Posts made by equis8

He is going to see the neurologist on Wednesday (2 1/2 hour drive). His anxiety got bad again so the vet told me to stop the Keppra (this is why we had to stop the pheno). He's been off it for 3 days, and had two seizures yesterday and still has anxiety. We are worried there is something more severe going on as the severity of his anxiety has increased. Even after getting a shot of valium last night to stop the seizure he was still anxious all night long. And as you all know a screaming basenji is not a pleasant experience. It's hard to tell if the anxiety is due to the drugs or the seizures or from some underlying cause. He's never had these issues before. He is definitely not the same dog as last summer. I can't imagine having to sedate him for the rest of his life, and if he still was having anxiety 30 minutes after the valium, what is prozac going to do? Thanks everyone for your well wishes and support. I will keep you updated as to what the neurologist says on Wednesday.

thank you

Thanks for your post.
We haven't been able to figure out any cues as to warn us he will have one. I know that he's had a few, but he has them at night when we are sleeping. I'm a heavy sleeper and I have slept through the 4 that I suspect he has had since November. He never wets the bed, yet four times now he has. One of those time my husband happened to be just getting in to bed (he works nights and was home a little early that evening) heard some weird noises, went to investigate and thought that sid was choking because of his collar. But now we know he had just had a seizure. Just after New Years Sid had another one right next to me while I was reading on the couch. At that point I knew without a doubt that those mornings when he had peed his bed (and last week when he peed the bed) and the night the hubby thought he was choking were all seizures. Luckily he hasn't had any clusters of them. They all seem to happen late at night (as I usually don't go to bed till 11-12). The one he had next to me I think may have been a cluster, because he seized for a while then stopped for about 45 seconds and immediately seized again. Of course at the time I didn't think to time it, it seemed to last forever. I just stood there watching him almost fall off the couch.
He developed severe anxiety with the pheno, and he would fall over because his hind end was so weak. He would scream for HOURS after I went to bed. Nothing helped, I tried desensitizing him to the lights being off. I tried moving his kennel. I tried setting up a gated area with his bed. I even gave him benedryl. Nothing worked. We stopped the pheno and within 48 hours he was back to his normal self. So he's on Keppra right now.

Anyway, I was just interested to know of anyone with B's that developed it late in life. Sid turned 6 on Dec. 20th.
Thank you for your story. And no worries you didn't scare me I've dealt with epilepsy before. Just not with my own dogs.

Hello all!
One of my B's was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy a few weeks ago. He is 6. I was just curious if any of you have "older" B's that have epilepsy? We started him out on phenobarbitol but he had severe side effects so we stopped and put him on keppra, which takes a lot longer to build up in the blood stream. I believe he had one seizure since the switch (it was during the night, he peed his bed, he never pees his bed) so overall he is doing okay.
Thanks! It's been forever since I've been to the forum, I forgot I was even a member

My new B-boy…..Bramble, aka: Mata Hauri Blockbuster. He has really settled in with the other pups quite nicely! He has been back in our lives for about 2 months now (since just before Thanksgiving). Here he is with my sidling....

Sid on left, bramble right:

we use a dremel as well, about once every week or two, no more than two weeks though. I like to keep their nails trim and rounded. I basically check each of my pups over, clean ears and paws, and a couple times a week I brush their teeth. So I can tell pretty quickly if they need a quick run over with the dremel. I'm a bit obsessed with making sure my pups are free and clear of ticks/fleas, and that they have nice clean ears, and trim nails. But they stay pretty clean because of it, and No ear infections for my weim
kim~

For the most part the only toys that hold up in my house are kongs, the "plush" toys made for dogs who destroy do last for a few weeks, but thats about it. I get the "mean kitty" and "mad cow" dolls for them every so often, and there are these wabba toys that you can get that are made from recycled firehose material. They all have fun chewing and chasing these toys. I have a couple of "tough dog" toys that are sorta like fabric frisbees, that have lasted for almost a year! the squeekers have since died in both of them, but the pups still like to tug them around, and have me throw them. I keep a lot of recreational bones and such available in the house, and some cow hooves which take them awhile to chew on. But its hard to find good bones for them because they can not be beef. If I get them without any marrow, or any meaty material than we can have them, but otherwise we have to steer clear because my Masi is allergic to beef. So when I get marrow bones, I actually take all the marrow out, and wash the bones before they get them. It's sorta sad really, she loves them so much!
kim~

Daisy Duke, my ~ 2 yo Catahoula. We adopted her about 3 months ago from virginia through C.U.R.S. (Catahoula United Rescue Society).

Maserati, aka: Masi, my 1 yo Weimaraner. We adopted her last year when she was 10 weeks old, from a bad breeder who was going to put her down :(.

The girls together in a beautiful sit-stay

And the B-boys, Burrito (brindle, 7 mos and sid the red/white 1.5 yo)

The Pussy Incognito, aka: The Kitten. She's 5 1/2 yo, and we've had her since she was a very small kitten, she's still VERY small for a kitty!

Abner the EVIL kitty, he is ~7 yo, and we took him in when he was ~3 yo from a friend who couldn't keep him.

I do have two cockateils named Szechuan and Corky, and 5 ferrets: Goose, Czar, Akira, Boodha, and Meeco Cheeco. But I didn't feel like adding pictures of all them, I've added quite a few already

A very cute family you have

Unfortunately for me, my Weim masi, is allergic to beef, so I can't give beef based treats in the house, so for the most part they get all natural treats, and practically no store bought treats. They go crazy for frozen peas and icecubes. We feed a bunch of different foods, I like to switch around every couple of months or so between Solid Gold Wolf King (Bison and Salmon….no beef ;)), Canidea (turkey, chicken, lamb), and Innova (either the VO, or regular).

Luckily we have a large plethra of cultures moving into our little city, so there are some really yummy things at the grocery store to feed my guys, like chicken feet and fresh green tripe (the later unfortunately is from a cow). I was told yesterday that they had Lamb HEADS the other day!!! Needless to say I was all excited.

They don't get the very very special treats too often but they sure do love them when they do. I get them marrow bones too....I have to take out the marrow for masi to eat it unfortunately, but every so often we can get lamb ones from the butcher. If I could I would feed a complete raw diet, but I can't manage that currently, so they get supplemented raw/fresh foods with their kibble, and the Kibble is the highest quality available.

They don't get rawhide, but they get pig/cow hooves every so often. For some reason Masi can have have the hooves, I think its because they don't have any meat proteins in them, because hooves are made from the same thing that Hair is made from, technically its "dead". So, she can have those. I give them dehydrated chicken breasts, they like those, and Turkey/Lamb Jerky from solid gold. Pretty much anything dog safe they get to eat
kim~

Because we live in the city our guys don't have to opportunity to have fun with "critters" thankfully! However we do go visit my father in Northern Maine a couple of times a year. During the last visit, my little sid-ling found a dead porcupine. My dad had shot it two days before and forgot about it….till sid came smiling with quills in his mouth. He kept wanting to go back to the damn thing, so my dad brought out the backhoe and dug a big hole and burried it. Sid was furious running around the area he found the porcupine wanting to play with it some more, He had been dragging it around and shaking it bleh luckily it was two days old, and he only got 5 quills! I just figured I'd share my adventures with a nasty nighttime critter.

OMG another of my favorite shows! Season is over for now though :(, and I don't like watching re-runs. He is damn sexy for an older man hehehe I'm a youngin. I also watch Grey's Anatomy, and LOST every week. OH I've been watching Hell's kitchen too. TV is too addictive I hate it!
kim~

Oh I am obsessed!!! I watch it every week. The drama of it all! ha. I love Benji, but then again it seems like everyone does! I Like Allison, Donyelle, and Natalie as well So if any of them make it I'll be happy.

I just got a new basenji pup named Burrito about 3 weeks ago, he is 7mos old. He has started to show some major resource guarding. He will guard food, toys, and me, but mostly it is with me. He is absolutely fine with Daisy (catahoula) and Masi (Weimaraner), but with Sid (basenji) he just won't allow him near me. I've taken away all free toys and bones, they are all fed in their own areas. If he begins to become aggressive at all towards sid for whatever reason I firmly say quit and squirt him with the waterbottle (if its handy) and put him in his kennel for a time out.
I've also been having him do a 30 min downstay every evening, and all couch privilages have been suspended. He seems to be doing a bit better, but he will just exploid towards Sid, and the last two times sid has wholeheartedly fought back. So, I am hoping that keeping them on this more strict schedule is going to help, but I am up for any ideas you all can give me
kim~

I've met a few picky basenjis, and Sid is definately a picky eater, or I should say was a picky eater. He has gotten a lot better now that he is a bit older. His appetite got MUCH better after we brought Burrito home. Some things that help to keep their appetite up is to not let them free feed, give them a ration of food 1/2 -1cup 2x a day seems typical for pups around 20-25lbs. Allow it to sit for 15 mins, and then take away what ever he doesnt eat until the next feeding. Every so often I "skip" a meal with my guys as well. Some dogs just aren't interested in eating if it is constantly available.

I've also noticed that on days were I bring them out to really run (I haven't done so in a couple of weeks because of the heat) that Sid will loose weight really easily. They can burn off a lot of calories running around. I add a bit of wet food along with his dry on the days that he really runs too. It helps to give him a few extra cals. Goodluck
kim~

My Name is Kim, and I'm from Portland, Maine. My furkids consist of two basenjis, a catahoula, and a weimaraner. Sid, dark skies alias, a B is just about a year and a half, his sorta half brother/cousin (Same mom, father's are full brothers) Burrito (Dark skies civil disobediance) is about 7 mos. We are thinking aobut showing burrito, but we are not 100% sure yet. Daisy Duke, or Daisy D, or any other combination I can think of is a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog. She is about 1 1/2-2years old, we adopted her from Virginia. She was originallly from Florida caught as a stray, and put into foster by C.U.R.S (Catahoula United Rescue Society), where we adopted her from. Maserati, who we call Masi, is a one year old Weim, she was taken from a breeder who was going to put her down because of not knowing if she would have permenant brain damage after being dropped on her head and/or fed rat poison by the placement home :(. So we took her, and she is absolutely wonderful! Thats my crew, I post pictures of them ALL the time on my blog http://www.liquidpoison.blogspot.com if you wanna see them :).

This first image is of Masi and Daisy practicing their "sit-stay", the next is of my boys just looking cute!
kim~