Thursday, November 29, 2012

#822 epileptic Osi

I woke up out of a deep sleep in the early morning hours because I could tell something wasn't right with Osi. Her mouth was opening and closing very fast, so I told her to get off the bed, but she couldn't because her muscles were seizing. I pulled her off the bed and she laid on the floor and had a full-on seizure. It was terrifying and heartbreaking to watch her go through that. I didn't know what to do. I just kept talking to her and saying her name and softly rubbing her ribs. Finally, she quieted and regained herself a little. When she got up, she was kind of crazy. Her pupils were huge; I could barely see any brown in her eyes. She staggered around a little. I took her downstairs and she drank some water. I gave her a little piece of a dog biscuit and she couldn't take it out of my fingers. She did better when I put it on my palm. Eventually, about 15 to 20 minutes after the initial seizure, she calmed down and returned to normal and we went back to bed. She snuggled next to me with a sigh and I just wanted to cry. It was so hard to fall back to sleep. Every time she moved or changed her breathing, my eyes would snap open. I think she finally got tired of me because she jumped off the bed and went to sleep at the top of the stairs in between my room and T's room. It's one of her favorite spots, I think because she knows where all of her people are when she's in that spot.

She seems ok today. MT even came home after work to check on her before he went to the rental. He woke up during the episode, too, and he was equally horrified by it.

Poor sweet Osi. This isn't the first time she has had a seizure. I'll have to look at my notes, but I think she had one in September, and T witnessed that one. I took her to the vet and they took a blood sample. All of her organs are fine; her blood-work was fine, so the vet and I agreed that I would watch her to see if she had any other seizures. (I took her to the vet after the seizure that T saw.) I think it will probably come down to giving her medicine to try to control the seizures because it was really awful for us and I'm sure for her as well.

Yesterday I took her to doggie daycare. Maybe her seizure was caused, in part, by the over-stimulation she had by playing with her dog friends all day. She hasn't been there in months. I've been reading about dog seizures online, and over-stimulation is one of the triggers a website talked about. I was asking a friend who has had two springer spaniels if either of his dogs had seized and he said both of them had. :( I didn't read that seizures were common in springers, though.

Osi is flat-out the best dog I've ever had. She has the sweetest temperament and it just seems like she wants to please us. We live on a corner by a busy street and with our other dog, I always worried that she would dash out the front door and get hit by a car. I mostly don't worry about Osi running out the door. There have been times when we've left the door open as we are bringing in groceries or whatever, and she sits on the chair and watches us walk in and out. Even when I take her for a ride in the car, I can open the door and she'll wait for my signal to get out, then she'll go right to the front door of the house. (knock on wood that she keeps these good behaviors going!) I really want her to be ok and healthy. I love her a lot.

 Osi is making a silly face after a little bit of playtime a few weeks ago.

OK, I'm getting teary and I'm really tired. I didn't get enough sleep last night, and my brain was taxed at work today and I just broke my own rule about watching the news and there was a terribly sad story that lead the news and I can't even talk/write about that right now. It just broke my heart, though, I'll tell you that.

Wow...didn't mean for this to be such a bummer post, but this has been bugging me all day and writing is therapeutic, so if you're still reading, thanks for hearing me out.

2 comments:

Kteach said...

awww por baby! :(

I hope she gets better and I hope you have a goodnight sleep.

Anonymous said...

Sweet Osi! I'm so sorry that happened. She is a great dog. Love on her for me :)