Sunday, October 23, 2011

And just like that

I was having a great weekend.  Friday night I went to a concert with some friends-it was good and we had fun even though I got home late.  Saturday morning Jerry and I got up early and drove to Columbia for the Mizzou game.  We lost but it was a beautiful day and a decent game.  Then we came home and watched the world series game on TV.  Go Cards!

This morning I took Legend to the local AKC obedience trial for another shot at Open A.  I entered this trial at the last minute and spend zero time getting ready so I didn't really have any expectations.  But she did the best she has so far I think.  Her heeling pattern was a little weak and sloppy but her figure eights were nice.  The retrieves and broad jump were nearly flawless and her stays rock solid.  The only thing she failed was the drop on recall.  She didn't come when called either time but did  drop right away.  So I was pretty encouraged.  Her attitude is so good on the jumping and retrieving, you can tell she's not stressed at all.  So I need to keep working on making the heeling and recall more fun I guess. 

Then Cheri and her girls joined us at the house for some agility work and I was pretty pleased with progress we are making on distance stuff.  If we keep at it we may have a bunch of NATCH dogs on our hands!

Then Cheri and I headed out on a short run in the nice afternoon weather.

It was a perfect weekend winding down.  And just like that it was over.  Legend had another seizure tonight.  It was just like last time.  They were starting to eat and then I saw her start to act funny and then it happened.  It was short again and afterwards we went through the same series of events.  Right away she  seems ok, then she's afraid of us, then she's really submissive and needy and within an hour it's like nothing happened.  Except it's not like nothing happened for me.  I'm left to obsess and worry and wonder. 

She's on the outside range of when we consider epilepsy to be the primary cause of seizures.  But with lack of other symptoms, the 8 week interval in between and the normal labwork I have no reason to believe it's anything else.  I could have an MRI done, I just don't think that's really justified yet.  Not to mention the expense for us and the stress to her.  And dogs that start having epileptic seizures later in life are supposed to be easier to control anyway so that's good.  I guess.  Right now I think that if she has any more in the next few months I will go ahead and start her on Phenobarbital.  It's probably not wrong to start her now but I sort of want to deny it for a little longer.  Of course we don't know for sure these are the only two she has had but we have not seen evidence of any others.  She's kind of covered in slobber and pee right now, as was the floor.  So I'm hoping we'd be able to tell if there had been any more.  It's so so odd how both happened right when she started eating.  The other odd thing-she absolutely recognizes the other dogs before us.  She's totally ok with them being around her, but acts like she will bite our arm off if we go near her. 

Could be worse I guess.  Tomorrow is another day.

12 comments:

Greg S said...

So sorry to hear of Legend's seizures. I have a friend who has been dealing with it for a couple years and has it mostly under control now.

Sara said...

So sorry to hear about Legend.

Take care.

Blue said...

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about Legend. I know exactly what you're going through. Iris' seizures started when she was 5 years old.

Hoping Legend goes a long, long time without any more seizures.

Sue said...

Poor Legend and poor you. Seizures are scary for everyone . At least she has someone who knows what to do to help her. Good luck.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

I am so sorry about the seizure, ;-( .
Glad you had a good time at teh obedience trial, sounds like it went pretty well ;-) good job

Breanna said...

Sorry to hear about the seizures, we'll be thinking of you and Legend.

Mindy Jo said...

our lab had 3-4 seizures several years ago. Happened right around breakfast. He gets super excited about eating. I started writing down anything I could remember before and after the seizures. Ended up discovering that they all happened within a few days of giving Frontline and the Heartworm preventative on the same day. Started spacing that out and he has not had anymore. He could feel them coming on because he would run to find us as it hit. So sad. So Sorry to hear that Legend is having them but she's in good hands.

Karissa said...

So very sorry that you are experiencing this with Legend.

Funny how things come in waves. For a while there it seemed like all of my agility friends were having to deal with cancer. Over the last few months I keep hearing about seizures. How very sad.

tervnmal said...

That is scary. I hope things are good today.

manymuddypaws said...

so scary for you and for her!

give her a big hug.

Chris and Ricky said...

So very sorry to hear about this. I hope you are able to find something that works for Legend and that she doesn't have any more seizures.

Nicki said...

Thanks everyone. Your comments mean a lot.

Blue-it's nice to hear from someone else who has been through the same thing. I hope both our red girls go a long time without any seizures!