Tempest

Ollie has some kind of neurological problem that is effecting the co-ordination of his limbs - he's an old boy now (vet reckons 13-14 ) and he'd been on steroids to help but they'd given him loads of side effects so he came off them about 4 weeks ago. He's not seen the vet for about 4 months so just wanted to take him back for a check up and he needed his annual booster vax The good news is that he's actually gained some weight and is up from 15.2kg to 16.9kg so I'm really pleased with that as I thought he might have lost more weight She also thought that his reflexes/reactions didn't seem much worse than when he was on the steroids so that's good news too. She said he's not in any pain and that she can tell that he looks like a happy boy. I'd been really worried about all the falls he's been having and she said that in those kind of 'fainting' type falls the body relaxes and the muscles relax so you're less likely to break anything (and tbh I'm amazed he's not broken anything to date so that was reassuring). I know I started another thread about his massive hair loss of late and she checked him over and things it's just an extremely heavy moult (which could have been caused by the steroids) and that he's not going bald or anything - so that was good too. He also has quite a pronounced head tremor and she suggested an interesting theory - as he's an Irish rescue who came over here aged about 7-8 and was probably unvaxed in Ireland she thought he *could* have had distemper as a puppy as she said that quite often puppies who have distemper develop neurological problems (particularly head tremors) when they get old Just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of that? Obviously it's something we'll never know one way or the other but I'm feeling really gutted that potentially something as simple as Olls not being vaxed in his younger life has lead to this life threatening/limiting condition

Yep his drinking and eating are back to normal levels now we're off the Preds which is great news and he seems to have stopped poop eating too When he was on the Preds I didn't really notice any problems with his hair but since we've stopped the tablets it's just falling out like there's no tomorrow, it also seems really fine and whispy As we're at the vets on Saturday I will mention it to her but thought it might be a case of the preds taking a while to affect his hair and even though now he's off them the effect is still there?

Just bought a TomTom One V4 from Halfords today for £97 so hopefully that was a good deal

I'm *thinking* of getting a new car I've currently got a Ford Focus estate on an 04 plate (it's an automatic) and I mainly had an estate because of the hounds Now there's just Ollie I'm literally only taking him in the car to go to the field now that he can't walk there (it's about a 2 minute drive) and other than that would be if he had to go to the vets. He used to go everywhere with me in the car but now he's got poorly legs it's quite an ordeal for him getting in and out and using the ramp and everything Anyway I'm starting a new job next week working for Great Ormond St and am going to be home based but with a fair bit of driving around Essex visiting volunteers, schools, venues etc so I'm thinking of a new car With the price of diesel cheaper than petrol at our local garage I'm thinking about a diesel and I'd really like a hatchback as I've always hated the estate - I'm rubbish at parking and hate how long it is Also we've got a huuuuge Barjo crate in the back so in effect don't actually have much of a boot to use I'm a fan of my Focus so would consider another one or another Ford but I'm a bit worried about whether Olls could go in the back seat of a hatchback as I don't think the ramp would work (I tried it on my car and the incline was all wrong and made it too steep for him) but I was wondering if it might be safe for him to travel in the footwell behind the front seats as that would be easy for him to 'hop' into. I'm not sure if this would be safe though if there's any kind of contraptions that you can buy to enable dogs to travel in footwells Thing is I really don't want a car that he can't easily access as he loves his daily pootle at the fields and even though it's a palarva with ramps etc (it takes longer to get him in the car than his walk does) I don't want him to miss out on this. I know that might sound a tad crazy as lots of people (not people on here though!) would just street walk their dogs if they wanted a different car that they couldn't get into. I'm really unsure about going back to a manual after having had an auto for about 5 years and whether it's better to go for new or something that's a year or so old - I know there's lots of 'deals' at the mo and am sure I read somewhere that nearly new prices have gone up as people can't afford new anymore Also safety is massively important to me - I've had 2 accidents (that weren't my fault) in the last 3 years and they really scared me and feeling 'safe' in my car is really important too

Ollie's recently been on steriods (Preds) for his neurological problem but we stopped them about a month ago (after gradually phasing them out) due to all the side effects as they were giving him Cushings symptoms Anyways his hair is currently coming out literally in handfalls - normally I'd only hoover twice a week but at the moment I'm hoovering 3 times a day and there's still hair everywhere I'm sure this is due to the Preds as he never moulted much at all previously - yesterday I groomed him with an undercoat rake and I must have literally got out 20 good fistfalls of hair and it was still coming out in handfuls - I didn't want to carry on grooming him as I honestly thought I might leave him nearly bald Has anyone else had similar problems with their dogs? I thought now we'd stopped the Preds his coat would improve but it's got a lot worse in the last couple of weeks err.gif I'm going back to work next week so will be back to hoovering just twice a week and I think we might literally drown in hair We're back at the vets on Saturday so wasn't sure if there was anything I could ask them about it?

I start a new job next week :yikes: and am going to be based at home but will have to some driving with it too and am thinking of getting a SatNav system as I'm always clueless about where I'm going and end up printing off the AA route planner directions which you can't look at safely whilst driving and I get in a right mess I'm utterly clueless about the world of SatNavs and I basically want something that's 1) Easy to use for someone who is clueless 2) Only needs to cover the UK 3) Is relatively inexpensive If anyone can point me in the right direction or recommend something that they use I'd be really grateful

What a horrid shock for you all Sending lots of good thoughts from us here

Olls had a horrible fall this evening and fell from the top of the stairs to the bottom I was in the spare bedroom sorting out the wardrobe and just heard an almighty crash and Chris saw him fall but he couldn't reach him in time He was very shaken up and was literally shivering with shock at the bottom of the stairs - he is unhurt though and walking around seemingly fine but it's given us a real scare

Well we've had a little pootle Ollie seemed very stiff and (if possible) even slower than usual and he tired v. v. quickly We only managed around 7 minutes and then he just seemed exhausted so I called it a day But I guess an improvement on yesterday as he wasn't limping

Awwww Sophie so sorry to hear that you've been a poorly girl Sending lots of good thoughts from us Fee - it's so hard when they're poorly isn't it Have got everything crossed here for good results from the tests - the waiting is so tough

Thanks so much guys Just a quick update - Olls seems to be moving around alot better now and not so 'limpy' on that left side which is really good news He's still very wobbly and having a few falls (but then that's 'normal' for him really) but I think he's steadied on that left hand side I managed to get him to eat something (he'd not had brekkie) by cooking up some fish and mixing that in with his kibble so that was good news too If he seems okay still in the morning I'm going to take him for a v. quick pootle at the fields and watch him closely. It's just such a rollcoaster at the moment as things seem so up and down from day to day that it's hard to know where you are with things/what to do for the best. I'm really hoping we can get to the appointment on the 5th as that's the vet I really trust and she was the last one to give him a thorough examination (she has a kind of needly thing that she touches at points along his back to check his reactions and where he can/can't feel) so I really want her to examine him as she knows what he was like 3 months ago and can see any difference. Morag - our house is a nightmare for places he can 'leap' from as the whole downstairs is open plan and unfortunately the only place the sofa actually fits into just happens to be underneath the lounge window so he can naturally 'leap' up to see out of it. I closed him downstairs with the stairgate this afternoon when I needed to come upstairs to stop him following me and he wasn't happy about that at all his face said 'mum what on earth do you think you're doing! how dare you close me off from upstairs' We've got a harness too so we do use that when out on walks

Just took Ollie over to the field for his daily 15 minute pootle and a couple of hundreds yards from the car he looked like he was limping/dragging his back left leg So I popped his lead on and about turned but he wasn't having it and dug his heels in giving me his 'we've only got 100 yards from the car mum and I'll be damned if I'm going back now' look So I decided to let him decide what he wanted to do and we carried on for a bit so I could watch him like a hawk walking and he seemed okay (I thought maybe he'd just trodden on a prickle or something) five minutes in and his whole left side seemed to give way (both front and back) and he was limping in unison on both legs So straight back to the car with us doing a couple of paces, then resting on the grass, a couple more paces, then resting again but eventually we got there. We're back home now and he's still got the same walk on the left hand side but he won't settle and keeps trying to follow me around A car's just gone past the window and he's lept onto the sofa to have a bark and then promptly got down and his legs have given way again I'm honestly not sure what to do - my first thought was rush him to the vet and I had a chat with Chris and I'm not really sure what they can do. He's clearly not in any pain at all (the main issue is that he can't feel his legs) but the problem is because he feels no pain he does try and launch himself on the sofa to bark but his legs can't support what he's trying to make them do I think I'm going to let him rest as best I can this afternoon and see how he is walking - but I'm really scared that perhaps his left handside has just 'gone' now We've got a vets appointment on 5th September as that is the first day our usual vet is there - I did give them a call and see if there's anything sooner with another vet who knows Ollie but there isn't. The person who is on this week I don't rate at all and tbh wouldn't want to take him to see her. Just feeling like I don't know what to do for the best

Way to go Kiera (and Billy of course) That is a HUUUUGE achivement - you must be really really proud

Am so so sorry Run free at the bridge Jan

Am so sorry to hear this sad news - thinking of you all

Aw Alex sorry have only just seen this So sorry to hear about what Milly has been through this past week - big hugs from us

Ah I didn't even know there was a cord to speak to the driver - there's an emergency stop lever thingy but I wouldn't have wanted to pull that as it would just stop the train I definately don't think I'd intervene where people are clearly drunk/on drugs as I think you really could be met with a very violent response

I went to see Wicked yesterday in London with some friends and we had a really fab day out and went for dinner afterwards They both travel on a different train line to me so I got the National Express train out of Liverpool St back to Essex - I've travelled home a fair few times quite late (well it was only 22:15!) and the train is always relatively packed with people coming home from a day/night out Anyways at Stratford these 4 lads got on to my carriage shouting and swearing and they were either drunk/or on drugs and basically pretty abusive and loud The guy sitting behind me asked them to 'mind their language' at which point they all came over and started yelling and swearing at him calling him a 'bald ****' and the guys wife was begging him to just not get involved. Then the lads kind of turned on each other and started fighting - one punched the other square on the jaw and he fell backwards and then got up and started fighting back. Was horrid and I totally panicked - it was all happening right near me but I was trapped and couldn't really get out of the way. So I just stayed still and it died down fairly quickly but a few minutes later the fight started again and I was weighing up whether to make a run for it (was worried that if one of them decided to run I'd get caught up in it) or stay put A couple of male commuters leapt up at this point as it was getting out of hand and tried to pull them off each other - at which point I decided to make a run for it and get into the next carriage (which I did thank goodness!!) I sat next to a lady in the other carriage and she was telling me that she always travels home on this particular train line as it's a lot safer than the C2C one!!! She said last time there was a fight someone called the police and they kept the train at the station for 2 hours!!!!! Anyways just got me thinking that what do you do in these kind of situations? I know the behaviour of these lads just isn't acceptable but can see why no-one wants to get involved as you could get a smack in the mouth or even worse knifed of something but it's seriously put me off of travelling home alone again Can also sort of see why no-one calls the police as they just want to get home by this point and not delayed for the hours it would take to sort out

Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies - it really does help to know you're all thinking of him

Not sure where to start really but Ollie seems to be going downhill and I just don't know what to do. We've been on holiday in Devon for a week and thought the journey would be too much for him so my parents looked after him (they haven't had him for about 6 months and were shocked in the difference in him). When we got back mum said he'd pooed in the house a few times, had fallen down the stairs twice and then his legs went and he smashed his head into the patio doors on another occassion and she'd thought he'd concussed himself We picked him up on Saturday and I had a long chat with Chris/my parents about things and we agreed that now I'm off work for the summer I've got a lot of time to spend with him and see how he is - Chris is in America with work for 2 weeks so it's just me and Ollie at the moment. I was hopeful with the fact that I know his toilet habits and could manage things so we wouldn't have any accidents in the house. I've let him out twice this morning and he's had a wee, refused to eat any brekkie and while I'm on the PC he's just squatted next to me and pooed on the carpet I've noticed that he doesn't really seem to 'squat' like he used to but tends to poo now while he's still standing up which I think is because he can't control his back legs v. well. When he was first diagnosed with this brain problem both vets told us that eventually he would lose the ability to go to the toilet properly as his back end is most affected and I think that's now started to happen The other thing is that in the evenings he just won't settle, he paces up and down the lounge for quite literally hours and stares into space standing in different spots and just won't rest. It honestly exhausts me watching him so I don't know how he manages - I would have thought that he'd just want to rest/sleep but it just seems like he can't settle and is constantly agitated. We tried Vivotonin but it didn't make any difference. I just feel like we're in a downward spiral and things are only going to get worse. If I'm honest I must admit that I'm finding the pooing in the house really difficult to manage, particularly now it seems to be a regular thing and I know the situation will get worse not better. I've always said that if he couldn't eat, didn't want to go for walks or became incontinent those would be things that would make me think that it was time to really think about what was the right thing to do - I don't feel like we've hit that point yet but I feel like we're on the way there and there's nothing I can do I think I feel worse as Chris is away so I don't feel like I've got someone to talk to about things either

Glad things went well when you had a chat with Steve the other night - hope it all goes well at the party tonight I definately agree with you that he's a brave man if he goes along and faces all your family tonight - that definately takes some guts. I think the holiday will be just what you need and I think you've got exactly the right attitude Kelly and are dealing with things brilliantly

Good thoughts from us too :GroupHug:

Not used her myself but have heard of people that have and said she's excellent (she's on the APBC list)........ Hazel Palmer 48 Ridley Road, Forest Gate, London, E7 0LT Tel: 020 8534 2673 Email: [email protected] She's v. local to them too

Kelly I'm so so so sorry to hear this - what a massive shock for you I think at the moment you're just in total and absolute shock as it sounds as though this has come completely out of the blue for you Definately take your friend up on her offer of her coming round - do you have any family nearby that you can spend some time with too? You're not alone - you've got all your friends on here and your doglets too so hold on to that fact Don't panic about things like money and the like at the moment - those are all things that can and will get sorted. At the moment you just need to take some time to come to terms with what has happened and recover from the shock. If you want to talk at all you know where I am - thinking of you and really hoping you're okay :GroupHug: