Our Lurcher - Kenrick

Hi,

Freya and I got our Lurcher, Kenrick from the Dogs Trust in Shoreham in 2002. He really is the most wonderful, loving and affectionate dog. We can not emphasise enough what good pets Lurchers make.

Kenrick has gone through some life changing experiences in the past year, firstly and on the down side, he started having seizures in May 2008. For a while it was manageable as the seizures were few and far between and were one at a time, however over the last couple of months they became more frequent and ended with him having 9 seizures in just 4 days. Freya and I had to make the very difficult decision to medicate Kenrick, we were extremely worried about doing this because of the risks and side effects.

The risks of medication are liver disease, as the tablets are passed through the liver. The chances of liver disease resulting in him taking these tablets are low and Kenrick will need to be monitored via blood tests every 6 months, just to make sure everything is ok.

The side effects really worried us as we genuinely thought we would lose the dog we know and love as the drugs can make the drowsy. It is with great delight that Kenrick seems to have taken to the drugs and all the initial side effects have worn off and he is 100% back to normal.
The first 2 weeks that he was on the drugs were really difficult though as Kenrick had excessive hunger, which made him cry all day long and he pace the house looking in every room for something to eat. Coupled with that the drugs affected his hind legs making them seem particularly weak so he fell over a lot and had to be carried up and down stairs. Thankfully both these side effects passed in a week, but were succeeded by excessive thirst and excessive weeing, this was far more manageable than the previous side effects and have also thankfully passed.

Kenricks other life changing experience is that he now lives with a cat and after the first difficult few months no longer chases it or growls whenever she comes near. It is only a matter of time before the cat starts rubbing herself around his legs!! It really is lovely to see Kenrick getting on with cats, although in a few months we will be moving out of the house where we are living so no more cats for Kenrick after that.

All being well when Freya and I do move into our place it will be straight down to the Dogs Trust to start searching for a playmate!!

We'll keep you posted.

The Paw Prints Dog Walking Team
Freya, Daniel & Kenrick