Well-Trained, Seizure Dog

We had a special visit from Jennifer Kyzer on Sunday.

Jennifer is a dog behavioralist, and we originally planned to call on her in an attempt to manage Rilo's new-found love of counter-surfing and stealing food from Thea's hands and/or plate.

Last week, though, she snapped at Thea, and Nikole was ready for some heavy-duty training.

Naturally, one of the first things Jennifer reminded us as we outlined the various neurosis experienced by our dog, our two cats and our daughter is that the first place we should be looking is the mirror.

Thanks.

And then she asked questions, observed Thea and Rilo together, talked to us about dogs and humans and boundaries and patterns. We took Rilo for a walk. We let Thea hide some treats. We received our marching order, and then Jennifer left us.

Not an hour later, I noticed Rilo pawing strangely at the rug. It only took a few seconds before I realized she was having another seizure -- the first two last year completely freaked me out. Her back arches in a tremendous curve, and her hind legs jut straight out. Naturally, she's trying the whole time to stand up, and there's a clear look of terror in her eyes.

Within the first minute, I'd scooped her up and was headed to the car bound for the emergency vet in Carytown. Trying to drive a stick-shift car with a dog having spasms in the passenger seat is no mean feat, let me tell you.

By the time we neared the I-95 ramp to Cary Street -- maybe four minutes into her seizure -- she sat up, stretched and stuck her head out the window, sniffing the cold, winter air.

Situation normal.

We stuck around the emergency vet for a few minutes, and then decided to come home since she had normalized -- a pattern we saw with the other two seizures.

A little Internet research led us to suspect canine epilepsy. A visit to her regular vet on Monday suggested that we might be on target.

Fortunately, he doesn't think the seizures should be too alarming. He's doing blood work, and he gave her a full exam during our visit. We'll keep an eye on her, and if things get worse I've a half dozen friends who have already emailed with herbal recommendations their seizure-prone pups apparently swear by.

At least it's not Tourettes; it would suck to think every other bark was our dog cursing.

P.S. The training's already having an effect. Thanks, Jennifer!

Comments

[Kelly]

we have 3 dogs and our little dog, a large breed chihuahua had her first seizure when I was 5 months pregnant with my first child. maternal instincts put to the test instantly. her seizures are big. so I called the vet. he said watch her blah blah. well within 30 minutes she had another one, which was kind of a blessing because we called the vet, he filled and Rx and the rest is history. so mona has been on phenobarb for her seizures for 7 years almost. she still has breakthrough seizures about once a quarter or so, but they are relatively minor.
its really awful to watch your pet go through that, so I totally relate.
it may escalate or it may always stay at the frequency you see them now. and it sounds like rilo recovered quickly. when mona has a bad one, it takes her a while to get herself together.
its quite common with dogs, I found out, across all the breeds.

good luck with that.

I need to borrow your dog/human whisperer person. ;)