Three days ago I began luring Sadie in bed with us so that she can feel relaxed being close to us. She lays next to me and I "spoon" her, rub her belly and try to get her to calm down. Zeke and Minnie lately have been "fighting" for bed space at night to sleep with us.
It was eight minutes past midnight this morning when I was rudely awakened by Sadie. She was having an epileptic seizure and her front legs had hit me in the face. I had been sleeping soundly, too and it took me a few seconds to realize what was going on. Her legs flayed, her head shook and her saliva was flying everywhere. Kevin was also awakened and held her head securely.
Her seizure lasted altogether three minutes, but she spent another five minutes panting heavily. Once her breathing was back to normal her restlessness began: she paced the house back and forth as if she were in a fit of dementia, and in fact I understand that is typical of dogs recovering from a seizure.
Luckily she only had one seizure. But an hour later she began whining so I fed her a can of food. By 3am her whining continued so I got up for the day. (I'll pay the price later!)
Her neck fur is still damp from her saliva but she is calm now as I write this. I wish I didn't have to go to work today, though, so as to watch out for her. I gave her her morning medication earlier than usual, too. By 3:15am she got her phenobarbital.
Although her seizures now no longer panic me, they still put me on edge.
Sadie had a second seizure at 7:35am as I was getting ready for work. It was a short one from which she quickly recovered, but she was exhausted from it nonetheless. Since Kevin and I were not at home it's hard to say if she had any during the day.
ReplyDeleteShe seemed fine in the evening but she had another seizure again at 3:20am this morning. Kevin and I think the stress of competing against Zeke and Minnie is too much for Sadie, and the two other dogs know it. They gang up on her.
I was gone all day (work and class) and when I got home at 7:30pm Kevin told me Sadie had been pacing all afternoon, as if this were the first time she'd seen this house. No seizure yet, but we both have agreed to separate Sadie from the other dogs right now. We will keep all dogs out of the bedroom except Sadie, who will be treated like a Queen. Zeke and Minnie may complain, but short of any more drastic measures, this will be our agenda.
It was a seizure-free weekend. We continue to separate the dogs at night. As long as Zeke and Minnie are together, they bark less. We had all four dogs in the hallway at night.
ReplyDelete