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  1. #11
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    I am really sorry to hear this. I hope you'll get it under control fast, and that Wrigley can get back to enjoying her life.
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  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    Thanks, I hadn't visited over here yet. Yes, Wrigley has epilepsy, diagnosed in June, though started with Grand Mal seizures back in February. She started have a cluster Friday night. By the time we opted to take her to the ER on Sunday, she had had 13 and they were coming about 1 hour apart. It was manageable but we were scared that they would start coming quicker, which is BAD. So she was in for close to 2 days. Had a few small ones there. Fortunately our neurologist has his office in that building so she got HIS care. We upped doses of her Phenobarbital and Keppra and added in a 3rd called Zonisamide. So she's pretty doped up. We've had minimal luck at control, just a horrible genetic fluke. I got her home last night. She's OK, super super tired, little goofy walking around, which is partly the increased meds and partly the brain function just returning. She slept soundly 5-6 hours, NO MOVEMENT last night.

    We're just trying to get some control to allow some quality of life. Her good days are great, but if we have a week a month of bad days, it's not good. We're not the type of people to do the MRI's and spinal taps, and possibly brain surgery etc. The doctor is pretty sure it's idiopathic epilepsy, meaning it was genetic/hereditary (her breeder knows, though has never experienced anything like this before) but it was probably more of a congenital issue.

    So we are kind of bummed about all this. We've never dealt with any of the hopeless things like cancer and such. She's TWO! It's pretty hard to think about.
    So sorry to see this Jen. My heart goes out to you and I can empathize with your situation.

  3. #13
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Once things calm down again we will probably go see a holistic vet. At this point, nothing else is happening successfully, so it's worth a try. We have also tried CBD oil but not all oils are the same, and the same oils don't work with all dogs. We've tried 2 with no luck. I've been told about a 3rd I will try at some point. The CSU study is about 2 hours north of us, you have to be very flexible with your time so that you can go when they need you. I might need to look at it a bit more closer though. Maybe they'd be willing to be more flexible with us since we are distance-challenged but we have a very difficult case which might be good for their study.

  4. #14
    Senior Dog Black Labbies's Avatar
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    Hi Jen,
    You can give Wrigley Belladonna yourself. It's sold at health stores by Boiron.com. You then dissolve 3 pellets in Spring water in a dropper bottle and when Wrigley has a seizure, you immediately sprinkle 1cc (in a needless syringe) on her tongue or gums. No kidding, within 30ish seconds the seizure will stop, and the beauty is that no one can ever over dose when giving more dosages within minutes of each other, as we've done. We've seen this umpteen times with Ursa. Belladonna is one of Ursa's best friends, the other is Bufo Rana, which we give her at bedtime.

    Ursa is also a candidate for cannabis oil, but for now, we don't need it. Before going that route, I'd try Boiron's cannabis homeopathic. The MRI and spinal tap Ursa had done proved nothing, so she was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Like you, Ursa's breeder was shocked as epilepsy isn't in her line at all.

    Something else to consider are food allergies. Ursa's worst one is soya. Once we cut out everything soya (including gel-cap supplements with soya in the cap, her seizures eased. Ursa is prone to having seizures during full moon phases, which is almost upon us again, and right when she has a seizure in goes Belladonna.

    I'm so trilled to report that Ursa's last focal seizure was early September, and her last grandmal was last year December...almost 1 whole year!

    All the best with Wrigley, I know how difficult it is to deal with, but love conquers all! Hugs to Wrigley!!!

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  6. #15
    House Broken Daisy and Miia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    Thanks, I hadn't visited over here yet. Yes, Wrigley has epilepsy, diagnosed in June, though started with Grand Mal seizures back in February. She started have a cluster Friday night. By the time we opted to take her to the ER on Sunday, she had had 13 and they were coming about 1 hour apart. It was manageable but we were scared that they would start coming quicker, which is BAD. So she was in for close to 2 days. Had a few small ones there. Fortunately our neurologist has his office in that building so she got HIS care. We upped doses of her Phenobarbital and Keppra and added in a 3rd called Zonisamide. So she's pretty doped up. We've had minimal luck at control, just a horrible genetic fluke. I got her home last night. She's OK, super super tired, little goofy walking around, which is partly the increased meds and partly the brain function just returning. She slept soundly 5-6 hours, NO MOVEMENT last night.

    We're just trying to get some control to allow some quality of life. Her good days are great, but if we have a week a month of bad days, it's not good. We're not the type of people to do the MRI's and spinal taps, and possibly brain surgery etc. The doctor is pretty sure it's idiopathic epilepsy, meaning it was genetic/hereditary (her breeder knows, though has never experienced anything like this before) but it was probably more of a congenital issue.

    So we are kind of bummed about all this. We've never dealt with any of the hopeless things like cancer and such. She's TWO! It's pretty hard to think about.
    Sending lots and lots of good thoughts and prayers for Wrigley and you. It so hard to deal with any bad health issues with our dogs, but even more emotionally hard, when they are so young. My heart goes out to you at this difficult time.

  7. #16
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Black Labbies View Post
    Hi Jen,
    You can give Wrigley Belladonna yourself. It's sold at health stores by Boiron.com. You then dissolve 3 pellets in Spring water in a dropper bottle and when Wrigley has a seizure, you immediately sprinkle 1cc (in a needless syringe) on her tongue or gums. No kidding, within 30ish seconds the seizure will stop, and the beauty is that no one can ever over dose when giving more dosages within minutes of each other, as we've done. We've seen this umpteen times with Ursa. Belladonna is one of Ursa's best friends, the other is Bufo Rana, which we give her at bedtime.

    Ursa is also a candidate for cannabis oil, but for now, we don't need it. Before going that route, I'd try Boiron's cannabis homeopathic. The MRI and spinal tap Ursa had done proved nothing, so she was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Like you, Ursa's breeder was shocked as epilepsy isn't in her line at all.

    Something else to consider are food allergies. Ursa's worst one is soya. Once we cut out everything soya (including gel-cap supplements with soya in the cap, her seizures eased. Ursa is prone to having seizures during full moon phases, which is almost upon us again, and right when she has a seizure in goes Belladonna.

    I'm so trilled to report that Ursa's last focal seizure was early September, and her last grandmal was last year December...almost 1 whole year!

    All the best with Wrigley, I know how difficult it is to deal with, but love conquers all! Hugs to Wrigley!!!
    Thanks for this, I'll look into the Belladona and the Bufo. We've eliminated a lot of foods already. First chicken, then beef. She's on an all fish diet now. No soy, I removed that from everyone's diet LONG ago. Though I haven't looked at the supplements we give. We tried raw, saw no benefits from it. Read about adding a stress B Complex, Lecithin and Taurine, but she's not eating fully well yet, so I don't want to mess up her food. We looked at the full moon aspect, but too many incidents did not fall near it.

  8. #17
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    All I can say is sorry and I hope you find something that helps.
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  9. #18
    Senior Dog Black Labbies's Avatar
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    If you give Wrigley any homeopathics, do one at a time for at least 2 to 4 weeks. I'd start with Belladonna, as it can be given during seizures, even 10 minutes apart, until Wrigley stops seizing.

    Ursa is also on vit B complex, vit C, CT Support and krill oil. Dr. Wanda emails notes to her patients on what to do and which supps to try. A new one that we haven't needed to try is Gamma Amino Butyric Acid. And these from her notes:
    Hi Lis,
    My apologies for not getting these notes to you sooner; life got hectic for several days there, and I wanted to
    do a homeopathic analysis for Ursa as well.
    Some other supplements that might be useful to help prevent Ursa' seizures are:
    i) dimethylglycine (DMG) which helps oxygenate all the tissues of the body and acts as a building block for
    amino acids, hormones and neurotransmitters,
    ii)selenium, which is vital for the production of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which helps detoxify cells.
    iii)Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinol is the best form) which helps improve brain oxygenation.
    You can buy all of these from a human health product store, and give them at about 1/2 the recommended
    adult human dosage.
    I came up with a few homeopathic remedies but the one that fits the best is Calcarea carbonica. I think using
    the LM1 potency would be best; I will have the staff at the clinic make up a bottle for Ursa. There are others
    that do fit so if the Calcarea doesn't help, we can try another one.
    I have also found another Chinese herb formula, and we could also consider trying acupuncture, but I'm not
    sure if Ursa would be too anxious or excitable for that.
    Let me know if you have any questions, and also how Ursa does on the homeopathic remedy. If it is the right
    one, it should start to help within a week.
    Sincerely,
    Wanda

  10. #19
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Thanks for the info. I picked up some belladonna at the store today. I am hoping we don't see a seizure for a bit. I also called a holistic vet today, waiting for a call back. Want to get an appointment in, see what they think. Wrigley is doing OK but she is stumbling mess! I am sure it's going to take time to get used to the pharmaceuticals in her system. I did read somewhere that if the dog was given valium to help seizures some homeopathic remedies don't work. ????

  11. #20
    Senior Dog Black Labbies's Avatar
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    You're on the right track, Jen!
    For the Belladonna, do you have the vile with pellets in it? If so, dissolve 3 in Spring water, not regular tap water, in a dropper bottle (keep bottle in fridge), then give 1cc in the needless syringe, bang the bottle against the palm of your hand 3 times to activate the homeopathy. Sounds weird, but thems the rules with giving/taking homeopathies. Ideally, it should be given 15 minutes away before and after from food and drink, but if a seizure arises, then give right away. even every 10, 15, 20 minutes until the seizure subsides. Is it Belladonna 30CH or 200CH?

    A few months ago I accidently gave Opal 1 of Ursa's Keppra dosages, the silly girls switched places on me and I thought it was Ursa on my right side, where she always stands. Well, Opal was so off balance and sleepy I felt horrible. I phone Dr. Wanda and she told me to give Opal Nux Vomica to off set the Keppra, thankfully it worked well! Now I triple check to make sure Urs gets the Keppra. Amazing, Ursa isn't off on the Keppra, just her usual self.

    I don't know about traditional Valium, but there's a homeopathic type Valium, which I'd think has no side effects, since homeopathics don't.

    Good luck with Wrigley!!!

 



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