Golden Retriever / Mixed (medium coat) : : Male : : Young
Learn more about the Golden Retriever.
22-067 Raggy was a 4-year-old neutered male Golden who was experiencing frequent seizures that his owner could not afford to treat. The seizures were consequent with the onset of valley fever. He needed our standard vet workup with vaccines and a heartworm test. He was initially placed with a family, but when he had a seizure (actually several) in their presence, they decided that they could not keep him. He had a full neurological exam with an MRI – it revealed six lesions in his brain and a lot of inflammation. Regardless of the cause (valley fever is a prime culprit or the seizures may be a result of idiopathic epilepsy), regulating the seizures is a challenge, and often numerous meds are tried in different dosages before a combo is found to be effective. Raggy was started on prednisone, keppra, voriconazole, and denamarin; over the last several months other meds such as zonisamide and chlorazepate have been added and the prednisone dropped. He may never be seizure-free, and he will probably be taking meds for valley fever the rest of his life, but at least now the seizures are much less frequent. When he did not work out with the first family, a couple of our foster parents took him to foster, as they have another seizure dog so know how to handle one and are not freaked out by a seizure. Since the dog will be on multiple meds for what may be a long time and since the fosters were already footing the bill for meds for Bowie, we offered them a Gentle Paws Hospice Adoption . They renamed him Reggie and will pay for meds as they are financially able; AGR will cover the cost of retests and medication adjustments. Reggie is a terrific ambassadog! He has such a wonderful personality and gets along with anyone and any other dog, so Connie has taken him with her numerous times when she has done a home evaluation of a family that has a dog. Recently the adopter sent this message: We didn't really plan to adopt this wonderful dog, since seizure dogs can get to be very expensive due to on-going diagnostics and frequent emergency visits when cluster events occur. But Reggie immediately fit into the pack, and we fell in love with his sweet personality right off the bat. He is the first dog whose name we changed – we couldn't stand the idea of calling him Raggy . I call him the Tick-Tock dog; he resembles that old kit-cat wall clock where the eyes moved sideways as the tail moved back and forth. His tail never stops moving! He is the happiest and most good-natured dog I have ever seen. Reggie loves to go on home visits with me, where I can rely on him to win over all of the family members. If a dog is obnoxious, he will just ignore it and just concentrate on the people. Welcome to the pack, Reggie ! More about Raggy/ReggieGood with Dogs, Good with Cats, Good with Kids, Good with Adults, Somewhat vocal, Does Good in the Car, Requires a yard, Leashtrained, Plays fetch, Likes to play with toys, Likes to swim, Likes to be in your lap, Needs special care, Obedient, Affectionate Other Pictures of Raggy/Reggie (click to see larger version):
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