Forum Replies Created
Hey Tara
No need to apologise for being down – Diablo has had a rough time & this is such a horrible thing to watch. It’s not fair that he has had this on top of the IMHA. He really sounds like he’s getting better to me & your vet must have seen this may times – they would say if they were worried, I’m sure. When his eyes stop moving he will feel better & his balance will become more normal. I think I said in an earlier post that Sprockett only improved when his eyes settled down completely. I know it’s hard to be patient, but time is the healer with this syndrome. He also lost weight because he wasn’t eating properly, but he soon put it back on again, I promise. Remember that it’s just like us being really dizzy & you wouldn’t be that hungry or able to contend with complicated things like stairs if you felt like that. We lived in a 3 storey building when this happened, so it was a nightmare carrying Sprockett (30kgs) up & down the stairs in a sling towel. Even when his eyes became “normal”, he was still a bit wobbly & we kept a close eye & helped him if he tripped or stumbled. Obviously, I can’t promise that Diablo will be 100% back to normal like my dog was, but he stands a great chance. The 2 people I know with dogs with head tilt (a border collie called Sophie of 13 yrs & a Jack Russell called Jasper of 18 yrs) have assured me that it does NOT disable their dogs in any way – they still run around & enjoy life. It’s still early days – as Vally said, they can take up to a month to show any improvement at all, so he is doing fine so far. Hoping all will be well with the CBC & I think you are very wise to leave the medications at their present levels. I would personally leave them like that until he has recovered for a good month, but that is my personal opinion being a cautious, crazy, paranoid Worzel Mum! I think of you & Diablo throughout each day, Tara, as I know exactly how awful this CVD is for our much loved pets & how stressful it is for us to see them going through this. Patience is a virtue (not that I have any at all!) & Diablo is a real fighter. Let us know how he is when you get a minute.
Love Sheena & the Boyz
Tara
This is really positive news – I am so glad. It sounds exactly like what happened to my old dog Sprockett, so I’m crossing everything Diablo will slowly start to improve day by day & make a complete recovery. If he is left with a bit of head tilt, well so be it. It doesn’t seem to bother them at all. Good luck at the vets tomorrow – I will be thinking of you
Love from Sheena & the boyz
Hi Linda
The 2nd wimp here says go with Vally’s idea. Don’t rush it. You could dissolve the tablet (need to shake it up & be patient for it to dissolve completely) in a syringe of exactly 50ml of water, then give her 25ml of it (so you know that 50ml is 2 x 1.25mg doses) & put the rest in the fridge for the following day. Just an idea that might be easier & it is accurate – this is what we used to do many years ago when I was nursing & drugs were not so conveniently dosed like they are now! We had to do some maths sometimes to get it right. I have never found a good pill cutter either.
Many, many congratulations to my darling girl Sadie for fighting this damn disease for a year – she’s a great gal – give her a big cuddle from me.
Love Sheena & the boyz xxxxx
Hi Linda
Yes – I agree with Vally – please stick to a 20 or 25% reduction in the pred, slowly, slowly, and morning dosing is the right way to do it (as with humans actually). She is doing so well Linda – it cheers me up so much to read how good she’s feeling. OK, she may not be able to drop the pred altogether & might end up on a low maintenance dose, but it doesn’t matter as long as she’s fine. She has been through a lot with the Bell’s palsy as well as a relapse, so I think she has made a tremendous recovery, thanks to her loving Mum being such a determined lady.
Vally – glad to hear Mr Mischief is back on form!
Love to all, Sheena, Worzel & Ollie too
Hi Linda & my dear girl Sadie
Sorry – Worzel was not on Atopica, he was (& still is once a week) on azathioprine, so I’m not an expert on this from a personal experience point of view. Also we got him completely off the pred before starting the aza reduction, & I know you don’t want to do that with Sadie because of the relapse last time (even though we know it was because the drop was much too fast). We then reduced the aza to every other day for 2 months, every 3 days for 2 months & so on until we reached once a week. That took a year. As you know I am paranoid about a relapse & that is the only reason Phil & I decided not to risk stopping the aza altogether. My PERSONAL opinion is to lower the prednisone first (because of the long term side effects) if you can, or get it as low as possible to maintain Sadie at a good PCV & then start to drop the atopica, but I would really prefer Vally & Patrice to give you advice as they have had the experience of using cyclosporin (atopica) & the weaning too – they are the experts on this subject. When I wrote the cyclosporine glossary term, I read many articles that said that most dogs can eventually come off it altogether, so that would be wonderful for Sadie. I know it has long terms side effects so I understand why you want to reduce/stop it. I know Bingo had a few relapses, so Vally will understand exactly how you are feeling & will be able to advise you better than I can. It is SO difficult to know what to do at this stage – I can remember worrying myself stupid at every single drop in medication. My specialist also said he wished he had a crystal ball & he was very cautious with the aza reduction, so even the vet experts don’t have an exact solution.
I am thrilled to see Sadie’s PCV is great – clever girl, she is.
Loads of love to you & Sadie from Sheena & Sadie’s fellas!
Hi Vally
I think your glass is MORE than half full! It all sounds good to me – I’m glad to hear he’s coping with the pred reduction so well & still has a voracious appetite! I love the dancing description. But quiet? That’s not the Bingo I know & love – hopefully it’s just the humidity though. I know what you mean about the next blood test – we are only happy when we see the right figures & I am also of the expect the worst & deal with it mindset – part of the paranoid crazy world of IMHA.
The weather definitely has effect on them. Worzel used to love the heat, but I’ve noticed it knocks him out a bit now – he used to lie on the sunbed with me (under the sunblind) & lap up the heat, but I’ve had to stop him doing that so much. It’s a shame because he wants to be right beside us all the time – he’s a very clingy boy who needs to be cuddled & stroked.
Worzel has become a prize whinge-bag,Vally – he constantly whines for food & biscuits, then skitters round the place like a loonie! It starts about half an hour before mealtimes & the crying sounds like someone is torturing him. Ignoring him is pretty hard, but that’s what we have to do, even though it’s annoying!
Hope you have a good break from work & as you say, you will be able to have plenty of time with Bingo. So good that he’s had no more “episodes”. Fingers crossed for good blood test results from all of us over here.
Love Sheena, WhingeBag & Ollie
![bingo-14-5_1200x775](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/bingo-14-5_1200x775.jpg?t=1462367720 "Vally\'s Bingo \\"Smile\\"")
![Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4.jpg?t=1409108782 "Brigitte\'s Cleo, Ripley, Enzo and Guest \\"Rockin\\"")
