil DAP collars. Has anyone used the Adaptil DAP collars and if yes, what was your experience. I noted from the description and reviews on Amazon that some people have used it for SA.

It really needs to be given with food as it can irritate the throat and the stomach but, as you said the taste is disgusting ..... I put it in my dog's meal twice a day and she doesn't have a problem but, it's about 2 cups of food so gets well-hiden. You might want to try giving it in yogurt and applesauce but, you'll need a few tablespoons (1/2 cup) to disguise the flavor. There are pills but, they will be more money. And, thanks for adopting a boy with seizures.

I would not fast her as the empty tummy can cause her to vomit bile especially if she gets stressed. Give her a small amount of food.

Greyhounds can get stressed out when they are new to a home. The routines are different, the people are different, and the place where they sleep is different. All this can cause uncertainty in a new greyhound. Vomiting once might not be very concerning but, vomiting multiple times along with not wanting to walk could be a signal that there is something else going on. Was it hot where you are - greyhounds do not do well in the humidity and heat and they can get overheated and if this happens, would require medical intervention - is she panting? One of the symptoms of bloat (torsion) is vomiting and doing neck stretching and there may be some extension of the abdominal area. This would also require quick medical intervention. edited to add -- there is also a canine flu going around so it would be helpful if you identified where you are located.

Check with your vet and see if there have been cases of the canine flu in your area.

Have you tried holding her leg in so it doesn't slide out as she is getting up? Larry has trouble getting up from laying down because one of his legs is not steady and it can slide out. But, Larry is 13 1/2 and he is a big boy. Just like people have a hard time getting up when they get older, dogs will be faced with the same problem. Make sure that you have non-skid rugs where she tends to lie down and maybe make the beds a bit more cushiony - sometimes the extra layers can help and sometimes not. You might also find that when she gets up, she needs more time to stretch before starting to move. If the problem is only with the sit, then don't have her sit for awhile and see if that helps.

Dremel works very well. I use it on a higher setting but, do not keep it against the nail because it will get hot. Maybe 1 second on and 1 second off.

I order a bottle of 1000 Calcium pills (500mg) from Amazon and I get the multi-vitamin from CVS that has the lowest phosphrous. I also get the fish oil from CVS. My dogs get a multivitamin in the AM along with a calcium pill. At night, they get another calcium pill along with a fish oil pill. I used to give more calcium daily but, cut back recently to 1000 mg a day for them. Make sure that the calcium DOES NOT have the vitamin D.

Dr. Remaillard (mentioned in earlier posts) was the doctor that I originally went to get diets for kidney, cancer and then regular diets. After years of doing this, it is second nature for me but, it takes quite a bit of time in my case because 2 of my dogs have special requirements. My Larry has chicken/noodle allergies with slight issues with his kidneys. My Lucy is a seizure dog that has IBD. My youngest, Adam, has no issues with eating but might have a tendency to develop kidney stones - he has had 1 ultrasound already a few months ago and will be having another later this month. Larry can only get beef/hamburger for the main protein because of allergies. Lucy only gets fish for the main protein because of IBD. Adam usually gets beef/hamburger but, might get a bit of fish. They get the protein for breakfast and again for dinner. They each get veggies for dinner along with about 2+ cups rice. For breakfast, they all get oatmeal (helps Larry's skin allergies and keeps poop nice and firm) mixed with rice, a touch of honey and some almond milk. They get toast with peanut butter for a treat in the AM and yogurt mixed with applesauce in the PM. I also bake all their treats because of Lucy's seizures & Larry's allergies, I can't trust that there will not be some ingredient in the treat that might trigger an event for Lucy or diarrhea for Larry. For supplements, they get calcium, multi-vitamins, and fish oil. It is more expensive than feeding premium and it take at least 1+ hour each day for preparation but, I have special needs.

They are right - the weight is not usually a direct result of the medicine - it just seems to dull out the nervous energy in the dog and as a result, less burning of calories. Lucy tends to be a more lazier on the seizure meds. You're probably doing the liver tests on a regular schedule - you might want to do a check now just to make sure that it is not puffiness due to liver swelling. Also look into denamarin (sp) for liver support. Buy the way, the white fish is great for the liver.

I've had a few dogs that I would do meet-n-greets with and one way or another - I had to retire them. - my first because of osteo and he couldn't stand on the floor easily anymore - 2nd because as he aged, he got crabby and snapped once at a child petting another of my dogs - 3rd because he snapped at a dog once when he was lying down and another greyhound came rushing up As I thought about it more, they were pretty clear signals that the dogs really didn't enjoy or belong there anymore.

The seizure meds -- I copied this from one of the sites As a result, many of the side effects of Phenobarbital are neurological. You'll notice your dog appearing lazy, sedated, restless, hyper-excited or uncoordinated (ataxia). These side effects will disappear after a few weeks of treatment when your dog's system gets used to the medication. Long-term side effects of Phenobarbital include frequent urination, excessive drinking and eating. Because your dog is eating more, he'll most likely gain weight, a secondary effect of the drug. Although, it's rare, Phenobarbital can also cause anemia, which would necessitate discontinuation of treatment. Seizure meds relax (for lack of a better word) the dog and in my opinion, it results in a lowered metabolism and with that, weight gain. Also, low cal foods may not be the best (just like for people). You might want to feed regular food, just less of it or add fillers like white rice/green beans.