<p>Update- he recovered from that first seizure and was behaving normally till last night. He had two seizures last night and a hard night sleeping. Let’s of heavy breathing. He seemed better this am. Ate his breakfast but had another this morning. Poor guy is upset and disoriented and breathing loudly again. I have a call into the vet but I don’t think it looks good.
Posting more to relieve my own stress.</p>
<p>So sorry, mom60. Hugs to you and your beloved dog. Having a sick dog is so hard to go through, especially when you are not quite sure what’s going on.</p>
<p>He had another this afternoon. He is restless. The Vet is starting him on phenobarbital and we see the vet tomorrow.</p>
<p>mom60- hugs to you and prayers for your friend. I know how helpless you feel because dogs can’t tell us what’s wrong. I hope he responds to the treatment.</p>
<p>It’s also frustrating because your dog looks to you to fix what’s wrong. </p>
<p>Hugs to you, and kisses on your doggie’s nose.</p>
<p>Hope the phenobarbital takes effect quickly, and that your sweet pup feels more like himself soon. And wishing your vet able to discern the right treatment quickly–if only our pups could talk.</p>
<p>Good luck with the phenobarbitol. As I mentioned in my earlier post, our dog took pb for several years and did well on it. We have since switched to Zonisamide, which I have found even better. Phenobarbitol can cause liver problems, Zonisamide does not do so.</p>
<p>I am sorry about your dog, Mom60…i have a good friend with a golden with a seizure disorder that i take care of fairly frequently, so i know how upsetting it is. This dog is on medication (phenobarbitol and gabapentin) basically every four hours, and he still has “breakthrough” seizure clusters about every 4-6 weeks. Curious to know what your vet suggests.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID X2</p>
<p>Mom60. Hugs</p>
<p>Hugs to you Mom60. We have a Golden of the same age.</p>
<p>I appreciate the hugs. It is hard to see him so out of sorts. I think he is afraid to lay down for fear he will have another seizure. He just paces and walks all around the kitchen and family room. D and I stayed home all day today, we are afraid to leave him alone.
My dear sweet S came over tonight to see “Charlie”. He is my sensitive one and to see this grown young man in tears on the ground rubbing his dog made me cry.
I hope the medication helps but at 12 yrs old I think we are preparing ourselves for the worst. The vet said it sounds like it could be a brain tumor.
Hoping for a quiet night.</p>
<p>Mom60 your last post brought tears to my eyes. I hope that this all goes well. We had to make the very difficult decision at the end of August (and in the same week that we moved our son into his dorm for freshman year - what week) to put our beloved, beloved, beloved (and adored) 13 yo Yellow Lab to rest. We had many visits to the vet over the course of that month with many tears shed along the way. Anyway…I hope all goes well… it is not an easy situation…my thoughts are with you.</p>
<p>Mom60, sabadog and I are sending our support and hugs to you today. Let us know how you’re all doing.</p>
<p>Oh mom, it is just so hard and heart wrenching to watch and not know what to do.</p>
<p>We have lost our two retrievers this last year and went through similiar emotions as we tried to figure out what was best.</p>
<p>Oh, these dogs, they are true, true love bundled in fur.</p>
<p>Sending warm thoughts and cyber hugs.</p>
<p>Joining the chorus of hugs, mom60. We put down our wonderful 1 year old Collie seven years ago and it still brings tears if I think of it. We waited too long, mostly because he would get a little better, and then relapse, and we had heard that some dogs do recover from what he had, which was mentioned by a previous poster. Vestibular disease has many of the same symptoms of a brain tumor- the pacing, the disorientation and the eye changes. It’s just so heartbreaking to witness. If I could do it over, I would have made the decision sooner, as our pup would have had more dignity at the end of his life, instead of confusion and distress.
I would listen to your vet and follow her advice. They have seen a lot and know when it’s time. Many hugs to you and your family.</p>
<p>
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<p>From the viewpoint of a human who once had a seizure, I don’t think so.</p>
<p>There’s no awareness during a seizure. A human might realize that a chunk of time had passed without awareness at a time when he didn’t expect to sleep, but I don’t think a dog would. Some people are aware of a period of confusion immediately after a seizure, but this only lasts for a short time. It wouldn’t account for continuing odd behavior.</p>
<p>I suspect that your dog is experiencing something else between seizures – that he feels funny in some way, and this is disturbing him. It doesn’t sound like he’s in great pain, but his behavior indicates that he doesn’t feel normal. Perhaps his sense of balance or his vision is different from usual, and it’s bothering him.</p>
<p>We made the painful decision to put him to rest. He had a difficult night last night and we all came to the decision that it was no way to live. It was hard because as soon as we made the decision he seemed to perk up. But we knew that to keep him going would be for us. The pb would probably stop or reduce the seizures but it would not stop the pain or the progression of what they felt was probably a brain tumor.
He was a Great dog and we loved him and it is sad.
Thank you everyone for sharing. Moonchild and Sportsmom thank you for your posts. They helped me in my decision to not keep going back and forth and waiting to long. He passed with his dignity.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry. My heart hurts for you.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry.</p>
<p>Sorry Mom60; you are a great pet-owner in making that decision.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID X2 using CC</p>