Little Gifts

Petit-mal (French for little illness) is an absence seizure like a brief brain disturbance. Grand-mal (French for big illnesses) is the old term for seizures at the other end of the spectrum. I think that is where the 'petty' comes in.

I had a staffy boy on phenobarb from about 6 months of age till he was about 4. He was on the maximum dose possible and was still fitting at least once a week, sometimes more. He walked around in a drug like haze most of the time and had difficulty with appetite and weight and his depth perception was not great. He was never left alone and could escape the most secure enclosure if you tried to do so. My vet is a holistic one and we ran out of treatment options when he was about a year old and on the verge of pts so she worked with a local naturopath and he was on a concoction of drops and the seizures reduced, his phenobarb dose reduced and after about 3 years he was seizure and medication free. It was a lot of experimentation and finger crossing over a long period of time only because we had run out of options because the phenobarb was not controlling his situation and his quality of life was deteriorating. He lived till he was almost 13 but had lots of fear triggers - storms, the garbage truck, rustling plastic bags, etc. It was like he'd come out of a fog and noise was a little too much for him at times. He would not have made it that far though without the commitment of my vet. He didn't have any liver or other health problems linked to the fits or medication. A vet you trust is very important as this could be a health problem with no quick fix and no clean diagnosis. Sometimes you will never know why the seizures started and I could never find any triggers for our boy. Hopefully it is manageable for the lovely Ziggy and not too stressful for you. His behaviours sound really strange but certainly they aren't normal and there seems to be a compulsive behaviours pattern to them. My experiences were with the full blown body jerks and litres of slimy frothing. It used to take a lot of energy out of our boy too and he would fall into a very deep sleep afterwards. Does it seem to take a while for Ziggy to recognise you and his environment after he is coming out of these events? Do his other senses seem to be in sync or working properly? Our boy would be very out of it after a fit and he didn't seem to be getting any visual or aural (oral?) messages for maybe half an hour afterwards. We would just keep him safe and clean him up until he was back to his version of normal. One thing I always found incredibly strange was that our boy never fitted by himself - we never discovered him covered in drool or found drool piles anywhere random. We also worked and yet he never had a fit while being baby sat by my parents or the neighbours during the day. They mainly happened at night and always in our presence. Anne and I have disagreed with this in the past but I am sure our boy knew he was going to have a fit because if he was asleep on the lounge he would get down and lie in the centre of the floor before it started. But like this happening to Ziggy only when he is asleep - what can you even do with that kind of information except be thankful you are there for him? I hope the phenobarb works for Zig.

Well then Terri you are excused from Grumpy Old Dog Lady Ranting! Hopefully there will be others like me at the park who are not afraid of saying how they feel! But honestly, if this happens again then don't feel bad about yelling at them to either call their dog back or control it. They just sound lazy to me and their poor dog will be the one to pay if it injures another dog or a human or if it gets hurt running free in the car park.

I would've laid into them. They have no right to ruin the off lead dog park for other users and it is people like that who don't control their dogs who cause council complaints and have dog parks closed down or even further restricted. A dog park is not a free dog sitting service either. If you are not willing to get off your arse and move around the park so you are within an acceptable distance to your dog so you can actively monitor its behaviour then you do not deserve to own one. I have no tolerance for people who deliberately ruin things for others AND put their dog at unacceptable risk of harm. I'd be taking their pic with my phone and sticking up signs around the park outing their poor behaviour.

I really think some dogs need a purpose to feel happy or content or even confident. My sister's ex was a security guard who had several trained guard dogs who were house dogs when not working. One in particular was the biggest sook who was always complaining he was being picked on by the other dogs but as soon as you brought his work gear out he was a totally different dog. The transformation always used to shock me. I wouldn't even go near him when he was like that as he looked so fierce. He would be retired now and I have no idea how he would be coping with that.

Happy Anniversary HW! I'm a mere babe on here but have loved every minute of it, even the slightly ugly stuff has been a good learning experience! I actually have loads of new real life doggy friends from DOL and there are lots of people I have never met, probably never will, but who I like and care about a lot. You get as much out of DOL as you put in. There are also some incredibly talented, hilariously funny and downright weird people on here. Love it!

Damn you KC! Blubber city here now! I wonder if a police dog is still a police dog over the bridge or if it is able have some fun in retirement? Or is Dante in his element keeping all the naughtier dogs from getting too out of line?

Stussy seems to have gotten bitten by something today. Her face and front legs have loads of bumps all over them. I am keeping her quiet and cool and am watching her. I took a photo but she is pied and that don't look anywhere as exciting as Neko's.

I was watching one of those end of the world preparation shows last night and said to my sister that we would have to move somewhere cooler so our food didn't spoil if we had no power. I thought Tassie might be an interesting solution to the problem. I noticed today that Tassie is getting temps in the mid 30s at present so where the hell are we supposed to move to now?

Tempeh is getting terrible with wetfeetitis. She is going to great extremes to avoid succumbing to it but the funny thing is, once she manages to get to the concreted carport to piddle she creates such a wet patch of her own that, well let's just say, she doesn't suffer from tinea! I love how Jonah really enjoys his outdoor experiences whether it be beach or bush!

I LOVED IT!!!!! That has made my day!

This lady wanted a cross breed to breed with. Even she could not guarantee to future puppy buyers what her litters would grow up to look like. And you can't ask for a refund AND keep the product, live animal or not. I do agree that if duped purchasers were to complain when the puppy they purchased as a healthy, pure bred was found to be neither perhaps more pet shops and BYB's would be held accountable for their lies and inactions. But to say a cross breed is going to exhibit the features you want from both breeds as an adult is impossible.

Rozzie am I reading it correct and Columbus is 21? That's got to be right up there with the oldest dog in the country hasn't it? What an achievement! And Law, I love that pic of Trixie!

NAO my old Stafford girl was full of cancer masses, had pancreatitis, incontinence from both ends, some mobility problems, was blind, deaf and had dementia yet it was her determination to still be a dog that stopped us from pts'ing her earlier. She thought she was still head of the pack, tough as nails and was not one to lie around letting the world pass her by. Those last six months she had a monthly vet check up and her quality of life was still in favour of her sticking around despite all her health and old age issues. The only reason we made the decision when we did was because I could not longer cope with the worry of coming home and finding that she'd hurt herself or gotten stuck somewhere. It never happened but the potential for it seemed to be increasing. It took me a long time to accept I hadn't jumped the gun. She left us just shy of 17 and the first year of her life prior to her abandonment pregnant was not an easy one. But once she was rescued she never let that hold her back. Dogs are amazing creatures!

In that profile pic the oddness of the swelling makes her look like Muttley! Poor bubba. I'm glad for our sakes though that you took pictures!

Same Rosetta. A couple of my friends have them and they are energiser bunnies who have to be in the thick of any household excitement. You have to wonder about the training of these so called experts. To me joy is a human trait anyway and I would think quiet is a personality thing and not a breed trait.

Yep, you'd have to think so. I'm assuming that dogs can develop allergies and intolerances to food or ingredients just like humans. But there could also be an intestinal imbalance or inflammation that causes stomach juices to bubble, leak, under or over produce as well. (can you tell I have no medical training???)

I was actually thinking where the hell has SWMBO found time to join DOL and why isn't she more gushy about Mr Smooshy Chops, so it all makes sense!!!

What a crock of cockerpoo! I love Hugh Wirth's assessment of Shaggy's Bichon Frise lineage resulting in 'quiet, not much joy'. I think BF breeders should work on that whole no joy thing - there is an untapped market out there for that. Grumpy old men.

Those neighbours are likely to get a replacement puppy to help their grieving and it could be something contagious that a new puppy could catch. If you are comfortable telling them that then please do but I'd report it as well because it could've come from a pet shop or a BYB and they need to be aware of what has happened as well so other pups remain safe. People just don't seem to realise that a pup has such limited physical resources if it is ill and they can die so quickly and painfully if left without proper medical treatment. RIP little one.

Puggedforlife, there used to be a pug on here when I first joined called Gherkin. She was a scream too. Something sad happened to her though. I don't know what. If you search the pug thread for her name I'm sure you will see pics and read about her antics.

So glad you might have a solution. While it sounds hilarious to read about all these rampant lickers of course you don't want them in pain and if it is treatable then the prognosis seems good. Our rampant licker was like that all her life and poor mum used to cop the worst of it. She would practically pin her down and lick every bit of skin she could find. Mum started wearing eucalyptus oil on her knees when she visited and the licker didn't like the smell of it and left her alone. I used to think she was one of those dogs who just loved to groom everyone (the cat loved having her ear insides licked clean!) but maybe it was hiding another problem we were ignorant about? She rarely vomited but would walk around dry heaving in a very dramatic fashion. Since she was always like that we would of course be concerned for her and check to see if she needed help but we thought it was because she was like me and hated to actually vomit (and also hit with the drama queen stick). She did go on to develop chronic pancreatitis as well but still lived a very long life. It's funny to look back and see how this all may have been linked. I don't know if untreated reflux could lead to pancreatitis but it's all part of the digestive process I guess? She was under close vet supervision for her pancreatitis but I don't think we ever felt the licking and heaving needed medical treatment so probably never raised it. Today I have learnt that a dog can get heartburn and reflux!

She had a very expressive face Grumpette. Just imagine the havoc she is getting up to over the bridge these days!

I just realised CT is D and not C. That's the start of my confuzzlement right there! PS Must go into the Man Thread and tell them they have a new member!

And he is a testament to CT's OH's training efforts, both in mind and body. His soul is still all pei though!