Part II First Person – A Diet Change Turns Scary to Sunny

We stayed at the doggie ER until they could evaluate Mo and come up with a plan for overnight. Neurology was going to see him as well as the ICU vets. We got to see him before we left and with more IV fluids he had perked up a little. As soon as he saw us his little tail started wagging slowly. We were both crying. I had the raw patties with me and told the vets he was absolutely not allowed to have anything but these, and they complied.

They called us Saturday morning and said Mo was awake and just tired. His sodium was in the normal range and neurology had been consulted. We got there to pick him up and he greeted us with his tail wagging and bright eyed -- which was such a relief! Neurology said they thought he had a pituitary brain tumor and we needed to do an MRI to confirm it. We scheduled it for Tuesday.  Before we left they took an x-ray of his lungs and found a bullet lodged in his chest. Now, they weren't willing to do the MRI for fear of the magnet moving the bullet and causing damage. A CT scan was being considered instead.

On our drive home we tried to figure out how to let Mo have as much water as he wanted and to be able to go out as he needed. Now that we knew the repercussions of withholding water we just had to figure out a way to make it work.

mo1When we got home, we just filled all the bowls with water and let him have whatever he wanted. He walked in the house and went to sleep. We took the water bowl to him and he wouldn't drink. Now we were getting panicked because we don't want to start this cycle again. Finally after being home about four hours, he got up and had a drink of water – like a normal dog. He was completely normal. I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous but after that day we never again had to fill a water bowl any more than you would for three normal hounds.

Within a few days, he was even more amazing. We always had times where his wonderful little personality would shine, although it had become less and less as time went on.  However, he just absolutely blossomed into the most wonderful dog you can imagine ... we absolutely adore him. We can't imagine our lives without him!

The ONLY thing we had changed was his diet. The only thing he had eaten for those four days was the raw patties. We kept waiting for something to happen but it never did!  If he gets anything that his body doesn't like, he has a seizure. It's like clockwork. So, we are careful to not let him have anything but his patties and a few treats like dehydrated chicken or his absolute favorite - banana chips. (We still have him on the seizure med Keppra. But he doesn’t have any side effects, so we keep using it. )

We ended up adopting a second galgo after our older greyhound passed away in October. Fortunately our new guy is doing great. When we had trouble housebreaking him, I took in a urine sample in and found his pH was high and he had crystals, too. The vet told me (not that he really needed to) to put him on the same diet as Mo. We did that day and within 24 hours he stopped having accidents in the house. Three days later we took off the belly band and he has been perfectly housebroken ever since!

The raw food is very expensive but obviously we are so thankful for it... mostly we are so thankful to Michael for suggesting it. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't!

So that is Mo's whole sordid story. Although it was obviously difficult and heartbreaking for us, he was worth every minute of it!!!

First Person is an occasional series where we hear from SHUG adopters and volunteers. The author is Suzy Coleman.

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2 thoughts on “Part II First Person – A Diet Change Turns Scary to Sunny
    1. From Suzy: I feed him Primal dog food. They are ready made raw patties with organic vegetables. We rotate between lamb, duck, beef and chicken. They are frozen and we just put them in the refrigerator to thaw the night before. He loves them!!