July 11, 2008: Here are Louie's discharge instructions from Advanced Veterinary Care Center where Louie was examined by Dr. Lesser, a cardiologist.  Louie's weight was 164 pounds.

Instructions

Louie has a history of chronic renal failure, hypertension, hypothyroidism.  Today, he is having an occasional ventricular premature contraction.  We will be starting him on Mexiletine.

Please have Louie rechecked in two weeks with Dr. Lesser.

Medications

1. Mexiletine 200 mg, Give 1 capsule orally every eight hours;
2. Continue on all other previous medications.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call our clinic.

Catherine Kasai, DVM
Internal Medicine

In late November 2000, Louie had his first major health scare.  His condition was similar to what occurred in June 2005.  Louie was taken to the Animal Emergency and Critical Care Service in Langhorne, PA.   Here are his discharge instructions.

Referring Veterinarian Summary

"Louie" was transferred to the emergency service on 11/30/2000 at 7:05 p.m. for overnight observation and treatment.  He stiffened this morning on the owner's bed and urinated (not a seizure per owner).  He had diarrhea the previous evening.  He's been urinating more frequently for the past couple of days.  He was lame on his LF leg for one day, three weeks ago.  There is no toxin exposure; his vaccines are current per owner, and the other dogs are fine.

He was seen by RDVM today and a thorough initial workup was done.  Temperature was 105.1 ºF.  A CBC was sent to the lab, but in house blood smear showed increased neuts.  His chem screen showed increased BR.  His U/A showed 100-500 protein, pH 7.8, SG=1.025; Sed: 4.5; WBCs/HPF and 2+ bacteria/HPF.  A tick serology was sent to the lab.  He was started on IV fluids and Ampicillin.

On PE, T=103.6 ºF, P=120; he's QAR, lethargic and depressed; 1 flea seen; normal stool on rectal exam; non-painful on abdominal, spinal, bone palpation, normal ROM and non-painful joints; lungs clear; good pulse.

A urine sample was obtained via catheterization for culture.  We continued his IV fluis and Ampiciillin.

"Louie's" temperature became normal overnight and remained normal throughout the day.  He ate well twice today, RDVN called for an update and with results for CBC, which showed increased WBCs, and tick serology, which was negative.  We discharged him on the afternoon of December 1, 2000 on Clavamox, pending culture results.

Client Discharge Instructions

12/1/00 - Clavamox, 375 mg, Tablets, 28 tablet(s).

Give 2 pills orally twice daily for three weeks; refill from your vet, pending culture results.

Continue "Louie's" antibiotic as directed.  His next dose is due at 8 p.m.  Pending the urine culture results (which we will fax to your vet in around 5 days), he will need his antibiotics refilled by your vet.  Encourage him to eat and drink.  Monitor his appetite, activity, BMs and urination.

If you have any further problems or questions, please feel free to contact us or your regular veterinarian.

Introduction

Taliesin’s Lír, a six-year old Irish Wolfhound, died at 10:14 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, August 24, 2005.  Lír was born on July 16, 1999 of Ch. Xanux von der Oelmuhle and Ch. Taliesin’s Leas of Eagle.  This document gives information about what happened to Lír in the hope that it can help other Irish Wolfhound owners.

Lír’s General Health

Lír was a healthy dog.  His weight fluctuated between 145 and 155 pounds.  He has a check up twice each year.  His ECG showed no abnormalities.  Lír was somewhat active, in that he enjoyed spending time running in the yard.  He was walked twice a day.  He was very curious about things; he chased and killed any small animals that ventured into the yard.  He was territorial and barked at anyone or anything that came near the house.  He also enjoyed construction work and dug three or four very large holes in the yard.

Lír was neutered in May of 2003.  He developed an infection which required an overnight stay in an animal hospital.  This infection was the only major health problem that Lír had.  The other dogs developed ear infections; that problem never happened to Lír.

The Recent Health Issue

On Tuesday, August 23, Lír woke me up at about 5:30 a.m. as he normally does.  He drank a little bit of water and went outside for a few minutes.  He came back in and went to sleep in the kitchen.  At 8:30 a.m., Lír and Louie were taken for their morning walk.  The walk lasted about twenty minutes.  Lír managed to eat to acorns on the way home.  When he got home, he bounded across the front yard and jumped up on the fence to bark at someone across the street: all normal behavior for Lír.

At about 11:20 a.m., Lír started to retch or dry heave.  After four or five attempts he threw up.  The effluent was a custard yellow color; it was somewhat sticky.  He also threw up some acorns.  Lír then went to sniff what he did just did; he lay down as the mess was cleaned up and the carpet shampooed.

Both dogs were fed around 12:45 p.m.  Lír and Louie were separated at feeding time as usual.  Lír didn’t eat anything.  This behavior is normal for Lír.  Lír normally waits for Louie to finish before he himself starts to eat.  He then spends time staring and growling at Louie.  At about 1:10 p.m. Lír hadn’t eaten anything.  I offered him some pieces of Canidae in my hand: he didn’t want them.  I released Louie, and put Lír’s bowl on the kitchen counter, so that he could eat later.

At about 1:20 p.m., I noticed that Lír was standing with his head hung low; he was breathing deeply.  I went over and scratched his chest.  I walked away and he followed me: he just stood there.  That behavior is not typical.  Lír almost always nuzzles up to me.  I walked away from him a few times and stopped.  Each time he followed and stood beside me, his head held low while he was panting deeply.  His nose was warm—it was cold on Monday—his heart was racing.  I compared his heart beat to that of Louie’s a few times.

I took him outside.  He went to the bathroom.  I noticed that he was breathing from his abdomen.  I put him the van and took him to the pet hospital about five miles away.  Lír was admitted at about 1:55 p.m.
Lír’s temperature was 104.4 °F; his heart was beating at over 200.  The vet reported an irregular rhythm but did not find a murmur.  His X-Ray showed what appeared to be an enlarged heart and DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) was suspected.  Lír was severely dehydrated; he had very low blood sugar but a high red blood cell count.  The focus at this point was on getting fluids into Lír and medication for his heart condition.  They also put him on an antibiotic.

He didn’t handle fluids well and they couldn’t keep his heart medication down.  He vomited overnight.  Lír urinated a lot overnight.  His temperate dropped to 103.0 °F.  The team at TLC Pet Hospital suggested that he be transferred to a facility that specializes in heart conditions, so I decided to move him from TLC to Advanced Veterinary Specialists in Lawndale, CA.

When I arrived at the hospital, Lír was delight to see me.  He was walking about, his tail wagging.  He was weak, but for all intents and purposes, he showed no signs of having any problems.  He got into the van, cautiously, and we left for Advanced Veterinary Specialists.  Lír was up and about during the journey.  He was panting somewhat heavily.  He was his usual inquisitive self, staring out the window.  He was admitted to Advanced Veterinary Specialists at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 24.

I got a report from the hospital later that afternoon.  They did an ultrasound to look for a mass in the stomach—they did not find one.  However, the stomach wall was thickened and irregular.  They took a sample—an aspirate—which they checked for cancer.  They suspected inflammatory bowel disease, severe gastroenteritis, or cancer.  I could also be cancer of the pancreas.  They did not believe that the stomach condition was tied into the hear problem; if anything, two things had gone wrong.  They rechecked the heart X-Rays and concluded that it was difficult to say if Lír had DCM.  His lungs were clear.  The vet mentioned the term ‘loan atrial fibrillation.’

Lír's Last Few Hours

At 4:43 p.m., the admitting veterinarian called and told me that Lír was showing some clinical signs of sepsis.  He was put on two more antibiotics to try and clear this up.

I called the hospital back at about 7:30 p.m.  The veterinarian now in charge of Lír confirmed that he had sepsis and that he is probably “one of the most critical patients right now.”  I left for the hospital immediately.  Lír’s conditioned had worsened; he had weakened.  He lay panting and wasn’t very interactive.  He raised his head up a few times.  His fur came off when he was scratched.  I left Lír just after 9 p.m.  At 10:14 p.m., the hospital called and reported that Lír had passed away.  I drove back to say good-bye.

Since that time, the hospital has reported that the test for cancer came back as negative.  His urine was clean.  The aspirate from the stomach showed a lot of bacteria.  Lír didn’t show any clinical signs of sepsis when he was admitted at 2 p.m.; early that morning, at TLC, both sepsis and neoplasia were ruled out was the route cause of his hypoglycemia.  Whatever happened, happened really quickly.  It’s not clear what happened to Lír—that is, what triggered the sepsis.  Whatever it was, it got him very quickly.  Within thirty-six hours, Lír went from apparent good health into death.  In hindsight, the only hint that there was some kind of problem was that Lír retched—it sounded more like a cough—three of four times from Friday, August 19th to Monday, August 22nd.  It didn’t sound alarming to me.  It’s the sound he made when he throws up grass.  Whatever it was, it happened very quickly.  I was sorry I wasn’t there for Lír when he died; he was always there for me when he lived.

Lír lived for exactly six years, one month, one week and one day.  He has left a huge void and will be deeply missed.

Louie's brother Merlin won Best of Breed at The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  "Westminster" is viewed by many as the premier dog show in the United States, making, in the eyes of some, Merlin the best Wolfhound in the country.  Granted, it's only one judge's opinion--and we all know that each owner is the best judge of his or her own dog--but it's an honor nonetheless.

Here's the information on Merlin or Ch Taliesin's Llenlleawg ("Merlin"). 

Breed: Irish Wolfhound
Sex: Dog
AKC: HM 90294903
Date of Birth: May 27, 2000
Breeder: David & Donna Smith & S E Ewing III
Sire: Ch Donna's Dream von der Oelmuhle ("Dreamer")
Dam: Ch Taliesin's Lasair Of Eagle ("Laser")
Owner: Karen F Malone & Donna R Smith

To watch the video of Merlin's victory, click here!

November 19, 1999:  It has happened.  The little one arrived this evening.  He's an Irish Wolfhound puppy, about eighteen weeks old, and already weighs over sixty pounds.  His name is Lír, pronounced leer.

His personality is very different from Irish Wolfhounds I knew growing up.  He's outgoing and territorial.  He rushed out to the yard with his mother, then promptly surveyed the perimeter, looking and barking at the neighbors.  As with any puppy, he is inquisitive and seems to want to taste everything.

He's not a big eater either, at least not yet.  I am sure that will change!

He objected loudly the first time he was put on a leash and fought fiercely to be released; it didn't happened.  He eventually succumbed.  He doesn't like stairs--at least, he really doesn't like going down stairs, but charges up to the second floor, turns around, then doesn't know what to do to get down.  He was carried the first few times, then forced to learn to negotiate the staircase.  He was house-trained in a day.  He had one accident in the old apartment--for which he was scolded gently.  Now, he runs to the door when he needs to take care of business.

He's a handful, but he's great fun!

Note: Lír's first accident was also his last.  He never had an accident in the house again.  Lír passed away on August 24, 2005 of sepsis.  He was six years, one month, one week and a day old when he died.