Longtime member, not active. Had a basenji with the same diagnosis back in 2004. He took a tremendous amount of bicarb each day, his Fanconi was being well managed, but he started having seizures at night. Our vet gave us something to stop the seizure that we'd administer rectally. We kept track of the number of seizures and they started becoming more frequent, to about twice a week, if I recall. The final seizure he had he went temporarily blind and howled and howled and we knew that was it was time. I just sat on the floor with him and cried. A couple months later we looked at photos we had taken of him right before and he looked very, very tired. Very much the hardest thing we had ever done was to let him go across the Bridge, but after looking at those photos, we had done the right thing. Our vet had told us that it was possible he would have a seizure and not come out of it, and we certainly didn't want that.
Cairo had a seizure this morning
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Thanks everyone for your well wishes! So far the morning has been uneventful, aside from Cairo flirting with a younger poodle girl lol. I'm still waiting to hear back about the results.
From my experience (granted I'm not a trained brain person, etc.) with epileptic friends and seeing other people and animals have seizures, what I do know about anatomy/biology, and from my observations with Cairo… I'm thinking it's audiogenic. Kind of like a strobe light with people, the sustained noise/sounds from the chopper motorcycle triggered him. I could be totally wrong though and it be something involving his organs etc., but from the way he reacts to certain quick and infrequent sounds like loud clapping, potato chips bags, and a few other things... I'm thinking if sustained at the same or constant pitch/frequency could trigger him as well.
I'll start keeping a journal and documenting the shudders/jerks, their causes, and any other seizures (which hopefully won't happen again or anytime soon.)
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Just got the results, everything was good except the BUN which was really high 77 with the normal range of 7-27, but the creatinine was 1.5 and the normal range for that is 0.4-1.8, so it's the high side of normal. Also his ALT was high 135 with the normal range of 5-107 and B/C Ratio 51.3.
The vet wants me to give him subq fluids for the next few days and retest in 2 weeks. He's not sure if the kidneys had anything to do with the seizure or vice versa.
It doesn't help Cairo forgets to drink water sometimes, especially when he's been sleeping all day.
I'm so hoping it's dehydration or caused by the seizure or his arthritis and will clear up….. and not very early stages of kidney failure. Doesn't make me feel any better that i just read the number one cause of death to older dogs is arthritis and then kidney failure. Cairo has pretty bad arthritis all over....
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High protein diets may also contribute to high bun when the other stuff is fine.
Arthritis… no joke.
My last 2 rotties had survived cancer but had to be put down (ancient..13.5 and 12.5.. for rotties though) when no meds helped them have any quality of life. -
How old is Cairo? The early stages of kidney troubles are fairly managable. My ****er maintained well for a long time with kidney disease. Putting him on a low protein food for dogs with kidney trouble will be neccessary if that is what it turns out to be. Make sure to get him to drink water to keep his system hydrated and kidneys flushed
Are you giving him anything to help manage the arthritis?
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He's about 13.5 and did have lyme disease and was treated when he was younger. Other than that and arthritis he's had for several years, he's been in good health. I'm currently treating him with a half deramax a day ( I forget the exact dosage.) At the fosters he was on a buffered aspirin a day and the original owners had him on something else for a short time.
I have been giving him ground turkey breast once a day with his royal canin aging care.
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Just in case you repeat the blood tests and find that you need to manage his diet here are a couple of links
http://www.vetprof.com/clientinfo/KidneyDiseaseInDogs/diet.htm
http://www.gloryridge.com/kdrecipes.htm
http://www.2ndchance.info/kidney.htm
As for the arthritis is the medication managing his pain adequately? My 12 year old collie is currently on Rimadyl…so far she is doing well on it.
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Thanks for the links. I'm not sure if the Deramax is doing the best it can, when I try giving him the whole pill he tends to get an upset stomach even taken with food, and some days are better than others. He does get playful when it's time to go out for walks and when he's in the mood and will go full steam after squirrels and bunnies.
Since the 'big one' his shudders/tremors have become more frequent and some times longer and often without being caused by a noise. Last night i tried to write down all occurances and to what degree (none even remotely close to the grand mal, but a few strong enough to making him loose his balance) but I couldn't document them all. That and I was wondering if I was just being paranoid. It does seem to happen more consistently when he's drinking water, don't know if it's the sound or the stimuli. He seems to not want to drink as much as he should because of it but will eagerly lick water off my fingers and hands.
He's tolerated the first round of subQ, though really not happy with the initial sticks.
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If you are like me you are not just being paranoid, but merely in tune with your dog. I can always tell when something is not quite right with my guys.
The best you can do is observe carefully and share with your vet.
Hopefully you and the vet will figure out what is ailing Cairo together and it will be something that you can manage with good care
Please keep us updated and we will do our best to help when we can
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You may be able to get a large (60 cc ) syringe and slowly squirt water, maybe with a bit of chicken broth, into his mouth several times a day. I have done this with older dogs who didn't drink as much as they should. No needle, but attach a bit of small rubber or plastic tubing to the syringe, slip that into the rear of the mouth and gently squeeze the plunger. (I'm a recovery nurse and we used to use these for babies with cleft palate surgery). Good luck, I hope it is just dehydration during this hot summer.
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Is your vet having you give stomach meds with the duramax? Connor eventually couldn't handle rimadly, duramaxx or even coated aspirin even with antacids and plenty of food with the pills.
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Thanks all for the ideas/help and sorry I haven't been on lately.
Cairo seems to be doing much better…he's getting more active and more vocal (even more so than before the grand mal.) He is still having some minor seizure activity every once in a while and now it's back mostly to different sounds, though lapping water from the bowl still triggers some, he stops for a moment and then continues.
I've been giving him subQ fluids every other day and he's been tolerating it well, it also helps we take him to get (no sugar added) frozen yogurt after ...he loves his frozen yogurt and frosty paws. It also helps his stomach and he's also been tolerating the Duramaxx better too (though part of it is probably the yogurt and frozen yogurt helping.)
Wed or Thurs he goes back for the retesting, I'm so hoping it comes back clear.
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Sounds like a real break through. Sending positive vibes for his continued improvement.
My Maggii had minor seizure activity for a number of years, along with kidney failure.. but she live to a ripe 16+ and for that I am totally grateful…. She did great with SubQ fluids and accepted it (but not the happiest of Basenjis...ggg).... She seemed to know it was good for her
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Glad to hear that there is improvement for Cairo.
I will keep my fingers crossed for the retesting
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Hello, My very sweet 12yr old Basenji boy had a seizure this morning during our walk, just like Cairo. Nothing seem to trigger the event. It lasted about 5 minutes or so. I sat down on the sidewalk with him and tried to comfort him until it was over. His front legs were rigid and his mouth was open and was foaming a bit. The rest of his body was shaking. He was laying down and was urinating and his ruff was up quite a bit. After he came out of it I took him home and called the vet. The vet said I could bring him in for blood work, but I would have to leave him there. He also said that it could be a one time seizure and not happen again. I chose not to take him today. He is really nervous and restless and following me every where I go around the house. He is so scared that it might happen again, so am I. I didn't want to have to take him to the vet and leave him after such a traumatic experience. He is also drinking a lot of water. I really needed to vent all of this to someone. Thank You
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chakrapollo - i hope Apollo is doing better.
I just got the call back about the bloodwork and the BUN is still in the 70s, though the cre is lower (due to the fluids I've been giving him already.) The vet wants me to keep him on fluids (probably for the rest of his life) and start him on a kidney diet, to help keep him from going further into kidney failure.
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So pleased to hear of Cairo's good progress. And news of Apollo.
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I just got the call back about the bloodwork and the BUN is still in the 70s, though the cre is lower (due to the fluids I've been giving him already.) The vet wants me to keep him on fluids (probably for the rest of his life) and start him on a kidney diet, to help keep him from going further into kidney failure.
Thanks for the update… My spaniel lived quite well with careful management for 2-3 more years after being diagnosed with kidney failure
He was in all other ways a happy, and healthy dog and was 15 by the time he passed.I hope Cairo will do wonderfully with treatment
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I just got the call back about the bloodwork …The vet wants me to keep him on fluids (probably for the rest of his life) and start him on a kidney diet, to help keep him from going further into kidney failure.
Are you giving him subQ fluids? (((hugs)))
Hello, My very sweet 12yr old Basenji boy had a seizure this morning during our walk, just like Cairo. … He is so scared that it might happen again, so am I.
He probably isn't afraid of a seizure, but he might feel bad or he might be reading your anxiety. If he isn't better, can you schedule a time when you can go to the vet and stay with him? Not sure why they would need you to leave him for blood work.
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Debra~ yes i have been giving him 50ml subQ treatments every other day since his first results came in. The vet wants me to continue for the time being. I'm hoping with a change in diet (going to start with the prescription and then maybe switch over to home-cooked low protein chicken, fish, and eggs with veggies, oatmeal/brown rice) I can eventually not need to do the subQ treatments, if his levels go down enough.
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I so hope things improve. I even tried Lidocaine with Sayblee and she just hated the subQ fluids. You are a special basenji mom. Praying the levels all become normal soon and the results just temporary fluke, not actual kidney failure.
