Doesn’t Bolt look like our hero?!

Great movie, and Keno’s new nickname.  He’s practicing his superbark.

Many animals exhibit “eye shine” — their eyes reflect light and show a different color.  This is very obvious at night.  Brown eyes usually reflect back gray – green.  Blue eyes look red.

Made an interesting observation the other day.  Keno’s eyes are brown.  His right eye barely reflects any light at all — slight gray, but hard to see anything.  His right eye (which is very cross-eyed) reflects red.

Eye shine is known as tapetum lucidum, which in Latin means “bright tapestry”.  Tapetum lucidum is a layer of tissue that is behind the retina.  It reflects visible light back through the retina and allows animals to see well in the dark.  Humans do not have tapetum lucidum.

What an odd little boy this is.  It’s almost like he isn’t sure how to eat.  However, Keno’s kinda chunky, so he must be doing something right

Since he eats so slowly, I decided to get him some “small bites” kibble (the kibble pellets are tiny).  Keno refused to eat it, the new food just sat in the dish.  So to encourage him, I added some chicken.  He would take the chicken in his mouth and spit it out.  Hmmm.  So I added some steak on top of his kibble.  Wouldn’t touch it!  Refused the whole bowl.  I put a dollop of canned food on top.  No dice.  So I got another bowl, put in the larger kibble that he is already used to, and he ate the whole thing.  Amazing.  I guess he knows what he likes. Oh, and no water in the kibble please; he prefers it dry.

We saw my regular vet yesterday.  The diagnosis is “the keyboard isn’t connected to the computer”.  I agree, great analogy.  She says what Keno really needs is an MRI, but that is not available for dogs in Alaska.
She said it’s possible that Keno had oxygen deprivation at birth, but her gut feeling is that it’s spinal.
She doesn’t like Keno’s hips/back legs at all.  His back legs didn’t flex well.  I walked him around so she could see how his right hind leg swings out clockwise.
There is some risk putting him under anesthesia for his neuter.  But she feels the risk is acceptable.  Keno’s heart and lungs are strong, and he’s young.
Rx: Simplicef for possible upper respiratory, Cosequin for hips. Will xray hips and spine during the neuter surgery, and a dental cleaning.

Keno did some reverse-sneezing when we went outside.

The vet got to see Keno eat some biscuits.  He takes food like he doesn’t know what to do with it, drops food a lot.
Urinalysis and basic bloodwork were all good.  I forgot to ask about allergy testing, but we can take blood for that on surgery day.

Little Keno seems to have difficulty eating, as in, it’s a laborious process for him.  With his dish on the floor, he puts his mouth in, takes some food, some food falls out of his mouth, he moves his head away from bowl, and then chews very slowly.  Then kinda fishes around again for the bowl.

Last night he really just seemed unable to eat, so I gave him a raised feeder, and he kept his mouth in the dish   Still ate slowly, but steadily.  Seemed easier for him.

Trying Cosequin for his back legs.  Gave him Clavamox yesterday morning for the nasal discharge.

Keno has white mucous nasal discharge this morning, quite a bit.  He has a vet appointment for tomorrow. I’ll try getting some Clavamox into him, but he’s not food motivated.

Keno had another “episode” tonight…his eyes had a glazed look, and he couldn’t see me in front of him.  This was around 8pm tonight, about a half hour after dinner.

I’ve observed this once before, at the shelter on Dec 5th.  It was around 2pm and Keno was in his outdoor kennel.

Keno also shakes his head a lot when he’s having an episode.

Today is the first day that he ate his dinner, he refused the first 2 days.  He did nibble a little this morning; also had a petite CET chew this afternoon, which he vomited up a little bit.  He eats very slowly, moves his mouth away from the dish, chews, then puts his mouth back in.

His gait is very odd.  When Keno runs, he moves his back legs in tandem, and kind of hops.  Sometimes he trots, sometimes he paces.  When he is standing, his hind legs slide a lot — like older dogs do when their hips are getting weak.

I got ahold of Keno’s vet records.  He was first brought in in April 2008 at 4 pounds, 6.5 wks old.
The owner thought he had a broken rib.  Keno was picked up by a large dog and bitten.  Had xrays, nothing found, but a painful torso.  Apparently he also had pneumonia which lasted for over a month, and he was taking antibiotics.  The owner said he  “can see”, but bumps into things like table legs.

Several months later, the owner mentioned that they want to rehome Keno “due to his blindness”, because he was being attacked by their other dogs.

Yesterday as soon as we got into the house, Keno started sort-of reverse sneezing and choking.  I didn’t pull him at all with the leash, so it wasn’t from that.  Two episodes; I thought he may be a little carsick.  But first thing this morning in his crate, he did some choking and gagging.  So I wonder if he has environmental allergies (e.g. dust, hair, dander, other animals, etc).

Other:  Keno is a great car rider, although he mostly tends to stand.  Knew which door to use at the vet (one is Enter, the other is Exit).  Does not know how to climb stairs.

(Above, Keno is trying to get Suzie’s attention.  True to form, Suzie is not impressed.)

Keno HATES to be touched or pulled by his collar.  If HE is pulling (on a leash), that is apparently ok.  But if I pull him, even the slightest touch or resistance, he goes wiggy.  He will also struggle to back out of the collar.  I was hoping a harness might suit him.  It did not.  First, it was difficult to put on (and remove) because the neck portion needs to go over his head.  So he turned into a bucking bronco.  Once it was on, he was comfortable.  However, once the leash was attached, it was the same old story.