In Case Henry Has A Seizure Tonight...

[Guest EmilyAnne]

I am a member of a yahoo group of others who have epi-dogs. I have heard of a few things they do, and asked them about it. Before last night's seizure, Henry had been seizure free 47 days. The last set of seizures were 4 nights in a row. Before that he always had clusters. It is like his medicine makes his clusters further apart? So, I am a bit panicky here about Henry possibly having a seizure again tonight, and worried noone will answer my questions from the yahoo group in time for tonight. Many of ya'll here are pretty experienced, so I am posting my questions here as well.

 

A few things I have heard people talk about:

 

-giving a double dose of pheno. My vet never said anything about that? Henry is on 100 mg pheno twice daily. I am thinking about giving Henry 50mg after seizure? And then regularly sheduled meds as well? How does that work? Or do you give a double dose plus regulalry scheduled meds? Or is the double dose in replacement of regularly scheduled meds? I am afraid of overdosing Henry. I do have rectal valium on hand as well. But I have not heard any good things about the rectal valium and hestitate to use it unless Henry really gets into clusters.The vet said use it if Henry has a second seizure within the same period of time.

 

-ice to top of head and back of neck? How exactly do I do this? Is this to ward off possible upcoming seizures?

 

-tomorrow morning we will go get some rescue remedy. What ways of applying do you find works best?

 

I will have my sponge bath equipment on hand, and clean jammies and bedding waiting on te ready just in case. I am also wedging extra pillows around Henry's bed so that Henry does not seize wedged between the hard wall and bed again. I have all floor surfaces cleared off as much as possible and I put some of the kid toys in the garage to make more room.

 

Also, I hope this does not sound like a dumb question, but grand mal seizures I understand raise the body temperature to a high level which can be dangerous. Should I forego having Henry wear jammies?

 

 

[Guest McGreyt]

So sorry I have no idea. Others will respond soon to help you.

[Trudy]

When Ryan has his second seizure, it is usually about 7 days after the first unless his seizure was stress induced and then it is just the one.

 

I posted what we do in your other thread.

I guess I don't worry about seizures as much as many other people. I don't give extra meds, we've never seen him cluster, so no valium on hand. I just keep him safe while he's having his seizure and keep my eye on the clock so I know if I need to call my vet and have him meet me at the office. His early seizures before we started medicating were about 5-7 minutes of violent seizing. With meds they are still quite violent (though he's not knocking TVs over anymore), but they are about 3-4, sometimes 5 minutes.

I know my vet's number, so it isn't on speed dial. If you don't know your vet's number, get it programmed into your phone or post it somewhere easy for you or a family member to find it and make a quick call if you need to.

Moving a seizing dog is a PITA to do alone, so ahead of time, figure out how you'd get him into the car and to the vet if you need to while he's seizing (sheet and 2 people if you can). I did that the first time he had a seizure as I had no clue what was going on and I still think he stopped breathing until I dropped him on my way out the door with him. He seized way different than our border collie we had while I was growing up.

 

 

I've never iced Ryan. He can cool off on his own. If his temp is that high, I'd get him to the vet.

I don't give him extra meds without my vet suggesting it first. He's doped up enough.

 

All I do is keep him safe during, watch the clock and help him outside when he's done and hang with him until he's not so wobbly on his feet and goes back to bed. I also give him a little snack that has some sugar in it after he comes back inside.

 

 

 

This is his first seizure since he's been on Pb and KBr - the KBr may help enough to only have him having the one seizure - he may be fine for a while. Once he has the next one, you and your vet can decide if he needs more meds, or additional (gabapentin is also used for seizures in dogs - ryan was on all 3 while he was sick, but not for that reason.... but he still had a break through seizure while on all 3 meds since the meds weren't making it to his liver to be processed).

 

Good luck and try not to stress out about it.

[Guest sheila]

I don't know if this is of value or not as I'm no expert on anything. I've heard that giving the dog some vanilla ice cream helps as it replaces some sugars that a seizure dog needs. I don't know if that is true or not but I do know that vanilla ice cream was one thing I could get a seizure dog to accept when they were too weak to get up to drink.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

This is his first seizure since he's been on Pb and KBr - the KBr may help enough to only have him having the one seizure - he may be fine for a while. Once he has the next one, you and your vet can decide if he needs more meds, or additional (gabapentin is also used for seizures in dogs - ryan was on all 3 while he was sick, but not for that reason.... but he still had a break through seizure while on all 3 meds since the meds weren't making it to his liver to be processed).

 

Good luck and try not to stress out about it.

 

It is his first seizure since being on both meds! Boy that would be awesome for this to be the only one for a while! Hopefully his next will not be for a good while and I truly hope Henry NEVER has to go through the same severity as last nights seizure ever again!

 

I have no idea how I would get Henry into the van. My husband is a paraplegic and our children are not strong enough yet. (They are ages ten and three) A neighbor helped me with Alfalfa when Alfalfa went lame due to arthritis. I dont know about 3 in the morning though. Henry is 82 lbs.

 

 

I don't know if this is of value or not as I'm no expert on anything. I've heard that giving the dog some vanilla ice cream helps as it replaces some sugars that a seizure dog needs. I don't know if that is true or not but I do know that vanilla ice cream was one thing I could get a seizure dog to accept when they were too weak to get up to drink.

I had forgetten about this idea! Thanks so much for reminding me!

[Guest goofydog]

I cannot add anything about the seizures, but if you need to ice his head/neck the best thing is a bag of frozen peas or corn niblets. They can be formed to the intended area. You can hen refreeze and reuse. Be sure to place a washcloth or towel between the ice pack and skin to avoid a burn. Please don't laugh, this works on humans too for any area that needs an icepack.

 

[TheFullHouse]

The ice on the head is to cool him down. Since he paces and pants I think you'd have a hard time accomplishing anything along those lines. He will cool himself down. Make sure he has plenty of water available after a seizure. This will also help him cool down.

 

You can give him ice cream or anything with sugar. It will help him to recover more quickly from the seizure. It may also prevent clusters since it will raise his blood sugar back to normal levels as they drop during seizures.

 

I wouldn't mess with his medicine but if he does cluster, definitely use the valium. The trick is to medicate him enough to calm the brain so the seizures will stop. It's not going to do anything bad to him, just sedate him, which is a good thing. I keep valium here for Saint just in case also. I've had to use it once.

 

If it's been 47 days since his last seizure, you're making great progress. You can call the vet, he may want to raise his Phenobarbital a little. There is room for him to go up on it if he's only taking 100 mg. twice a day.

 

You're doing what I did at first, you're just waiting for the next one. Try to relax. Though the seizures look horrible, he's not in any pain. He can't feel anything while seizing so really there is nothing you can do. You can't prevent it from coming on, only the medication can do that. I wouldn't add any medication without asking your vet first. You could mess with his blood levels so that if the vet wants to check them, once the extra doses of medication are out of his system his levels will drop again.

 

I know how hard it is, but try and remain calm. If you need to, come on here. I'm sure there are people up in the middle of the night all the time on GT.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Jillysfullhouse: Your posts are SO helpful! You know just EXACTLY what I am going through! Ya'll are a great help and a real blessing! I need to count my blessings here: Henry went 47 days without a seizure. That IS good! Also, this time, he has a new med in him which will very likely make a big difference! I think I understand why the vet did not tell me to give Henry extra pheno if he had a seizure. Henry is a new patient and he probably wants to get a feel for Henry's levels first, especially since he has only been on the pheno since March and the Kbr since October.

 

Well, if I wake to Henry seizing again tonight, I will be more confident in knowing that I am more prepared this time. Our bedroom is 9x9 and is on the main floor. Our queen size mattress is on the floor because my husband is a paraplegic and this is easier for him. Even though we only have two dogs, we have three dog beds set up, so the room is pretty much wall to wall mattresses. There is a desk that holds TV and one small bookcase that is in there because of the Christmas tree. I put duct tape over the edges of the heater vent cause the edges are sharp and I am so lucky Henry did not seize between his bed and the wall with the vent! I have wedged pillows in between henry's bed and the rest of the walls surrunding his bed so he doesnt hurt himself on the wall being wedged. I also have my two camping sinks with clean pj's and washcloths and a big towel on the ready. I have my medical gloves and my valium. I will always make sure the washing machine is empty each night before I go to bed so I can quickly throw in soiled bedding/towels. The playroom is much more bare tonight so he wont be tripping on toys anymore if he has another seizure.

 

He did drink a lot of water last night. Next time I'll throw in some crushed ice.

[TheFullHouse]

I think you'll do just fine. As awful as it sounds, when you know what to expect, it's a lot easier to deal with. I'm really encouraged by the fact that he went 47 days! That means the meds are working, you may just have to tweek the dose a little bit. I really am encouraged!!!!! Keep his log going. Make sure you put last nights seizure in there so you can give the vet all of the details. The more details the better he will be able to help you.

 

A big hug to the both of you and keep up the good work!

[Guest EmilyAnne]

NO SEIZURES LAST NIGHT!!!!!

 

I am positive it's the Kbr! Good stuff!

[patricia]

Good boy! Cody Angelo thinks that Kbr is the bomb!

[Guest goofydog]

NO SEIZURES LAST NIGHT!!!!!

 

I am positive it's the Kbr! Good stuff!

 

Congratulations for both of you.

[Meandmy]

I was just stopping by, hoping you and Henry had a restful night last night. I'm so glad to see that you did

[TheFullHouse]

Wonderful!!!!! That Potassium Bromide is what did it for Saint. Apparently you're having good results too!

[Guest sheila]

I have no idea how I would get Henry into the van. My husband is a paraplegic and our children are not strong enough yet. (They are ages ten and three) A neighbor helped me with Alfalfa when Alfalfa went lame due to arthritis. I dont know about 3 in the morning though. Henry is 82 lbs.

One thing I could suggest if you ever have to get Henry to the van is using a large bath sheet or a folded blanket and roll Henry onto it and use it as a makeshift stretcher. Even if the 10 yr old can't pick up an end they could probably at least help you drag it along.

When I had to put my 80+ greyhound in my car by myself I pulled my car up into my yard in front of my porch and was able to sort of pull him into the back seat this way