Shawnee

Patriot is drinking more than before that is for sure. He has always been one to "taste" everything, but now, he is 100x worse......he has to be watched constantly because he eats rocks, grass, steals food off the counter, out of bags (when we bring groceries inside he tries to eat them before we can put them up), I had fresh picked veggies from the garden in the sink to be washed and he stole a bell pepper and started eating that. It's just crazy!

UPDATE ON Patriot: I took Patriot to NC State Monday and Tuesday of this week and he had an MRI and a CSF done, along with two urinalysis. The MRI showed no lessions or masses, etc. and the CSF (cerebral spinal fluid tap) showed no bacteria or inflammation. The urinalysis also came back clean. He was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy. The specialists say he is a very healthy dog, aside from the seizures, and one of them tried to convince me into trading him for one of her dogs (he is very well behaved and because he spends so much time at my side has learned several pointless tricks that entertain everyone). He was an extremely easy dog for them to examine, he is very relaxed and laid back and will allow you to do pretty much anything to him (have not found anything to date that he refuses to allow to be done). He is on PB twice a day and KBr once a day. He was prescribed Keppra for when he does seize, I am to give him his valium rectally as usual, then give him another dose of his PB and then he gets 2 tablets of the keppra every 8 hrs as soon as he can swallow. He is scheduled for his blood work following initiation of the PB in 2 weeks. So the plan is to manage his seizures so they do not cluster (he had 12 between the 14-15 of June), he will still have seizures but we are going to try to minimize those as much as possible with these drugs. He is doing well so far on the PB and the KBr, he has gained quite a bit of weight. Not sure how I am going to manage that, his main Vet said most dogs on PB tend to be "round"...ugh....Suggestions on that anyone? The specialists want me to keep him on his current dog food, to not introduce any changes just yet in his diet

Julie, He was on diazepam (I know I didn't spell that correctly)as the vet and I were trying to treat him in case the events were isolated. I had not given him his heartworm preventative this past month when it happened (I was waiting on the order of inteceptor to come in, it came in after he seized). I still plan to have him and my other borders checked for the MDR1 gene anyway. He was started on KBr after this last episode, so he will be going in for blood work in a couple of weeks to check his levels. The vet and I both want to try and avoid PB if we can. My boy has a wonderful personality and neither of us want him to lose that in a drug induced stupor, I know some people whose dogs are on PB and the dogs are like zombies, if that has to happen then I will accept it, but I am going to do everything I can to try not to first. Patriot isn't like our other BC's who need "jobs", he is already a little goofy and believes he exists to be petted by people of any size (he LOVES to be held like he is an infant, all 45 lbs of him). He starts therapy dog training in July (when he is a year). Our trainer says he was born for therapy work. The vet will do prepackaged food, I will be bagging up his food for individual feedings with his supplements while he is in boarding to make it easier on the techs, and they will just put a banana in his breakfast. When he goes 2x a week for daycare/observation I just make and take his food and they feed him there (he gets car sick if I feed him before we drive). I have tried that VERVE dehydrated raw before, all the dogs loved it but it was watery and a couple of the dogs had trouble keeping it down. I appreciate all the info from you and everyone else! I will post what I find out from the neurolgist when he goes next month. Thank you! Shawnee

Thanks for all the info. I did read through all the posts and there is a wealth of info there! Blue Buffalo has a grain free kibble, I think I will compare the ingredients to what he eats now. I feed all my dogs 2x a day and they get supplements in their morning dishes (diatomaceous earth and a digestive supplement) and a sliced banana. they love their banana He has his seizures at the same time everymonth, no really he does (16-21 of the month) and he has about 3 each time (the first day he has 2 back to back and then will have one more within 2 days of the first seize). He has an appointment with a neurologist the end of June and we will see after that what we do etc. I do give my dogs raw meaty bones at least once a month, and if I cook whole chicken I always let them have the raw organs from inside the chicken as a treat. My in-laws have been feeding raw for probably 17 years and swear by it, but they have poms and lab or lab-mix dogs, none have had health issues other than the occasional sporting injury (they do dock diving, flyball, agility, you name it and they even have a chiropracter for their dogs). I am interested in feeding raw, but my vet thinks it's bogus and when I go out of town I leave my boy at the vet in case there is a seizure issue so he has to be on kibble when he is there. I have someone stay at the house with the other dogs, he is a special case because of his seizures. I won't switch to raw until I have enough info, from the vet, neurologist, and what I learn from people who feed raw or who have tried it. I appreciate everyone's input and I welcome more input from everyone. thank you! Shawnee

Does anyone feed raw? I have heard that raw diets, especially no carb raw diets are good for dogs with health issues. My 10mth old BC started having seizures (grand mal) when he was 8 mths old. He was just started on Potassium Bromide. I have two other BC's from the same breeder, one being his sister from the same litter. Neither have ANY health issues and I am in constant contact with the breeder who has never had any dogs or dogs produced that had seizures. I have friends with dogs from this breeder with no health issues also. My vet is referring us to a neurologist so that we can find out why exactly this is happening. I have always fed my dogs Blue Buffalo and would like to hear what some of you have to say about the raw diets. I am currently reading Dr. Lew Olson's book: Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs. Just looking for opinions on raw diets. Thanks, Shawnee

This is why BC's are one of the prefered breeds for flyball! This is how I was introduced to the breed. I do flyball with my Pomeranian and it seems every team has at least one BC on it....the teams that are all BC's are usually top in the divisions...impressive dogs all around!