What happened to our dog?
Discussion
Thevet said:
talk to them and get them to explain as much of their findings and diagnosis as possible, if you don't understand what they're waffling about tell them so and try again. If that doesn't help, ask here. Let us know how it goes.
I just wanted to remind you of what Thevet said about asking and asking again.We've got a dog who had/has a probable auto immune condition. We've seen a lot of vets at our practice and we've spent a lot of time at the veterinary hospital (both with and without insurance!). We've spent a lot of time working with the wonderful hospital vets to try to work out what her issues were as she was "complex" (their words!)
You MUST understand exactly what is going on, you need to understand what they have diagnosed (have they?) and what exactly they are treating for. I'd be tempted to suggest that no vet can tell you that any medication is safe and in your shoes 'd want to know exactly what they were thinking so that I could make my own decisions and choices. I'd also challenge the suggestion that brain tumours always result in behavioural issues - I'm no vet but that isn't my experience in humans and I doubt it to be the case in dogs.
A friend of mine has a dog with epilepsy, it is currently medicated but she is very involved in his treatment and manages his dose based on his behaviour. They had a lot of tests before the diagnosis.
I'm guessing you don't have insurance? Personally, I'd want a referral to a specialist to get a better idea of what is actually going on.
Fingers crossed all goes OK, it's horrible seeing our dogs poorly.
Scarily our lab has recently gone through similar things.
It started last christmas with a fit that only lasted 30 secs or so, he seemed with it but unable to control his legs and not really shaking. Vets said to keep an eye and log everything.
Over the next few months they got more regular to the point it was every few days for upto a minute.
Shaking, not being able to move and then coming around having a drink, cuddle and sleep.
We had an mri scan, spinal fluid check and numerous other checks - luckily insurance agreed as costs were over £3k at this point.
They have decided it is epilepsy and he is n some sedative type medication (dont know the name but can check when home if you like), 1 with his breakfast and 1 with dinner.
He was fit free for nearly 6 months but has had a couple the last few months, basically the vets are waiting until he gets a little worse and then will up the medication. They say there is a limit to how much he can take before it becomes inefective.
He 6 when it started and is nearing 8 now.
Only once has he been slightly aggresive when he came around - and that was snarling at me, but as soon as he came too properly he was fine.
It started last christmas with a fit that only lasted 30 secs or so, he seemed with it but unable to control his legs and not really shaking. Vets said to keep an eye and log everything.
Over the next few months they got more regular to the point it was every few days for upto a minute.
Shaking, not being able to move and then coming around having a drink, cuddle and sleep.
We had an mri scan, spinal fluid check and numerous other checks - luckily insurance agreed as costs were over £3k at this point.
They have decided it is epilepsy and he is n some sedative type medication (dont know the name but can check when home if you like), 1 with his breakfast and 1 with dinner.
He was fit free for nearly 6 months but has had a couple the last few months, basically the vets are waiting until he gets a little worse and then will up the medication. They say there is a limit to how much he can take before it becomes inefective.
He 6 when it started and is nearing 8 now.
Only once has he been slightly aggresive when he came around - and that was snarling at me, but as soon as he came too properly he was fine.
boobles said:
So after almost 9 weeks, chantry had another fit in the early hours. No different to previous ones apart from may have lasted slightly longer. The medication does seem to have made them less frequent.
this shouldn't surprise you or worry you too much, most epilepsy therapy works by reducing the fits' frequency and severity, while keeping the side-effects to a minimum, it is not usually a cure. Treatment levels can and probably should be monitored and adjusted as you and your dog become familiar with how the situation develops. Not very specific help, but hopefully some reassurance.
Just an update really regarding our boy. His fits steadily got worse over the year so Pexion was described for him approx 2 months ago but also remaining on a very small dose of his old tablets. Things didn't improve & infact I would say they got worse with his fits becoming more & more frequent and last weekend was awful with him having 8 fits within 48 hours. He was back at the vets yesterday for about an hour whilst they checked him over & took more bloods (currently waiting for the outcome) but since being put on Pexion his quality of life seems to have deteriorated with him constantly acting as if he is drunk & bumping into things. On the odd occasion he almost seems to have something "bothering" him in his head area because he keeps using his feet as if to try to remove something but not like scratching at his head. His eyes have also started to "twitch" pretty violently and all of this has been told to our vet. For some reason our vet ruled out it being a brain tumour 18 months ago without offering an MRI scan, he just said that it was epilepsy & nothing more severe. Fingers & everything else crossed for our little man. 
Sorry to hear that. I dont have a dog or a pet even but thinking about it hence why I am here. Reading stories like this makes me realise how much thought I need to give the decision. It must be heartbreaking to see a family member be poorly x Hope you get some good news or at least some answers so he can be comfy.
So all of the above ok, no stroke & no ear infection. He is going back to a higher dose of his previous medicine (Epiphen) once he's weaned of Pexion. The vet is now saying that it's 50/50 wether it's a tumour or not but that fact that he appears fit & healthy & in no signs of any pain means that the vet isn't to concerned either way as some dogs can live pretty much a normal life even with a tumour. We are still undecided if we want an MRI done just to be sure, but all we can do is monitor him & continue as normal.
I know it's been a while since I last posted on here but believe it or not our chunky monkey is still with us & still enjoying every single day of his life. His fits have become more frequent (about 1 per week) although he went 16 days without any & ended up having 4 within 48hrs! He is still on the same medication (Epiphen) & having 4 pills per day. His back legs are starting to get weak & I am certain that he is going slightly deaf unless that is just selective hearing! 
He was checked over by the vet couple of weeks ago & they don't seem concered & still maintain that he is healthy for his age (nine & a half) so we continue to enjoy his company & take hime for nice long walks every day & hope that continues for another couple of years.
He was checked over by the vet couple of weeks ago & they don't seem concered & still maintain that he is healthy for his age (nine & a half) so we continue to enjoy his company & take hime for nice long walks every day & hope that continues for another couple of years.
Edited by boobles on Thursday 26th June 13:55
Can't believe I did that! 
I've got a chocolate lab and he has these fits every so often, maybe once every couple of months. I usually just sit with him like you for 5-10 minutes after till he seems better. His back legs don't work properly after for a few minutes and he walks like he's drunk. Started probably when he was 5, he's just turned 9.
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