Ataxia

I believe this is what's going on with Topaz...not sure if this is related to the twitches/tremors though...I need to ask the vet.

What is ataxia?

Simply said, ataxia occurs when the body is out of balance. Symptoms of ataxia include: wobbliness, buckling leg joints, a drunken, staggering gait, lack of coordination, a tilted head carriage, tripping, falling, or collapsing.

This inability to coordinate voluntary muscular movements is often a side effect of anti-seizure medications which can cause weakness or loss of control of the hind legs, especially when the anti-seizure medication is first introduced, or when the current dosage has been increased. There are many other reasons that ataxia may be present in your pet, including ear infection and other health problems, but, if you noticed the ataxia soon after introducing anti-seizure medication, chances are, the anti-seizure medication is the source.

Another cause of ataxia is seizures. For a few days after a seizure your dog may not be able to jump up on the bed or couch and may have trouble going up and down stairs. Tremendous isometric stress is put on the muscles during a seizure. Immediately afterwards the back legs may not be strong enough for normal "romping" and it may take a few days to a week for that strength to return.

Both Phenobarbital (Pb) and Potassium Bromide (KBr) can cause ataxia, and the combination of the two drugs can often cause increased ataxia. Often, as the dog becomes used to the medication, the ataxia diminishes. If your dog is in this initial stage of getting used to the medication, it's prudent to go slowly with your dog on slippery surfaces and stairs. In time, your dog will gain more control of his/her hind end, so try to be patient.

It can be depressing to see your pal with ataxia. If medication was only recently introduced or increased, try to be patient and encourage your dog to go on short walks.

Problems can occur with older dogs who may be weak in the hind end already, or for dogs whose flooring is slick, as with hard wood or tiled floors. If you find your dog is unable to move safely on your wood or tiled floor due to ataxia, try putting down throw rugs to provide extra traction.

If you find that your pup's ataxia is pronounced, and shows no sign of lessening, please talk with your vet. Sometimes the anti-seizure medication can be reduced slightly and the ataxia will be greatly reduced. Of course, having ataxia is better than having a seizure, so we have to consider the balance there. If the blood levels of the medication are in question, the best way to know how much medication is being absorbed is with a simple blood test. Often the drug to reduce if you dog takes both Pb and KBr is Pb. Please do not try to reduce Pb without your vet's supervision and also you do not want to reduce it more than 10% every two weeks.

If your dog is only on KBr you might ask your vet if you can drop the KBr for just one day and see if that lessens the ataxia. If it does, you could ask you vet if a slightly lower dose could be achieved while keeping it in the therapeutic range.

Moderate and sensible exercise is recommended for dogs with ataxia. It is important to keep muscles strong and flexible. If your dog seems tired, take a break and continue on your walk when the dog is ready again.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ataxia.htm

Vet Results...

We got Topaz's lab results. The bromide level is good.

He's still been having these tremors (for lack of a better word). I don't know if they are getting worse. I just may be noticing them more. I think they're about the same.

Will keep an eye on him. He also keeps cutting the pad on one of his feet and he has a mysterious bruise like spot on his mouth, like where his chin would be.

Odd. Anyways...definitely keep a close eye on him.

Twitches

I noticed the other day that when Topaz is laying down his feet and limbs kind of twitch. Once he's asleep it seems to stop, but it's like while he's relaxing. It's uncontrollable and I don't know what to make of it. I did mention it to the vet tech we spoke to yesterday.

I took a couple videos of it.

Vet Visit 2/29

Topaz had a vet visit today to get blood drawn for his bromide levels. We'll get the results next week.

We also talked to a tech there who's going to talk to a neurologist about some of his symptoms. He's been really stumbling and falling a lot, and sometimes he's in almost a deep sleep like comatose even where I have to shake him awake...the sides of his mouth are also droopy now and sometimes he looks sad.

He's 63 lbs, he was 64 lbs in December...so he's down a bit...I'd like him at 60 lbs and I'm sure as soon as the weather breaks it will be no problem to get him down.

At least we have been seizure free!!

Will update when we get the bromide results!

Meds in food

We started putting Topaz's PB in his food as well. It's been going pretty good so far.

Nothing more to report, thankfully!

The Smell Again

My husband and I went out for a few hours tonight. We left at like 5:30/6:00 and came back right away...we bought a chest freezer to keep the dogs' food in so we wanted to set it up. At this time I fed the dogs a little bit...not their whole meal, just something to tide them over until we returned home later in the evening. We still had to go to Costco, get dinner and go grocery shopping.

We ended up getting home at like 10:00 pm or so.

Well when I let topaz out, the room had that seizure smell to it. It was that way earlier in the week one night too. His blanket in his cage was also wet. But his muzzle wasn't. The last time it happened it was the same thing...wet blanket, no wet muzzle. I always check when I smell that smell.

We were gone for a number of hours. It's possible that his muzzle could have dried...

I don't know what to think. I don't want to call anything a seizure unless I know it is one, but this is just odd. Maybe he peed in his cage? I don't know

We're not going to call the vet unless we actually see a seizure happen, which I hope to God we don't. But if we do need to call the vet, I will let them know of the two incidences this week.

He has been pretty drugged up all week since he had that loading dose of the potassium bromide. He's doing much better now.

We also have been letting him sleep in our room again at night. It's better if he has a seizure and he's in his cage at night, but at least I will wake up and can be right there.

Anyways, just wanted to document and update.

Poor Topaz

No seizures to update on , thank God!! But my poor puppa is all stumbling around the house and falling over and tripping on things.

He's obviously overmedicated or else these are side effects from the Potassium Bromide being added to his meds...or both even.

I just feel bad for him, he seems lost and just kind of wanders around the house. I am sure once the medication is in his system, he'll be ok.

It's just hard to see him like this.