Out and About

Dad took me out for the day yesterday. He needed to do a favour for his mate Frank. So whilst he was working on his computers he figured he may as well take me out for the day... after all what trouble could I cause?

For a Saturday, dad got up real early... well, when I say real early, I mean got up ready to go out. I mean that because I always get him up early to let me into the bedroom with them at 2:00am so I can sleep on the floor in the same room.

So we get in the car and head in the opposite direction to the woods which left me all confused. It was quite a journey, but I like to travel anywhere with dad.

Frank's offices are a big industrial unit with lots of separate buildings. It's all enclosed so dad's not going to worry about where I go. Dad gets busy sorting out the computers and I go off for a bit of a nosey. Having been gone for a few minutes dad decided to come hunt for me, it's unusual if he's not following me around everywhere.

Well when he found me I was looking a bit sheepish. Well it's not really my fault. The whole yard is concrete and all the buildings are concrete and well I had to go somewhere, so I left a big smelly pile right in one of the machine shops. Dad thought it was funny, but I'm not sure Frank did.

Dad definitely wasn't cross because he took me out to the woods on the way home. We came across a couple of friendly but wary Jack Russels. The made a b-line for me to come say hello, and their dad came running up behind them. Dad shouted over that I was friendly too and he needn't worry. He shouted over "It's not mine I'm worried about it's yours!", which made me laugh. However, they were very friendly and just wanted to say hi. At one point one of them gave me a bit of a snap, but being such bitesized dogs I couldn't take it seriously. I know they must be intimidated by my size.

After we got back I had my dinner, I missed breakfast - well had some but we dashed out, so I left it. Then a bit later I got really sick and threw it all up on the floor in the front room. Dad cleaned it up, but then later in the night about 2:30am I got sick again. I had nothing in my stomach so it was just bile and lots of heaving.

When mum gave me breakfast I was really hungry, but then just left it. I couldn't face it. Thankfully by dinner time I was famished and who can say no to mum's Sunday dinner? Hmm, I got a pork chop all to myself, so I'm at least eating again.

Ear Infection Returns

Damned ear infection has returned with a vengeance. I spent the evening before shaking my head until I fell asleep. Last night I kept dad up all night fidetting, head shaking and pacing around.

Thankfull dad had some Canaural and put it in and cleaned my ears out again. It was so good. It's a great feeling having his finger halfway into my brain... I'm not so sure it's as great for dad though.

Last night Ian came round after they all went out. He gave dad his present which is highly unusual to say the least. I think he's going to have to be in a really brave mood to even try it!

It smells awful.

Ingredients are listed as, Fish, Shrimps, Pepper spices, sunflower oil - that's all. Also says "This sauce will compliment any dish Can also be used as a spread" Ohh yeah. Looks like the day it gets tested I'm going to spend the day outside! When it does get tested I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

At the Doctors

Dad took me into work today. That's a sure sign that I'm gonna be poked and prodded by the vet later. Especially as I didn't get any breakfast before we left for work.

On the way in the car I got sick. Dad said it looked like whipped egg whites as I'd not had any thing to eat. I managed to slip over in it and got it all over me before we got into the office. Dad wasn't too impressed as it made me very smelly through the day, bleurgh! He tried to clean me up as best you can with a paper towel and water, but the smell stayed behind.

We went out into the town centre at lunchtime. Thursdays are market days and the town is full of people. I was on my very best behaviour and walked good as gold by dad's side. I think dad likes taking me into town on Thursdays. He thinks it's much easier to walk through the crowd as they seem more eager to move out of the way when I'm with him. It must be the smell?

At the vets I got a good going over, ears, eyes and gums etc. It's all very confusing as they try to make me stand where they want. I wish they'd make up their minds - so I just lie down here and let them get on with it.

The vet couldn't find anything wrong - and the "bobble head" didn't show itself, so we're going to have to try to catch it on camera. The vet's going to talk with a specialist, even if we can't afford to go see them ourselves, just to get some additional advice.

They took some blood to send off for a liver function test, so we should get some results next week. They also asked about vaccinations... dad politely skipped the issue for now. No doubt he'll be talking with them about it later though.

I also got weighed again. I tried all the lady like tricks of one foot on the floor and leaning on the wall, but didn't get away with it. I weighed in at just over 45kgs, which is an improvement, and more like what I should be.

Dad treated me with his leftover chicken tonight, just as a way of praising me for being so good all day.

Spritual Healing

With all the happening over the weekend things haven't really improved a great deal. Following the seizures I've still not fully recovered. It seems the after effects have been somewhat distressing to mum and dad.

There's defiantly some mental impairment going on though. For instance I'm scared of the stairs now. Previously I'd follow dad like a shadow just to be with him, and going up and downstairs was never an issue. It's not like I've even fell down the stairs whilst having a seizure either.

But the worst part, for mum at any rate, is that I'm not letting anyone know when I want to go out to the toilet. Add onto that that I've also got diarrhea at the minute, it means that there's a lot to mop up.

On Sunday dad was just taking me out when Anita's (she's Ian's girlfriend - Ian is dad's brother, and they live next door), well her mum came round to see me. She's a spiritual healer and offered to work her magic on me and see if she could help. Dad's not going to turn away anything that may help. So she came around and did a laying on of hands. I certainly enjoyed the attention, now let's hope it helps out in some way.

I guess dad's a bit of a sceptic. More a case of he believes what can be demonstrated as proof rather than simply accepting things based on another's beliefs. But without wanting to sound hypocritical, nothing else seems to work so far, so what harm can it do?

After consulting with the vet on Monday over the phone dad ordered some probiotic formula to ease up the diarrhea. They also recommended that the potassium bromide be increased to 3 x 325mg twice a day.

Dad reckons it seems a little strange talking with the vet on the phone for free. After all you pay for the consultation and prescription charges and drugs, but talking to them on the phone incurs no cost. I think it would make more sense to pay for any consultation that takes up a vets time and fore go the charges on prescriptions.

At least this time it seems to have been value for money as after paying the £14 for the probiotic formula (Pro-Kolin+), which appears to be a reasonable price, and getting a free phone call, the balance swings our way a little for once.

I've also had to go without dinner or breakfast to try to clear up the diarrhea. But I was so persistent mum buckled under the pressure and gave me a mug of Bakers dog biscuits. I have never eaten dry food, I just don't like it, but I guess if that's all I'm getting I'll eat the lot!

But just to be different it looks like I'm not so fussy with my food now. So mum and dad are going to try me on dried food again, just to see if they can at least use it part of the time.

The vet is also going to discuss my case with a specialist and see if there's anything else that can be recommended. They also spoke about an MRI scan, but mum and dad really can't afford that.

Today's been a bit better. At 5am this morning I still left a puddle in the living room. I did bark to wake dad up... but only to tell him I had already gone, and not before as I should.

I also finally gave in. After dad went back to bed I made several attempts to go upstairs, before I finally picked up the courage to make it to the top! Now I've made it once, getting there and back has become easy again and I'm back to following dad. I hope this is a sign that things are turning around.

Pro-Kolin+ : A highly palatable paste formulation containing beneficial microorganisms, prebiotics, kaolin and pectin, whose absorbent and soothing properties are well known. It soothes the gut lining during periods of diarrhoea and improves the consistency of stools.

PS: Well the eczema seems to have cleared up, yay! Looks like the steroids have done their job, but will I be as muscle bound?

How Irritating - Eczema

Today dad decided it was best to drive all the way into Loughborough to get the vet to have a look at my paws. The irritation has finally shown itself as an inflamed pink patch on the inside of my toes. So all this slurping my paws was for some good reason.

The vet took a quick look at my feet and decided it was Eczema. Probably caused by some allergic reaction to a chemical in or around the house. He said it's not unusual this time of year with people planting and growing things, using pesticides and fertilizers. So finding the cause could be quite difficult.

The vet prescribed a weeks (7 days) dosage (1 x 5mg, twice a day) of a corticosteroid called Prednidale/Prednisolone. He also preceded it with an injection to kick start the effects.

The vet explained it acted as an anti-inflammatory and that although I currently take an Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAID, Previcox) the two can be used together as the Prednidale targets a different area and that the Previcox is very specific in its treatment.

Dad asks the questions and gets a lot of useful information from the vet. They seem very open and keen to discuss specifics, so dad tries hard to get as much detail as he can. He's no vet, but if you get the information, even if you don't understand it (and dad really doesn't), you can take it away and go rumage around the internet to get more help.

So digging around later dad find a wealth of information regarding possible side effects so now we know what to look for.

What dad also found out is that it is an immunosuppressive drug. So I guess the allergic reaction should also be lessened because of this feature.

As I'm about due another bout of seizures this really couldn't have come at a worse time. Now we wont know if these new tablets or the injection will have had any impact on my seizures. Maybe it'll cause me to go into one, delay it, who knows? But whatever it does, it means a change which we can't account for.

Well with all these drugs it looks like entering the 2012 Olympics will be out of the question. Any sample I'd give would be sure to cause the testing machine to blow a gasket!

Bad Night

Well with the previous days seizures having some strange spacing, not the usual 4-5 hour interval, we thought it was all over. Turns out that wasn't quite right.

During the evening I was still spaced out and sleepy from all the prior seizures. So I really didn't want to do much but laze around and recuperate. But when it came to bedtime I just couldn't get comfortable. I continually got up and moved around in the bedroom, finding a more comfortable spot. Then I sat panting heavily until I was forced to move again.

02:45 Just as I was going off to sleep, and I'm sure mum and dad were about to drop off, I started fitting again. Same as before with the lethargy afterwards, but then wanting some food. Dad took me downstairs and gave me half a tin of food.

Then it was up and down the stairs as I kept not so subtly waking dad by licking his ears, wanting to go out but not wanting to go out. Completely indecisive. I then wouldn't leave dad alone until he fussed me or rubbed and massaged my stomach, quite literally all night! When he stopped I'd start finding hard noisy things like the steel bed frame, chair or table to rattle and gnaw my teeth on until dad was fed up with the noise and got up and fussed me some more.

I don't think dad looked too sharp when his alarm went of at 6am - not that I'd know because by then I was sound asleep. Still I woke mum and got her to make my breakfast - there's no lying in when I get hungry.

Getting Sick

Today I was full of beans when mum and dad got up this morning. After a full day of rest yesterday things were going well.

Then Chris phoned dad at work to tell him I'd been sick and the only things in it were the tablets he'd given me this morning. After the fun and games of the last few days dad told Chris to give me my tablets again.

I managed to keep them down all day but Blaine found I'd been sick again in the afternoon. Nothing in it but bile and I hadn't eaten my breakfast.

Dad came home and I was all skulky and hiding like I'd done something wrong by making a sicky mess. I needn't have worried as dad didn't tell me off, but he did take me outside to give me a bit of a wash around my face and neck as all the slobber from yesterday was getting a bit pongy. When mum got home at 18:30 she made my dinner and I ate it all.

Morning Sickness

When dad got up this morning he noticed I'd been sick in the night. One was quite dried up and the other more recent. There wasn't a great deal in it, mostly bile with a bit of dog food.

I was looking lively enough when dad came down, other than looking a bit sheepish and embarassed like I was expecting a telling off.

Updated

Well tonight nothing to report! Other than this morning getting sick all seems to be well. Dad took me out for a walk and did some re-training exercises with me. Just to get me back in the groove. Even met up with a friendly staffy I've met before and seemed to be getting back to my old self. Still some way to go... but improving.

Lost My Appetite

I got mum and dad really worried by not wanting to eat anything much.

I've always been a fussy eater and never really taken to treats and snacks that people sometimes offer me.  But I've also seemed to lose the want for anything else.

Mum tried me on all kinds of different foods from tinned to dry foods - but I wasn't interested.  In fact I was loosing weight every week, getting thinner and thinner.

Dad then found that I'd eat chicken - he remembered that my previous owner had apparently fed me nothing but chicken carcases, not much meat on those!

Dad took me to see doctor Eli at the surgery and she gave me a steroid injection, Laurabolin and some antibiotics, Periactin (Cyproheptadine).  This wasn't for anything specific, but it had a side effect that she wanted to use - it gives an appetite.  She also gave us some dried food to build me up - but I didn't really like that.

So he started boiling up batches of chicken and brown rice for me to eat. I remember the kitchen always seemed to smell of boiled chicken, hmmm lovely. I don't know why mum always complained it smelled nasty.

Dad always snuck in some of the dried food too, but even though it was small I could eat around that and leave that in the bowl.

I'd have chicken and rice for breakfast and tea for weeks and gradually the weight came back. Dad took me to be weighed every Friday and was pleased to see me building up.  I don't think I'll ever be a fat dog, I've always been lean.

After a while I started being less fussy. Now and then I'll still go off a particular food but mum swaps them around so I don't get bored.