A Special Needs Survey

[6greyhounds]

Belle was pre-adopted and did not develope seizures until she was about 3 one year after we got her

 

EZ was a controlled seizure pup when we adopted him and he was also a bounce. don't know if he was bounced because of the seizures. I wonder though

[Guest meakah]

Koda: came as an extreme spook. She has come leaps and bounds over the past 5 years but I would still consider her special needs since she would starve to death if you didn't cater to her spookiness. She has since developed Pannus therefore lifetime meds....if you consider that 'special needs'. I don't really.

[GreytNut]

Raven and Argus both came with lifetime medication requirements for hypothyroidism. I guess "special needs" is a subjective term. I don't consider giving a twice daily, inexpensive pill to be a true special needs situation. If a dog would die if it missed a dose or if the medication was extremely expensive or difficult to administer (i.e. sub-q or intravenous), that would be special needs.

 

Raven was a spook when we got her and still is very, very shy and easily frightened. I would consider that special needs, though I've certainly seen worse. She's gotten a lot better.

 

Tiny was special needs when I got him in that he was morbidly obese and had some behavioral problems. He could hardly even walk without panting. He needed a very strict diet and controlled exercise. He is perfectly fit and healthy now. More challenging were the space aggression and biting issues. That I would certainly consider special needs, without question. But now those problems have pretty much been resolved and I would no longer consider Tiny a special needs hound.

[Fruitycake]

Our first dog (Keeshond) was definitely special needs at first: she weighed 72 lbs and should have been half that. We got her weight down and she was a whole new dog!

 

Monty (grey) was a dog who was retired (before racing) because he had "a seizure." Or maybe many of them, we really didn't get much information from the track. 3.5 months later he had cluster grand mal seizures (6 in 24 hours) and now is on phenobarb. He is now nearing 18 months seizure free. We came here and did LOTS of research on seizures in dogs before we brought him home, so we were prepared for the worst case scenario.

 

Allie (keeshond) was supposedly this almost perfect dog...but she has special needs too. She has problems communicating - she growls for happiness, playfulness, fear, and aggression and they all sound exactly the same, so we've had to learn to watch her closely to read what she means. And sometimes it's still hard to tell.

[6greyhounds]

I forgot to mention Her Majesty Queen Softee was a spook when we got her and hated men. The only two men in her life was David and my grandson Ricky. When we started doing Pet Therapy with her she started to realize that men are okay. She would take off upstairs if a man (even my sons) we in the house more than 5 minutes.

[Guest TBSFlame]

I guess Flame is sort of special needs. He does walk with a bad limp but it has never stopped. I think it made him harded to adopt. He was my foster and I would show him to people and they would see his bad leg. His foot is fused together and doesn't more and there is a curve to his leg. It was like they wanted a perfect dog. I could see the look on his face change when they would spot his leg. I finally got tired of it and just kept him. He is happy and doing well here for the last 5 years.

[mom2four]

Our Galgo was considered special needs as he was severely abused and tortured in Spain and became extremely scared of people. We adopted him in this condition, but he has for the most part overcome his extreme fear of people as he realises that he does not get abused anymore.

[Guest bigorangedog]

Palu - broken hock that was never set at the track, permanent limp

 

Crisco - returned from 3 homes for separation anxiety, supposedly a "vicious" dog (my sweet sweet baby)

 

Tobey - returned for housetraining issues

 

Chester - has Pannus; and was an escape artist and had gotten hit by a car. Had sutures in 24 places when he came home to us.

 

Annie - Nothing wrong with her, just a bounceback, was a failed foster

 

Tanner - Supposedly was peeing in the house (never have I had such a reliably housetrained dog) and was returned at 9.5 yrs old

 

Brad - Bit a child who was "petting" him by hitting him in the head (loves my 5-yr-old daughter)

 

Sly - No issues, just 10.5 at adoption time

 

Apollo - No issues, 9.5 at adoption time, although he does have lipomas that have needed to be removed

 

Whitey - adopted at age 11, diagnosed with osteo 2 weeks later, has been a tripod since Friday

 

Hank - no issues. He was an accident.

 

ETA - almost forgot! My 5-yr-old human daughter...adopted at age 4, has cerebral palsy and does not use her right arm. :-)

Edited November 19, 2009 by bigorangedog

[PatricksMom]

I don't really count Patrick as special needs, but since you asked about ongoing medication he does need soloxine (and can't take the generic) everyday and he needs tramadol and cosequine everyday for his arthritis (that set in about 7 years old). We've found ways to minimize the costs--ordering a year's worth of thyroid meds and cosequine at a time, buying arthritis medication from Target instead of the vet. But really, given the frequency of those conditions I wasn't surpised at all to have to deal with them.

[winnie]

All of our greys were "healthy" when we adopted them. Since then, Darcy and Bonny now have incontinence issues. Both are on Proin and will likely stay on Proin for life. All of our greys also have arthritis which require daily supplements (Synovi G3). Both issues are age related. We don't mind one bit - old age issues happen to all of us.

[Guest Dawn]

Rachael Rae came through missing her foot from her hock down and subsequently needed an amputation

Ginger has Pannus

Guinness is healthy

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

None of mine are special needs, except the two JCKC dogs which were in bad shape, but they are both fine now