Grand Mal – 9/13/09 – 7:44am

I can’t help but feel partially responsible for this one. Unfortunately, I will never know either way, but I feel guilty as hell.

Topaz had what was probably 2 Grand mals this morning at 7:44am. We actually looked at the clock when it was all over with and it was 7:46am.

I think it was two because there was a little period where he came out of the first one and went right into the next. So it wasn’t like when he’ll go from one, get up and then move to a different spot for the next.

Some background…we got a new kitten on Friday. Kitten has a cold and so we’ve kept him isolated in the bathroom for the most part, but we have let him come out to play with the big animals a few times a day.

Last night Topaz seemed overly anxious. He’s been trying to mouth the kitten, so we’ve been yelling – not really yelling – but it’s been a lot of “Topaz, no!” and “Topaz, be nice” and “Come here and lay down”. Much, much more than normal. I’ve given him Rescue Remedy the past couple nights to help calm him down…but I guess if the seizures are coming, then they are coming!

The other thing is that I seriously think fish is a trigger for Topaz and we gave the kitten fish flavored food…so puppa could have gotten some of that on him from the kitten. It’s a stretch, I know…but I’m just throwing it out there.

The seizure itself wasn’t that bad as some that he’s had, but it also wasn’t the mildest one either.

He woke me up by trying to get up on the bed. That was when I knew something was up, so I helped him to the floor and he started seizing. I don’t know if he peed himself, I need to double check the bedroom and see. Just the usual paddling and foaming at the mouth.

I totally forgot about the ice pack, not that we have one ready, but we’ve used frozen vegs in the past, so we would have again. I had my husband get the rescue remedy, which made no sense…but I panicked.

After the seizure we gave him Breyer’s vanilla ice cream mixed with 2 1/4 gr PB, 1 valium and Rescue Remedy. We took him outside as we normally do and now he’s back in the house.

Still post ictal…nervous. I’m about to go back and lay down for a couple hours and see if I can get him to calm down a little.

I sure hope we didn’t do this to him with the new kitten. If not, then it’s some horrible coincidence.

Cost of Prescriptions

So we had to get a paper script for Topaz’s Phenobarbital because the vet isn’t going to carry it anymore due to paperwork and legalities.

I think I wrote last time that we were calling around to get price quotes.

I had kind of settled on Walgreens and their “W” card offer…they said a 90 day supply of his pills would be 10.99 plus 20.00 once a year for the program. That was cheaper than CVS and Target was going to be 15.00 or so. Walgreens without the W card was 20.99 for 90 day supply.

I thought that we should try Costco because I’ve always heard that their scripts are cheap. I had a heck of a time getting a quote when I called due to some rude pharmacy workers (unfortunately, I’ve found MOST pharmacy workers to be rude) and when my husband called he got a totally different quote than I did, so i was still unsure about the price.

My husband went up there today and for 150 pills it was under 7.00! I cannot remember the exact price, but it was CHEAP!

Plus, they are the same pills as he’s taking now!

That’s a HUGE difference than it even was at the vet! They were like 30 or 40 something for 150.

Score! Great savings!

The Valium was under 7.00 too and we ended up getting that at Target.

So overall, it helps to shop around and definitely try the savings clubs like Costco and Sams!

No New Seizures, Just Some Thoughts

Topaz made it through last night with no new seizures – Thank God!

I did talk to our vet last night and she’s going to give us a script for valium and we had to get a refill script for his PB…now I wonder if THAT is going to be an issue?? Ugh something else to think about. Usually we get his PB script from the vet, but they are no longer carrying it and are going to be scripting it out so we need to get it from the pharmacy. Hopefully it will not be an issue as far as the medication goes. And I will probably blog again about the cost of it all, I hope it’s not too much more than it is in the office.

The vet suggested to keep his meds where they are. Although, I will probably up his KBr a bit for my own peace of mind and I really thought he did much better on a little higher dose of KBr. But she did suggest that we check his PB level in a week or so, and come in for their last appt of the day (they are open till 10pm) and see what’s going on with it…if anything shows up. So we’ll do that in a couple weeks.

While I was thinking about environmental changes, I remembered that my husband had bought a different laundry detergent. He got Tide with Febreze – Meadows & Rain scent. It’s really fragrant! Personally, I never would have gotten that because it doesn’t smell good to me, but that’s what he got because it was on sale. I wonder if that has anything to do with the seizures. We’ve been using it for a week or so. Next time we’ll go back to our normal detergent.

Not sure if the Tide is to blame, or if it’s a total fluke…we’ll probably never really know, but I wanted to jot this down anyways.

Another Grand Mal Tonight! 7/13/09 – Actually 2

I really hope this isn’t going to be a long year with the seizures.

Topaz had another 2 Grand Mals tonight. I believe they started at 11:30pm ish. it was kind of hectic and I wasn’t able to see a clock right away. It was 11:35 when I looked at the clock…

I was making my lunch for tomorrow (Salmon, if that has anything to do with anything…the possible fish connection I made a few months ago) and Topaz went running down the hall to see my husband, which was kind of odd. Not that he’s never done so before, but it was just odd. Then he came my way and kind of staggered near the dining room table and then I knew, this wasn’t normal…so I was prepared and called my husband down to help.

He definitely foamed a heck of a lot more than usual this time. The first was fairly short, he kind of came around and then went right into the second one. It was a little nosier than the first and he was really contorted into a horrible position. Seeing a dog seize is not a pretty picture! 

A few other things:

• he didn’t urinate on himself during either seizure
• more foaming than normal
• loud crying noises
• post ictal has been long, he’s still not ok (this was written over an hour later)

We called the e-vet and they suggested we bring him in. As you may or may not know, e-vets are super expensive and we only have xx amount of dollars available to use and well, it was definitely going to be more than that. They suggested we maybe bring him in and they could treat him outpatient.

We decided to keep and eye on him and call his vet first thing in the morning. If he has another one tonight, we will take him in for sure though.

I don’t know what else they can do at this point but up his medication. He may just need to be a bit ataxic in order to function with minimal seizures. Lots of epileptic dogs are like that.

I think we may have his thyroid tested again too, just to rule that completely out. Oh and we need to review the ice pack position. I am going to print that out now!

After the seizure we took him outside and I gave him some Bryer’s all natural vanilla which he loved, and also some Rescue Remedy. I also gave him 2 gr of PB tonight and we upped his KBr back to 1.5ml. I am gonna have the hubbs ask the vet about upping that back up anyways.

Hopefully this doesn’t continue. I hate to have to write these blogs…especially back to back.

*sigh* going to reset the ticker. My poor puppa!

7/12/09 Another GM

Tonight is not my Puppa’s night!!

Topaz had another Grand Mal seizure at about 11:10pm or so this evening.

He had been lying on the couch with me again and had been pretty restless…he had JUST settled down.

I noticed that ever too familiar way that seizing dogs have just before they seize and tried to get to him before he fell off the couch. Unfortunately, he kind of landed on his head a bit, I righted him as soon as I could, but it did take a few minutes. I hope he’s ok with that, he seems to be ok. My husband or I couldn’t get to him in time. It was horrible looking.

Anyways, this was so different than his other seizures. It wasn’t so much paddling as it was laying there all stiff with teeth chattering. He also didn’t urinate on himself again, but did foam a bit. He took a while again to get out of it too.

We tried the ice pack trick again, but we don’t have a crushed ice bag ready (note to self…we NEED one of these!) so we used green beans. I also need to have my husband look at the picture of where to put the ice pack and I need to look at it again. We also may need to ask for some Valium from the vet. Esp if this is going to be a new norm.

When he finally did come around, which took a few extra minutes it seemed…even longer than the first one earlier in the evening, we gave him another spoonful of ice cream and rescue remedy and my husband took him outside.

He wasn’t pacing, but was walking around and kind of staggering. Moreso than normal, to me anyways.

We called the e-vet too, to get their opinion. If he has another one tonight, we’ll bring him in. Hopefully all will be ok and we’ll call his vet in the morning. I am thinking we need to up his KBr again back to 1.5 from 1. I don’t know.

I have no clue on this one…just the disease I guess.

Anyway, I hope there won’t be anymore! Poor puppa!

7/12/09 Grand Mal Seizure - 8:35 PM

Topaz had a Grand Mal seizure tonight at 8:35pm. He and I were laying on the couch and I was woken up my him seizing. Didn't seem any better or any worse at the time and luckily he managed to stay on the couch for the entire duration. But him coming around did seem a bit longer to me. He layed there for quite a few minutes just staring, not breathing heavily, but just staring...which is unusual. But he did finally come around.

We took him outside and did the usual routine of Vanilla ice cream (Breyers, of course), Rescue Remedy (thank God I had just ordered some), and his PB for the night. I game him an extra large dose, so he will be out tonight.

We (well my husband) called the vet and let them know too.

So sad to be resetting the ticker at only 43 days, but that is better than some, so we'll take it!

Cannot think of any triggers...just that he's gotten a few more eggs than usual. Other than that, everything has been same ole same ole around here.

Will think on the trigger thing...sometimes things pop into my head later.

Off to reset the ticker.

Something’s Fishy

LOL cute title huh?

So I’ve been thinking about possible triggers and there’s one thing that my mind keeps going back to and that’s fish.

Before the last seizure in February I think it was, I had given the dogs Sardines. That was the only big difference I could think of.

The cats haven’t been eating real well lately, not sure if it’s a seasonal thing, or if they’re bored with the flavors or something (we feed them strictly canned food and generally stick to poultry or beef/liver flavors) so we got a case of fish flavored last time we bought their food, and we got another one this past time as well.

So, maybe that’s a trigger for Topaz, or something in the fish. I don’t know. Definitely an interesting coincident.

He commonly gets into the cat bowls and goes behind them on the floor and everything. We have one cat, Beans, our little female, who takes a mouthful into the bedroom or hallway and then eats it. Half the time she drops some of it and she always leaves crumbs, so the dogs go and eat what’s left.

So, maybe it’s something? Definitely something to watch.

5/30/09 – Grand Mal

Well, unfortunately this morning around 8:14 am Topaz had a Grand Mal seizure. I was home alone this time. Not a fun thing to handle alone, let me tell you.

The details: I was asleep and he came to me a few times, but I thought it was to go outside. I got up to let the dogs out and he was kind of stumbling around and I noticed one leg was twitching up like he had hurt it or something, so at first I didn’t even think seizure…but something else seemed off and not right, so I quickly got down by his side.

He went into full GM seizure right in the doorway of our bedroom. I am pretty sure he urinated on himself, and there was definite foaming at the mouth this time. (my husband said there wasn’t the last time)

It seemed to last longer than the others have, I don’t know if that is truly what happened, or if because I was alone dealing with this, it just seemed longer.

The end was pretty violent and he did make noise this time. He did not go into clusters.

I tried the ice pack, but we don’t have one handy, and I didn’t know the proper placement (although I’ve seen the graphic a million times) so I don’t know that I was doing it right. I’ll have to read about it again.

I took him outside, and thank God for his pool being out there, I helped him into that to cool him down. I left him outside for a few minutes and got a scoop of Breyers Vanilla ice cream and mixed that with some Rescue Remedy and 2gr (I believe) or else 1 1/4gr PB. We don’t have valium, but may need to get some. I definitely need to order more Rescue Remedy next pay.

I called my husband, who’s heading towards Ohio as I write, and explained the details. I was still outside at this point with him. He never did poop afterwards…something he generally does…and he really seems out of it. I predict a longer post ictal stage this time.

Right now he’s sleeping peacefully next to me. We have the air conditioning on, so hopefully he will stay cool…and he’s half wet too, so that may help.

He went 102 days and approx 18hrs. I have no clue as to a trigger…nothing has really changed. I’ll have to think about it.

I’m gonna reset his ticker and add this date to his timeline. *sigh*

And I need to call the vet too, in about 15 minutes.

KBr Test Results

The vet just called and let me know what Topaz’s KBr levels were.

I guess 1-3 is considered normal. He is generally low within normal range.

His result was 3.3 – so he was a little high this time. The vet wants us to get him down to 1.0ml of KBr (I have been giving like 1.3ml or so) and see how he does there. I agreed, he’s been doing really well lately.

We’ll probably have to check him again in a couple months.

Topaz’s Latest Adventures!

I haven’t updated in a while…which always means GOOD news! Which is still the case…thank God! No seizures since the last couple in Feb.

However…he has been getting into things! What else is new, right?

Shortly after the last oatmeal fiasco, he devoured ANOTHER whole box of oatmeal…Apples and Cinnamon this time though! Bad puppa!

And just the other day he ate a package of Knorr Chicken Rice. I scanned the ingredients for Rosemary, and although I didn’t see it anywhere, I upped his PB that night. All seems to be well.

Our neighbor was spraying his yard today, and I didn’t catch it in time…so we’ll see if that has any effect on him. It didn’t last year.

He also got into the trash in my office today. No clue what was in there food-wise…but I think it was ok. There’s always the risk of him getting into this trash so I try not to throw bad stuff in there.

He went to the vet today for his KBr blood draw, a CBC and to get some PB. We also need to get more KBr. We’ll order that after his lab results are back.

He weighs 59.4 lbs now too! At one time he weighed 73 lbs, so he’s lost a good amount of weight and is doing really well.

He’s also back into his little pool. I’ll take a picture this weekend. He loves it! He’s such a happy boy and a joy when he’s not being a total BRAT!

Raisins & Spice Oatmeal and The Topaz (Raisin / Grape Toxicity)

Today while my husband drove me to work, Mr. Topaz decided to help himself to a box of dry Quaker Raisins and Spice Oatmeal.

I was busy first thing when I got to work and when I got back to my desk I had 2 missed calls and a couple of missed txt messages from the hubbs saying that Topaz got into the oatmeal, which, mind you, was on the counter.

I knew he had bought 2 kinds…Apples and Cinnamon and Raisins and Spice. I asked which kind and said a small prayer that it was the Apple kind. He said apple…I asked are you sure. He went to check.

Nope…Raisins and Spice.

So I told him to call the vet immediately!

Raisins are HIGHLY toxic to dogs!!!! they can die within 48 hours of eating them. ONE, yes ONE, raisin can kill a 10 lbs dog!

Grapes/Raisin Toxicity & Dogs – Wiki
About.com - Vet Question
ASPCA - Grape & Raisin Toxicity in Dogs
Snopes - Dogs & Raisins
ASPCA - The Wrath of Grapes

If you click on the links above, or Google “raisin toxicity in dogs” you’ll find plenty of information about how grapes and raisins are bad and lethal for dogs.

Anyway, back to Topaz…so the vet says to either bring him in or watch him. Well, no way I’m taking that risk and just watch him…so my husband takes him in.

They said on the phone they were going to pump his stomach, but I believe then ended up giving him something to induce vomiting.

He threw up there until no more raisins came up, so hopefully he got rid of them all. The next 24 to 48 hours are crucial. We’ll keep an eye on him for sure.

He’s acting like nothing happened…and whew! he has some wicked GAS!! omg!!! Yuck!

Other than that and a bit of diarrhea, he seems to be fine.

Needless to say, he will have to be locked up again when we are not going to be home. This was basically the last straw and something that we shouldn’t have risked with him. It was just a matter of time before he got into something that could seriously hurt him…and this could have seriously hurt him.

I am going to up his PB tonight and hopefully he will remain seizure free after this. We’ll see, I don’t think there’s anything in the oatmeal besides the raisins that can really hurt him…other than he’s been on a no grain diet for a long time.

Never a dull moment with this dog, I swear~!~

The Many Adventures of Topaz!

Topaz is a nut…he’s a bad, bad dog. And we’re bad, bad owners…we probably need to start locking him up in his crate when we leave, so I’ll take responsibility for these past couple incidents.

We were having a problem with a cat pooping under our bed. We nipped that in the bud by putting a litterbox in our bedroom. Funnily, she stopped pooping under our bed that SAME day! lol I guess it was a litterbox location issue. Ok, getting off topic…anyways, so Topaz got into the litterbox on Monday and had a little kitty snacks from there.

He was coughing a bit that night and so we kept an eye on him and I gave him an extra 1/4 PB that night.

Well, my husband and I come home today from my job and Onyx meets us at the door…no Topaz. I call him…no Topaz. OMG where is he! I was SOOOO worried he was laying dead somewhere in the house! I check the back of the house, thinking maybe he locked himself in the bathroom and notice some movement by the 3rd bedroom’s CLOSED door.

This door is never closed, it’s rigged to stay open because that’s where we keep the rest of the litterboxes. So I open the door and out trots Topaz and two of the (baddest) boy kitties!

The opening to get into that room is 6-8 inches. Topaz is 65 lbs and not a small dog…the freezer is RIGHT by the door. How he squeezed his big ole puppa body in there, I’ll never know! But he did.

AND there was a case of chicken necks (40#) sitting on the top of the freezer…of COURSE he had gotten into those. Not sure how much of it he ate, they are still pretty frozen! The rest of the room was a disaster area!

So anyways, now he’s panting and kind of coughing again…I assume from the litter, but we’re checking him for signs of the pancreatitis coming back. In fact, i was worried about his temp and took it tonight. 101.2. He hated me too. Poor dog.

Anyways…I think I’ll have my husband bring the dogs the rest of the week when he drives me home…they do love a car ride!

Oh, and I upped his PB tonight too…I think we may have to get his cage back in use order. it’s actually in pieces right now since we took it with us to my sister’s wedding.

Sardines

Thought of something…I gave the pups Sardines either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday…don’t remember which day.

That may have something to do with the seizure.

2 Grand Mals after 294 Day Streak!

Unfortunately, I need to reset Topaz’s ticker. Fortunately, he’s doing really well and the post ictal stage was really short according to my husband…AND he made it a whopping 294 days, and about 7 hours between seizures. What an accomplishment!! That I am truly grateful for.

So, as I usually do…here’s the “what happened” blog. One difference, I was not home when it happened so this is how it all went down via my husband…who did awesome and I’m very proud of him!

Around 1:40pm Topaz came to my husband into the computer room from the bedroom where he says he was sleeping. He came in and then fell over and started seizing.

He had a GM and was foaming and he was actually very loud this time around…the last time he was quiet, but this time I could hear him howling or screaming through the phone…poor baby!

My husband said he got up when it was over…after approx a minute or so…he moved to the middle of the room and had another one. I believe it was the same as the first. I’ll double check with the hubbs.

Anyway, he just had the two and then my husband took him outside to cool off. He did not urinate on himself, which he usually does, but he did poop as soon as he went out.

I’d say the post itcal was pretty short because he seems pretty near normal right now, and my husband said he was fine afterwards in the yard. Fine to him is not fine to me, so he was probably a little out of it, but not so bad.

I called the vet to document it and they said no change in meds. I will give him an extra 1/4 pill tonight though anyway. They said to call back if he has another within 24 hours of the first.

What else do I usually write…oh, environmental changes.

This dog has been SO hyper lately! He’s an Aussie or Border Collie, so this is to be expected, but he was overly excited. He has been going on daily or almost daily car rides and has gotten into the trash pretty regularly since before Christmas.

We’ve hopefully ended the garbage battle (haha I typed ballet first…either fits! LOL) once and for all with an under-the-sink trash can. So that should be done with.

Oh…and something that I usually do, but dh didn’t…or couldn’t as he was alone…I usually give rescue remedy right when he starts coming out of the seizure…and I would have tried to use the ice pack, but I wasn’t here. Not that I’m disappointed to not have the opportunity, I hope I NEVER do! When dh let the dogs back in after everything, he gave Topaz some Breyer’s Vanilla with RR mixed in…which is what I would have given him right away. But he got some and that’s good.

I am gonna look into some natural trigger possibilities…pressure, maybe moon…something…but I doubt it will let me know anything. Oh, and I’m also going to email the company that makes our cat food to see if they put rosemary in any of their formulas…so we’ll keep that in mind when feeding them.

Hmm…that answer will be interesting…Topaz has been getting into the trash and cleaning the kitty food cans…maybe a trigger.

Anyways…I think that’s all. I will update as needed, gonna go update the ticker. *sigh*

Garbage AND Deoderant!!!

Ugh! This dog has kept us ON OUR TOES this week!!! First, he gets into the trash not once but TWICE this week.

Then, I come home today and he’s coughing and trying to vomit…so after some investigating I find that he’s gotten into my deoderant of all things! Never in the 3 years we’ve had him has he EVER gotten into that!!

I just don’t know what to do with him besides locking him up, which I think just stresses him out too much. Especially since he’s been able to be free for a long time now.

We finally got a child lock thing for the garbage can, we’ll see how long that lasts!

*This blog was actually started a few days ago..

He BROKE the child lock and got into the trash again...AND one day this week he ATE the entire bag of defrosting chicken necks that my husband left on the counter!

I don't know what's going on with him!!!

We've upped his PB on the days that he got into stuff that I KNOW wasn't good for him...

And...THANK GOD...he hasn't had any seizures! We've been VERY lucky in that sense. But this whole trash thing is getting old fast.

We're putting a metal lock on it tomorrow and if, somehow, he gets though that we're gonna put it under the sink and call it a day!

Stinkin dog!

Garbage Hound…yet again!!!

This dog JUST will NOT stay out of the trash!!! UGH!!! I guess it was EVERYWHERE when the hubbs came home…

He somehow tipped over the metal trash can and emptied it…and proceeded to drag it around the house and eat whatever bits of it he could. Rotten dog!

Still no seizures…but I will be upping his PB tonight cuz of the garbage.

Oh, and kitty poo is almost a daily delicacy…we’re working on a solution to that problem as well.

*sigh* dogs are gross.

PB Level

Topaz's PB level is within range...so we are proceeding as we are!

Yeah Puppa!

To the vet today!

Topaz went to the vet today for a blood draw to check his PB levels.

He's such a different dog now than he was at his last visit to the vet, and even at his last blood draw! He's happy, boofie, crazy, hyper...like the Topaz we once knew. It's great and also crazy and once!

Will have the results on Friday...