#893 Osi update

A month ago, we made the decision to go ahead and give Osi the anti-seizure medicine. On February 18, she had two big seizures, and that was just enough. Poor dog. The medicine is called phenobarbitol and she takes a pill twice a day. I hide it in a bite of canned dog food and she thinks it is a great treat.

There are side effects to the drug. She is hungrier and very insistent about getting more food. She will sit in front of the closet door where the food is, staring at the door for long periods of time, and sometimes she will vocalize her need/want. She'll make this little hound dog sound, a mini-howl, It's kind of cute and kind of annoying. We give her a little more food occassionally, but not all the time. Still, she's putting on some weight. She's getting thick.

She also drinks a lot of water and she is a sloppy drinker. Her floppy lips get all soggy and she trails water behind her as she walks away from the water dish.

She seems to be a bit lethargic. The dog-crazies that she used to have nearly every night don't happen anymore. She still plays, but not with the same energy and enthusiasm. She either wants to lay quietly on the floor or snuggle. It's sweet, but I miss my happy dog.

The worst side effect is that she sometimes loses control of her bladder. She'll just be laying somewhere - the floor, my bed, the couch, and pee will just come out.  This is a very disturbing thing. I've had to keep her off the furniture, just like when she was a puppy, and she can't sleep with us anymore. I bought her a nice big pillow, covered it with a waterproof liner and a fluffy soft fleece cover. I also gave her a blanket that we used so she can snuggle with it. She had adjusted very well to being a basement dweller. When I open the basement door in the morning when it's time to go to work/school, she just goes straight down there.

But...last Saturday night she had a seizure. It was different from the seizures she had before, but it was still awful. And she had another seizure this morning. It seemed to last a long time, like two or three minutes, and it was awful. She gets a lot of foamy saliva at her mouth and she kind of topples over. Her legs "run" but then they just freeze, either bent or straight. Her eyes roll back in her head and she can't seem to catch her breath. T and I both try to stay calm and talk to her, telling her to watch us, a command that we learned when we did the training at Petsmart. Normally when I say "watch me" she'll stop whatever she's doing and look over at me. I just hope that when she is seizing and I say "watch me" that she'll hear me and know I'm there. I really don't know if she can even hear me during the seizures.

When the seizure is over and she calms down, it's hard for her to get back up. It's like the seizure took so much of her energy, that she can't get coordinated enough to stand up. When she does stand up, she's all wobbly and runs into stuff - the wall, the table - whatever is in her path. Then she kind of focuses in on me and wags her tail and I can tell she is starting to be ok.

I called the vet this morning to find out if there was anything else we could give her. He gave me another prescription for potassium bromide. I haven't googled it to find out more about it yet, but I gave her a dose tonight. The tablets are liver flavored and chewable, it says. She took the first two tablets just fine, but didn't want anything to do with the third. I wrapped a dollop of canned food around it and yum, she ate it happily.

She'll be on both meds for a month, then I'll take her to the vet for a blood test to see what's happening, Hopefully at that time we will be able to start weaning her off the phenobarbitol and get a regular dosage of the potassium bromide going.

Osi is such a sweet dog; she is probably the first dog I've ever had that I think really wants to please me. I know that sounds dumb, but it's true. When I tell her something, she does it. I tell her "off" and she jumps down from wherever she is. When I open the front door and tell her to "wait", she does. Any other dog I've had tries to make a break for it when the front door is open, but not Osi. She's the best. And the cutest. And the smartest. And sadly, the sickliest. :-( Even MT is sad that she is sick. He was not excited about the idea of getting a puppy after our last dog died. He vowed not to have anything to do with the new dog. He actually called her "Dog" for a year, and even though she occasionally did naughty things that puppies do, he still came to like her because she wants him to be happy. She's a pleaser.

So here's hoping the new medicine will work and that she'll feel better.