Rescue Journal

rescue isn't always pretty or nice

Carol  ·  Sep. 6, 2007

sometimes it is just down right ugly. and you have to be careful in it's ugliness to understand what is happening because if you didn't, you might misinterpet and clyde would soon be dead.

clyde started cluster seizuring this morning, 3 major grand mals all in a row. i gave him valium rectally and stopped them, but not before they really scrambled his brain. there is a post major seizure recovery period, could be a few hours, could be a week. every creature reacts differently during that time. late this afternoon, clyde went into a rage and lost all inhibition and it was michael who was helpless against him. greg heard michael screaming, he ran to the house, he believes the attack lasted about ten minutes before he could peel clyde off. michael doesn't have any punctures because clyde doesn't know how. but he does have multiple abrasions from clyde chewing on him and needless to say he is traumatized.

there was no way to predict that clyde would react post seizure like this, the one seizure i witnessed before was not like today. and while i know it is possible, none of the epileptic dogs i have had in the past have reacted this way, so clyde has thrown me for a bit of a loop.

i am so sick inside that michael was so terrified and i want to blame clyde but i can't because he is not to blame. he cannot control a brain that is in hyper over drive and misfiring from a glut of misfiring synapses.

i don't know if we are in deep trouble with clyde or if this was an isolated immediate post seizure occurence, i just know i can't risk anyone again.

so no at this time i am not considering euth'ing clyde, but he will be confined in a crate always when i am not here. and all will depend on how he deals with this confinement and what happens with him in the next little while as we try to control his epilepsy which seems to be getting much worse.

i do so wish that rescue was prettier, i wish so much that it wasn't so hard but this is the long haul, the reality of rescue and that means all of them, the michael's and the clyde's can expect that we will do our very best and because we are human, sometimes our best won't be quite good enough too.

i am so sorry michael, a final battle so close to the end was just not fair. i am on top of it now and you are safe.

and clyde, i know it wasn't your fault, and you are a good dog and i will try to keep you and everyone else safer now too.

that is the best right now that i can do.

sigh, rescue does majorly suck on some days.

Comments

Corinne

I also have a dog who had seizures, although we don't know if they were caused by epilepsy or the severe abuse he experienced before my brother saved Rocky. I'm now told that epilepsy is quite common in Labs, although my Rocky is a hound cross. Anyway, he used to have grand mal seizures and the vet suggested euthanazia. I did a bit of research and found a number of sources of info about MSM. It's readily available, inexpensive and it has worked wonders for our boy (about 9 years old now). Rocky is about 100 lbs, so we started him on 1000 mg with breakfast and another 1000 mg in his dinner. We should have cut him back sooner, but were afraid to. His seizures stopped completely and he was fine for about 5 years. However, he developed a bladder infection and when I took him to Dr. Elena Petrali (in Dewdney - a great vet!) she suggested we cut the dosage in half. Rocky has been on 1000 mg with breakfast for the past year and has had only 3 or 4 very small seizures. I then add an extra 1000 mg for a couple of nights and he's fine. We've settled on adding 1000 mg with dinner every 2nd or 3rd day and there have been no seizures for the past six months. I apologize for the length of this note, but I encourage anyone dealing with a dog having seizures for whatever reason to try MSM.
Good luck and thank you for taking care of the old ones!

Christine

I'm so sorry Carol.
My mom has an epileptic dog, and she gives him a tablespoon of all natural icecream after a seizure to help stabilize his *insert something about the pancreas here* levels. Apparently it really helps with the post seizure recovery.
I know you can't always do that because there isn't always someone around, and not sure if you'd even want to try, but just an thought for when you are there.

Rae

Carol I am so sorry Clyde hurt poor Micheal. I can only imagine how scared Micheal most have been. Thankfully Greg was there to help him. I hope Clyde comes around and back to normal. If not I totally trust you to do what's best to keep Clyde and all of the other Saints safe. Clyde knows you love him. I wonder what's going on in his little brain.