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captainsblogI did a will yesterday for a friend of some friends (including a couple I know from here). There were some last minute changes and my assistant was a little backed up, so B. and I just talked while we waited. Since there was an SPCA bequest in her will, I knew we had something in common, so we told tales of our menageries. She'd adopted a small dog who sounded like it had some prior-owner issues not far off from our older dog, Tasha. So I told B. of how she'd come to us from a local pound, after probably suffering neglect or worse at her original owner's hands before she escaped as a stray. Of how she wouldn't sit next to us on a sofa for close to a year after we got her. How Tasha had longtime issues with company, especially men, especially men with deep voices who probably evoke the Special Hell Guy who raised her (issues which are finally fading, probably because her hearing is also fading).
We finished our paperwork, I finished my day, feeding Tasha and the rest of the moochers and takers around here, made a quick dinner for us, headed to bed after a fairly long day....
and was awakened, close to 1:30 in the morning, by my first lifetime experience with canine epilepsy.
Tasha was writhing all around the floor near this desk, her breathing out of control, her mouth foaming. Other things needed to be cleaned up (and, quickly and effectively, were). In almost 12 years with us in this house, she'd never presented anything even close to this, and neither did any of the others. I threw some clothes on, in case the Emergency Vet was in our future; gently pulled her back from the leg of the desk which she was close to concussing on; then held her tight until it seemed to be passing.
Then I started to read.
After a seizure dogs behave in different ways. Some dogs just get up and carry on with what they were doing, while others appear dazed and confused for up to 24 hours afterwards. However most often dogs will show disorientation for only 10-15 minutes before returning to their old self. Dogs often have a set pattern of behaviour that they follow after every seizure - for example going for a drink of water or asking to go outside to the toilet. If your dog has had more than one seizure you may well start to notice a pattern of behaviour, which is typically repeated in any subsequent seizures.
Tasha fell into that "most often" pattern pretty quickly. She wandered for maybe 10 minutes, circling the hall, kitchen and back into this office, not seeming to want to drink water or go out. In time, though, she did find the water bowl a little interesting, and while I read (and listened to a Dexter podcast, of all things), she eventually settled down at my feet. By feeding time, she was fine. The only odd leftover is that I have yet to hear her bark today- maybe because we're paying such close attention to her, she hasn't had to bark at anything.
Eleanor's biggest fear is that it's related to the tumor she's been carrying on her butt for at least the past 18 months. It's not benign, but neither does it typically travel into the body, tending to get bigger and more uncomfortable on the outside (and, so far, we haven't seen any sign that it gives her discomfort). I'm not going to race to the vet until there's either a worse incident or a pattern is established, but whenever we do go, I'm sure there's going to be a CBC on her menu, and I don't mean the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Thanks to several of you who have had experience with this, some of whom have assured me that it's far worse for the viewer than it is for the patient. It normally isn't life-threatening and doesn't require medication. But if it's symptomatic of metastasis or some other bad thing, we will be facing end-of-life choices again, and after three rounds of them, I assure you, they'll be even more painful than watching the seizure itself.
We finished our paperwork, I finished my day, feeding Tasha and the rest of the moochers and takers around here, made a quick dinner for us, headed to bed after a fairly long day....
and was awakened, close to 1:30 in the morning, by my first lifetime experience with canine epilepsy.
Tasha was writhing all around the floor near this desk, her breathing out of control, her mouth foaming. Other things needed to be cleaned up (and, quickly and effectively, were). In almost 12 years with us in this house, she'd never presented anything even close to this, and neither did any of the others. I threw some clothes on, in case the Emergency Vet was in our future; gently pulled her back from the leg of the desk which she was close to concussing on; then held her tight until it seemed to be passing.
Then I started to read.
After a seizure dogs behave in different ways. Some dogs just get up and carry on with what they were doing, while others appear dazed and confused for up to 24 hours afterwards. However most often dogs will show disorientation for only 10-15 minutes before returning to their old self. Dogs often have a set pattern of behaviour that they follow after every seizure - for example going for a drink of water or asking to go outside to the toilet. If your dog has had more than one seizure you may well start to notice a pattern of behaviour, which is typically repeated in any subsequent seizures.
Tasha fell into that "most often" pattern pretty quickly. She wandered for maybe 10 minutes, circling the hall, kitchen and back into this office, not seeming to want to drink water or go out. In time, though, she did find the water bowl a little interesting, and while I read (and listened to a Dexter podcast, of all things), she eventually settled down at my feet. By feeding time, she was fine. The only odd leftover is that I have yet to hear her bark today- maybe because we're paying such close attention to her, she hasn't had to bark at anything.
Eleanor's biggest fear is that it's related to the tumor she's been carrying on her butt for at least the past 18 months. It's not benign, but neither does it typically travel into the body, tending to get bigger and more uncomfortable on the outside (and, so far, we haven't seen any sign that it gives her discomfort). I'm not going to race to the vet until there's either a worse incident or a pattern is established, but whenever we do go, I'm sure there's going to be a CBC on her menu, and I don't mean the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Thanks to several of you who have had experience with this, some of whom have assured me that it's far worse for the viewer than it is for the patient. It normally isn't life-threatening and doesn't require medication. But if it's symptomatic of metastasis or some other bad thing, we will be facing end-of-life choices again, and after three rounds of them, I assure you, they'll be even more painful than watching the seizure itself.
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Date: 2012-10-25 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-10-26 01:43 am (UTC)*hugs*