What Are You Doing For Excitement Today?

Diane Amberg · February 24, 2011, 06:10:01 PM

After having 6 more inches of snow Monday night, your rain has just arrived here. Hopefully it will wash the snow away for good.

sixdogsmom · February 24, 2011, 07:38:01 PM

This has been a rough week, and it ain't over yet as they say. Onie, my youngest little dog, and very beloved Italian Greyhound started having seizures Sunday afternoon. He had them one after another, and after half an hour I got him to the vet, Dr. Julia Fechter in Howard. She gave him three separate doses of valium and after about an hour, he started to relax. We started him on phenobarbitol and went home. The next morning he was doing it again, and this time she kept him, putting him on IVs. He is still in the hospital, unable to stand and is not drinking water on his own. He is eating however and I took him some chopped chicken breast this afternoon. We are not making any decision about his future until next week; giving the phenobarbitol every chance to work and for his body to recover from this horrific event. This seems to be the hereditary kind of epilepsy since he has not been exposed to any pesticides or other chemicles, and he is the exact age when this disease usually shows up. He has always been a very healthy little dog, and so sweet. This is tough!

Ms Bear · February 24, 2011, 08:37:28 PM

I am so sorry Edie. Watching them is like watching one of your children when they were sick. And you are just as helpless.

Roma Jean Turner · February 24, 2011, 09:11:10 PM

Bless you and your baby EDie. Hearts my heart for you.

sixdogsmom · February 24, 2011, 09:20:31 PM

I have just received a call from the vet. She had just checked on Onie, and got him to drink some water, and got him to stand. I am almost afraid to hope.

Diane Amberg · February 24, 2011, 10:14:13 PM

We're pulling for ya! Hang tight.

Diane Amberg · February 25, 2011, 02:09:36 PM

Edie, how is your pooch today?
I just finished my CPR instructors update for the new ILCOR standards. I've been a CPR instructor for almost 40 years now and I think everything I ever learned back in the beginning is the opposite now from what we were taught originally, yet every change has brought a better chance of survival. Or so they say. Now the emphasis is on the importance of compressions. It used to be the air and airway were the most important. Now it's CAB instead of ABC. For untrained people it's chest compressions, deep and fast with no breaths at all until rescuers arrive.
For lay rescuers it's compressions first for 30 fast deep compressions (at least 100 /minute at 2 inches deep) and then 2 breaths, then 30 more and so on for adults. Some changes for children and infants also, CAB. AED is one shock if called for, two minutes of CPR then one more if called for, then another 2 min. of CPR, repeat. EMT includes pulse check but is mostly the same as the others.

sixdogsmom · February 25, 2011, 07:12:17 PM

Well, Onie is getting up by himself and standing alone today. He has had a BM, and is eating and drinking. However, there is a certain confusion being displayed, and he is being sent off into oblivion by the ceiling lights. Julia said that he started to seize this morning when gazing at the ceiling lights, and she gave him another dose of valium. She also sheilded his cage so that he could not see those lights. It appears to me that one eye is not tracking with the other, and this may be causing him the mental confusion. I got to hold him for about half an hour this afternoon, and fed him the portion of turkey I had brought before he started to act distressed. I have been doing a little research on epilepsy and the experimentation with kindling. Very interesting as this is almost the same thing that Sister Kenny did with polio patients so that they could eventually walk. It has to do with patterning of the brain, and kindling works under the assumption that the brain has somehow learned to operate in the seizure mode. Kindling patterns the brain into a different mode so the seizure is not completed. Of course this has little to do with Onie; I am hoping that he can come out of this, he is much better today than yesterday.

Thank you Forum Friends for your kind caring it is so appreciated.

Diane Amberg · February 25, 2011, 10:35:01 PM

Sure hope he continues to improve. Best wishes for you both.

sixdogsmom · March 01, 2011, 02:56:56 PM

I wanted to let everyone know that Onie got to come home on Sunday. He has been busy relearning everything since his eyesight is not back to normal, and his thinking is a bit scrambled. But he is advancing very fast. Yesterday he began to go up and down the stairs, run from the cats, and get up onto his favorite chair for a nap. If he continues to improve this way, he will be back to normal in a matter of weeks. Last night he jumped onto the bed, following Trixie and Ollie. I am so relieved as the seizures seem to be under control outside of several very small ones as he is drifting off to sleep he is seizure free. It takes a couple of weeks for the phenobarbitol to take effect completely. Thanks everyone for their prayers, as this little guy is important in my life.