The dogs in Cheesetown are not having a good run of things right now...In the past couple of months no less than three of Ned's five regular walking companions have gone through the door of the vet's for the last time...
Remember Jock? or Old gentle George? Yeah last week saw another beloved old family hound put down.
Now it's Ned's turn to get the qualified diagnosis from the vet.
Not the full death sentence! Not a terminal diagnosis... but the writing's on the wall.
The Nedster started taking fits last autumn. Nothing to worry about yadda yadda, come back if they become frequent said the vet. How frequent is frequent? I asked being uninformed about all this. More than once a fortnight said the vet.
Within a week I was back.. because he was having attacks twice a day or more..
And the vet was relaxed about this, and Ned got put on drugs. And the drugs worked, until they didn't, when our relaxed vet upped the dosage. To cut a long story short for the past nine months we've been raising the dosage everytime he has more "breakthrough fits".
He's currently on six times the level of drugs he was on last September.
Which is not a Good Thing.
Last week our vet was sounding a bit less relaxed. Ned had had to be taken back after yet another major episode. The vet phoned me with the results of his blood tests.
"Well the good news is that we've still got some scope for increasing the dosage"
Oh..right..good
"But we are approaching the limits he can be given...How old is he again?"
Four and a half.
"Ah.. mm and it's been 9 months since the first episode... I think we may have to accept that we won't be able to control the epilepsy. This does happen I'm afraid".
..
I'm waiting for the usual "Lots of dogs have fits and live to a hundred" routine.
..
It isn't forthcoming.
..
So his fits will keep getting worse?
"Yes, that's entirely possible."
"At the same rate?"
A deep breath from the vet, "Yes, we may have to look at quality of life issues. "
The Nedster and I are currently contemplating the meaning of Quality of Life Issues.
7 June 2010 at 22:00
Sorry to hear this. Let us know what happens. Take care.
7 June 2010 at 22:35
Ha! you see Mme Def.. I just launched this wee blog behind a later one. Only the sharper eyed like you are going to pick up on it..
8 June 2010 at 18:08
Shit. I read your warning and I still read it and now I'm sad. :( Please get miraculously better, Ned.
Brains suck.
8 June 2010 at 18:46
Veg - yeah I was too sad (technical term = depressed) to even write this one for a couple of weeks...
26 July 2011 at 08:29
I know this comment is far too late, and I wish I'd read this at the time, but did Ned ever get his thyroid levels tested?
Buzz, my dog, had thyroid tablets as well as epiphen. The fits became less. And then one day his usual brand of thyroid tablet were out of stock so he had a different type of thyroid tablet... and on the new brand his fits stopped completely. [he'd bgun to have clusters before this].
I read up on this and apparently epileptic dogs are brand sensitive.
Sx
26 July 2011 at 08:31
I haven't written that very well. I still find it very upsetting. And upset that I didn't read this post in the first place.
Sx
26 July 2011 at 09:52
Scarlet!! No. No thyroid tests or pills. I'm adding this t the list of things I need to discuss with my vet - along with not coming out when I called reciting standard symptoms of kidney failure on Sunday night.
I shall also add it to things I need to beat myself up about, along with not insisting we get a vet on Sunday, and visiting my mother instead of staying with sick dog.
26 July 2011 at 10:02
HERE is a link to the UK Canine Epilepsy site; it has links to the sites in the US - which are the ones I used to read when I had problems with Buzz. They still make me ball my eyes out, so be careful if you read any of the owner's stories.
Sx
26 July 2011 at 10:08
This is the link specifically about the thyroid connection.
SX