Need some Pixie Dust for puppy

[DisneyDudet]

My best friend went to Boston with her mother this weekend. Two of their dogs stayed her dad's house and the other, my friend's actual dog, stayed with me at my house.

Our first night was pretty uneventful, except for having to take her out a lot to potty.

Last night, we went to bed, watched some DVDs. She ate her food (all of it which is a change!) in bed... that spoiled little thing! Then she laid down to rest.

Well at midnight she turned around a looked at me. I went to pet her and her head wouldn't move. I picked her up and she was violently shaking, legs out and mouth wide open. She was having a seizure. The nurse in me starts to blow in her face to give her as much oxygen as possible. After about a min and a half,she starts to calm but make grunting noises. Then she relaxes. I wake my mother and call my friend. She had a seizure a few weeks ago too, but never happened again. We all debated whether or not to take her to the animal hospital. After about two min of a dazed state, she starts to sniff my face and wag her tail. She was ready to play. Since she came out of it so quickly, we decided to just hold off and call her vet in the morning, since this is the second one.

Well, I'm sure you would think, I didn't' sleep. I tried but I had my hand on her the whole time, and ever little movement she made, I shot up and made sure she was ok.

Then at 630, she had another one. I felt her move and shot up and was breathing in her face again. This one lasted maybe a min or less. She was then in her dazed relaxed state, and I called my friend and she was going to talk it over w/ her mom. Meanwhile, I was getting dressed and my mother held her while I was doing that. Of course... she starts sniffing her face and wagging her tail... all ready to play again! They call the vet and leave a message. We wait and see. She had sprayed her with her normal flea spray before coming, so I gave her a bath to get that off just in case. I look up seizures in dogs associated with the flea spray, and really no leads. Finally the vet calls back and said to bring her in.

I take the 45 min drive to the vet to drop her off. He is going to take her to his house over the weekend to see if she has another. If she doesn't, we'll consider the cause the flea spray. If she has another, they'll run tests. So now they are all worried on their trip, but at least she's going to be with the vet if it happens again. I'm just a human nurse! I don't know much about dogs! They can't tell me whats wrong!!!

Please, send your pixie dust and prayers to little Angie. She's a little Shiztu/poodle mix, white with black spots... one on her right eye! She's precious. I hope nothing is wrong and that it was a bad reaction. Also prayers and pixie dust to my friend and her mother while they are gone and for a safe return on Monday.

Thank you all for listening.

[Jeri]

Here is some :pixie::pixie: for the poor little puppy and your friend too.

Hopefully it is not anything major, just the flea meds.

[faline]

:pixie::pixie::pixie:

Hope the puppy is okay!

[disneydrmr]

My doggie Rascal had a few seizures a couple years ago... we rushed him to the emergency room vet and they now have him on Phenobarbitrol... it has completely stopped them. It's very scary to watch. I do hope that in this case it was just the flea spray.. but if not the meds will be able to control it and like Rascal, she'll be able to lead a normal life. Here's some :pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie: for both the sweet little puppy, and also your friends. Let us know what happens please!

[bleukarma]

I had a Sheltie that has seizures every once in awhile, but never two in one night. They just said it was a “normal” part of the breed and she lived to be 16.

Here is some pixie dust for the poor puppy and your friend and her mom. :pixie::pixie: I hope everything turns out ok!!!

[Momof2boys]

How sad ! I'm sure your friends is anxious to get home. Plenty of :pixie: for the puppy !

[gauvin4]

:pixie::pixie::pixie: for poor little Angie, you and your friend. I hope everything works out.

[MsMin]

Sending puppy :pixie: for little Angie.
I'm not sure which small breeds have seizures, I know some Yorkies do- Epilepsy. As with humans there can be several causes, maybe even a head trauma before they got her. Genetically a mixed breed is usually stronger but it's still a roll of the dice. Sometimes meds work great, often seizures increase with age. Keep us informed and we will continue to send :pixie: for the little baby :paw:

[Stitchahula]

tons of puppy pixie dust coming your way let us know about how she makes out. It's never easy when your dog is sick and you don't know what's wrong but when it happens when you're not even there must be making your friend nuts. My heart goes out to her and you are a good friend to love her pup so much.

[DNS]

Sending major pixie dust to the puppy and to all of you helping the little one.

[MMouse6937]

:pixie: for baby Angie

and bless you for taking such good care of her! I'll pray that she'll be better soon. It's so hard with the furry kids, they can never tell you what's wrong or how their feeling, you have a guess a lot.

Take care

[RenDuran]

One of my friend's dogs just went through a very bad seizure episode from using topical flea treatment from Southern States. She had to give the dog multiple baths to remove all the chemicals and the vet did a blood workup to be sure no damage was done to vital organs. When the doctor called poison control, they found that the flea treatment contained chemicals known to cause neurological problems.

I hope that's the case with your friend's dog, but if it had a prior seizure it may not be the flea spray. A lot of dogs live good lives even if they do seize.....as stated in other posts, phenobarbitol is one treatment to keep seizures under control.

Good luck!

[The Bookseller]

Here's the :pixie: :pixie: :pixie: :pixie: :pixie: for Angie. Let's hope it's a benign bugg that will go away easily.

[Here we go again...]

Wow, that must have freaked you out. I do not think I could have watched that... I probably would have run out of the room screaming. (I would not make a good nurse :D )

Keep us posted!

[Beast_fanatic]

:dog: :pixie: on the way!

[conorsmom2000]

How scary! Much pixie dust for this poor dog! :pixie::pixie::dog:

[iheartmickey]

Seizures are so scary. I had a cat who had them ... you just don't know what to do and you feel so bad for them. You can't tell them it'll be ok and they can't tell you anything. That's why I think when our pets get sick it's so difficult, and stressful!

Lots of :pixie:for you and the puppy.

[DisneyDudet]

Thanks all!

My friend called the vet before going to bed last night and she was seizure free all day! Thats a step, considering she had two a little over 6 hrs apart. Lets just hope she didn't have them during the night again.

[MsMin]

Thanks for the update. More :pixie: that it was just the flea medicine. I asked my dd and she says that stress can trigger it too. Please keep us updated b/c I'm sure many of us would like to know if it is a reaction to the flea med. :pixie: :paw:

[mrsgaribaldi]

:pixie::pixie::pixie: on the way. 2 people I work with have dogs that have seizures. One has to medicate his dog and the other doesn't. Good luck:pixie:

[DisneyDudet]

The vet said he'd call if she has another one, and they didn't get a call today! Hopefully is seizure free for good! If she doesn't have anymore, it must have been the spray. If anyone is wanting to know the name, its Adam's Flea and Tick Spray.

I keep picturing her having the seizure in my mind. I think about it a lot. It was very scary. I also feel somewhat guilty, since she was at my house when they happened. I know my friend feels guilty for spraying her, but there's no way we could have known it was going to cause seizures, since she's only had one before.

She is a very cute dog. She is a little older, maybe 7, but hopefully she doesn't have epilepsy or anything.

Here's to hoping its just the spray and she's good as new now! Thanks everyone for your concern.

[DisneyDudet]

OK, here's an update on little Angie.

I picked my my friend and we went straight to the vet from the airport. NO SEIZURES!!

Since she was washed and hasn't had a seizure since, the vet is thinking it was the flea spray. If she has another one, they will do blood tests to make sure its not something else or accidental poisoning somehow. She was scared when we got her at first, but she has turned out to be quite the frisky thing today. She was clingy to both of us. I was on my friend's computer, and she ran in to sit with me! She NEVER leaves her 'mom's' side! We must have bonded, and she's thanking me for taking care of her.

Thanks for everyone's concern. Keep sending puppy pixie dust that she doesn't have any more!!

[DisneyDudet]

Well, little Angie had a seizure a little before 3am Tuesday morning. My friend said it was long, and followed the same pattern as the last three. They called the vet, and tried to figure out if the was in contact with any chemicals. The only thing they can think of that is new, is that my friend was painting her new house and had some sheets with paint on them. They washed them, but when they aren't home, they keep the dogs in the laundry room (plenty of room for them in there). The vet things that the fumes were in the room, and possibly caused her to have the seizure. The vet is also thinking that she may be having them while no one is at home, but I find it VERY hard to believe, since she tends to lose some control of her bladder, and foams a great deal at the mouth, there would be evidence of a seizure upon return home.

Then, she has another one at about 10:15 pm, just about 2 hours ago. Then, an hour later, her head twitched and she foamed at the mouth, but that only lasted a few seconds, she said. She is taking her in tomorrow morning as early as possible, unless she has another between now and then. If she does, she will take her to the emergency vet (I'm going to make her). She doesn't have much money, since she bought a brand new house, so I am going to help her with the bills.

I have been reading and researching seizure activity in dogs. There is epilepsy, which seems to be the most common cause. Others include liver and renal disorders, blood sugar problems, tumors (brain and pancreas), toxins, and other things. Diet is a factor for some.

What I find strange, is they all occur at night, while in bed. I can't find anything on this special sign/symptom. My nursing experience gives me very little to go on. To me, what happens at night that can cause a lot of problems, sleep apnea. I mean, there's nothing that can really be done for dogs (they don't make puppy Bi-pap!). It is a hunch I have, because, a lot of people have sleep apnea and don't even know it, and it causes so many other health problems, they are usually being treated for side effects, rather than the real problem.

I don't know. I just know my best friend is in utter ruin over this. She just bought a new house and all the stress over that, now her precious Angie is sick, she can't really handle it well. Another thing could be stress related, but that would happen while awake, wouldn't it, instead of asleep.

I don't know. I'm very concerned for Angie and my friend, plus it makes me worry about my dog, and how I would just hate it if she had something like this happen.

Please, send your pixie dust to us. It worked the last time.

[Dsnygirl]

:( Sending more :dog::pixie::pixie::pixie: Angie's way... I was really hoping she'd turn out to be just fine, and it would just be the spray. Please let her know we are all thinking of her and her "puppy"....

[Marilyn Michetti]

Oh, God bless Angie and her family. Our old Bassett, Bentley has been battling Valley Fever for a year now, and it scares me everytime he has trouble breathing. I know how much we love our pets, and it's just agonizing when they're sick.:(

Keep us posted.

[aprilisis]

:dog::pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie:
Please keep us posted. It is a scary thing. My Grandmother had a dog that had seizures a long time ago- I wish I could remember more for you other than the fact that he had them.

[DisneyDudet]

She has had a few more seizures since my post last night. She was taken to the vet to have blood work done in the morning, had another one, and is now staying with the vet. I researched all night for her and I told her she needs to be medicated NOW, no matter what the blood tests say, but the vet won't do it. I think its time for a new vet, but that is just my opinion. She knows it, so, what she does with it all is her choice.

Please continue to send pixie dust. She is thinking of canceling our trip to Paris in December over all this. I hope it doesn't come to that, as I've been excited about it for many months now.

[The Bookseller]

Here's the :pixie: :pixie: :pixie: for the poor furball. Let's hope they find the bug fast!

[DisneyDudet]

While I was at work last night, they got results from the blood tests and she doesn't have any organ problem that they can see. They determined she has epilepsy. They started her on phenobarbitol last night. When I researched, I told her it can take a month to get a therapeutic effect. Well, she was doing so well until she started to go to sleep, where she had two. The last one, she was not coming out of it as quickly as she usually does, and had some mobility problems. They took her to an all night vet clinic, and the vet started her on IV phenobarbitol to rapidly increase her levels. She left her there last night and got some rest.

She picked her up this morning, highly drugged, but that is a MUCH better state than the seizures. She is falling down d/t the effects, but we'd much rather know that her body its trying to work with the phenobarbitol than her body decompensating with seizures. The vet at the clinic said that it could be a brain issue, as she seems to have them while sleeping, when the brain is relaxing. It might be that stress and sleep deprivation triggers them. No one will know. Even if there is a brain issue, finding it out for sure won't change anything, and treatments are not possible. I know of a few people who will wake up in the middle of the night and have a seizure, so its not highly uncommon.

Little Angie is home again, highly doped up. Hopefully this will help stop, or reduce her seizures. Let's hope that she is seizure free today!!

[Stitchahula]

tons more puppy pixie for angie. I hope that the meds work quickly for her. I'm glad they finally got a diagnosis for her not knowing what is going on can be so scarey.:pixie::pixie::pixie::dog:

[DisneyDudet]

Well, I was told that we went our first night being seizure free!!! This is the first night in like 3 that we haven't had a seizure! That is big now!

She is still very uncoordinated, but that will wear off as the body is absorbing the medication and it reaching therapeutic levels.

More pixie dust is wanted, so we can keep her seizure free!

[SBETigg]

Poor dog! I'm so sorry for all you've been through together. My pug has had occasional seizures and it's always scary. He had a surgery to correct his breathing and he is doing much better since then. You've been a great advocate for Angie and :pixie: that she continues to thrive seizure-free.

[k_reile]

TONS of :pixie: dust for Angie. I also have a small dog who DH and I just love to death. We had a close week with him after we were gone for the day in IN for the birth of my newphew. We came home and he had vomitted all over. We had to take him the emergency vet that night and to the vet again a couple of days later. He would not eat for a week, was very weak and all he wanted to do is sleep on my lap. Vet finally said he had to be force fed (wet dog food made in to a broth) and he started feeling better. Vet thinks he just upset his stomach while we were gone (thinks he over ate) It was a close 5 days where we thought he was a goner...but luckily he came through and is a very active puppy.
I hope Angie starts getting back to normal soon!