One Week Update

Jedi has made it through a full week without a seizure! He is responding well to the phenobarbital. The chiropractor was here on Saturday and remarked that Jedi didn't look or act like a dog on pheno, which was very encouraging. I was warned to be prepared for a change, though, and we definitely have experienced some side effects.

Monday was Jedi's hardest day, where I noticed some ataxia and general lack of coordination. He also had one episode where he'd been in a very deep sleep on the couch, and when he woke up it seemed like his hind legs were stuck in a constricted position. When he was able to get himself up and off the couch it didn't seem like his back legs were working very well and he was very unstable, but he did walk out of it.

Every day since then has been an improvement. I have been making a point to do a bit of agility with him daily, first at low heights and then short sessions at 22", to keep his mind and body active. He also still has free reign on our walks, where he continues to run around like a loon. Yesterday we tried (6) weaves and the a-frame for the first time. It seemed like he had to think very, very hard to do the weaves and they weren't the most coordinated, but he was able to do them. His a-frame was an awkward combination of his running performance and his old stopped behavior, but he was doing it safely. With this in mind, I decided to let him play when we went to a friend's house this afternoon to play on a USDAA@home Combined Relay course.

Everything went great! I'm seeing improvements every day, as his weaves had shown vast improvement already. It was helpful that we were running with a 16" dog, so any shared jumps were set to the lower height, but Jedi managed the 22" jumps as well. He even had a fairly decent a-frame! More than anything, though, he was just so happy to play.

As a general update, here's our current med routine: Before we start our morning walk I give Jedi a dose of CBD oil and a spoonful of honey. Breakfast follows our walk, usually around 8:00 a.m. Jedi's first dose of phenobarbital is given at 9:00 a.m. Mid-afternoon, especially if we've worked, I give him another spoonful of honey. I usually give him his second dose of CBD before dinner, which is between 5:00 and 6:00. I give his second dose of pheno at 9:00 p.m. in canned food. Everyone gets a treat before bedtime.