Thursday, November 6, 2008

Abby

OK, I'm starting to calm down a bit. Something happened this morning, I'm not sure what.

Abby had been hanging out in our bed this morning while I was showering, getting ready to leave for the day and what not, like she does most mornings. I walked into the bedroom to find her laying on her side on the floor, stiff, eyes huge and filled with terror. Her body was warm and clammy feeling. I picked her up and she stayed in the same position she was in on the floor, her front legs held straight out in front of her. Gradually she started to look a bit more normal, so I placed her on the ground and she took a couple of steps, but everything was completely uncoordinated, each leg was moving on it's own.

It's been about a half an hour and she seems pretty much herself. she's always kind of quiet in the morning, (she's not a morning dog), she had breakfast, sat on my lap a while and is hanging out in the big dog bed with the others right now.

She's had two similar spells, but I chalked them up to extreme over excitement/fear. One was just after a really good agility run. Just as she crossed the finish she stiffened up and her eyes glazed over just a split second and then she was back to normal. I though she either may have had a slight cramp (had her massaged that day) or was just *way* over stimulated. A second time this happened after Kittie attacked her in the park totally out of nowhere. She stiffened up for a second and took a couple of very uncoordinated steps. I carried her for a minute and then she was fine. I thought Kittie may have hurt her or caused her to strain her back or she was just very frightened. I was pretty upset with Kittie and Abby hates when I shout.

I thought she was just very sensitive to fear, excitement etc....she's always been sort of like a little cartoon, every emotional response is way over the top and extremely animated, now I don't know what to do.....

7 comments:

Jamie said...

Jesse,

I am so sorry Abby is demonstrating these signs. It is hard to say for sure without seeing her, but it really does sound like she is having seizure-like episodes. I would keep a journal of when they happen, descriptions, etc and would recommend her see a veterinarian for a full work-up.

westoverpugs said...

Thanks Jamie,

I was hoping you would see this. We're going in to the vets this afternoon. Is there anything you would/would not recomend at this point?

Jamie said...

I would recommend a complete blood count and biochemical panel, in conjunction with a urinalysis to completely rule out metabolic or infectious causes of disease (in addition to a physical exam). How often does she have episodes? Are they increasing in frequency? Other diagnostics depend a bit on answers to the above questions, as well as the results of her blood work/urinalysis and physical exam.

westoverpugs said...

The first time I noticed anything like this was in the Spring, maybe May and then the other was maybe July or August and just this morning, so about every 3 months, but this was first time it lasted more than literally a few seconds.

Margie said...

I'll be thinking of you guys today - crossing my fingers you find out what is going on.

westoverpugs said...

Well I don't know much yet. The vet is thinking epilepsy, results from blood work should be back on Saturday to rule out metabolic problems.

Unless they find something in the bloodwork, we're just going to wait and watch for any more seizures and use a journal to write down everything. My vet doesn't want to medicate her unless the seizures become very severe or occur at least monthly.

Jamie, does this sound like a good plan for now?

I've told Abby she's *not allowed* under any circumstances to do this again : ) Seriously, she has to be OK!

Jamie said...

That is exactly what I would do...I also do not treat seizures unless they occur monthly or are quite severe (i.e., grand mal seizures). The time course is also not consistent with PDE, as her seizures should have become more frequent by now and she would have most likely developed additional clinical signs (since May).