LBass

Ack! I'm just seeing this. What a frightening situation, Chris. Hoping and praying that Cash will be home today, herself and well. --Lucy

Janet, I'm so relieved to read that Jake is handling this injury so well and is clearly feeling better.

My Piper also has enduring hind end weakness from the medication she takes for his seizures. He gets both Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide. Taking both meds he has pretty decent seizure control but his rear is definitely weak and wobbly. He falls easily and sometimes has to fight to keep his balance if one of the younger dogs barges into him. From what I've read, that hind end weakness (ataxia) is quite a common side effect of Phenobarbital. For Piper, it did improve a bit, but it has never gone away entirely. Having said that, he leads and active happy life and the weakness doesn't seem to worry him at all. --Lucy

My first boy just seemed to "get it" right away and he did spoil me a bit. Boy #2 has been more of a challenge. MoMo, my girl, has been easy about house training too. Best of luck with your new boy. --Lucy

You know, since he is still so new to your home and, I am assuming, to home life in general, it is quite possible that he doesn't quite have the fundamentals of house training lodged firmly in his mind. It's one concept for him to know that he can use the dog door to go out in the yard to potty. It's a completely different concept to know that he should not potty in the house--for him to regard your house as his "kennel", which he knows not to soil. In your situation, I would embark on housetraining101 with him. In that, you are proactive--taking him out when he is likely to need to potty (when he wakes up, a bit after eating, etc.), taking him out when he gets up and wanders around the house. Praise to the skies when he goes outside. Keep an eagle eye on him indoors for any signs ob needing to go so you can whisk him out. If you catch him in the act, give a correction and whisk him outside to complete his mission and praise him for that. I think house training involves several lessons: --don't potty in the house --do potty outdoors --learn eventually to ask to go out or to use a dog door. Maybe back to the very fundamental steps for your boy.

I'm in the "if he is already using dog door at all, he understands, and will use the dog door when needed." I leave the dog door open when I'm away (the cat is confined then and can't get out the open dog door) but I close and latch the dog door when I'm home and the cat is free. My dogs are all quite adaptable. They all learned quite rapidly that I'm the "doorman" when I'm home and then they've got the dog door when I'm not home. --Lucy

I give the cat 2-3 pieces of a kitty treat and each hound gets one small Milkbone biscuit just before bed. Thinking about it, I'm clearly not giving enough food to stave off hunger in the night, so how did I ever get into that habit? I think it must have gotten started because right before bed I'm in the kitchen to start the dishwasher and, of course, all four legged family members are also in the kitchen acting hopeful. At any rate, it is such an ingrained habit now, there's no going back. --Lucy

Over the years, I have found that Piper seems to relax and settle down more rapidly after a seizure if I give him something to eat. I found that a small meal of his regular kibble seemed to satisfy his hunger and he never had any trouble keeping it down. I went the ice cream route but the kibble was a lot less troublesome and worked as well if not better for Piper. Honestly, if I was trying to head off a cluster and Piper threw up after taking his Pb, I'd just give him another dose. Congratulations on passing the "magic" 5 hour mark for EZ's clusters.

Thinking "no cluster" thoughts for you and EZ. Being awakened by a seizure is so unpleasant. --Lucy

Another voice for the muzzle issue being NOT about greyhounds not getting along but about that thin skin, thin coat, and lack of subcutaneous lat layer. I've been muzzling in the yard and in the car since Spirit racked up an e-vet bill (probably an overreaction on my part) for stitches and a second round of stitches at my regular vet's when the e-vets stitches didn't hold. MoMo snagged him with a tooth or nail while they were horsing around in the house. I was home, they weren't fighting, they didn't even scuffle. Yet with no particular fanfare, there was a 3/4 inch gash in Spirits side. No growls, no yelps and fussing and squabbling and yet there was an injury (relatively minor though it was). So pichick712, don't let this thread discourage you form thinking of multiple greyhounds. Greyhounds are special and this susceptibility to cuts is just one of the few less than positive aspects of that specialness. --Lucy

How very interesting. Not, unfortunately, that I have anything useful to offer, but my Spirit has been doing the same thing for the last couple of months. He has access to fresh water all day and the bowl is usually not nearly empty when I get in from work, even with 3 dogs drinking from it. After I get home from work, however, Spirit usually has 3-4 spells of standing at the water bowl and drinking on and on and on. Then, predictably, he needs to go out to pee about every 20 minutes. He's fine at night and fine in the daytime (dog door access in the daytime). I've had him to the vet for a thorough set of labs and urinalysis and everything at that point looked good except that he was getting far too high a dose of his thyroid meds. The vets thought that might be contributing to the drinking binges. Of course we cut the thyroid meds drastically and I have noticed some decrease in the number of times he drinks the bowl dry but some nights it continues to occur. He's about ready for a f/u appointment to check on his thyroid medication level, so I'm planning on taking another look at this issue as a potential sign of health problems brewing. Hope you find a solution for Spud. ---Lucy

Poor Robin and poor you. Sending prayers that the IV antibiotics will work their magic on you sweet boy and that he'll be home and well very soon. --Lucy

Beautiful Jilly. I'm so so sorry, Susan. I'm crying, and I know there are many others shedding tears for your loss and for the hole that Jilly's absence will leave in so many hearts. --Lucy

Checking on Jake and sending all my best wishes and prayers.

Sending warm thoughts for both you and Ember. FWIW, I will mention what is working well for Piper since he too has cluster seizures. Piper is on the daily combo of phenobarbital and potassium bromide. That combination of meds has a reputation for helping with cluster seizures. Even on meds, he still has seizures, just not as often--sometimes single seizures and sometimes clusters. When he does cluster, his seizures generally occur 3 or more hours apart. For several years I gave him rectal valium after each seizure, because that is what is recommended for managing cluster seizures at home. Still, at least once a year he'd have a horrid cluster episode with seizures every 3 hours for 24-36 hours. Nightmare. The more I read, the more I began to suspect that I was wasting my time giving him rectal valium. Valium is given rectally because it gets into their system so rapidly that way. Its great benefit is for helping with seizures that are coming close together in time--probably within about 30 minutes of each other. That is because it gets on-board quickly. However, it also dissipates quickly--generally within about 45 minutes or so. So, rectal valium was not really impacting Piper's clusters since they were coming 3 or more hours apart. My terrific vet and I talked about that" revelation" and he consulted with a neurologist and came up with a different protocol for me to follow when Piper has a seizure. Now. after a seizure I give him 2 grains of phenobarbital and 10 mg of valium in pill form and I give those meds again every 6 hours until he has been 18-24 hours seizure free. This protocol has held him to single seizures at each episode for nearly 2 years. He's not had any clustering at all in 2 years--just single seizures. That is a huge success for him and a huge relief for me. It is hard to express how difficult those long grueling cluster episodes were for him and for me. --Lucy

My little one--Winston, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel-- is no longer with us but I dealt with some of the same concerns when I first got Piper and then added Spirit and MoMo. Winston was quite a character--he was a breed snob. He played with people, NOT with dogs. The hounds didn't bother him in normal activities--and I'd have corrected them if they did, just because of the size difference--and Winston was good at sticking up for himself. I did make sure he got play time with me in the yard without the hounds. I discourage hounds efforts to play with the cat because play can turn serious so easily. I suppose I (and Winston himself) discouraged play with the hounds for the same reason. Otherwise, he was just one of the dogs when it came to getting meals and treats. Good luck with your pair. --Lucy

What a wonderful heartwarming story. Jonah is home now for sure and clearly he knows it. --Lucy

I'm sorry that both you and Rainey are facing these seizures. Try not to lose heart--it can take a quite a but of adjustment and experimentation to get the right medicationss and the optimal dosages of those meds for your particular dog. In terms of the MRI/Spinal tap, FWIW, in deciding whether to have those tests preformed, I would want to have (1) a really good picture of what diagnostic information the vet is looking for with those test, and (2) then a sense of what exactly what new/different treatment options might be available based on any of those possible diagnoses. When Piper's seizures started, I too struggled with whether to have an MRI done. Spinal tap was never mentioned so I didn't even think about that one. The question for Piper was whether he had a brain tumor or just plain old idiopathic epilepsy. Interestingly, neither my regular vet nor the neurologist Piper saw at the UGA vet school recommended an MRI. The regular vet had an epileptic dane herself so she had the unique perspective of both a vet and a distressed owner when it came to epilepsy. She had decided not to do an MRI for her dane because, even if they found a brain tumor, the treatment would be about the same--control the symptoms (seizures) with meds. The neurologist said that if Piper had a brain tumor, we'd know soon enough as his symptoms changed and increased. Grim but realistic. Seven years later, the decision not to do an MRI has been supported. Piper clearly has idiopathic epilepsy. His seizures are reasonably well controlled--usually every 7-10 weeks, though sometimes he has a spell where they come more frequently. Treatment options may have changed in those seven years but I'd want a clear idea of what either of those procedures would "buy you" in solid terms of treatment options before opting for them. --Lucy

The Border Collie two yards over goes nuts whenever anyone runs a mower. She barks and fixates on the mower. With regard to the hounds, I don't ever let anyone out in the yard when I'm running the mower so I don't know if they'd be upset or not.

No ideas or advice here, but I'm so sorry that you all are dealing an unnerving "mystery condition". Poor Robin and poor you. I hope an answer with a cure will come soon for your poor boy. --Lucy

Spirit (3.5 y/o male) is a committed and determined marker on walks and in the yard. Unfortunately, he will also mark occasionally in the house. I'm quite certain that what I'm dealing with is marking and not house training issues. He is very good about asking to go out when I'm home and has a dog door for outdoor access when I'm not home. He tends to mark things that have been brought into the house or may have high value, so I'm careful about boxes and bags, etc. He once marked 2 six packs of Mt. Dew and that incident taught me to be aware of what I set down on the floor. Anyway, weeks go by without any marking in the house and then he'll surprise me. Yesterday he marked one of the dining room chairs...twice (different chair leg each time ). Obviously, I'd like to get his marking under control--particularly his inside marking and marking while on leash. I'm not quite sure how to approach doing this and so I'd like to obtain the collective wisdom of GT to help me with my "Magic Marker". Should I start correcting marking behavior on walks? Do I treat marking like house training and use the tether method? I've not done that because of the long periods of time between/without marking episodes, but maybe i need to. Belly bands? Suggestions and advice gratefully accepted Lucy

Donna, I'm sending all my good "thots" winging their way to Joe. That very special boy just has to be OK! --Lucy

I'm so very sorry for your loss. The pictures of her are delightful! Clearly she was a "trancer". What a beautiful special girl. --Lucy

After 6 years of having one hound, I've added two more in the past year. I was fortunate when considering #2, Spirit, that he and Piper had the opportunity to meet. That gave me confidence that Piper and Spirit would be OK together. MoMo, my pre-adopted girl, didn't meet either Piper or Spirit before coming home, but I felt comfortable with the adoption based on the 3 hound personalities involved and indeed these three are doing beautifully together. --Lucy

My word--your girl is a stunner!