Our Husky Has Epilepsy
So some of you may remember this post where I talked about how our husky had a seizure for the very first time. Sadly he had two more after that, the latest being this past Thursday.
Since this was clearly not a one time event when it happened the second time, we decided to rule out environmental factors as recommended by my vet friend. We thought perhaps something in the back yard that he was finding his way into was the cause, so my roommate and I pulled up all the wild plant life that was growing back there and started letting him out in the front of our building instead because there's a tree in the yard that we think is a crab apple or something similar and he might also be eating those. Sadly he had a third seizure, so we knew this was something serious and took him in to a vet.
The vet listed what she thought were the three biggest possibilities - liver or kidney disease, a brain tumor or something similar, and just your standard epilepsy. He's about the right age for plain old epilepsy to be settling in, and apparently huskies just generally show having a slightly higher rate than other dog breeds.
So we got him expensive blood tests that came back clean, ruling out liver or kidney disease. While we'd love to get him a CT scan to rule out a brain tumor or other brain issues the expense of that is.....a lot more than we can afford. Like up to $35,000 expensive just to rule something out.
Instead of taking that route we decided to just start him on medications. Every 8 hours we have to use a pill gun to medicate him because, understandably, he doesn't want to take them. We were warned the side effects while he adjusted to the drugs would be dizziness, loss of balance and lethargy and he's showing all the signs. He doesn't have the capacity to understand what's happening to him with the epilepsy or the medications, and he's started to develop serious anxiety because of it. To the point where outside of grocery shopping we don't both go out at the same time anymore, because if one of us isn't home he just gets really anxious and upset. Which I understand because I'm pretty sure the seizures are scary for him and I'd be worried about being alone with a seizure disorder too.
What we're hoping is that the medication will be able to stop or at least lessen the severity of his seizures. If it doesn't we'll have to keep upping the dose and doing stronger medications until we get to the point where the strongest meds at the highest levels do nothing for him. If it comes to that my roommate and I have agreed we will just put him down, because even if we pay for the CT scan that's just a diagnostic tool. If he comes back positive for something in his brain at that point we're looking at $100,000+ for surgery, assuming that the cause is even something they think they can operate on because most brain issues aren't. And if he comes back negative then it's just the epilepsy having become so bad they can't do anything for him anyway. If we reach that point his quality of life will have declined so badly that no matter what the cause it's just kinder to put him down.
Again, we hope it will never come to that. We hope his current medications will be enough, even if he'll have to be on them for life. But if not we will take all the necessary steps to ensure his medical health and what is best for him.
And now, here's a picture of the little bugger. He's healthy for now, and a few nights ago finally managed to destroy his bronto toy, tearing out the stuffing and the squeaker. Said squeaker is now proudly in our Jar of Destroyed Toys XD
Awww the ooor fella. That’s terrible . #steemitbloggers
Oh dear! I had a cat with epilepsy - it's not funny. Fortunately the diagnosis didn't cost as much as yours. The good news is that once they have adapted to the medication, her personality recovered and she was very happy. I'm sure once it's managed your puppy will recover and be back to giving you lots of love.
Dropped in from #steemitbloggers to wish you and the puppy well ;)
Thank you. He's already starting to adjust to his meds so we're hopeful he'll be back to normal soon-ish ^^
So sorry to hear about your beloved dog having epilepsy. Poor guy. It must be terrifying for him to have the seizures. I hope the medications work for him.
Given how he reacts in the aftermath we're pretty sure it is absolutely terrifying for him. The meds are working so far, so we're hopeful that's just all it will take to control them and keep him healthy.
Oh, I'm sorry for him. Poor baby! It must be so difficult for him to handle. I guess as you say, he has no idea what is happening to him and it may be very scary.
I wish he would get better soon!
Thank you. Yes, we're sure it's scary for him because after he came out of the seizures all he wanted was to find us both and curl up for comfort. The meds do appear to be working, however, so we're hopeful he'll be better because of it once he adjusts to the medications.
Your dog is highly privileged to have you @sigilmancy. Hope it all works out well and that the medication is sufficient to ensure a long and good life.
Found you on #steemitbloggers.
Thank you. We're hopeful to, despite how unexpected it was, and we'll do all we can to keep him happy and healthy as long as we can.
oh my poor little guy!! Hope he feels better soon. Good to know that you have ruled out some possibilities. Hugs @sigilmancy.
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Thank you. Given that we're coming up on a week with no seizures when they were getting more frequent before the meds we are hopeful that the meds are working and he won't have another one.
My dog has had a few fits in the last year. She has a heart condition and when she gets over excited she fits. I hopeyour dog gets treatment and feels better soon.its expensive to keep them healthy thats for sure.
Thank you. He's on medication and it seems to be doing the trick so we're hopeful that'll be all he needs. I hope your dog is well too, and hopefully will have a long and healthy life despite her heart condition <3
Thank you, she is 16 now, so an old dog but shes had a very good life.
My father in law has a little Chihuahua dog that has those seizures too and he is small enough that he can be picked up and held so when he does come out of them he at least has someone to comfort him. That is a big dog you've got so that holding him would be out of the question.
I would check the food you are feeding him, if this just started recently by chance did you just get a new supply of dog food, it could be something in the feed?
Just my thoughts, sorry you are having to go through this.
Not only is holding him out of the question, but my roommate did try to basically sit next to him and pet him after he had the first seizure and sadly he turned around and bit hard enough to draw blood. We understand it's because he was scared and didn't know what was going on and reacted out of that fear, but still.
We've been feeding him the same food since we adopted him. Exact same brand, exact same flavor, from the exact same store. After his first seizure the food was also something my vet tech friend recommended so we looked but there are no recalls or warnings out on the brand. This also seems less the case by the fact that his meds are helping in that he hasn't had a seizure in close to a week now after the time between each one was getting less and less which is more or less just confirming the epilepsy angle on things.
Thank you for your kind words. It's hard, but we're dealing with it more or less. Hopefully in time it'll just be a routine and we won't even think twice about his meds or seizures and things will return to normal.
Well it was worth a consideration, even though people use the same brand and same food all the time doesn't mean the food is the same because the grains the manufacturer uses are constantly being used up and restocked for the next batch of product to be processed.
That is bad about the bite but surely understandable that the dog might react that way, he was probably scared to death and confused.
The poor thing...
35k is a lot, wow!!
Hope everything sorts itself out 💗
Yeah, vet care in the US is expensive. And that's 35k with the $15 a month we pay for pet insurance that covers a portion of the costs as well. That insurance was really the only reason we knew we could afford the vet visit and the meds too ):
So far he hasn't had another seizure so we're hopeful the meds will work but only time will tell.
It is very expensive...
Sending him a whole lotta love and light :)
It's terrible when something goes wrong with your pet