Rex

#13-053 Rex, age 6

MEDICAL HOLD

It was a dark and stormy night…

Or at least, we could tell it would be! That morning,  a homeowner looked out her door to see a Golden Retriever sitting in her front yard. She called our Hotline & posted a few signs, but cautioned that she wouldn’t be able to keep her foundling secure (though he didn’t show much inclination to abandon her front porch). Still, as afternoon began to shade into early evening, with darkening skies and grumblings of thunder, we worried about the blond boy out alone in the wind and rain. What if he panicked and bolted? Some last-minute scrambling, and we collected and quickly installed him at the vet’s for safekeeping.

A day or two later, as he settled into his foster home, his owners spotted one of the signs and contacted us: he’d wandered from their backyard. But instead of asking, “How can we get him back?” they had an entirely different question: “Please, would your group be able to keep him?” Further discussion revealed the reason why—and gave us two things we always love to have: a name (his is “Rex”) and a medical history.

As we learned, Rex had led a happy life as an indoor pet until January of this year. Great with other dogs, gentle with children, easygoing and sweet. But as the New Year got underway, he began having seizures. Sometimes in waves, two or three or four in a row; then a week of respite; then perhaps another one or two. In the midst of these spells, he’d lose control of his bladder. Eventually, the owners began keeping him the yard.  On the late April day he vanished, they suspected that, disoriented in the wake of yet another seizure, he’d blundered out an open gate and wound up a few streets away, where he was found. “We love him but we can’t handle his medical issues. If you can help him, we want you to have him.”

Of course we agreed—and only a few days later, Rex had the first of the many seizures his foster family has witnessed. He’s been to see a neurologist, and we’re attacking the issue on all fronts—with the goal of trying to keep the seizures under control, and bearing in mind that we honestly don’t know the cause. Could it be a brain tumor? It’s possible. But it could just be “idiopathic” – namely, we don’t know why. The vet commented that “he’s at the right age for this sort of thing to start.”

His foster mom takes up the story:

We’re enjoying Rex and just taking things day by day. We are still waiting to see his true personality, as he’s pretty heavily medicated as we try to find the right balance to keep the seizures under control! He takes both phenobarbital and another anti-convulsant called zonisamide; and he’s had a couple trips to the emergency room for injections of valium when he has had clusters of seizures—scary to witness. Sometimes he does seem a bit “off” or unfocused, which isn’t surprising. As you might expect, he’s pretty quiet at home. He’s  not interested in toys,  but he does enjoy short walks, and he likes to meet new people. When awake, he follows us around more than he used to, and he loves to be groomed and to have his tummy and ears scratched.  He’s not too interested in other dogs, though he did actually play with a friend’s 2-year-old pup.

Rex loves drinking water from the water faucet. Luckily he takes his meds just fine,  either in his food or with peanut butter.  Not at all scared of thunderstorms (amazingly)!  Diet-wise, of course we’re giving him high-quality food—but we noticed that he gets itchy when he eats chicken, so we are trying a lamb-based  chow with no gluten, corn, or soy, “garnished” with canned duck dog food and green beans.  He seems to be tolerating that much better.

We’ve also got him on the Nzymes program of herbal drops and supplements. And he’s  getting acupuncture treatments, too, in the hopes of helping with the seizures.  His first treatment was June 5^th, and he’s had two more since then. Whatever might help, we are doing it!

Despite the bumps in the road we’ve had, Rex’s vets are cautiously optimistic about his prognosis.  I sleep with  one ear open to listen for seizures!  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can find a medication regimen and alternative treatments that will give his lovely fellow some good long quality spells of seizure-free time, and let his true personality come out!