Hepatic Encephalopathy???

mellie said:
If you are talking about subcutaneous fluids, any veterinary hospital can give them to Baca and also teach you how to do it at home. It is not expensive and will help. Is he taking the lactulose still ? It is very inexpensive at least in the U.S. and is in a liquid form that is easy to give orally. Just think one day at a time...:hugs
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Actually I was thinking about water therapy to build up his muscle tone and the IV fluids that Shelli mentioned as well. So both. And Lactulose as well.

We are going to see the vet probably this week (waiting confirmation of vets availability). I emailed him about lactulose that I read about on another forum and he is familiar with this treatment.

I expect that the 17% protein diet that I have him now (Blue) is not going to be good enough and I will have to resort to home cooked finally.

The HE symptoms are so weird. David compares it to evangelical healing. You know, when the sick and crippled come up on stage and are touched and miraculously healed and dance off stage? Well, that is Bacca. He limps up and down stairs, slips and slides and walks into doors. But start up the lawn mower and he is full motor function....leaps off 4 foot stairs and jumps 4 feet in the air, chases the lawn mower. (He actually pushed David over yesterday in his excitement!) "I AM HEALED!"....and then he's back to his limping self again.

p.s. no disrespect to those of the faith. Simply to explain how this dog can go from crippled to full strength at the sound of a lawn mower.
 
Does Bacca not like the lawn mower?

Our Mally has arthritis and basically takes it slow and easy walking around.

All that has to happen, when we are in the back yard, is for a person to walk by, especially with a dog, or a motorcyle rider or bike rider go down the street (we are on a corner lot), right along side of a pretty busy street.

Well, if any of the above happen, Mally will take off running the fence like he did as a puppy, running full steam ahead, barking, mad as heck.

Don says it is because he is in the anger/aggression mode. Arthritis is forgotten for awhile. I believe Don is right.

Could this, also, be the case with your Bacca and the lawn mower?
 
Mally's Mom said:
Does Bacca not like the lawn mower?

Our Mally has arthritis and basically takes it slow and easy walking around.

All that has to happen, when we are in the back yard, is for a person to walk by, especially with a dog, or a motorcyle rider or bike rider go down the street (we are on a corner lot), right along side of a pretty busy street.

Well, if any of the above happen, Mally will take off running the fence like he did as a puppy, running full steam ahead, barking, mad as heck.

Don says it is because he is in the anger/aggression mode. Arthritis is forgotten for awhile. I believe Don is right.

Could this, also, be the case with your Bacca and the lawn mower?
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Its hard to explain...the HE thing. It's like the toxins from the liver create some kind of barrier to his brain. He has the strength to jump and leap about, but sometimes the brain doesn't seem to communicate to his motor functions. And he cant handle stairs at all or jump up on the bed. Then when the hair dryer is on, or the lawn mower or leaf blower, it seems to blow the toxins away temporarily, and he is a normal Sheltie again. Watching him fly against David this weekend with enough force to push him over was a quite a sight. :smile2: Then he limped back up the hill :cry:

I'm back to the vet next week. More tests, and probably Lactulose treatment.
 
I think it's adrenaline, and that's a very adaptive thing. When you're living in the wild and danger strikes, pain is a secondary consideration, and the adrenaline (and whatever components of the nervous system parallel its actions) has the effect of blocking it at some point. Once the reaction dies down, it's back to "being kind" to whatever part of the body is hurting.
 
I agree with Mignarda. It's probably not that he's magically cured when he sees the lawnmower, it's just that he absolutely loves chasing it and his adrenaline kicks in, so he is able and willing to fight through his pain. Poor Bacca :(
 
A lot of the time the stumbling around and running in to things are worse after eating a meal, too.
 
take4roll10 said:
I agree with Mignarda. It's probably not that he's magically cured when he sees the lawnmower, it's just that he absolutely loves chasing it and his adrenaline kicks in, so he is able and willing to fight through his pain. Poor Bacca :(
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Yeah, what I thought....to good to be true....but doesn't it beg a question.....if there was a way to keep that adrenaline going to the brain, couldn't there be some medications that could combat HE using the same sparks?

I'm no scientist by any means, but just watching the behaviour changes when he is "on his game" makes me wonder whether or not medical science is missing something

In the meantime, next Wednesday back for more bloodwork and probable addition of Lactulose.....the never ending saga......
 
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