Dogs, who’d have ‘em?
I had a lot planned in before Christmas, food posts, rooms to finish painting, dinner with friends, Christmas baking and a good clear out, all before I was ready to relax into the Christmas holiday. However someone had a different idea for my run up to Christmas and it all went out the window when our youngest dog, Bert a Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, started having seizures at the weekend.
Contents
Seizures
We were in bed and heard a thud at 23:30. Gary went down to check it out and that’s when he discovered Bert on the floor mid-seizure. I called the vets who were obviously closed and a voice message referred me to the emergency vets. Within the 30 minutes of discovering Bert on the floor to getting him to the vets he had 10 seizures. They were horrific to watch knowing we couldn’t do a thing to help or comfort him. His jaw locked open, he went stiff with his head twisting round to his bottom, then he would start to froth at the mouth and paddle like crazy. My first thought was he had been poisoned and I was certain he couldn’t survive the violent seizures never mind what was causing them.
We left the emergency vets and waited by the phone willing it to ring with news. I started thinking about what could be wrong with him, had he eaten something? Like most homes this time of year the house is full of chocolate. We’re also decorating so the house is full of toxic substances such as paint, wax and cleaning products. I also started to feel bad as I told him off earlier in the day. He had broken my favourite bauble we bought from pottery barn when we went to New York 11 years ago, I told him I was sending him back!
Dogs who’d have ‘em?
If you’ve ever heard me talk about Bert before it’s usually 90% bad and 10% good. He is a loveable rouge, I’m told his naughtiness is called ‘character’. He is beautiful and very loving but I dread leaving him with friends and family when we go on holiday. I usually get a text in the first 30 minutes saying….”he just ran upstairs and pooped on my pillow”, “he managed to escape and your dad has just had a heart attack running after him”, “you owe me a new window blind” or my favourite “your stupid dog keeps climbing onto the dinning room table through the night and howls at 2am when he can’t get back down”. He is so adorable that he gets away with it and people keep offering to have him again.
The call finally came at 2am, he had a couple more seizures when we first got him there around midnight but no more since. They spoke about epilepsy or possibly a tumour. We were happy that he was settled but worried with what the underlying issue could be. As you can imagine we didn’t get much sleep that night. He was transferred to our vets and we had regular updates. He was a bit subdued but had been eating and most importantly he’d not had any more seizures. They were concerned that it was taking him longer than expected to recover and was still unsteady on his legs. They explained that it could be one of three things; the drugs used to settle him, exhaustion from the extreme seizures or an issue with his brain, such as a tumour.
Recovery
We’ve now got him home and it took some settling in. He seemed very anxious at first and unsteady on his legs, this lead to a couple more sleepless nights and a few more tears from me! I’m pleased to say the vets are now happy with his recovery and have put him on medication for epilepsy. Although still serious I’m happy we have a diagnosis and it’s something we can control through medication. He is still quiet and a bit slow but his tail has started to wag again so I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s back up to mischief.
Luckily Bert didn’t consume anything poisonous however with the increased amount of chocolate and grapes in the house its best to be extra cautious with your dogs this time of year. I would also recommend having your local emergency vets number in your mobile contacts and to know where they are. We were quite calm but I felt not having the number or location added to the pressure and uncertainty.
I want to say sorry to the people we have cancelled on this week and thank them for being understanding and wonderful friends. I also want to thank the hubby, Gary, you were amazing and I’m lucky to have you and our boys (Ralph and Bert).
Merry Christmas
As you can imagine we’re all exhausted and need to rest, relax and recuperate. The in-laws are coming down on Saturday so I’m going to throw myself into family fun and spoil Gary and the boys. I didn’t get to do half the stuff I was stressing about but I know with family around it will still be a fantastic Christmas.
The IPhone and IPad are now going in a cupboard and I’m signing off The Delectable Garden a little while. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
