LBass

I reluctantly got a dog door (mostly I had security concerns) when it became clear that my epileptic Piper just couldn't hold even for a few hours. He and my little Cavalier have adapted to the dog door beautifully. Both will go out and then come back in at sensible intervals. I think they both spend most of their time in the house. Neither was difficult to train. They were using the door in a couple of days. My new boy, Spirit, escaped the baby gate that was to keep him in the bedroom and taught himself to use the dog door on his own before I got home to check on him at lunch. With respect to the cats--I've had 2 Oriental Shorthair cats since installing the dog door and both are fully capable of getting out through the flaps. I keep the cats in a fairly large part of the house without access to the dog door just to be safe. I've got large doors with double flaps. I looked at the electric doors and just found myself too concerned about possible malfunctions and glitches to trust them. The set up I have involves a dog door leading into an enclosed section of the garage with another dog door leading from it into the fenced yard. Nothing except dogs has ever come in through the dog doors and having the double door setup means that any wind and rain that comes in (some, but not much) comes into the garage rather than into the house itself. Good luck with you choice. --Lucy

What a heartbreaking situation you're facing. I'm so very very sorry. --Lucy

I was checking in for a Cafe update. I'm sure it is very hard to have her away from home for such a long time. It is certainly heartening to read that she' eating and walking and seem generally to be in good spirits. --Lucy

I'm so glad that Cafe is doing pretty well this morning, poor baby. Poor you too! What a stressful situation. The only thing I have to add is that I have long baby gated my dogs into the bedroom at night so that Piper doesn't wander out of the bedroom and seize. He has a couple of tags on his collar that jingle nicely and wake me quickly if he is seizing. I've just added another grey and Spirit has not seen one of Piper's seizures yet. When I'm away form home Spirit is still being crated for house training purposes. At night I've got their beds on opposite sides of my bed. After your experience, I may try muzzling at night to be on the safe side. Sending warm healing thoughts to Cafe, to you, and to your other dogs. --Lucy

Several weeks ago Piper came in from the ayrd and I notices bloody food prints in the kitchen. One of the toe nails on a rear foot was gone--broken completely off very close to the pad. I could see "raw" quick. It did not seem to bother him and other than cleaning it and keeping an eye on his foot for any evidence of infection, I just let it be. It is now beginning to grow back. If Piper had been limping, I'd probably have called the vet's office to see if I needed to bring him in. I had him at the vet's office for something else about 3 weeks later and asked the vet to check it out. He said there wasn't anything to worry about and that the nail would likely grown back.

What absolutely spectacularly wonderful news! :confetti

Bless Pave Maria and her frightened humans.

Ketogenic Diet in dogs , unfortunately. One thing you might want to try is Sodium Bromide rather than Potassium Bromide. The Bromide is the seizure treating drug in the compounds and Sodium Bromide is essentially interchangeable with Potassium Bromide but is much easier on the canine tummy. The dosage is somewhat different, but NaBr is not harder to get and generally resolves the upset tummy issues. Good luck. --Lucy

What sad news for her loving families. I'm so very sorry. She has certainly left quite a legacy of wonderful hounds. Through Toby, she is FTH Chyna Moon's (MoMo) grandmother--grandmother to all the Toby babies, of course. So, here is another generation of special hounds carrying on her legacy of inward and outward beauty. --Lucy

Liquid diazepam (injectable) is administered to the dogs rectally via a small tube. That is the protocol developed and tested by a veterinary neurologist whose name I can find but do not remember at the moment) and it is used fairly commonly now to control cluster seizures at home. Some people do use diazepam suppositories and have tried nasal administration as well. With any luck, we'll find that the generic will still be available.

Eileen, I'm going to point you to a couple of really great websites for canine seizures. I think you will find information there that will help you decide how to approach this. I certainly can understand holding off on starting anti-epileptic drugs. I don't see any real sense in holding off doing a good general physical, which should give your vet a pretty good idea if there is anything going on with your dog that might be triggering seizures--other than plain old fashioned epilepsy. Epilepsy is actually not that uncommon in dogs. Causes & Treatments--an overview www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com www.canine-epilepsy.com www.canine-epilepsy.net Best wishes, Lucy and epi Piper (2 weeks seizure free)

Don't be so hard on yourself. We all have moments when our autopilot goes on the fritz. I don't think the probiotic or special food will do Sagan any harm at all. You can use this accident to get some good hard experiential confirmation about whether Merlin is allergic to chicken or not. You certainly wouldn't have intentionally fed it to him, but this is a great opportunity to prove or disprove the hypothesis that he is mildly allergic to chicken. If he is, eating a bit of it won't do him any lasting harm, and you and your vet will have solid confirmation of his allergy. If it doesn't give him any problems, well that is important information to have as well. I do understand the desire to give ones self a good swift kick. I cannot believe I did this. One is a 75 pound greyhound and one is a 20 pound spaniel but I actually gave Piper's ball of food with his epilepsy meds to Winston and handed Piper Winston's "empty" ball of food! A frantic call to the e-vet reassured me that Winston would be drowsy but fine. Be as kind to yourself as you'd be to someone else. --Lucy

Piper began having seizures at about 2 years of age. He had a huge and terrifying grand mal about 9 weeks after coming to me. That weekend he had 11 more seizures. His initial pattern was to have 3-4 seizures within about 2 hours once a week. With Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide we've managed to get him to the point of having single seizures (usually) every 6+ weeks. Should you need them, here are the web sites that I found very helpful in getting a handle on helping Piper: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com http://www.canine-epilepsy.net --Lucy and Piper (9 days seizure free)

I am blessed with a vet who calls in prescriptions quite willingly--I've never had to ask for a fax. I'm glad you've got things settled for the moment but it is a shame your vet added to your stress at a time that is already difficult for you and your sweet hound girl. It's been anti-epileptic drugs that I've dealt with but I think that the info holds true for all meds. I've found a staggering difference in pricing between various pharmacies. Apparently each pharmacy/chain decide how much markup to take on each drug. I found Gabapentin for $125 at Eckerd and the same med was $35 at Costco. The moral of the story is to call around local pharmacies and to chack out the discount places like Costco. Costco has an on-line presence and you do not have to have a membership to fill prescriptions by mail. Best wishes for you and your girl. --Lucy

FWIW, Piper's creatinine is always about that high. His health and blood levels are watched and checked fairly often because of his epilepsy and the vet and I have decided, after 5 years, that that level just seems to be normal for Piper. Perhaps there is no need to be too worried. --Lucy

I'm so sorry that your darling is having to say goodbye now. You and Morgan will be in my thoughts and prayers. --Lucy

Sending good healing thoughts to your Harmony. Upstate Veterinary has done a good job each of the "too many" times I've needed to use them so she should be in good hands. --Lucy

I'm so sorry. I remember when she arrived in your life. You shared pictures of her here on GT--she was the most adorable little creature. I've never had or even handled rats, but Edna won me over completely. Aren't you glad you two found each other! --Lucy

Your vet sounds like a great person to have in your corner. Having that Flagyl on hand for any future flair ups has to give you some peace of mind, as does his/her support of your decision to get Flagyl in him yesterday. Sending healing thoughts to your and Soul. --Lucy and Piper

Peace of mind vet visits are worth every moment and every penny they take. May the news about Casey be nothing but good. --Lucy

Poor thing. Spider bites in humans can be the very devil to deal with and I'm so sorry poor Valentino is suffering. May healing progress be his ASAP! --Lucy

:confetti :confetti Hurray!!!

I am so very sorry. --Lucy

Thinking of you and Samm E. May all your news be good. --Lucy and Piper from WFUBCC

I think that if you have confidence on you regular vet, it is fine to start seizure management w/o a neurology consult. Finding the right combination of meds and the right dosing for a particular dog is as much an art as it is a science. It can take time and some trial and error. A vet who is willing to research, to work with you, and to let you bring info and suggestions into the mix is priceless. You may find that you need become a bit of a researcher and advocate/expert for your dog. Keep a good detailed log of seizure dates, times, and circumstances. You will be amazed at how helpful that will be. I would suggest spending some time reading on the following sites: Caninie Epilepsy Guardian Angels Canine Epilepsy.com Canine Epilepsy.net Perhaps even join the email list available through the second web site. You can always get a neuro consult later in the porcess if it seems necessary. At this point, my wonderful vet contacts a neurologist who is willing to talk Piper's situation over with him and offer advice if he feels the need. Best wishes to you and to Phaelin. Lucy and Piper (13 days seizure free)