That First Seizure
One day in March, I returned from work at the Spa to find Lucky’s crate almost falling apart. I thought someone had attempted to get into the house when Lucky had barked and fought so hard to get out to get the intruder that he dislodged the crate. I put the crate back together. Then I noticed that Lucky had hard crusted jaw hair on one side. Again, I thought it was the intruder scene effect.
Around 1:15 AM in June, I heard this loud thumping noise where Lucky was sleeping. I flipped on the light to find Lucky thrashing around on the floor. I jumped over the wooden gate at the bedroom door and watched the thrashing.
I called the Emergency Animal Hospital to ask for help. I described the action as I thought it might be distemper, my reason for jumping out of the way. As I described the action, I said it looked like a seizure a person would have. I knew those. I never knew dogs got seizures. The reassuring female voice said, “Yes, dogs do get seizures.” She had a dog that had them. She recommended that I take my dog to my vet in the morning.
Lucky had stopped by now and was panting in complete exhaustion. Just gasping for air. He attempted to get up and fell back. Now, I knew what to do. I talked to Lucky to get him back from that terror. I stroked him, wiped his mouth and cleaned his area so he would recover faster. He kept attempting to stand up and only fell down. I gently held him down until his breathing became more normal. Then he started to drink water. He was dried out. He drank and drank. I had to watch that he did not over drink. So many things to watch and not really know if I was doing the right thing. I just wanted to help this poor dog feel better.
Then he started to pace and was terribly restless. I needed sleep by now. So I put him in his crate and covered it with a blanket so he would rest. We both slept exhaustedly.
When the vet’s office opened, I had Lucky there. Lucky still seemed out of it. The vet checked him over. He asked if he had had any seizures before. Then I recalled that March event with the crate being knocked apart. I explained it to the doctor, who confirmed it probably was a seizure.
The really sad hindsight I had was that I believe Lucky aka Simon was dumped at the Humane Society because the owners saw one of his seizures and got rid of the dog without telling anyone about “Simon” having seizures. That family thought he would not be adopted. Probably so. Or worse, put to sleep.
Lucky was lucky again. I was used to special needs, because of my fourth son’s seizures and special needs, I had gotten a Learning Disabilities degree to teach my son as well as LD kids (now called ADD and ADHD).
Lucky got to stay at the vet’s hospital for observation, where he did have another seizure for them to actually diagnose and do the tests for his level of medication. Lucky became a pill taker — phenobarbital. The drugstore did not require his paw print signature.
What happens next?
Patricia Lewis
www.bloggal.wordpress.com
