So I walked into the kitchen last night to see why Harvey was taking so long at his water bowl to find him just sat on his hunches smack in the middle of the floor with his head hung right down shaking with tremors.
I gently sat beside him and he seemed to snap out of it and we went back into the front room.
He got into his bed but nothing could get him to lay down and as I previously posted the tremors were affecting his head also.
I just sat with him gently stroking him and then after about an hour I tried the "dog treat in a toy" to see if I can distract him and it worked to a degree.
He was up for it but kept loosing interest and twice his back legs almost gave way and he kinda stumbled.
He eventually got into his bed and laid down and I stayed up with him gently stroking his neck (his fave place) and after about an hour or so I just had to go to bed as I am exhausted emotionally.
I still got up early and first thing I tried to call his vet, more for advice but also wanted to ask about anti inflammatory supplements which I have seen others around the net who have had dogs with a brain tumour say eased the symptoms especially the tremours. Apparently its said that selenium and Vitamin E can relieve the inflammation around the tumour and so relieve the symptoms.
My vet would not speak to me and instead I got put through to a very 'matter of fact' vet nurse who really made me feel I was wasting her time and just didn't want to know. She simply said, "I can see from Harvey s records that ******* (his vet) is happy with him as he is so just bring him in for a checkup in 3 weeks time".
I said, yes but he may not be here in three weeks time if his symptoms continue to get worse and I would have thought that if there is anything that can make things a little easier for him then you'd not only know about it but would want to do it.
She then said "Beyond bringing him in in 3 weeks I have nothing to suggest and I know nothing of the supplements you speak of".
I got a bit upset and said "well if you Google it there are loads of posts on dog forums and websites saying how diet and supplements can help a dog with brain tumours, and I don't think I should be telling you about them, it should be the other way around".
She simply said "Right.... Well I can only repeat what I said earler."
So I ended the conversation.
I have now moved Harvey to a new and local vet.
I telephoned two local and well known dog clubs and asked if they knew of a vet local to me who had experience of brain tumors in dogs and both indiedependently highly recommended the same practice.
I gave them a call and sure enough their senior small animal vet has a lot of experience of dealing with canine brain tumors and and active interest in the ongoing care side.
He seemed a bit concerned that the current Vet has not done a blood workup on Harvey since he had his seizure (his last blood tests were in November) and he said that he personally would want to know what his bloods say now.
He also said that he was mindful of not putting Harvey through un-necessary visits to the surgery as Harv gets very stressed and also not racking up costs for no reason.
So I have registered Harv with him and he is going to request Harv's clinical records. He said he will see what my current vet has (or has not) done and will give me a call to have a chat which I felt was best.
I hope I have done the right thing but his old Vet is 40 - 45 minutes away and the new one is only 15. My way of thinking is if I needed to get Harv to the vet in an emergency then 15mins car journey is much kinder to Harv than 45mins.
Harvey Today.
(Before I rang his vet)
When I got up he seemed Okay, happy to see me and eager for his breakfast which he woofed down in about a minute.
He also took his medication (wrapped in a slice of ham) with out a problem.
After I had had a chance to have a cup of tea and let the sleeping pills wear off I took him out for his morning walk.
At the sight of me putting my coat on and his lead he got excited as normal though he no longer squeaks with excitement as he has always done so.
We probably got about 200 maybe 300 yards out the back gate and onto the headland of the field and I notice that he was walking slower than normal, not with any bounce and not walking off in front.
In fact even at my slower than normal pace he was falling behind so I brought him home and this is when I rang his Vet as I was quite scared by now.
He got into his bed and fell sleep and when I'd finished speaking with the two vets I did the same on the sofa with one arm across him.
About 11am-ish he woke up and asked to go out into the garden. No sign of tremors and quite alert. He went and found his ball and we had a game of throw and fetch followed by "its my ball dad and you cant have it". Nothing too strenuous or exciting and I was watching his legs and how steady he was and he seemed normal.
He then laid out in the sun (as it was out) so I was able to do some gardening while keeping one eye on him.
A few times he came to find me and he seemed fine, no shakes and he wasn't clingy - he just wanted to know where his dad was (this is normal for Harvey).
As he seemed to be feeling more like his normal self around 3.30pm-ish I took him out for a walk and he was fine. He found a huge stick from somewhere and was proudly trotting so far off in front with it in his mouth that I had to call him back a few times.
And he was running, before he became ill he always ran everywhere, never walked - always running and today when ever I called him back he ran and for the first time in ages he had a lovely smile (yes he does smile) and he was all playful and mischievous.
He wanted to play "throw and fetch" with this huge great stick and he loves playing "tug of war" which he instigated.
It wasn't all plain sailing, a few times towards the end of the walk he seemed to loose interest really easy and once he trotted right past me with out actually seeing me stood there.
It was when he started doing this we headed off home (we had only probably walked a 1/4 to a 1/3 of a mile) and back home he seemed tired.
As it was his tea time I left it for 20 mins or so for him to clam down and recover from the walk and all the time he was asking for his tea.
I fed him and he woofed it down then he got straight into his bed, curled up and fell asleep.
He has woken up a few times and looked up at me to make sure I am here but apart from that he has more or less been sleeping on and off for the last 3 hours (he is still at it).
He looks very normal and peaceful, no tremors, nothing.
So its been a strange time since last night and I don't really know what to make of it to be honest.
I am taking the time while he is snoozing to write this and research more about these supplements online.
And this is where we are up to really...