So, it's been a while since I've posted and I apologize. It's been an up-n-down time. the switch of Doozer's pain medication made him feel so much better. He was actually walking around on all four legs again for a while! Unfortunately, that feeling is beginning to wear off and we think the time is coming soon to say "GoodBye". In the meantime, we'll step up again and tell you more about Doozer.
Early one December morning (~4:30am) in 2006 there was a sudden crashing and banging in the bedroom which woke us up. We quickly turned on lights and found Doozer staggering around the room - he had tripped over the water bowl which is what woke us up. He then dropped to the floor and began getting stiff and kicking his legs out. I thought he was choking on something at first and tried to pry his mouth open to check. But his mouth was firmly shut. He then went totally still and stiff and we thought ... well, quite frankly we thought he was dying. We had no idea what was going on!! And then, just as suddenly, it was over. The stiffness ended, Doozer opened his eyes and started to walk around. Well, stagger really. It took him about 1/2 hour and then he went to get a big drink of water. And just like that he was fine again. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep!! We, on the other hand, were pretty awake!! And it was probably about then that it started dawning on us. Doozer wasn't sick, or choking... Doozer had had a seizure.
Saint Bernards, unfortunately, are pretty prone to epilepsy. We hadn't heard of any of his family having seizures and called his breeder in the morning. She said that not another dog in his family had seizures. Not in all the generations she knew about. We also discussed a trigger. Our neighbor had applied fertilizer to his grass a day or so earlier and so we attributed it to that and slept lightly for another couple of nights. There appeared to be no more signs of seizures and everything returned to normal. For about 5-1/2 months. Then Doozer had another seizure... this time in the afternoon with no one home but our step-son. He called and I immediately left the office and headed home. By the time I got there, Doozer was perfectly fine! Playing with his ball like nothing had happened!! So frustrating! We did take him to the vet and they checked his blood work and a couple of other things. Nothing found <sigh>. Because he was having seizures so infrequently, the vet said it would be pointless to put him on any medication at that time. We really wouldn't get a good idea of whether or not the medication was working and it's very hard on the liver.
Doozer began having seizures about every 3-6 months. We looked for common triggers but we could never find one. Yes, the neighbors yard was fertilized the first time... but not the 2nd. Yes, we had put weed killer down in a section of the backyard the dogs don't go into the 2nd time... but not the 3rd. After the 3rd one we gave it up.
You would never know when one was coming unfortunately and so our sleep has become very sporadic. The least little noise gets us up worried about him. Slowly the seizures started getting closer together; until in July of 2010 he had one early in the month - and this one was different. Instead of the stiffness and the kicking he was just laying there like he was in a coma and he had let go of his bladder (which was typical for his seizures). Our Great Dane Fox was also barking like crazy at him which is what woke us up. Once we were up we called his name a couple of times and he immediately came back around (and Fox stopped barking too).
A week later, Doozer began having seizures about every 5-6 HOURS. It was a horrible couple of days. We immediately took him to the vet and we explained what was happening. In a situation like that you almost hope he has a seizure so the vets can *see* and *fix* it. You know, x-ray or EKC or run a brain scan or *something*!! And go AHA! We see what the problem is!! Of course, that never actually happens and it didn't in this case either. But we went home with a phenobarbitol prescription and instructions that it would take a day or two to take effect. It took about another 24 hours (and another 4 seizures) but it did finally take effect.
Most people with dogs taking phenobarb for seizures will tell you that the dogs eventually build up an immunity or something to it and begin to have seizures again. You then have to talk to your vet and adjust the dose. Doozer didn't have another seizure for 4 months. When he did - in December 2010 - , we were out of town but I did have extra phenobarb. The vets advised, however, not to adjust it immediately since he had only had the one. They wanted, instead, to have blood work done to see what his phenobarb levels were and adjust it from there. Doozer didn't have another seizure during the trip and when we did his blood work, it was well within the "safe" range. So we upped his dose another 1/2 pill and he has been (knock on wood) seizure-free ever since. It's been almost five months since his last seizure. I am hoping that the one in December was his last. Doozer has so much going on right now fighting the cancer that I don't think he could take another seizure.
I hope we never have another dog with seizures and we know we are incredibly lucky to not have a human in the house who has seizures either. Our thoughts go to those who do; we admire their courage!
