What happened to our dog?
Discussion
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. 
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! 
Sy1441 said:
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.
Was he diagnosed with anything or did the vet just say it was epilepsy?So our little man is back down to the vets today to have a camera check his insides out....
He has started what I can only describe as something bothering his mouth or throat area because whilst awake, he is on a regular basis trying to clear his throat, not coughing but as if something is bothering him. The vet checked his mouth last week & all was fine so they now want to check his insides out.... The vet did suggest that some animals can develop a "tick" through having fit's but his condition has worsened over the last few days. He is still eating & drinking without any probalems what so ever so who knows why he is doing this.... He does chew on his plastic bone type thing every night & we are hoping that perhaps a bit of this has got stuck somewhere. Fingers crossed.... I have to collect him about 2pm once he comes round from being knocked out.
He has started what I can only describe as something bothering his mouth or throat area because whilst awake, he is on a regular basis trying to clear his throat, not coughing but as if something is bothering him. The vet checked his mouth last week & all was fine so they now want to check his insides out.... The vet did suggest that some animals can develop a "tick" through having fit's but his condition has worsened over the last few days. He is still eating & drinking without any probalems what so ever so who knows why he is doing this.... He does chew on his plastic bone type thing every night & we are hoping that perhaps a bit of this has got stuck somewhere. Fingers crossed.... I have to collect him about 2pm once he comes round from being knocked out.
bexVN said:
I assume they've ruled out kennel cough. Maybe he has scratched his throat with his chew toy. Hopefully they'll find an asset tom. All the best.
All they could find was a scar deep inside his mouth which would indicate that he has hurt himself on something. They are pretty certain that this is NOT causing him to do what he is doing. They have said it's likely to be fit related & just another step forward with his condition.
Thay have increased his Epiphem to see if this controls it slightly better. The good thing is, he is still eating & drinking & playful which I think is always a good sign.
So things have gone from bad to worse for our little man...
Cluster fits all day yesterday & all night, 1 fit every 2 hours or so. Vet gave us yet more medication (new drug out) & he started them along with his Epiphen yesterday evening. The new drug has made him extremely agitated & confused & lots of bumping into things so I am not giving him anymore & will tell the vet today. Not good.
Cluster fits all day yesterday & all night, 1 fit every 2 hours or so. Vet gave us yet more medication (new drug out) & he started them along with his Epiphen yesterday evening. The new drug has made him extremely agitated & confused & lots of bumping into things so I am not giving him anymore & will tell the vet today. Not good.
Yesterday at 12:30pm we said our final good bye's to our brave boy. Turns out that straight after one of his fits yesterday morning, he became completely blind & was in a bad way. Vet came out & sedated him, then put him to sleep. He was surrounded by lots of family members & all though he couldn't see any of us, he knew we were there! I am absolutely devastated & angry that his final hours were spent blind......
He was still enjoying lots of hugs & treats right up until he shut his eyes for the last time.
Goodnight sweetheart, go chase them "big puddicats" until we meet again my friend.....
RIP
His favourite spot, his chair taken only couple of weeks ago.
He was still enjoying lots of hugs & treats right up until he shut his eyes for the last time.
Goodnight sweetheart, go chase them "big puddicats" until we meet again my friend.....
RIP
His favourite spot, his chair taken only couple of weeks ago.
User33678888 said:
So sorry. Brought a tear to my eye.
I still remember every single one of my dogs and it is never easy when the inevitable happens.
Remember the good times with him. He loved you and wouldn't want you upset.
Thank you.. He always knew when one of us was upset, he would come & sit beside you....I still remember every single one of my dogs and it is never easy when the inevitable happens.
Remember the good times with him. He loved you and wouldn't want you upset.
He also knew when we were having an argument because he would bark at us....
CAPP0 said:
Really sorry to hear this Boobles. Your news quite choked me up. We lost our dog last month, she had also hada few fit-type episodes, they were less frequent than yours but it does seem that it was something like that which got her in the end - not dissimilar symptoms and events, and wealso lost her very quickly in the end.
Obviously this sad event happens to a lot of people all the time but there does seem to have been a run of it amongst us PHers recently. The pain may take a very long time to go away, if indeed it ever does, but something someone else said recently was that after a time, the sharp edges of the pain of the loss do get slightly rounded off. As above, remember the good times you had together, and, as tough as it was, you have done the best thing for him when you needed to. I only thought about mine earlier today, and it occurred to me that as sick as she was, she would not have understood what was happening to her in those last minutes, so she wouldn't have been scared at all, and her pain finally stopped. It's so much worse for us humans because we know what we are doing and it's so alien to human life, but it's the kindest and best thing we do for them.
Really sorry to hear about your loss as well & thank you for some comforting words along with everyone else.Obviously this sad event happens to a lot of people all the time but there does seem to have been a run of it amongst us PHers recently. The pain may take a very long time to go away, if indeed it ever does, but something someone else said recently was that after a time, the sharp edges of the pain of the loss do get slightly rounded off. As above, remember the good times you had together, and, as tough as it was, you have done the best thing for him when you needed to. I only thought about mine earlier today, and it occurred to me that as sick as she was, she would not have understood what was happening to her in those last minutes, so she wouldn't have been scared at all, and her pain finally stopped. It's so much worse for us humans because we know what we are doing and it's so alien to human life, but it's the kindest and best thing we do for them.
He was a real fighter & battled this for almost 3 years & was completely normal in between fits & never refused his food & never refused his walkies. Even on Tuesday I took him out for his walk even though he was having hid fits every 2 hours. The hardest part for me is accepting that he is gone as I still look at his chair ever single time I walk past it. There is a small amount of his blood on the rug from where the vet put the needle in to sedate him & I can't bring myself to clean it just yet because as soon as I do that, his "smell" goes & this really hurts.
CAPP0 said:
Our girl died out in the garden lying on my lap, and I struggled quite a bit the next time I cut the grass and got to that place.....
The hardest part for me is every time I hear a noise, I think it's him because we were always having to listen out to make sure he wasn't going into a fit. I swear I have heard him at least 10 times since yesterday...Morningside said:
Why do I read these threads? 
So sorry for your loss.
It reminds me of our dear Milly that we lost about 3 months ago after getting vestibular syndrome. Yes, I know she had liver cancer, going blind and a multitude of other problems but the end always comes too soon.
We all sat with her on the bed when the vet arrived and Sonny or Cavalier even jumped into her grave after her and tried so hard to kiss her.
It's only now that I can talk and laugh about all the mad things that she did.
She is now at peace with the other four in the garden and we miss them all so much.
Really sorry to be reminding everyone of their loss, It's just so hard right now for me to deal with & I know several people on here have been through it. I know in time I will be able to remember nothing but the good times & hopefully all of the negative times will be replaced with happy memories. I just wish I could hug him one more time though. So sorry for your loss.It reminds me of our dear Milly that we lost about 3 months ago after getting vestibular syndrome. Yes, I know she had liver cancer, going blind and a multitude of other problems but the end always comes too soon.
We all sat with her on the bed when the vet arrived and Sonny or Cavalier even jumped into her grave after her and tried so hard to kiss her.
It's only now that I can talk and laugh about all the mad things that she did.
She is now at peace with the other four in the garden and we miss them all so much.
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