Thanks for all your messages and advice. I'm not sure if it the drugs but she seems to have lost her sense of danger. She jumped off the back off the sofa when my mum came in and then tried to lick the very hot oven!! She's not listening to commands either. I really hope we won't need to go through training again
Poor girl and poor you. Such a worry - but several positive threads from forum members. Fingers crossed for Lola.
Don't be so daft,I'm sorry we are hearing from you when you've had such a fright.You poor things,you must have been terrified.Your vet sounds wonderful so I'd be very very confidant that you can get Lola stable.The other posts are so reassuring, What a run you've had,that's your lot now,good times ahead and let us all know how she,and you are doing. Best Wishes Angela x
I've been wanting to come onto this forum for several days now to start a thread with the title "Epilepsy" (but haven't had time due to a work deadline). I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw one had just been started! I am so sorry to hear of Lola's fit. What a scare for you. When Snowie had his first fit, my husband also thought he was choking and tried to do something like a Heimlich Manoeuvre. Snowie's pattern is also to vomit before a fit, which gives us notice that we must leap out of bed and make sure he can't hurt himself when he falls over. Yes, leap out of bed, because he always fits in the early hours. His trigger it seems is a drop in blood sugar, but we are not sure of that. So we now give him a treat at around 9.30/10pm and also a treat at lunch time. The treat is usually a few raw duck hearts or some other meaty food (he is on raw food). It is very interesting learning about other dogs and their fits and hearing how different each is, that each dog is so unique. Snowie's fits are grand mal meaning he appears to lose consciousness of his surroundings, but they have never lasted more than 2 minutes (even though it feels like forever). And he always comes out of them immediately he stops fitting, and then he takes about an hour to come back to his normal self. Although after his last fit I was sure he was brain damaged because, like Lola, he appeared to have forgotten all his training. For example, he knows that if I peel a carrot for him and say "Go to your bed", he immediately races there waiting for his carrot. After his last fit he was so agitated/over excited that I needed him to calm down and thought chewing on a carrot might help. But he had no idea what "Go to your bed" meant. He sat. He lay down. He stood up. Tried different positions hoping he'd get the carrot. My heart sank and I told him he was stupid (my way of dealing with how upset I was). My husband, thankfully, reminded me that he'd just had a fit and he was not himself, and not to talk to Snowie like that! (I was not myself either!) Regarding the Lola's scooting, my vet mentioned that dogs can become very fearful when they are about to fit and that their anal glands might fill up from anxiety. One of the things we watch for is if Snowie is licking his anal glands. Then we suspect that a fit might be brewing. I wonder if that is what was happening to Lola? And please be sceptical and critical of anything I say about wondering if that it is what was happening to Lola because each dog is unique and it best for you and your vet to come to your own conclusions -- hence the danger of the Internet and imagining that what happened to one dog is what is happening with your dog! Having said that, and having read that others say to steer clear of the Internet, I differ on that. I found that by reading as much as I could, I was better armed with knowledge so that I could better discuss the situation with my vet. I do believe I am my dog's advocate and I must make sure that the vet is making the best decision, and even a vet is a human being and can make mistakes or is not up to date on the latest research. For example, at my regular vet's practice (we are using a specialist vet to treat Snowie's seizures), one of the vets said it was absolutely fine to use Allergex (antihistamine) to treat Snowie's itchiness. Gave him two tablets and he had a seizure the next morning. The specialist vet said that they can trigger seizures, not to give them to him... One of the things that I find so difficult -- and why I was so keen on this thread where people with epileptic dogs can share their experiences -- is finding out "what is normal". Haha! I know. I've just said before each dog is unique. But, for example, Snowie was put onto medication after he had a fit on the Saturday morning and another on the Sunday morning. Before that he had had six fits over a 1.5-year-period, but the vet didn't see the need to medicate (always the trade off of medicating vs side effects of medication). And yet, 5 weeks later, on medication, and Snowie had another fit -- granted it was the least severe of all fits and he came back to normal very quickly. The vet was not worried, said this was good result, she was looking for a 50% reduction in fits, and he had gone 5 weeks without a fit after two in two days, and this was not as severe. I want to know if others have had this experience with their epileptic dogs? I was hoping that medicating him meant NO more fits! The worst part for me is the anticipation of another fit, the anxiety it fills me with, especially at night, I stay awake if Snowie wakes up and starts licking or wants to go outside, then I'm terrified he will have another fit. Sorry I am rambling on your post. I do hope Lola remains fit-free now that she has been treated. Did your vet mention why she might've had a fit now? Did he/she suspect poisoning? Was she tested for worms? When Snowie had his first fit he actually had an infestation of tapeworm, which we'd not noticed because we never knew then what tapeworm even looked like (those little grains on his anus). I often wonder if the tapeworm caused the seizures, but of course I will never know that. Now we just need to deal with the fact that he does get seizures and take care not to trigger them. (We also now deworm him every three months because he eats raw food.) I look forward to reading about your progress with Lola. Best of luck and I am thinking of you both.
