Seizures in an old dog--anything we can do to help her post-seizure recovery
 

Ridge has begun having seizures. She had her first grand mal seizure 43 days ago and had another one shortly after midnight this morning. :(

This one only lasted about 90 seconds before she started coming out of it. Her eyes were brighter quicker and she was trying to get up quicker this time, but couldn't because her coordination was still off from the seizure. The first one lasted for at least 2 minutes and she was very slow to come out of it (she was glassy-eyed for almost 10 minutes).

A little history: She's almost 14 and was diagnosed with heart failure when she was 11. She's on furosemide, enalipril, and VetMedin daily, and she's been doing great for the 2+ years she's been on the med regimen.

The cause of the seizures is undiagnosed at this point. All blood work was normal last time except for an elevated ALT level (back to normal in the follow up blood work we did last week) and low potassium levels (not unusual after a seizure and also back to normal in the blood work we had done last week).

I'm not sure at this point if the cause is so important, given her age and history, but is there anything we can do to help her recover after she has a seizure? She seemed really hungry last night afterward but I was afraid to give her too much to eat. Would a small meal be appropriate or is that not advisable because of aspiration risk if she should have an 'aftershock', so to speak? She wanted to drink, but I had the same misgivings about that. I let her wind down for two hours before even attempting to get her back up on the bed because she was so uncoordinated that she was falling down--she'd already fallen off hard when she seized and I didn't want her to risk an injury again. :(

Other than that, we just let the seizure run its course and then let her pace it off for as long as she needs to. :shrug: Anyone have any other pointers?

Hazel I found this web site about care for dogs after they have a seizure , I hope it will help.




[url]http://www.canine-seizures.freeservers.com/after_seizure.htm[/url]

Thank you, Barkingdog! That does answer some of my questions :thumbs up

That good hazel ! P :) How is your doggie doing today better I hope. Can you call your vet or ER vet hospital and see if they can answer your question ?

She acts like nothing happened this morning. :rolleyes: Except that she's still a little hungry... She even went on her walk today and went exploring in the meadow. :thumbs up

I did put in a call to the vet, but the vet that has been treating Ridge is off till Monday. I left him a voice mail message, but at this point there's no urgency--unless she has another seizure or a noticeable behavioral change, we can spare the time.

It appears that this is not going to be a long-term issue. :( The frequency of seizures is increasing--43 days to 72 hours to 4 hours (last night, she had two--one at midnight, one at 4 a.m.)

We have an appointment for a consult at 12:30. Hoping it doesn't turn into a euthanasia... :cry:

Oh hazel poor Ridge , I hope the vet will be able to help her . a :2huggers: for the both of you...

She had another seizure at 8:50, just after I posted that message. The vet took us early. LadyRidge rejoined Cole, Belle and Macie this afternoon. :candle:

How I hate March...

Sorry to hear about Ridge. I wish to pass on our sincere condolences at these very trying times. Our thoughts are with you. :candle:

Hazel, I am so sorry to hear about Ridge.

I'm so sorry.

Thank you for the kind comments.

We're missing her, and all our departed ones, dreadfully. But it'll get better...

Breakfast is surreal. Two years ago, there were 8 bowls there. The past couple days there are only 4. :cry:

Best wishes to you Hazel during this most difficult time. :grouphug: I hope the rest of the pack and JD keep you busy as you adjust to your new normal.

They are. And thank heavens we have them all... Thanks, Lynne.