Max catches a fish...

Max looking for stuff floating in the creek

I think we've finally found the right dose of anti-seizure medication! While I'd prefer Max not to be on any at all, I think this works for him. He's now taking 125mg of keppra 2x a day.  He seems to be more himself, sharper, curious, and active.

This morning he got fed up with Rex pushing his way in for attention and decided to let him know about it!  That's the old Max we know! And boy was Rex not expecting it!I was petting Max and Rex shoved his way in between me and Max and Max lunged at him and growled to let him know that wasn't acceptable!  Go Max!

Max examining oysters from the "Save the Bay" project

Video of Max & the oysters

 Video of Max catching Fish... and eating it

Later this morning I took #2 and Max out for a walk in the woods and down to the water. We met a little guy named Tyson who had just been adopted last week and was having a great time with his new people! he's a 10 yr old Tibetan Spaniel, and has wonderful new owners!  So happy to hear someone adopted a senior dog from a shelter! He was going with his new people down to the dock to go fishing!  That was where we were headed!  Max loves to go down to the dock and watch things float by in the water and hasn't been down there in a few months.

Max & #2 heading back from the Creek

 I didn't know how he was going to respond, but he enjoyed hanging out with Tyson and when we got down to the dock he walked the edge looking for floating things.. there wasn't much in there though, so he watched Tyson's dad fish, and then a man came down with a big cooler. He's a teacher and had a school project going under the dock as well as inYorktown where they were helping to replenish the oyster population in the York River and the Chesapeake Bay.  Max turned right back into his normal curious self as soon as he pulled the first basket of oysters up!  There were little shrimp flopping around, a few crabs and some little bait fish.. and some good smells!    Max was very intent on catching these fish! He tried to step on one, then caught it in his mouth, we had to remove it.. and then caught another and ate it!

Max enjoying his walk in the woods

2 Back seat drivers

I think that's the first thing he's ever killed in his whole life..  but down it went after a big crunch..   Hopefully he doesn't catch anything from it.. nasty.. but he seemed to have a really good time!









After our visit at the dock and the creek and adventures catching fish, crab and shrimp (and leaves, and mud) , we headed back up into the woods and went for a little hike!  Max seemed to really enjoy this as well but I could tell he started to get a little tired after a while so we headed back to the car..  he kept up a good pace though and was alert, watching leaves fall from the sky and running over to see what fell. He also chased a frog/toad through the leaves!





When Max & #2 got up to the field house they both remembered that the guys who worked there toss bread out in the mornings for the birds and deer and they went over to look for some.. a little late though! It was all gone!


It always seems like someone is looking over my shoulder!

Max heading back to the car.. but side tracked by a John Deere mobile..   (notice - he's walking in a relatively straight line and should now pass a sobriety test if pulled over while he's driving!)

Medication update

Just got a call from the neurologist's office and we're changing Max's dose of Keppra from 500mg 3x day down to 125mg 2x/day and seeing how that works...

Max's Neuro Check up and anti-Seizure meds

Last week Max went in for his neurology check up, the first since his Cyber Knife.  He's been doing well.  We talked about how his hearing seemed to disappear when we lowered his prednisone dose to 10mg every other day so we decided to keep him on 10mg every day for now.  We're also working on weaning him over to the natural hydrocortisone. We did another full week of 10mg of prednisone every day, then the following week 10mg or prednisone every other day and on the other days we did 20-30 mg of natural hydrocortisone (soy-based and less effects on the liver/kidneys).  Now we're up to 10mg of prednisone and 2 days of natural hydrocortisone, then 1 day of prednisone and 2 days of natural hydrocortisone.  I'm happy to say Max's hearing and vision are great and I don't see any issues this time!

Dr. Young checked Max's eye as well and said it looked like it was healing well.  He could see through the cloudy scar tissue in his eye. He's doing well with his eye drops and anti-biotic ointment. He goes back to the eye doctor for a re-check next week,

The other issue we talked about were Max's anti-seizure medications.  All of the neurologists who have taken care of Max have suggested he be on anti-seizure medication .. just in case.  Dr. Joseph said he has seen dogs who have never had seizures have really bad ones that seem to come out of nowhere, and it's better to be on a preventative.  My one concern is, Max is not doing very well with these anti-seizure meds. He's not himself, and they make him very drunk.  He was first prescribed zonisamide. Max weighs 48 lbs. He was prescribed 200mg 2x/day.  He was pretty much a mess on this. It does take a while for them to build up a tolerance to the medication, much like you build up a tolerance to drinking or any other drug. Max had a really rough time and didn't seem to be building up any tolerance.  He lost his appetite all together, would vomit and had really bad diarrhea, and was extremely wobbly, anxious and walked around like a drunk guy.  I seemed to be able to get him to be ok on 100mg 1 time a day - given at night.  Dr. Young wanted to try at least 100mg 2x/day, but it's hard for Max to function during the day and we felt like his quality of life just wasn't there. The hard part is- you want them to have a good quality of life.. We went through this to save him, not to have him live the rest of his life in a fog.  Max is the Alex P. Keaton of Dogs!  He's always had serious OCD... He likes everything in it's particular spot, can't stand it when a dog can't walk in a straight line and needs to go run over and smell something..

Dr. Young suggested switching Max over to Keppra. He was prescribed 500mg 3x day.  The problem with this dose was that we gave Max his dose at 6pm and he did not wake up until 3AM the next day. Not even for dinner, or breakfast or to go out!  I couldn't even get his 2nd and 3rd doses in.  The next day I tried 250mg at night and he went out again and woke up to eat breakfast and then went back to sleep and around 1pm got up - very groggy, went potty, ate something, took a short walk, then another 250mg and he was out again until the next morning..   At this time, I'm hoping that he builds up some sort of tolerance to Keppra.   The positives of the Keppra are that he is not nauseous, his poops are solid, he doesn't seem very agitated, especially if I can get him out for a good walk in the afternoon.  He will sleep through the night.

I don't like to be woken up by drunk dogs in the middle of the night!!!

We had one little instance last night though, he didn't get his walk and was getting his exercise by walking all around the house (which he's always done if he doesn't get to go for a walk - think of a dog who needs to go to the gym religiously every day.. that's always been Max - so this isn't too abnormal for him) Anyway - at midnight he was doing his laps, and was drunk from his medication and I suppose stumbled over the dog bed where our rottie mix was sleeping, and she's apparently had it with Drunk Max. She jumped up out of bed with her horrible growley voice and decided Max needed his nose pierced.. you know.. just in case he decided he needed to get a nose ring with all the drugs he's been taking.. then she figured she should also pierce his tongue while she was at it... just in case Max REALLY wanted to be a rebel.. (Again - this is the equivalent to Alex P. Keaton getting a tongue and nose ring..... Sober Max has severe OCD... Drunk Max.. not so much.)

So Ms. Buttercup spent the rest of the night locked in Tom's office. She has yet to apologize to Max.  Max seems to be fine today.  Normally Buttercup is a lovely girl... like the rest of us though, she doesn't like to be stepped on or have someone fall on her in the middle of the night while she's sleeping, regardless of whether they can see or hear and especially not if they are drunk!

The Resourcefulness of Max The Dog

My little friend Max has been on a mission this morning to steal the cat's food! Poor Tulsa the cat has kidney disease and seems to prefer to eat in bed. Well this morning Max decided that was a great idea and wanted to take part in Tulsa's breakfast! After repeatedly being told to stop trying to jump on the bed, he then decided to pull the blanket off the bed.. along with the cat food.. !

Max trying to get a good hold on the blanket to pull it off the bed

Got it! and this is how I woke up this morning!

Trying another way to get to the cat food

Still trying.. maybe he can PULL the blanket off the bed!

Working it!

Cat food in sight!

Whoops where did he go!

He's back!

And another attempt at pulling the blanket with his paws

And he's gone again - kind of like whack a mole (but I would never whack max)

And there he is again.. at least his ears!

Up again!

Whoops - slipped footing!

Poor Tulsa is irritated that max is trying to steal his food.

"Really... can you please stop him?"

My goodness! Dog on a mission!

Some confusion as the bed is being attacked by Max

"I'm going to get your breakfast!"

"I'm just going to grab this blanket you are on and pull!!! Hold on tight!"

"That bowel is getting closer!"

"HA!  I think I have it!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Get In My Belly!"

"Pardon me, but do you happen to have any Grey Poupon?  ... and a Fork?"

11-5-11 - Max's Day in Colonial Williamsburg

Today Max went for an outting in Colonial Williamsburg. He did pretty well but I think he was tired. He did take his anti-seizure medication today and prednisone which usually makes him sleepy. He's had a hard time hearing today - he can hear really loud noises and other dogs barking (except little doxies who are telling him what to do apparently), and I'm not sure how his sight was. The wind outside may have been drying up his right eye and it could have been hard to see but his nose sure was working!  There are a lot of good smells in Colonial Williamsburg! Max even tried to crash a wedding but was told if he didn't have an invitation he wasn't allowed in. We didn't see any sheep on this visit, just the horses which he normally will chase down, but today he just walked right up to them, wagged his tail and then turned and walked away. Definitely not himself entirely yet... which reminds me we have a ways to go.. or he has a new found appreciation for his friends the horses..

Max outside of the Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg

Max and Buster walking along in Colonial Williamsburg

Max trying to crash a wedding at Bruton Parish.. he was denied.

Max and Buster Running around the corner at Bruton Parish to see if they can sneak in through the grave yard..

Max on Governor's Green in Colonial Williamsburg (Governor's Palace at the end of the green)

Max off leash on the Governor's Green in Colonial Williamsburg

Max & the Horses. A few months ago he'd try and ride a horse.. today he just wagged his tail as he went over and then turned around.

Max in the Colonial Gardens

Max wishing Buster would pick up the pace and stop sniffing EVERYTHING

Max waiting for Buster AGAIN..

This AM found Max on top of my bed, and then the counter helping himself to some cat food... I managed to catch the tail end of the mayhem at hour house when the garbage trucks come.. He's right there with the rest of the pack barking at them!

Chinese Herbs, Alternatives & Diet

Max at Vet getting acupuncture 10-13-11

I didn't get into much detail earlier on about the chinese herbs that Max has been on and is continuing to be on, but for those interested in alternatives, including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, etc. I thought I'd include a little more detail for you.

After Max was first diagnosed, we went to our holistic vets (Veterinary Holistic Care in Bethesda MD where we see Dr. Kitty Raichura, and Dr. Tracy Lord, who practices in Richmond and Williamsburg VA. ) Here's what we did (It's important to note that I didn't give him all of this stuff every day - only when I felt like he needed it. He did get items 2-7 daily)

1. Weekly Acupuncture to help strengthen his energy and immune system 
2. MilkThistle 2-3 capules daily to help support his liver and kidneys while on Prednisone
3. Astragalus (we used both capsules and Chinese Flower brand formula depending on what he'd eat) to help strengthen his immune system
4. Stasis of the Mansion of the Mind (Chinese Herb prescribed to help move energy / chi  in his mind and help clear any dieing tumor cells
5. Wei Chi Booster - to help increase his energy
6. CAS suppliements for Dogs - to help boost his immune system
7. Tumeric sprinkled on his food to help his immune system and reduce swelling (Tumeric is a natural killer (NK) agent)
8. IP6
9. Poly MVA
10. Homeopathic mixture that was custom made for him by Dr. Lord to help with his specific symptoms

 I stopped everything except for the Milk Thistle and Astragalus when he went in to the hospital.  We started him back up on Stasis of the Mansion of the Mind and Wei Chi Booster 2 weeks after his last CK therapy.

We also started to use a Natural Hydrocortisone pill that we weaned him on to to replace the prednisone he was on.  The Natural Hydrocortisone is soy-based and I do not feel it is nearly as strong as the prednisone. For every 10mg of prednisone he was on, he took 20mg of the natural hydrocortisone.  Sometimes I felt like he needed more.  We did get him down to 5mg of prednosone every 4 days and 20mg of natural hydrocortisone ever other day before he went down hill after chasing that squirrel. I've heard different doctors thinking different things about it so if this is something you are considering weigh all the options and facts with your vet. The positive is that the soy-based natural hydrocortisone won't mess with liver and kidney functions as much as the prednisone does, in my opinion through, and I have no medical background, I think the prednisone is more effective, but that doesn't mean you can't use them together or that the natural hydrocortisone may not work better for another patient who isn't as advanced as Max was.  I think it's very important to remember that every patient is unique and I am just letting you know what we did and what worked for us as well as what options you may have and may want to discuss with your vet.

We have had a lot of success treating our pets with homeopathic methods, Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture and alternative therapies including ozone therapy for other kinds of cancers.

Max has been on an anti-cancer diet most of his life which is probably why he doesn't have any sign of cancer anywhere in his body. Meningiomas are benign masses.

His typical meals include:

1. Grilled Chicken usually - sometimes steak (1x every other week)
2. Fresh Veggies or a 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen Brand Freeze Dried Veggies (Preference)
3. Scoop of organic canned pumpkin

He has been completely grain free since he came to live with us when he was 11.

He loves to eat frozen broccoli as treats, or cantaloupe, blueberries, apples, carrots, cucumbers, or other veggies. The dogs also get frozen raw bones with the marrow inside. I usually keep them frozen because they last longer, are less messy, and keep them cool in the summer. I'll also refill the raw bones with organic salt free, sugar free peanut butter and freeze them too.  The dogs also love roasted turkey, and salmon which they occassionally get.  We have very rarely ever bought and fed our dogs commercial dog food and when we have it's been either The Honest Kitchen or B.G. (Before Grain) products.

The Wild man is back!

So... after a few days of Max sleeping 22 out of 24 hours and not being interesting in food, I decided to see what would happen if I completely took him off of his anti-seizure medication for 24 hours.  Possibly not the wisest idea in the world, but Max never had a seizure prior to cyberknife, and only had one seizure since that was just over 1 minute.

The results of my experiment were that Max ate a salad, lettuce and all! a bag of frozen broccoli (one of his favorite things), 1/2 of a roaster that he split with the cat, 1/2 of a chicken breast, some more curried chicken, he took a long walk outside around the house and then up and down the driveway, he started to follow spoken commands again (like go potty), and both eyes started to blink at the same time (prior it had been looking like he was just alternating eyes and winking at you!). He also decided it was a good idea to go into cahoots with the beagle and try and steal the cat's chicken by flipping him off his bed, then he tried to get into the cat's bed and steal more chicken.. and got himself swatted, but still he remained undeterred...   The old Max is back!

Then I thought it might be a good idea to put him back on his anti-seizure meds and he's not very happy with me at the moment. I wonder if there's something that he can take where he can be more himself.  It may be better that he's not pushing the limits at the moment, but I can assure you, when not on anti-seizure meds.. he is 100% the old Max. 3 weeks ago he couldn't even hold his head up.. now he's getting into trouble!

He's down from 40mg of prednisone to 10mg too! I know we still have a long road ahead of us, and he's doing amazingly well!

10-4-11 Cognitive Skills..

This is a 2 part video.. sorry - Max had to go potty in the middle and he's still a little unstable so I don't let him go down stairs without adult supervision... had to turn the camera off - plus he already dove down a full flight of stairs running outside to chase a deer with his sister, Buttercup.. don't need any more trauma to the head.. you know?!

10-1-11 - Our 8.5 hour trip back home after a week of Cyber Knife Therapy

Max at a rest stop using the facilities... On the way home, we stopped at the Walt Witman Rest stop in NJ and there were a number of dogs there - it was kind of like the NJ Turnpike dog park for a while! As dog park people start doing.. we talk and a woman asked me why Max was a little wobbly and I explained he had just had Cyber Knife and she got all excited, her neighbor's dog had undergone CK therapy in Yonkers over a year ago and was doing fantastic! That was really good to hear! And of all places.. The Walt Witman NJ Turnpike Dog park!