Last night I got ready for bed kind of late. I had been enjoying the evening watching the sports channel with my husband (sports channel not so much but time with the hubby yes). When I couldn’t take anymore sports I went to get ready for bed and then went back to the living room to show Dwayne something. He was on the floor; panicking a bit, telling Bella to “Get it out, it’s ok get it out”
I saw Bella laying in front of her cubby, struggling to breathe like a fish out of water. I dropped my phone, ran to them, immediately started CPR. She kept stiffening up, then I saw her loose bladder control and was foaming/drooling….She was seizing. I (softly) barked orders for Dwayne to get the other dogs out of the room, lower the tv, grab keys and get dressed. When he returned I had him stay with her while I got dressed.
When I returned to them Bella had recovered slightly and was running from Dwayne and had hid in a corner scared to death. This is common after a seizure. I grabbed a soft blanket, covered her, picked her up and held her. She was covered in urine and saliva, was shivering and whimpering. Her eyes were wide from fear and neurological issues.
These are all common post seizure symptoms.
From what we saw (we don’t know how long she was seizing in her cubby-hubs saw her fall out of it, so he doesn’t know how long it was going on beforehand) her seizure lasted for almost 2 minutes. This was her first one, no other health issues so we took her to the vet immediately. Dwayne drove like a bat out of hell, running every safe red light and breaking a few other minor laws and I called the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Sorrento Valley letting them know we were on the way. All the while keeping my voice calm and soft.
When pets seize lights and sounds are magnified, you want to keep everything as soft as possible to help keep them calm. Which is why I’m upset that I didn’t recognize her seizure before I did CPR. That’s the last thing I should have done. Next time in an emergency I’ll remind myself to stop and assess the situation before jumping the gun. I know these things, I practice the basic first aid principals every day at work…I just panicked seeing my little 3 pound baby struggling and my husband scared. ALWAYS STOP, BREATHE, AND THEN ASSESS.
It’s advised to take your pet to the vet immediately after a first seizure, mainly for them to take a look and draw blood for possible poisoning or symptoms of external issues that caused the seizure. If you wait too long blood work won’t give a clear picture. You also want the vet to check post seizure motor skills.
Bella was still scared by the time we got to the vet, she was so insecure and didn’t want to leave my chest. The vet checked her over, all was well considering and took her to the back to draw blood. We had them do a Chemistry Panel,CBC w/differential and check her blood pressure and went home. Bella was exhausted as were we, but we had to give her a bath and clean up all the urine..this little 3 pounder sure did let out a lot of pee!!!
She slept with us, shivered a lot of the night and woke a little out of sorts. She wouldn’t eat her Honest Kitchen and wouldn’t take treats. Dwayne finally got her to eat some mushy kibble and she perked up when a contractor stopped by to give us a quote for artificial turf in the backyard. (She’s a flirt…and turned it on for him!) Hussy.
Now she’s good. She’s almost back to normal and we have the test results back. She has some abnormalities but nothing too severe. Our plan is to monitor her and if she has another seizure within a month we’ll do more testing.
I’m experienced/trained to handle pet emergencies and have seen a lot, we had a foster dog that I love dearly named Bauer who has epilepsy and took care of him during his big seizures….but when it’s your little princess who has never had a seizure and is suffering and your “manly” husband is panicking it gets to you. Thankfully we were able to get her care and thank goodness most of the blood work was ok. Now hopefully, we won’t have a roller coaster ride of episodes. You never know. But I will keep all updated, to share our experience in hopes to ease others fears and pain.
Pet emergencies scare the heck out of us, they’re our fur babies and we want them to be safe. Knowing what to do in certain circumstances can help ease our fears to be more beneficial and helpful in their care.
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