Monday, May 31, 2010

Panda Bear


Panda has been having seizures again this weekend. My husband interrupted my blogging last evening about 6:00 to tell me Panda was having a seizure. I ran to the living room and cradled her against my legs with a hand on her head so that she wouldn't thrash around. It seems to help calm her although she has absolutely no control over her actions. Since the last round of seizures and my visit with the veterinarian, I know they can be life threatening if they last too long. She's not breathing while she's seizing. Her lips get all pale and her eyes look all popped out. If I can keep her calm, I think/hope she will come out of it sooner. I had another dog years ago that got strychnine poisoning and while she was seizing, if there was a loud noise or something that startled her it would get worse. She lived through it, but the vet at that time told me it had been rare to survive it.

After she stopped and began to calm down and was drooling profusely, some things fell into place in my head. The night before I had woken to thumping in the hall. I thought Roxy was running up and down the hall. It got quiet and I got up to check what was going on. Everything seemed normal except the floor was slightly damp in front of the bathroom door and there was a dribble of water all the way down the hall. I tried to figure out what had happened and finally figured that Maryann had been thirsty and she always has water dripping out of her mouth when she's done. I figured she had walked down the hall after Roxy had been running. Now I think Panda had a seizure. It must have been her I heard coming down the hall after the seizure was finished and she was drooling as she staggered down the hall. She must have kept bumping into the wall because she's very unstable after coming out of it. And also we had noticed a little puddle of moisture on the floor in the living room after we had come home from lunch at a friends house. I now think that was a sign of a second seizure, so she's had three this weekend that I'm aware of.

Then I remembered that I had bought them dog treats Saturday afternoon. Rawhide chew sticks. That's very similar to the type of treat I had bought them last time Panda had seizures. Even though my doctor was sure she wasn't allergic to the treats, I'm convinced she is. I rarely ever buy them these kinds of treats (I usually get dog biscuits) so it's too much coincidence that she had seizures immediately following eating them twice now.

My doctor had given me diazepam to give Panda if she had any more seizures. As soon as she seemed recovered from this one, I gave her the pills in some cheese. She got loopy within about 20 minutes and seemed over-interested in everything but barely able to check it all out. She got right up to the TV and stared at it, she stood with her nose practically on the counter trying to sniff out some food and she followed me everywhere. Right on my heals, her tail waving the whole time. I think she was feeling very happy. I sat next to her for awhile while she went to bed and then I went to bed and she seemed to sleep through the night well. Today she seems fine. No more rawhide chews. Ever.

8 comments:

crochet lady said...

Poor Panda Bear. I hope abstaining from raw hides does the trick. That is such a scary thing and for her to have them so often seems awfully dangerous.

tainterturtles said...

I feel bad for Panda Bear. I hope she is feeling better. I'm glad you finally figured out what is going on with the seizures.

Teri said...

Oh that poor baby. Good thinking on your part determining the cause. Sounds like that could be it.

Aunt Krissy said...

Good idea on the raw hide treat. It's hard to find ones made in the USA. If they are made in China and Argentina (and other places) they don't have the same rules that the USA has about pet food. The rawhide gets sprayed with a mold retardent and other things before they are sold to factories that make them into chew toys. She probably is reacting to them.

Becky from Alaska said...

Good investigating! You're a regular Sherlock Holmes:)

Kellie said...

Yikes that is scary. Hope you have solved the mystery with no more raw hide bones.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Poor girl. At least you know what is causing it, hopefully.

A Lady's Life said...

oh gosh!

Poor dog.I hope its from these chewies and nothing more serious. Hope they stop. They said dogs die from balls made in china too.
My dog constantly plays with her balls.Its hard to find thing not made in china. I stopped buying seafood from asia. We have our own fish but what we see on store shelves is all imports.