|
Darla,
Our almost 4 year old Pyr, Chloe, suffers from
seizures. They started about when she was almost 2 1/2. It was about 17 days
after we changed her heartworm
meds. The vet didn't think at the time that those
meds had anything to do with the seizures starting. She's had days where she's
had 4 or 5 seizures and she's
also gone for 3 months without a seizure. We
stopped giving her flea and heartworm meds and she still did have seizures
however we noticed something this Summer.
We put her back on flea and heartworm meds in
June and 3 days later she had a seizure after going almost 3 months without one.
The vet said to try one more month
of it to see what was happening. In July the same
thing happened. She had another seizure about 2 days after the meds. We talked
with our vet who called Novaritis
and they told him that it is unlikely their meds
caused her to seize. I find that hard to believe since their documentation and
their website both claim that the meds CAN
cause seizures and can cause them especially in
dogs that already have a seizure disorder. Now we don't know for sure if those
meds started the whole process or if they
just triggered an underlying seizure disorder.
The vet has told us from now on, that she will not be using any heartworm meds.
We still don't know if we can apply a topical
med for fleas and if she will be fine. We had her
on that before and for some reason it doesn't mix well with her body chemistry
and it makes her have an unpleasant odor
after we apply it. That's one of the reasons we
switched to an all in one pill to begin with. We did have our dogs on
Advantage and Interceptor and then we switched to
Sentinel and that's when her seizures
started.
When Chloe has a seizure, she shakes and drools
uncontrollably. It's usually for about a minute. She also may release her
bowels, bladder and anal glands altho that doesn't
always happen. She is then disoriented for about
an hour afterwards. She's very paranoid and will try to "bury" herself into
corners and walls, she will go to all the windows
and doors and cant stop pacing. She is also
starving afterwards and will try to get up on countertops and into the fridge.
Something she NEVER does when she's normal and
not had a seizure. She's on phenobarbital and
potassium bromide to help control seizures. She's not had a seizure since August
27th and we are very hopeful for her to make
it to the 4 month mark here in 9 days. She's a
changed dog under this medication. It makes her act drunk and lethargic. She
stumbles all over alot and we aren't sure why
after taking meds all this time, she still does
that. The vet thinks she might have a neurological condition as well. She might
need an MRI in the future. She's still our Chloe
girl and we would do anything for her that we
need to.
I suspect the Revolution might have done this to
your dog. Hopefully you won't meet with resistance from the vet about that. Do
some research on Revolution Reactions in
Canines and see what you can find and then go
with your gut on it. There are all different types of seizures they can have and
I suspect that Coleene might have had a
seizure or two. I wish you luck. Please let us
know what your vet says. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Oh and
we believe Chloe was from a Puppy Mill as well.
We bought her in a pet store when she stayed
there so long no one wanted her. We felt so badly for her. We have no regrets
tho as she is wonderful.
~Kim in Ohio
Puppy, Maggie, Chloe & Tucker
From: Darla Gault
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 4:23 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Re: pyrnet-l-digest.20091211 I would like to ask for advice on two episodes, or you might call them "fits" that my 3YO Pyr girl has exhibited. First of all, I will be calling the vet tomorrow for an appt, but thought it might be good to have some Pyr-owner advice as well. About 5 weeks ago Coleene was out in the yard, facing the back door, and she started jumping up and twisting halfway around to the left, and then to the right. She seemed possessed, as if her brain was saying turn left, no turn right. She did this for a good 30 seconds, although it felt like longer. I called her to come in and she came running in (she never obeys my "come"), ran into the family room, and glued herself to the rug like she was scared to death. Last night, she was lying in front of the fireplace, we think asleep, and she jumped about 3 feet forward like something had scared her. She laid on her stomach, with her right front foot folded back, and she acted like she was blind; her eyes were open and her head kept darting around like she was trying to see through something, but she couldn't see. We petted her and talked to her, and after about 30 seconds, she recovered. Again, she seemed very frightened. Now, Coleene was born in a puppy mill and she IS afraid of her own shadow, which includes any noises. She also has a heart condition called sub-aortic stenosis. I had applied Revolution about 3 days earlier for heartworms and fleas. Has anyone witnessed this type of behavior, and if so, any ideas on what this could be?
Thanks, Darla, Coleene, Bone and Ginger |