What's Wrong? Diarrhea, Vomitting, Balance Issues

[Batmom]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Godspeed, sweetheart.

[Cricket57]

So very sorry for your loss. Run free, sweet Kentucky.

 

Cricket

[Guest Islandhopper3]

So sorry for you, and Kentucky. We had a 14 year old Golden retriever who suddenly began having what appeared to be mini-strokes. The first lasted about 5 minutes, and we attributed it to old age. A second episode occurred, lasted about the same amount of time, and afterwards Ranger was his old self. The 3rd event proved to be fatal. Again, we thought "old age". Then, one of our 8 year old mixed breeds, Red began having skin issues, followed by hypersensitivity to touch, increased urination, loss of coordination, seizures, and oral lesions that made eating difficult. Since our 3rd dog is a sibling, and hadn't shown any such symptoms we looked for what was different in their care, and the only variable was an anti-inflammatory: carprofen.

 

Research of carprofen side effects identified every symptom Red had. We d/c the carprofen, and began a two week regimen of prednisone. Within a few days Red's problems began to resolve, but it would be another 6 months before all had resolved. Ranger was also on carprofen for a short period of time for age-related hip pain, and while we'll never know for certain we believe the mini-strokes were likely seizures, and along with other unintended/undiagnosed effects of carprofen were the cause Ranger's death.

 

We've been especially careful to check all reported side effects of meds since, and to be extra sensitive to any changes in our dogs' health after changing something with their care. While researching flea/tick/HW meds for our grey (to see if we can use the Revolution we use on our mixed breeds) most of the symptoms Kentucky had could have been caused by flea/tick/HW meds.

 

Unfortunately, we don't generally know how our dog will react to any medication (or food) until it's tried. Give them rice. Don't give them rice. Lamb is fine. Lamb stresses the liver, and can lead to failure. Topicals are okay. Topicals should not be used. Oral HWP is best. My dog throws up when given oral HWP. Your posts about Kentucky are appreciated, and add to our collective understanding of greys. Thank you!

 

As others have said, Kentucky knows he was loved, and will run to greet you once you've crossed the Rainbow Bridge.