Coho- Stroke or Vestibular Syndrome?

Yesterday I had a big scare here with the old blind boy. He did his usual morning routine run about in the yard while I cleaned his kennel then pissed around yapping at me to hurry up and feed him. Ran from me while I tried to pull the remaining tufts of coat hanging off of his rear then escaped me to eat his breakfast in the kennel. Pretty much normal morning for us. I let Bud out and helped him onto the grass and started cleaning Buds run when Coho collapsed and started screaming his head off. I got in to him real quick and didn't quite know what the problem was because I saw him just turn and collapse, no tripping or seizure or anything lke that. He was screaming because he could not right himself and I checked his eyes and they were pointing down deep in his sockets....not good that is usually a neurological problem. He kept trying to move but could only move to the right and stressing got wedged against the chainlink even with me trying to hold him still. So I'm trying to hold his face away from the chainlink so he does not hurt himself and Bud the dick head runs into his side of the kennel and tried to eat him....OMFGAWD....so there I am holding screaming Coho who can't get up, protecting him from Bud who was going loonie. I finally managed to reach one of the anti-fatigue mats in Cohos run with my foot and then ram it down between his head and the chainlink.

I'm stuck there with no phone and a Malamute I can not lift. Bud is loose in the yard which is fine when I am supervising but he is not supposed to go up on the deck now without someone right there because he can not get back down the ramp without a tumble.....so of course he goes up on the deck grrr. I am able to get a blanket somewhat under Coho while keeping one eye on the jack ass now up on the deck. Coho is still struggling if I am not touching / soothing him to keep him calm so I'm thinking now what the heck am I going to do? Bud is almost ready to come off the deck and has made his round of peeing on deck chairs and checking Carmen out through the patio doors. I try and eventually with my feet reach some more blankets and mats to place around Coho then bolt up to help Mr. Jackass back into his kennel before he falls down too. Coho pretty much started screaming again as soon as I bolted to get Bud.....he doesn't understand what is going on, not that I do either but at least I can see. I check his eyes again and although they are not rolled right down they are pretty much unresponsive straight ahead and down a little. He was open mouth panting and not breathing well. I felt him all up and he didn't seem to be in pain any place but consistently trying to move and only able to move to the right.

I'm trying to just keep him calm and from hurting myself then I recall that the day before he may have had a similar but less severe incident. After our normal morning routine I was watering the grass and heard him fall around against the chainlink in his run. It's not abnormal for him to do that at times because he gets excited spinning or will rub against the chainlink for a scratch but this was different mostly due to timing as he usually has a snooze right after eating breakfast. It made me go right over and check what was happening but he just laid down on his blanket and looked fine. Had a normal evening, ate well...same old Coho until his collapse.

I've seen lots of seizures and vestibular cases....this was not what I saw here tho. The eye movement made me think stroke esspecially realizing this may have happened the day before too. I've never experienced a Vestibular syndrome dog get a moment of it one day and recover fully only to get it again the next day but maybe that happens?...but also his eye movement should have been left to right not up/down errr. Lots of ideas rolled through my head perhaps he even hurt his back? It took me nearly an hour to be able to calm Coho down enough to go get the phone. His breathing had settled down and he had caved to the fact that trying to move was a bad idea. I spoke with the vet about what had happened and since he was resting ok at the time with improvement we decided to just let him be (I can not lift him). Vet would stand by just in case I need them to buzz over quick but would otherwise do a housecall at day end. Other than check his vitals and stuff there was really nothing they can do for stroke / vestibular.

I spent most of the day right with him and he continued to improve. The kennel is well padded now with blankets and anti-fatigue mats covering bottom parts of the chainlink so he doesn't hurt himself. After a couple hours when I came in the house for a book he backed himself up to the kennel door and was kinda propped sitting up against it looking over the padding with his face mashed into the chainlink. He continued to get more alert, hold his head more in the middle instead of off to the right then actually not need to lean on anything to the right. He seemed to have full feeling of his left limbs, tail, ears & face but I was sure worried about his right side which he was still down on.

Before the vet arrived I was able to get his dinner into him started by spoon but he was able to finish on his own. He can not drink though so wet meals and syringed water (which he doesn't take). By the time the vet got here Cohos eyes were doing more of a Vestibular indicative movement. Not shift-quick but VERY slow left to right, so slow that you would not notice if you were not REALLY looking for it. His vitals were ok, breathing pretty much normal, could feel no abdominal masses, all his parts seems to be a-ok. Except he can not get up...Vet figures Vestibular Syndrome but I'm still not so convinced but then because he is blind perhaps not having sight to deal with is allowing him less severe symptoms (this would be good).

I could not for the life of me get him in a crate so just had to go keep checking on him last night. He did very well and moved around a bit shifting sides. I think my checking on him last night was more annoying then the fact that he can't get up yet.

This morning he still can't get up (I'l try to get some help to get him up later and see what happens) He is in good spirits with wagging tail and tried to rob my coffee so he's doing alright. I'm heading out with his breakfast now and to give him a clean up / change his wet blankets. Hopefully he will continue to improve and stay in good spirits. If I can't get him drinking on his own at least a bit by tomorrow I'll have to do sub-q fluids I guess. At least it is cooler out and he is eating what I give him with wet food. Baby steps...we have a good bond and he trusts me....keep your paws crossed for him!

My pal Buddy

We have been concentrating on doing extra activities with Bud lately because he is not long for this world now. The day we picked Carmen up (April 13) we were told that our Bud has oral cancer. We had been in to the vet several days before because he had SOMETHING REALLY GROSS hanging outta his mouth. NEVER seen ANYTHING like that before and the SMELL GAWD. I had noticed a smell the day before and thought it was the space between the kennels that collects tree junk and hair. I even dumped bleach in it at the time. I had no clue the smell was coming from Buds mouth. It seemed that overnight cancer had eaten away the inside of his cheek...not really, I suppose this had time to grow in there without me noticing because I don't normally go sticking my fingers in the dogs inner cheeks and feel around. Of course I see teeth all the time and have a lookie if something doesn't look right....anyway we assumed at first this was a dental abcess or something like that and so we put him under to have a look but ended up doing a crude quick surgery to remove all we could. He ended up losing part of his lip upper and lower same side. It all healed VERY WELL!!!!!

About a week after Kodiak passed away Bud was licking his elbow CONSTANLY which suddenly became twice the size it had been....in again to be put under for an Xray and biopsy. It's osteosarcoma. Fucking cancer stealing more of my furkids. I hated cancer before but I'm pretty much hating it with a passion these days. Bud has been good....he is medicated and doing VERY WELL on the elbow considering. There has not been any more growth thankfully because the first spurt opened his poor elbow up the skin was so stretched. We have been a couple mths now oral cancer free and 5 weeks or so since his osteosarcoma diagnosis. He's been a happy camper doing all his same things, just a little slower. He has a hard time with the elbow not wanting to bend. He can no longer support his front end enough to use his wheelchair which sucks because he loves to have a go barking at the birds in that thing.

Over the weekend since I'm paying real close attention to Buds mouth now....I found we have cancer showing again, same side, same stink, same rotting flesh... just not bad yet. He only just finished his antibiotics from the first surgery about a week before...... I dumped some more antibiotics into him and that seemed to help so we are continuing with that for now since it was obviously working somehow. We can't remove any more of his poor freaking mouth...we'll get something stronger into him pronto when the vet opens on Thursday. I think (I hope) we caught it in time.... it LOOKS much better but ya can't really get a great look in the mouth of a dog that bites and who doesn't want anyone in there. Thank goodness for digital camera as I have been getting good shots of his inner mouth without even bugging him.



For now we are just taking it day by day. Part of Buds main rear issue was that some time in his life he was run over or hit by a vehicle AND SOME LOSER ALLOWED HIM TO HEAL LIKE THAT! So big time arthritis and degenerative issues :( With the cancer in his front leg same side as the rear injury he's trying to shift weight to the back to compensate, which isn't working very well. Bud has NO CLUE what his rear is doing he just goes and hopes it follows ok :) If it doesn't he picks himself up usually before I can try to help him. He was left in a backyard chained up when his owners moved away and was skin & bone.


When he came here in April 2007 he was given just 4-6 mths to live due to age & previous neglect. I don't think Bud is one of those dogs who will let me know when he wishes to depart...he only began life 2 1/2 years ago according to him. He's a puppy in a frail old body. I'm trying to enjoy every minute I can with him right now without disturbing his normal snoozing.


Pizza Night... he LOVES Chicken Ranch Pizza....Greek not so much too many veggies!

Annual shearing & other updates

Here is Carmen standing on the table begging up some morning cookies lol.
No she is not spoiled AT ALL hahaha!

I always loved this picture of Kayennea...Queen of the dog house lol!
She is still not well and although we have done as much -hands-off- diagnosing / meds as possible the fact is she is not going to get better. I've always known something was wrong with her and she has never been wired right in her brain EVER. She is highly dangerous to people and other animals. If she was not MY DOG she would never have been allowed to live these 8 years I'm certain. She is highly managed all the time. EVERY member of my family and many of my friends have told me since she was a puppy to put her down...sigh. She has a life that apparently she is ok with but is not so ok by me all the time. She has been bleeding from the nose and coughing blood for several mths now. (The occassional nose bleeds started a couple years ago & the times vet checked believe to be allergy related then hmmm) Sometimes now really bad and then nothing....It's pretty apparent that there are masses some where and they have spread. We continue to monitor what's going on with her and will make sure she is not in pain.....but....and I REALLY hate to say this....but....need to be honest, there will be no hero medical interventions for Kayennea. If she was a different dog....for sure, but she is who she is. Anything hands on with Kayennea is dangerous for all concerned and so VERY stressful of her & me. Just getting blood from her takes several persons to hold her down errr. If the higher powers have a plan for her we will not fight it. It hurts my heart to say that about one of my own dogs. Kayennea is fine WITH ME ONLY, well mostly....she can be sweet, gentle and cuddly....then very unpredictably try to rip your face off with a snap of fingers. I hope she lives to be an old lady but it certainly doesn't look that way right now. What's happening with her is not "fixable", there are only a few reasons for bleeding from the nose, coughing blood... none being a positive diagnosis.... so I'm not stressing her or putting anyone in danger trying to fix her. I'm not sure this is always going to sit-right by me but we can only make decisions based on what we feel is right at the time.

Me & Coho on Buds Birthday...Coho has slowed a bit with the heat and just blew coat. I've ALMOST got him all brushed out but he is such a shit with standing still it's a slow process. I tried to use the blower on him to get the rest of his rear and the poor old fart pissed himself so that's a no-go! He didn't like that AT ALL :( Hopefully over the next couple weeks the rest of the coat will let go / get brushed out of his rear so he can be bathed because he is one stinky boy right now. He sure has changed from the distant Malamute that first arrive to me! He's very cuddly and in my face all the time now. He also continues to like to poke me in the ass all the time when I'm cleaning his kennel out hehehe! Ya funny guy! He sure looks nice right now with most of his old coat brushed out. I'll get some new pictures of him maybe this week while Scott is home to help hold his busy self still.



Shearing was a bit late this year but not easy to find someone these days. I usually have it done by first week of June but was third week this time around. I hate watching the pros...manipulate my gals all over but was REALLY quick! 10 minutes and both girls were done including their feet. Weezy turns out is much older... 9-11 y/o the shearing fellow figured so we will call it 10 y/o I guess. No wonder I've been having one hell of a time keeping weight on her! Nicole is a lard ass and Weezy is a bone rack. The shearing guy called Nicole "Good eatin' " grrrr.


I have some news on Bud but will do another post as it will be quite lengthy....it's not good news for him unfortunately.

Ya just cant do this with malamutes!

Carmen was so fun!
Tired by the end and snoozing on her fleece right up next to me but she had a blast out there. She was no trouble at all even when we ran into the crazy beaver lol! We never got any fish (that should be interesting ha!) but a great time was had by all.

Here is the public link to my facebook album with more pics:
(should open even if you don't have FB)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=105314&id=660010816&l=f648076393