tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035716297598887522012-01-27T20:47:48.679-05:00A Lifestyle For Epileptic PetsEmilynoreply@blogger.comBlogger441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-85374685428252150972011-05-03T22:38:00.006-04:002011-05-03T23:03:17.941-04:00

I apologize that I have not posted. The past year has been a nightmare. A man I was with took over my email and blogs and I was unable to get in. I finally got us all away from that man, and am able to get back in my blogs, but it is with a broken heart that I have to tell you Henry passed on today. After 15 months of living somewhere none of us were happy at, I finally managed to get us out. I

Emilynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-15882166169530435722010-06-14T12:16:00.009-04:002010-06-22T21:29:01.746-04:00

A few days ago I jumped in a lake and saved a chesepeake bay retriever puppy. She had not yet learned the proper smooth gliding motion of swimming and was half way across the lake and frantically paddling way too hard and got exhausted, she was not keeping her head above water as well and still had a long ways to go, the sun was setting awful fast, and so in I went after her. I did not want to

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-9597809921642964002010-02-08T22:45:00.004-05:002010-02-08T22:58:58.052-05:00

Wednesday January 27th at 11:34 Riley was freed from his cancer filled body. He is terribly missed by all of us. Henry keeps looking all over for Riley. In the last two days Henry had two Grand-Mals. Under counsel of the vet, he is on extra Phenobarbital. *So far* that is doing the trick. The last seizure was early this morning. Riley was always like a nurse dog to all my special needs pets as

Emilynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-35876799880260335482009-05-21T11:58:00.000-04:002009-05-21T12:01:03.109-04:00

Riley feels SO much better today!!! Yesterday we noticed a marked difference, and today even more so! He is doing so well, he wanted to try to come down the stairs himself this morning! Of course I didnt let him and carried him as usual. Anyways, you can just tell that he is so happy to have some relief and be feeling better than he was a few days ago. The Prednisone is working waaaaay better

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-18980177652021468512009-05-19T10:59:00.005-04:002009-05-19T11:36:09.921-04:00

Hello everyone, I had been waiting until things were more official before I updated on Riley. Riley received another dose of chemo on friday, May 15th. When I handed Riley over to the vet tech, I made it very clear that Riley needed to be watched closely with the tumor, as he tends to lick/pick at it. I assumed he would go straight to chemo. 3 hours later, they came out to say Riley had just

Emilynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-77143139902414448362009-05-15T21:21:00.006-04:002009-05-15T22:10:30.170-04:00

I have posted a couple times about our experience with Valium. Valium has most definately saved Henry's life. I have read on the EPIL-K9 list, that some find Valium suppositories take too long to kick in.The kind I use is liquid, here is a pic.~ The liquid apparently absorbs right away, as opposed to the suppositories. I havent actually used the suppositories myself, so I can't give an actual

Emilynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-32111073344593288482009-05-03T11:55:00.013-04:002009-05-03T12:49:05.203-04:00

Hello everyone! Gonna share an update with lots of pictures.The first few nights after Riley got his chemo, we had the boys sleep on opposite sides of the bedroom. A couple nights ago we gave them back their freedom to sleep wherever they wish (in our room). It was obvious they were thrilled to have this freedom back. Me and my husband sat up in bed, and enjoyed watching the boys happily going

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-31883895009433499822009-04-28T17:33:00.002-04:002009-04-28T17:39:12.450-04:00

Hi everyone! Just giving a quick update. Riley had his first Chemotherapy last Friday. (April 24th) All went very well. Riley never lost his appetite, never vomited or had diarhea. Continues to promptly clean his food bowl at all meals. He did have some fatigue for the first 48 hours. Unfortunately, on Sunday, while Riley and Henry were both in a big hurry to get out of the rain, they tripped on

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-8280860319181645912009-04-23T21:15:00.006-04:002009-04-23T21:32:12.948-04:00

Tomorrow Riley will have his first dose of Chemotherapy. Prayers would be much appreciated! (Video was taken April 19th, 4 days ago)

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-81973761031147891892009-04-15T01:03:00.004-04:002009-05-23T10:38:10.142-04:00

Henry had a Grand-mal about 40 minutes ago. Stress was the trigger, I know it. He knows Riley is sick and has been so worried about him. Henry is a bit of a spook and really relies on Riley in order to help him be more brave. If we lose Riley to this cancer, it's going to be awfully rough on Henry. =(

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-24679663133930670972009-04-14T17:32:00.006-04:002009-04-14T17:57:57.408-04:00

Sorry I have been away so long. My computer started behaving very badly, and I had to take it in to be repaired, which took three weeks. I just got my computer back today and am very glad to be back!!!!I had a hard time deciding wether or not to put this here or on my other blog (The BARF Blog). Due to the large number of greyhounds affected by cancer, and this blog being read by many greyhound

Emilynoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-59243957521537491362009-02-01T11:52:00.011-05:002009-02-01T18:43:00.724-05:00

Henry had a Grand-Mal about at about 1 AM today. I knew it was coming. We were upstairs, and he started to cry in a very urgent way. I ran downstairs and got an extra grain of Phenobarbital, I noticed Henry was acting blind and thought oh no.... He did take the Pheno. He really wanted to go downstairs. With me guiding him he started to go down the stairs, and at the third step from the bottom

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-9369403142938257922008-11-30T16:13:00.004-05:002008-11-30T16:30:47.979-05:00

In this picture, Henry is in a very deep sleep with his eyes open.This doesn't have anything to do with epilepsy, but I feel it's an important topic to cover regardless.I have had many breeds and breed mixes over the years, and the sleeping pattern of the Henry has really stood out as different than any other dog we have had. Greyhounds are known for sleeping with their eyes open, and they are

Emilynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-29756534652155835202008-11-23T19:18:00.002-05:002008-12-08T23:26:41.838-05:00

Henry's blood test result is in. His Phenobarbital level is 149. 160 is the maximum allowed. So he's up there. Yikes. I'm glad he's staying seizure free though! I have mixed feelings about this. His dose is 150 mg twice daily, so total of 300 mg a day.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-77950168102429525352008-11-20T18:58:00.003-05:002008-11-20T19:23:03.851-05:00

I have been meaning to post about Pancreatitis and have neglected to do so. This is something I feel is especially important for all those whose epi-pups are on meds to know about. Unfortunately Pancreatitis is more common in dogs who are on both Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide. Being aware of the symptoms so you know what to do and are prepared is a very good idea. Symptoms are not

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-50539591157418219712008-11-20T18:50:00.003-05:002008-11-20T18:54:17.372-05:00

A lady named Julie Costello has started a new blog, which will be documenting her trip to Spain to help the Galgo. Galgos are a sighthound pretty similar to Greyhounds. Galgos are very common in Spain. Galgos suffer extreme horrors in Spain. =( Julie is going to Spain to help the Galgos, and she will be blogging about her experience to help raise awareness.Please check out her blog~ http://

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-21119055049493412732008-11-09T09:04:00.003-05:002008-11-09T09:13:14.796-05:00

Sorry I have been away from my blog. I would like to do a few quick updates.First of all, Henry is at 35 days Grand-Mal free today! Tomorrow will be a new record for how long he has made it. November 20th he has an appt. with Dr. Buck and will have his Phenobarbital level checked via blood test. My prediction is the level is right about in the middle. Not real high, but not real low either.Also,

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-40672591295071827812008-10-26T15:41:00.008-04:002008-10-27T12:55:32.023-04:00

A few days before I adopted Henry, I joined a board called GreyTalk, and sought out advice on epilepsy. A dear woman came on, by the name of Judy, and she told me about one of her Greyhounds who had epilepsy, Saint. Saint was having 4-6 Grand-Mals a week before he joined Judy and Mike's family. They brought him home, and he was a very sad looking hound who hung his head low. Two days after they

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-46493619944341631052008-10-26T12:56:00.005-04:002009-02-02T22:00:52.156-05:00

(CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE FULL SIZE)Both Friday and Saturday, during both day and night, Henry did much better than before starting Fennel. It has made a huge difference! Click on label 'Fennel' under this post to read any other entries in this blog about Fennel.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-64666970744442345692008-10-24T13:48:00.004-04:002008-10-24T14:02:31.329-04:00

I just want to share my conclusion on Chiropractic for epilepsy now that we have been through it with Henry. I think Chiropractic should be done *immediately* at the very beginning of epilepsy, not as a last ditch resort. What I like about Chiropractic is, it treats the *cause*, not the symptom. Phenobarbital only treats the symptom. A symptom that has the power to kill, and a symptom that in

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-85861611108080976982008-10-24T10:05:00.007-04:002008-10-24T13:45:55.701-04:00

Last night, Henry climbed up into our bed. He had not slept in our bed for a few days so I was kind of surprised. Shortly after that, he started to pant. I checked to make sure his body wasn't hot. The room was cold, and he had jammies on. He didn't feel hot. I laid there and thought about it for awhile, trying to figure out what this was about and what to do. Henry continued to pant, and was now

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-81628787676149646112008-10-23T22:32:00.008-04:002008-10-26T23:10:22.523-04:00

Paul has been taking Lucky to a Holistic Veterinarian. Paul has been doing extensive research on chinese herbs for dogs. Paul read about Fennel helping with excessive hunger. So Paul cleared it with his Holistic Veterinarian, and tried it, and he was amazed how well it worked. He used to have to feed Lucky at 3 am, and now no longer has to! So today, I gave Henry his first Fennel Capsule around

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-20387132856738372522008-10-22T15:11:00.016-04:002008-10-23T10:42:16.168-04:00

I want to introdoose yu all to my Veterbanareeyun. Mommy took dis pikshur of us togeder today. Ain't she pretty? =) I weelly lubs my Veterbanareeyun. She opened her office on a Sunday morning JUST fer me when I was vewy sick two weeks ago. Dat was VEWY nice ob her!She habs two Greyhounds ob her own so dat meen she weelly know how to take care ob me!!!!!Dr.Buck, if you r readin dis, I want to say

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-74670982424686247252008-10-21T18:01:00.007-04:002008-10-21T19:03:22.926-04:00

This thought is a carryover from the entry I wrote earlier today. We tend to always blame EVERYTHING on the seizure meds. It's not always the seizure meds. Grand-Mals, in enough frequency and severity will alter your dog's behavior. Henry went from needing to sleep between me and my husband each night and needing to be sung to everytime he woke up, to being able to sleep on his own bed with no

Emilynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-86944808169666402012008-10-21T10:45:00.006-04:002008-10-21T20:26:47.638-04:00

(Henry sleeping by my husband's feet. This picture was taken several nights ago)Last night, for the very first time since the Big Cluster, Henry slept in his own bed. In the begginning, Henry was to disoriented and scared and would cry if I did not lift him up into our bed to sleep between me and my husband. He then graduated to sleeping at my husband's feet instead, and now, is back to sleeping

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-50014481241906133992008-10-18T09:09:00.004-04:002008-10-18T21:32:30.811-04:00

We just called the vet, to discuss Henry's phenobarbital dose. A couple years ago Henry was on phenobarbital, and his tests showed on May 16th, 2007, that at 1 1/2 (90mg) grains 2 times a day, he achieved only 12.9 level. It needs to be at LEAST 15, some vets say 20. Anyways, Henry has been on 2 grains 2 times a day, which isn't that much more considering how low the level was. And with the

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-22818234790799697562008-10-17T14:27:00.007-04:002008-10-18T21:36:43.438-04:00

Another update on how Henry is adjustng to the Phenobarbital.The anxiety seems to have calmed down quite a bit. Yesterday I noticed a marked difference in reduction of barking/whining/rooing. However, at the same time, Ataxia has really kicked in. I guess the previous ataxia was from the Valium. The ataxia really isn't that big a deal though. He is used to daily 3 mile walks, and I intend to

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-33828517821944484302008-10-16T00:10:00.004-04:002008-10-16T00:32:03.243-04:00

I'm not gonna lie, this past week of Henry getting used to Phenobarbital has been err... not fun. He has terrible anxiety. He barks almost non stop, and you really have to keep your food *well* out of his reach. He's so food crazy right now, he'd just take the food from right in front of us. We say grace with one eye open and on the food, lol. He chewed up some books on the shelves and has to be

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-89493258510934689592008-10-10T20:00:00.002-04:002008-10-10T20:01:32.166-04:00

Emilynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-86062021362026454102008-10-10T18:56:00.001-04:002008-10-10T19:00:41.171-04:00

Do you think he's hungry?

Emilynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-6349012402185752722008-10-10T08:36:00.002-04:002008-10-10T08:39:43.425-04:00

Well the next side effect appeared last night in full bloom. Henry now has a crazy appetite. But, once again, just like the ataxia I posted about in the previous post, this is also expected to improve over the next few weeks/months. When I was making coffee this morning, Henry *really* wanted to eat the coffee grounds. Silly hound.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-46726014993611365432008-10-09T11:02:00.006-04:002008-10-10T08:40:16.794-04:00

I am going to share our experience as Henry gets used to his Phenobarbital so others can know what to expect when starting their dog on Phenobarbiital. Keep in mind, it can vary for each dog. I believe part of how Henry is doing today is damage caused by his recent cluster that he is not finished recovering from yet. The ataxia from the Phenobarbital has started. He fell twice today. This is

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-70427598563814087942008-10-08T11:09:00.011-04:002008-10-10T08:41:31.555-04:00

Well. ALOT has happened since I last posted here, actually, in just the last few days. Henry went into the worst cluster of his life. The seizure monster had decided it was determined to kill Henry. 7 am Sunday morning we rushed Henry to the vet. He was panting very hard, crying and shivering. The vet immediately gave Henry a hefty shot of Valium. She was barely done giving the shot when Henry

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-2076983903934439692008-09-29T14:02:00.000-04:002008-09-29T14:03:28.556-04:00

Click here

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-31422282907517690852008-09-23T09:26:00.003-04:002008-09-23T09:28:11.598-04:00

I am sorry I have not written new posts on here lately. There's still more info I'd like to share that I really wish I knew when I first adopted Henry. Thanks for your patience.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-78895414420070418492008-08-29T21:01:00.004-04:002008-10-24T09:50:24.665-04:00

I would like to share with you all something that has been tremendously helpful to me. It's an E-mail list, for people who have dogs with epilepsy. Go here , and to your right at the top is something you can click onto to learn how to join the list. The list is full of wonderful, wonderful people, very supportive. They all know what it's like to watch your dog go through Grand-Mals and

Emilynoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-91792194813491759792008-08-29T16:47:00.000-04:002008-08-29T16:48:47.285-04:00

You can read more about it here.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-80574995635382501532008-08-25T10:18:00.007-04:002008-08-25T19:34:47.201-04:00

My desire is to give you all the benefit of learning from my mistakes. I had suspected previously Henry had a sensitivity to chicken, but also wondered maybe it was just the antibiotics in chicken, and perhaps not the chicken itself. Now previous to attempting to feed him organic chicken, I was giving him Call Of The Wild supplement, which has a small amount of chicken, and he was fine with that.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-50804443067470861912008-08-17T18:01:00.009-04:002008-08-18T11:29:22.105-04:00

I suspect many epilepsy cases may be a result of over-accumulation of toxins in the body, so I try to keep things as all natural and non-toxic as possible.I used to Lysol everything until I found out that vinegar actually disinfects. I was not aware of this! It's also a ton cheaper, and it's all natural. I now use vinegar to clean just about anything now. It only smells vinegary until it dries.

Emilynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-2008513433708730132008-08-16T09:20:00.001-04:002008-08-16T09:21:25.573-04:00

Click here

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-64727328184530657902008-08-15T09:27:00.003-04:002008-10-20T21:42:28.064-04:00

I have posted many times in my other blog about the Ice Pack technique. It's something I feel I just can't post too much about. I am excited that it works so well! When Henry endured 13 Grand-Mals in a 4 month period, the ice pack technique was our saving grace. It likely saved Henry's life. Most of Henry's Grand-Mals are of an an absolute extreme magnitude. It amazes me, that I can bring Henry

Emilynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-55034542619920033152008-08-13T18:07:00.000-04:002008-08-15T09:59:23.029-04:00

I finally managed to catch a partial video of Flycatcher Seizures. It's a very short video. Please make sure you watch the end of the video, because that's when the Flycatching seizures occur. My camera battery was dying so I could not get more Flycatchers into the video. They are hard to catch on video because the episodes only last a few seconds. Flycatcher seizures are a very mild form of

Emilynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-87823340561641694802008-08-13T13:00:00.001-04:002008-10-22T14:45:49.711-04:00

I’d like to share with you, Henry and Lucky’s experience with Flagyl. Henry was prescribed Flagyl for diarrhea. Within hours of the first dose, Henry started having Flycatcher seizures. Flycatchers are a mild form of Focal seizures. Though I had seen Henry have Grand-Mals, I had never seen him have Flycatchers before this. He went from no Flycatchers ever, to having them very frequently all of a

Emilynoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203571629759888752.post-76459073066561479622008-08-12T19:35:00.000-04:002008-08-13T08:30:45.725-04:00

This blog is where I would like to share with you everything I have learned about idiopathic epilepsy in the last few months. It took me months and months and helping Henry through many seizures to learn everything I have. What I have learned is not just through research, but through experience as well. The same applies to another hound I will be posting about frequently, Lucky. Lucky is a

Emilynoreply@blogger.com0