I thought I should do a quick update on Esther (a.k.a. “Mopsy”), the elderly deaf girl who came to us a year ago from upstate New York. I took that photo this morning of her in the living room. She’s blind in one eye, is covered in lumps (all just fatty tumors so far!), and has some neurological deficits in her limbs. She’s had a number of visits to our veterinary specialists in Burlington, for example here?and here, as well as subsequent visits. In the course of those?ongoing diagnostics, we learned Esther had diskospondylitis, which is an infection in her spine. We’ve since successfully treated her for that. She also had some seizures, though we don’t know if she’s experienced’these off and on for years or whether this is a new development. We don’t have any history on her before she showed up as a stray at the New York shelter.
Because we were concerned her seizures had increased — though still not frequent — our veterinary internist?had started her on a medication called Keppra. It needs to be given three times a day, every eight hours, which really stretches out the day, as you can imagine! Esther is not a dog we?can give a pill by putting it down her throat; she can be quite snappy with her mouth. Even though she’s not aggressive in any way, she doesn’t like having her mouth handled and reacts by biting down. (Ouch.) Fortunately, she would take her pills in food, which worked for several months.
But in the last few?weeks, she became more and more difficult about this, turning away from almost every food imaginable (yes — hot dogs, bratwurst, deli ham, roast chicken, peanut butter, you name it, we tried it). It would take Alayne 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes longer, to try and get her meds on board. (There is an injectable form of Keppra but it is on long-term back-order and essentially unavailable.) She also stopped eating her regular meals consistently. We had her on an appetite stimulant as well as an anti-nausea medication as a preventative, but these no longer seemed to be helping. We had also noticed she was losing her spark … she just wasn’t as bouncy or vocal or happy as she used to be. More subdued, less energy, less herself. She used to follow Alayne around the house, bouncing along and woofing behind her as she went (hence her nickname, Flopsy Mopsy). We hadn’t seen that in quite a while. Last week, after 24 hours of failing’to get her to eat anything, we took her back to see Dr. Dani Rondeau at Peak in Burlington for more tests.
We also wanted an oral exam to make sure there wasn’t a tooth problem or some other kid of mouth issue that might make her not want to eat. The oral exam revealed no physical reason that would make eating uncomfortable. I was mortified to learn that even under sedation, Esther managed to clamp down and bite Dani’s finger during that exam! As Dani diplomatically wrote up in her summary, “No significant oral or pharyngeal abnormalities were found on exam. She demonstrated excellent masticatory muscle tone on the examiner’s finger during sedation.”?All of Esther’s other tests were pretty much normal.
The sedation really knocked Esther out, and for the rest of that day and the following day she slept most of the time, getting up only occasionally to drink. By Friday she’d gone for several days without her seizure medication, and yet did not have any new episodes. She finally began showing interest in food again over the weekend, and her bouncy, happy self slowly started to re-emerge. We began to wonder if the cumulative effect of the Keppra itself had, over time, contributed to the change we were seeing in Esther. While the veterinary literature seems to suggest few side-effects, the list of potential side-effects for humans taking Keppra is quite lengthy.
We clearly don’t know if the Keppra had anything to do with it. For us, it’s a question of trying to balance her quality of life with her medical condition. For the moment, we have decided to leave her off the medication and see what happens. Esther is also, we think, a very old girl — with no history we don’t have an?exact age — so to what extent age is playing a role here we also don’t know. In any case, she seems right now’to be rebounding, and we hope this continues.
(In retrospect, this wasn’t such a “quick” update after all!)
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Shelter Challenge Underway
The latest round of the Shelter Challenge has begun, and because the first contest this year was a beta? under their new system, those results aren’t really official? meaning we are still eligible for first prize in the current state contest. And cash prizes are back, so if we win first in New Hampshire, we could win $1,000. At the moment we are well ahead in New Hampshire, so your votes are adding up! Please remember, you can vote every day. This contest runs until August 9th. Thank you!
My dogs take their pills right from my finger buried in a wad of peanut butter and there is NEVER any issue……it is soooooooo quick and easy and they love it…….forget medicine….it is “treat time” to them. I use the smooth all-natural type. Try this with any picky dog…..
Yes, Marla, we’ve tried peanut butter, too. And cheese. And … plenty else.
It was nice to have an Esther update. She’s such a pretty older lady. I think that stopping her seizure meds for a while is the right choice. You never really know how any medication will affect a dog and this one could definitely be causing the changes in her that you mentioned. I’m sure she’s had a tough life if she ended up in a shelter at an advanced age, so all the care she is being given now I’m sure is welcome. She’s a lucky lady and looks very happy. I love that she still bit the doctor when she was sedated. Funny how the brain works.
If this old girl doesn’t want something then my opinion is don’t give it to her. Her final weeks or months if that is what it is coming down to should be fun ones and not forced medications. Here’s hoping she continues to rebound! Best wishes.
Thank goodness she’s responding. It is kind of funny that she was still biting while sedated! (Not so funny for the finger she clamped down on!) Well we will have to keep hoping she continues to do well, and improve. She’s getting the best of everything there!
QUICK OR LONG UPDATE STEVE WE ARE ALWAYS GRATEFUL FOR DOING WHAT IS BEST FOR AN OLD DOG LIKE ESTER. HOPE SHE CONTINUES TO HOLD HER OWN.
I’m so glad she is feeling better & getting her spunk back. Thx for the update. I love the way you write, so a long update is wonderful.
Steve, I just read an article about some peanut butter manufacturers are starting to put xylitol in the peanut butter! I know you know how deadly this can be for dogs (I learned about that from this blog!). Just be careful now and read those ingredients.
http://iheartdogs.com/urgent-manufacturers-have-started-adding-a-deadly-ingredient-to-something-many-owners-give-their-dogs/
My dog takes pills as “easily” as Esther does, and I, too, have tried everything. I always imagine using the Three Stooges method, blowing it down a tube – – but I know I would have Three Stooges luck and swallow instead of blowing. 🙂
As always, you’re doing an excellent job, Steve and Alayne. Best wishes and lots of love to you.
Wow, you guys and Esther have really been through the wringer! Hope everything continues to improve with that darling little girl!
I like your philosophy of finding a balance for treatment. She might have a seizure occasionally, but weighing the benefits of being on the medicine, with being OFF the medicine and enjoying life is the way to think of the problem. If she enjoys eating, following Alayne around the house, and vocalizing at her “staff”, then it is well worth the risk at this questionable but obvious advanced age.
Keppra also comes in a 12 hour formula, should you have to start using it again. My dog is on it.
It’s always concerned me that the mainstream medical community (including vets) has a drug for almost everything. And new ones come out everyday. Have you see all of the side effects for the drugs advertised on tv. Taking Esther off those meds was a smart move. Either bad drug or bad dosage.
Poor Esther! Poor loving humans! So glad she is getting better.
I tried virtually all I could think of to get pills down my very stubborn dachshund, Sunnie. She accepted, then rejected all of the usuals: peanut butter, cheese (cheddar, Swiss, Jarlsberg, Havarti, pub cheese, etc.), liverwurst, sausage (pork and chicken), Snausages, and such. Eventually, I hit upon brie cheese. It’s gooey and has a distinct odor, both of which help mask the presence of a pill and the bitterness of some. Sunnie taught my Dieter her tricks, so now I have to put pills in brie for him.
I experienced really bad side affects on Keppra. I was so dizzy, I could barely stand and it did not stop the seizures.
I hesitate to make a suggestion, since you have likely thought of, and tried about everything. And you may be right that she was reacting to the medication. But I will do so anyway. I have a small doggie who has had CHF and a murmur for over a year now. He is on three meds and takes three times a day. He was really clever about avoiding the pills in anything and everything we tried. He would take the food, peanut butter, etc and spit out the pills. Anyway, the bottom line is I found Wedgewood Pharmacy in New Jersey. They compound the medication, put it onto flavored oils and provide the syringes for oral ingestion. If the pooch bites the syringe, it saves the finger and one can still push the plunger and administer the meds. But they have it in different flavors and my sneaky guy laps it right down. It may or may not help, but thought I would pass it on anyway. Lorna Greer
Hmm, seems pretty suspicious. It does sound as if the Keppra was causing the loss of appetite and lethargy. If the seizures aren’t too severe; maybe they’re something she can just live with.
I had no idea dogs could bite under sedation. That’s pretty funny. I hope she’ll be back to her old self very soon.
Looks like RDF has come up a bit in the shelter challenge standings so everybody needs to keep voting!! It takes a lot of resources to help girls like Mopsy!!