As I write this; Diesel is at the ER Pet Hospital. He has been there since last night. Let me start from the beginning.
We give Diesel his medicine every 12 hours, which is normally between 6:30-7:00 am and then again 6:30-7:00 pm. After dinner, I went out to give Diesel his medicine and he was acting funny. He was acting like there was something in the room with us and it was after him. I knew then something was wrong. Diesel started slowing just shaking his head and then he went down to the floor and started having a seizure. I went to get Shane and Shane talked him out of it. It only lasted at the most a minute. We were able to give him some treats along with his pill. We made sure he was fine and went inside. We still watched him very closely and within minutes; he had another seizure, then another and then yet another.
He had 4 seizures all within a 30 minute of each other. We immediately called the ER vet and was told to bring him in. After his seizures; he often can't see and is disoriented, so Shane was walking him to the car. Well, he walked right off our retaining wall. It's about a 3 foot drop!! Scared me to death; but he was okay. I think by being out of it saved him from getting hurt. I don't know though.
Anyway, we took him to the vet and they wanted to keep him for observation overnight. They put an IV in his little paw in case he had a seizure they were ready to shoot him with Valium. The vet there really didn't do what I expected; however, I spoke with my normal vet's office and they said all they are meant to do is stable the pet and then you take him to your normal vet the next day. (i still don't agree with it).
So, I'll be taking Diesel to Dr. Martin this morning at 10:30 to get his blood levels checked. This is all just so stressful watching your dog have to go thru this. It's very scary when he has a seizure and just very frustrating not knowing why this is happening.
If anyone knows anything about Bulldogs and seizures; please contact me. I welcome all advise.
Posted by tennbrat at December 4, 2007 08:25 AM | TrackBacki'm a vet tech and i do know that usually the only thing that you can do when a pet is having multiple seziures is manage them with valium.....it is hard to watch your dog go through something like that. it is also hard as a technician to watch it as well....you feel helpless. since most seziures are idiopathic (not sure why they have them) they are mainly managed with medicine...phenobarbital and sometimes potassium bromide. i know that you could probably get an mri, etc. to see if there is a tumor on his brain somewhere, but as far as what they would do, i'm not sure. i'm sorry that you have to go through this, it is hard. hopefully this helped a little.
Posted by: erin at December 4, 2007 10:30 AMHey girl I send Kim Kyle that works here his daughter) a message about Diesel and
hopefully she will answer you with some helpful
info her blog is http://chattablogs.com/faery/archives/063904.html
haha! kimmie and i used to work together!! she is awesome!
Posted by: erin at December 4, 2007 12:55 PMThanks for the help. Diesel is at his vet's office having all kinds of test ran on him. I'm hoping they find something that will help him.
Posted by: Sabrina at December 4, 2007 12:58 PMErin hit it pretty much on the nose! It sounds to me like he's had seizures before and you've already got him on something (valium? phenobarb?) and it sounds like it isn't regulating. As she said, most seizures are idiopathic though some can be linked to brain tumors. Don't want to scare you but as she said an MRI will help you to know. Your vet can refer you to UTK or UGA depending on which vet it is. Let me know how he does. You can E-Mail me.
Posted by: Kimmie at December 4, 2007 07:15 PMThey raised his phenobarb to 1.5 pills every 12 hours. I asked my vet about the MRI and he said the only place that does dog MRIs is in Raleigh, NC and then someplace out West. I asked him about UTK or Georgia and he said they don't do them. Any idea where I could call to them and ask? I seem to rack my brain trying to figure out what we changed when he started getting them and I just thought of something today. We got a new fridge in June(started seizures in July) and we only give him the filtered water from the fridge. Do you think that could be related for some odd reason? Like something in the filter?
Posted by: Sabrina at December 4, 2007 08:32 PMhmmm..probably not. it may just be a coiencedence. i think those filters are pretty safe, but it may be worth looking into even if for peace of mind. you never know. you could always call utk, or georgia just to make sure that they don't have an mri there....they may just do ct scans. you may have to get on their website to find a number. hopefully upping the dose of phenobarb will help. it may make him a little dopey for a few days or so.
Posted by: erin at December 5, 2007 09:19 AMThe vet called and said to up his meds to 2 pills every 12 hours. Hopefully it won't make him out of it. He sleeps alot anyway because that is what bulldogs do; however, he loves to play too.
Posted by: Sabrina at December 5, 2007 03:54 PMI do hope he gets better soon! You should post pictures of the cutie. Can't get enough pictures.
Posted by: Kimmie at December 9, 2007 04:06 AM