yellowgirl

Thanks Lavendergirl. Yep, the vet explained that during Oliver's consultation. I'm really not sure what I'll do about Raffi's situation, depends entirely on what happens when I talk to the vet tomorrow. I have some concerns about the side effects of the epilepsy medications too. You are so right about their quality of life, that's the most important thing for the dogs here, especially as they're all seniors/special-needs. Apart from the sleep screams, Raffi is a happy little chap, he's improved so much since he's been in care here and his Chiro treatments have also made an amazing difference. I don't know if this is relevant to the seizures, but Raffi can't turn left. He circles to the right to change direction. The vet is aware of this but it didn't seem to have any bearing on any other issues. I will certainly mention it again tomorrow in regards to the neurological side of things.

OMG! I've just had chills from top to bottom reading this awful update, poor, poor Sarge (I have a senior 'Sarge' too). It must have happened so quickly for the big dog to get to him ... I'm assuming the little one was being supervised outside? The poor little baby, and I can't even imagine what your daughter is going through What is going to happen now?

Yep, that's what the vet said with Oliver which is why we're monitoring and noting the seizures, I guess it will be the same with Raffi. All our rescues have a full blood panel done within 24 hours of arrival, Oliver's came back all good, Raffi had a couple of irregulars - I'll post them in a sec. I'm really sorry about your bub Darlingdog I think I already knew there was no easy test, particularly as I've already discussed a dog with seizures recently with our vet. Grasping at straws for an easy answer really ... I guess it's just shaken me up a bit to know that Raffi's screams are happening after he's had a fit of some kind (not that it wasn't already very disconcerting enough to hear them for 'no reason'). Here are Raffi's irregular results from 16th May(everything else was fine): Biochemistry: NA:K ratio - 25.0 (Reference Range >26) Glucose, Serum - 2.8 (Reference Range 3.3 - 6.8) ALP - 311 (Reference Range 1 - 150) AST - 82 (Reference Range 18 - 80) CK - 646 (Reference Range 73 - 510) Haematology: MCV - 63 (Reference Range 64 - 76) Platelets - Increased Platelet Count - 917 (Reference Range 200 - 500) Endocrinology: T4 total - <10 (Reference Range 13 - 52) I know that the low T4 levels can indicate hypothyroidism and have discussed this with my vet. Raffi had a lot of hair loss when he first arrived and the vet wanted to wait and see if decent food helped to rectify this before treating it as a symptom of hypothyroidism. Raffi is already having some good hair regrowth since coming into care, so it appears that the hair loss is probably not related to the low T4 results. I'd be glad if anyone can interpret the other results in regards to there being something amiss that could indicate the likelihood of multiple daily seizures.

I have some concerns about my foster dog, Raffi. He's a Pom x, around 14 years old. He's been here for several weeks, we had a very scary time a little while back with an emergency vet visit and a terribly bad bronchial infection, but thankfully he's now well recovered from that. My concern is what I had been previously referring to as 'night terrors', he screams for 1-3 seconds, looks disorientated, is sometimes a little shaky, then he has a big stretch and seems to be okay, usually he goes straight back to sleep. I've only ever seen this after he's started the scream and it happens sometimes during the a day but always at least once during the night. It ONLY happens when he's asleep in bed, never when he's up and about. About an hour ago I happened to be watching him sleeping, then he stiffened, had what appeared to be a seizure (whole body was stiff and trembling), then he did the scream. I've recently had another little one, Oliver (senior Chi x) come into care who had a seizure on his first night here, he's had another full one and a partial one since. There's no warning, he stiffens, jerks and falls over. Then he gets right back up and continues with whatever he was doing. My vet has told me to monitor him and keep notes of when he has seizures so we can evaluate what, if anything, he needs. The reason I bring up Oliver is because I haven't had a dog with seizures before and Oliver was a bit of an eye opener for me. Raffi's 'episode' was very similar to the jerking and stiffening that Oliver had prior to and during his seizure. Naturally, this is happening on a weekend when I can't contact my regular vet. Does anyone know if there's a non invasive test to see if Raffi has epilepsy? It sounds like a dumb question even as I'm writing this, but I honestly don't know what the procedure is. I know with Oliver I'm just monitoring him to see if we can work out the regularity of the seizures to see if he needs to go on medication, but if what Raffi has displayed is epilepsy or seizures for some other reason, he is having them during the day and between one and three times during the night. Basically, up to four of these 'episodes' a day. He seems otherwise fine and healthy, and generally goes straight back to sleep after he screams and then stretches. Anyone have any advice or info until I can ring my vet on Monday?

Every single sentence ... agree ... :)

Thank you for your support Stan's mum and donatella, lovely to have you along sharing these journeys with us :D ps. donatella, you were right, Raffi has found his squeaky little bark ..lol!

Hey lavendergirl :) Raffi is doing beautifully! The antibiotics really did their job . There are a few updates (and outfit changes :laugh: ) on our facebook page www.facebook.com/littlelegsdogrescue I don't know if he's rehomable, he has several health issues and he is very old. At the very least he needs to stay for quite a while to fully assess his medical/health conditions. If he's not rehomable, he stays here with our other unrehomables and will be cared for and spoiled rotten for the rest of his life. He has another Chiropractic session on Thursday and I'm sure our Chiro will be pleased with Raffi's progress so far :) Lucky Raffi to find someone to care for him so well in his twilight years :) Thanks guys :) Raffi continues to improve and he had his second Chiropractor treatment yesterday. Our Chiro was really pleased with Raffi's progress . The bronchial infection is completely sorted now too and Raffi is so much happier :D

Hey lavendergirl :) Raffi is doing beautifully! The antibiotics really did their job . There are a few updates (and outfit changes :laugh: ) on our facebook page www.facebook.com/littlelegsdogrescue I don't know if he's rehomable, he has several health issues and he is very old. At the very least he needs to stay for quite a while to fully assess his medical/health conditions. If he's not rehomable, he stays here with our other unrehomables and will be cared for and spoiled rotten for the rest of his life. He has another Chiropractic session on Thursday and I'm sure our Chiro will be pleased with Raffi's progress so far :)

Received and replied, thanks Chocolate :) xx

I know you would definitely understand how happy I am right now esky! :D I'm sorry I haven't replied to your PM yet, I will do that in just a minute. I'd be interested in any other remedies too, so if you do hear back from Chocolate could you let me know too please? That's so incredibly sweet of you stans mum but I'm sure that if anyone else had this precious little guy in their care they would have done exactly the same thing and given him every chance possible. My rescues are just as important and as much loved as my own dogs and little Raffi is so worth everything I can do for him :) Thank you for your support and your kind words. ... you can follow Raffi's updates on our facebook page xx

He's actually a very quiet little Pom, donatella. Although maybe that's because he'd been so sick ... we shall see :)

Thanks Erny :). To be totally fair to the people who had suggested (some more forcefully than others) that Raffi be pts, I had originally posted a video of him coughing. He was very tired and still coughing and his struggle at the time was obvious and upsetting, so I do understand why some people thought it might be too much for him. For some reason, the Youtube version was really bad quality and it was very distorted with colour bars going through it so I removed it, and also to be honest I thought it might make people think that he was like this the whole time, hence the suggestions to pts. Glad you're breathing again ... me too :) Thanks as always for your support kiwibum :) A very long, upsetting night, but yes, couldn't be happier with the outcome Kirislin :) Hey lavendergirl, thank for asking :) Raffi is SOOO much better! . Still has a few coughs, but that's to be expected while he's recovering. The antibiotics are working and he is much more comfortable. He had a lovely potter around the backyard in the sunshine yesterday afternoon. It was beautiful to see him up and about and not coughing every 10 minutes. I watched him through the kitchen window for ages just enjoying himself smelling the flowers and walking around. And yes I cried while he was doing it ...lol

Thanks dogmad :) I can't tell you how happy I am to have him here still :D Thank you kayla1 :)

Thank you Kadbury :) It's good to be able to read it all at once from beginning to end hey Alkhe? :) heehee Pers :) I think so too Staffyluv :D Glad you're pleased HW Really looking forward to a good sleep tonight BC Crazy :) Will absolutely pass on some cuddles for you Hollys mummy :) Thank you Chocolate, I'd still be interested in seeing the homeopathic information if you'd like to send it to me. I've had quite a few conversations with others over the weekend who've been in this situation with their dogs and it may be of help to others. Also, we won't know the extent of the damage to Raffi's trachea until we get rid of the infection, so there may still be some issues that need to be managed. Can never have too much information :) That's all I wanted lavendergirl, a second opinion from my own vet. Thank you for your support :) Here's a pic of the sweet little bloke xxx

Thank god I waited to see my own vet!! The emergency vet had forwarded the details of Raffi's visit and after looking at Raffi and reading the report, she immediately said he had been misdiagnosed. She agreed that there was a collapsing trachea issue BUT she's convinced the main symptoms are from a secondary bronchial infection! Raffi has been given an fast acting cortisone injection and we've come home with antibiotics and the PROPER cough medicine. If you'll excuse me for a sec, I have to run off and dance around the house with the dogs again :D

Thank you lavendar girl and Holly's mummy for your good wishes for Raffi. We've just got back from the vet and I'll be updating in a sec. So as not to keep you in suspense for too much longer ... the news is GOOD!!!

I am glad it helped ..and yes, you should maybe patent it to provide help for other very caring and responsible owners :) Thinking of you today . Take care . Thanks Pers. Sometimes he would start to cough again when I stopped so I kept going until he was properly asleep. It was a very long night but he hasn't coughed too much this morning. We will be at the vet in an hour and I will update when we get back. Prayers and fingers crossed please everyone xx

Thanks Kiwibum xxx

Something keeps going awry with my videos but hopefully you can see this and get the idea of what's happening. Raffi is in his bed, he starts to cough and I do a pressure point massage. You can hear/see how quickly he settles.

Thanks for the suggestion donatella. I'm not sure about a humidifier as moisture may make it harder for him to breath (I don't actually know though). The air purifier thingy I have here removes particles from the air as well as purifying. The main thing is to remove any minute debris that Raffi may breath in which will irritate the windpipe. Very hard to watch Kadbury, my heart is in pieces I know I'll have a very tough time at the vet consult tomorrow Sir WJ. Quality of life is the bottom line for my rescue dogs. I have several here who have medical issues but none are in pain or lack a good quality of life. We do medications, supplements, chiropractic assistance, whatever is needed to make sure they are happy and comfortable. I'm very aware that this is a different scenario I mainly wanted some advice about keeping him as comfortable as possible until I can get more advice from my vet. I'm only going by what I know with humans (I work in an ear, nose and throat ward and with tracheostomies) and we humidify their airways as it loosens the secretions and helps with breathing (nothing like dry, crusty, razor blades in throat type environment). Not sure with dogs, hope the little guy makes it through the night to his vet appointment at least and thank you so much for taking him in Well, that makes sense, thank you Donatella. Will certainly run that past my vet tomorrow. Raffi is sleeping really well, I'll post a video in a sec of him having the massage

That's a really great outcome esky, thank you for sharing. Thank you also for understanding that even though it's been so hard seeing Raffi like this, I'm not making any snap decisions and I need to talk to my own vet tomorrow to discuss any and all options he may have. I've had a few messages from others with recommendations and things to run past my vet and I thank you for yours too. The nebuliser and prednisone have also been mentioned by others who have dealt with this condition. The suggestions may or may not be right for Raffi but he deserves every chance to at least find out if there's anything we can do to help him. I'm thinking of patenting this pressure point and massage technique! I wish I'd tried it last night, we all would have had a lot more sleep. Raffi has woken a few times now and started to cough but I've been able to soothe him reasonably quickly, the duration and intensity is definitely less with the massaging than it was earlier in the evening. I'll bunker down on the sofa tonight, Raffi is right next to me in his bed so I can attend to him quickly if needed. He prefers to sleep in the lounge room rather than in my room, so I'll make the move to the lounge room so I'm close by. Thank you again for sharing your experiences, well done to you for everything you've done for your dear little dogs.

You've done well . Thanks Pers, I'm trying. He's still sleeping Staffyluv, and yes, first thing tomorrow

I understand what his condition is Pers. He is old, he is rusty, he's not going to be magically healed. Whatever happens, you are right, he will be in my loving arms. The massaging is helping, he's still sleeping quietly.

I'm so sorry BC Crazy I'm really sorry you had to go through that Nekhbet, heartbreaking for everyone involved. This precious little boy will not be put through surgery, syringe feeding or anything else to keep him alive 'at all costs'. I'm getting him through the night as comfortably as possible before we see the vet tomorrow. Then we will decide what is best for him. Incidently this little bloke has not actually 'had a good run', he is also not having a heart attack, but when and if he goes it will certainly be with dignity and respect. Thankfully he's slept through the last hour and I really think the massaging has helped with that.

I think it will be another long, tiring night for both of us, but I'm managing to settle him with some gentle pressure point massage between and on either side of his shoulder blades. If that's what it takes to comfort and settle him, that's what I'll be doing. Has anyone with a dog with tracheal issues done or tried this?