MaryJane

With my angel Onyx, he would get chemo and then wouldn't eat and had no energy for a few days and then by the time that treatment effect was wearing off ... his next chemo appointment came around and that would put him back into the same state. With each chemo treatment it seemed that it was harder for him to bounce back. But, he did bounce back after the treatments were finished. How many chemo treatments has he had and how many more does he have to go through.

Get a pile of dirt and use it to create a ramp or buy a 10 or 12 foot ramp on-line.

Yes, it is - couldn't remember the name. If you try it let us know how it goes .....

Hmmm .... I went back to check the amber alerts and verified that she was lost for a few days in March ..... because of that I would say bring her in to the ER vet. She may have gotten into something when she was lost and she can't pass it. With that in mind, x-rays would be a good idea and some blood work.

You mentioned that the corner of the eye was bleeding - if that is the case, it's worth going to the vet to check the eye. If the eye was scratched, you will likely not see it, the vet will need to use their tools to check. If there is a scratch, antibiotics will be needed to make sure that the eye does not get infected.

This is funny because I've just had the same issue with my Lucy ... Lucy went on DES and in her case, DES is preferred because she is a seizure girl and Proin may have a tendency to cause seizures. Proin can also cause issues with blood pressure and it might not be obvious that thee is an issue. DES might cause bone marrow suppression so there is a need to do blood work to check values (check gums often). We started with a loading dose of 1 pill every 5 days, by day 3 the incontinence was gone. After the 5 days, we were supposed to switch to 1 pill every 7 days. On day 6, first day without pill, she had incontinence again. Talked to vet and the new procedure is to now do it every other day for 6 days and then every third day for 6 days and keep on decreasing until I'm giving the pill every 5 days. I did briefly talk to one of her other vets a while back and his procedure was to start with a pill every day for 7 days and then do every other day for 1 week and then every second day for 1 week until it ends up being a pill every 5 or 6 days. It sounds like I should have used this procedure instead of the one from the prescribing vet .... You might not be aware that there is a new hormonal (?) pill available but, more expensive and they need to take it daily.

I've tried the "chubb" once - what I got was way to fatty for my greyhounds (IMHO), it was probably about 30 to 40% fat. And .. it cost me about 1.75 a pound at a specialty butcher but, it didn't have any organs. Now, I get most of the dog's meat at BJ's - 2.99 for 87% hamburger.

I've started using almond milk in their oatmeal for my greys - they love it. It does have less protein which is better for one of my greys because he has slight kidney issues.

That's the dosage that we went with and it stopped the incontinence initially but, when we hit the 6th day which was the first day without the pill, incontinence again .... Talked to a few people and it seems that there is another protocol of 7 days on and then every other day for about 6 days and then every third day for 6 days and then the maintenance could end up being every four days or 5 days ... so, we are now on that protocol.

Lucy just started DES for urinary incontinence. I am getting conflicting information from different vets about how to dose -- meaning the loading dose, the tapering dose and the final dose. Would appreciate hearing from others with females on DES what their loading dose, tapering dose and final dose was and how it worked out.

Thanks for the update - sounds like he's doing well. Would love to see some photos ....

Chances are the value is not going to be a concern but, before assuming that I would also do a urinalysis and make sure that is normal.

After my Onyxx had his amputation, it seemed that walking was more troublesome to him and made him more tired and panting - maybe because he ended up hopping with each step. He did better loping (between a fast walk and a run). He could do a few spins around the yard and wouldn't be tired.

Maybe you could ask the dog's owner to post here to get suggestions .....

Try dog foods that have limited ingredients - Natural Balance has a venison and sweet potato and I think that IAMs just came out with a barley and fish. You also could do a home-made diet. You'll find that most commercial dog foods have chicken or non-specified oils in them (probably chicken fat) so if your dog has problems with chicken, it will be an uphill battle. My Larry cannot have chicken at all (massive diarrhea) and is sensitive to noodles also. I decided years ago to just do home-made (cooked) and Larry is now 11 1/2 and still doing OK although he is getting a tad slower.

Did they ever consider Amicar?

In addition to a Chem and Hematology, bring in a first morning urine for a urinalysis. Also consider doing a tick panel. She's lost about 20% of her weight (it's quite a bit) and because of that, I would also look at doing some x-rays and maybe an ultrasound. How much are you feeding - whatever it is, I would increase by about 25% or look at giving more calorie type foods like maybe some noodles or toast.

I might be interested .. but, I wouldn't leave my dogs (three). One of mine has seizures ... would that disqualify her? Wouldn't you know it that two of them just got CBC/Chem studies at their yearly ...

Maybe ask for an OSU consult ....

Someone just posted this on an dog seizure list that I'm on - thought people here might like to know ... http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm345971.htm?source=govdelivery

In the first photo - the tail is NOT level with the back and doing happy wags -- it is up and it looks like a very slow wag - this means that your boy is very alert and ready to attack ... yes, attack. Even though the other dog is being submissive, you dog is not reading the signals and is ready to go at it. This indicates to me a dog not controlling himself - just my opinion .... You mentioned that he has never backed down and that frightens you. hmmmmm ... it frightens you ... (I had to read that again) does it frighten you because he might get hurt or the other dog might get hurt? You seem to realize that there is something not right here - maybe you need to re-evaluate the situation for the safety of your dog and others.. He is a beautiful dog.

The nutritional vet that I used years ago for the diets for my dogs recommended these vitamins. https://secure.balanceit.com/ I don't use them for my dogs, I use regular people vitamins that I can get at CVS for the supplements - much cheaper!

Last I heard, melons, sweet potatoes, squash, and tomatoes are all food :-) The food does not have to tempting - it just has to qualify as edible ...

Remove everything from the counters - once there is nothing there, there is no reason to surf. In addition, you can take the cans with pennies but, once they learn that it doesn't hurt, they will be back. My Larry was an awesome counter-surfer when I first got him. He was bad when I left him in the house but, even when I was there - some of his tricks -- a cake disappeared within a few minutes of being taken out of the oven and a freshly baked loaf of bread was gone within moments. The only thing that worked was to remove EVERYTHING from the counters and to keep them clean of any food except when I was there doing prep. It took a few months (yes ... a few months), but Larry stopped his countersurfing and now I can have anything on the counters and he will leave it alone.

You might consider going to a neurologist. Some neuros are great but, others not so much. They will be able to discuss many of the options for medicines available today. Pheno is an old standby that works but, it is one of the earliest treatments and it can damage the liver. My Lucy is on Zonisamide which (so far) has not really any side effects. It doesn't work in all dogs and in some cases it stops working after a grace period of a year or so ... The neurologist will be able to discuss all the options with you and they are usually better suited to dealing with seizures dogs than a regular vet. A regular vet is great if the dog only seizes a few times a year but, if you ever need to start combining medicines, you want a neurologist or, you want your vet consulting with a neurologist. The consultation fee is likely to be about 200+ and some neurologists require an MRI and spinal tap (2K+ in costs) but, not all do .. shop around and find one that doesn't. There is an epilepsy mailing list that is great for providing all sorts of information - you might want to join. Their website is at http://EPIL-K9@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM <EPIL-K9@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM> and should describe how to get the emails. If you dog has experienced more than 1 seizure in 24 hours, then you need to get a cluster-buster. What I use is rectal valium for Lucy. The intent is that after an initial seizure happens, to keep any more from happening. Otherwise, you can end up at the ER each time. It takes time and much information but, you deal with most of the seizures at home. It's only if a seizure is not stopping that it becomes a life-threatening situation and you have to get to the ER immediately.