Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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We have a 6 year old GSD who lost her front left as a 7 week old puppy. She was in the yard and put her paw through the chain link fence. The neighbor dog bit her paw off. The breeder reluctantly gave her to a rescue where they fixed her 'spare' and then she found her way into our hearts as a tripawd.
At age 3, she started having severe seizures pretty frequently and is now on meds. We're looking forward to getting her vest to help her do the things she used to before the meds. Plus after a seizure, she is pretty tired and needs the extra help.
Does anyone else out there have experience with seizures?
Our boy has them too, his are a result of a brain tumor. As much as I trust most vets, I found that the recommended dose of phenobarbital was way too high. He's been back on the pheno for almost a year now at half the dose they prescribed last October. We anticipated we would have to increase the dose at some point, but it hasn't been necessary so far.
He's a big boy (115 lbs) and gets 50 mg every 12 hours, instead of the 100 mg every 12 hours they told us to give him.
When we first started him on the 100 mg every 12 hours, he couldn't even walk unassisted. It took me about five days to cut the dose in half. He's been totally fine since then.
In fact, he's pretty much a rock star. 🙂
Good luck.
Rhonda and Lincoln
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall – Confucius
http://credocan.....pawds.com/
Hi and welcome to tripawds.
My quad pug Tani was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) at age two when she started having daily seizures. Once diagnosed she was put on pheno barb and has been on it ever since. She is on a low dose which keeps her just in the therapeutic range, but controls her seizures pretty well. When she does have them she usually looses her bladder but not her bowels. She is very tired and sleeps for most of the next day, for some reason she usually has them at night. For the last few years she has less seizures and more what I call episodes. She seems to just go away for a few seconds or minutes, you can see in her eyes that she is not 'here'. Once in awhile I have to go get her from the back yard and she is surprised to see me.
We do blood work every 6 months or so to check her pheno barb level and organ function. When she takes her pill (once in the morning, once at night) she seems a little tired, but not excessively so. The Neurologist vet that diagnosed her said the hydrocephalus would shorten her life span, but he couldn't say by how much. Since she has made it to 11 years old now I don't really worry about her life span anymore. She has always had some slow reaction time in her right rear leg- when you turn her paw upside down she doesn't bring it back right away. The Neurologist thought it was related to the hydrocephalus. Now she has problems with both her back legs, but she also has arthritis in her back so I'm not sure is the leg problems are from the neurological damage or the arthritis.
For the most part she has been a normal, happy pug girl since her diagnosis.
Tell us more about your girl- what's her name?
And so you know- your future posts will not require moderation, only the first post from a new member has to wait.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Wow - those were quick replies - thanks! Tana started out with some very bad and frequent seizures. She was having 6 cluster seizures every 4-6 weeks. Our first vet wasn't very aggressive with the meds - which I appreciate - but as I've learned, it is best to get the meds high to stop the seizures then bring them back down. We've never stopped them - but they are down to 1 seizure every 10 weeks. She is on sodium bromide (5 cc per day) and 6 pills of phenobarb (380mg) per day. We recently lowered her sodium bromide to see if that helps with her grogginess and so far - she is doing really well! We will have to see when her next seizure is to really assess if it is a good 'maintenance' dose.
We aren't sure the cause of her seizures - can't afford to take her to a neurologist. Our vets have just said that it may be genetic - we've changed all her food and treats as well as water.
It's hard to see her hobbling about with 3 legs, on seizure meds, then right after her seizures, she is blind for about 5 minutes. She's wonderful, smart, and sweet - but seems to be unlucky. However WE think we're lucky to have her!
Awwwwww!
What a sweatheart! How adorable is she!??
No experience with seizures, but I just wanted to welcome you to the group!
Bless you for getting Tana!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
That is a super high dose of phenobarb so I hope they are checking her liver values. Is she maxxed out on the dose of bromide? If so I would ask your vet about using zonisamide. It is a generic human med that doesn't affect the liver like phenobarb does.
Unfortunately the herding breeds seem to have refractory epilepsy (hard to control with meds alone). Some research shows that many dogs will improve with a high protein diet such as Evo but I would ask your vet first. A neuro consult might be a good idea. You wouldn't need a spinal tap or MRI for this condition just the exam and consult which in our area (Seattle) runs between $150 and $200. There are many newer and safer drugs out there besides phenobarb so If your vet is not comfortable with these drugs a consult is money well spent.
Pam
Thanks for the picture! The avatar is nice too.
One of the reasons I went to the Neurologist is that I was concerned about Pug Dog Encephalitis or PDE. As the name implies it is specific to pugs and is fatal. We did end up doing a MRI and a spinal tap to rule out PDE. Since then my regular vet has managed her treatment.
Tani was diagnosed before I bought my house and before we embarked on the 4.5 year cancer battle with Tri-pug Maggie; money wasn't so much and issue then 
.
I think everyone here can understand how finances unfortunately have to play a role sometimes. But I think Dr. Pam gives some good advice (she is a vet) on a consult if you can swing it. I have never pursued other drugs besides pheno barb since Tani tolerates it well, her seizures are well controlled, and her liver function has remained fine for the 9 years she has taken it.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Super advice! Thanks so much! Tana is going this month for a blood panel - I'll ask our vet those things. We just moved to this area and I get the feeling he hasn't seen too many dogs with bad seizures. I will have to look up where the nearest neurologist is - maybe Colo Spgs...?? We are in southeast Colorado.
I don't think she is maxed out on bromide - in fact - we just lowered her from 5 cc/day to 2 cc/day. It was actually a result of a dog sitting mistake - but we're trying it out because she is so much more energetic with the lower dose.
I'll keep you posted!
Mary
No experience with seizures... But the picture is too cute for words!! Thanks for sharing and keep us updated!!
Mary, it may be worthwhile for you to come up to Colorado State for the neurology appt. They are one of the best, if not the best, vet schools in the world. And if you do, let us know, we would love to meet you and Tana. Good luck.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Mary,
Just a little FYI,
tazziedog - Pam is a vet
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
This great post on PetMD, "New Options for Seizure Control" is definitely worth reading if you're coping with seizures....
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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