Okay, here is the rundown on all of Moose's seizures. Maybe someone will notice something I haven't or can give some advice.
The first seizure:
I was vacuuming in the dining room and Moose was 10 feet away in the living room. All of a sudden she came running in, and I thought she was playing, but then she fell. Then got up, then fell, and I immediately turned off the vacuum and ran to her, she was peeing, and she was thrashing around against the wall, so I thought of trying to get her outside, but she had to walk through the doorway to get to the back door, and the way she kept falling, it was awful. She loses control of her body, falls, and then when she gets up she tries to throw herself against something, in this case, the wall. I was afraid she'd hurt herself, so I picked her up with my left arm, and ran to the bedroom screaming.
George is a very heavy sleeper and barely noticed a thing, so I grabbed my phone with my right arm and got Moose into the bathroom, the only door that was close and would close us into a small space. But she was still seizing, so I dialed the vet and when they answered, they said "Blah blah animal hospital, hold please," and put us on hold! By then the seizure had stopped and Moose was limp in my arms and I realized it hurt to hold her, so I sat against the edge of the tub with her body on my lap and waited.
The receptionist came back, and while sobbing I explained what happened. She said seizures can be anything from an allergic reaction, to tumors, to the body's way of reacting to toxins in the body. Since Moose was 3, she figured she was too young for it to be tumors, but said that if it happened frequently they would check that out. Also, dogs like humans can have epiliepsy, so she explained how for $1 a pill we could medicate Moose if they continued to be an issue, but that the medication can make the dog groggy and they may not be themselves.
In the days after I remembered, just the day before the seizure, Moose had ate some sanitary napkins that had been at the bottom of the trash for a week at least. She had also had some ear mite medication within a few days before. So, I assumed one of those was the cause, plus we had switched dog food. So, we went back to our old brand, switched brands of the ear mite stuff (but never needed to use it on Moose) and started shutting the bathroom door everytime we left. She didn't have another.
Moose never had ear mites, ever. Not even a tiny bit until last summer. Just thought I'd mention that in case it is important.
The Second Seizure:
In May Moose has started itching at her ears and shaking her head a lot. So, we used some olive oil to try and loosen everything, but it didn't seem to work. So, I applied some ear mite medicine into her ear one day. Then twice the next, and then, on the morning in question, I applied it again.
She ate breakfast, and then within 20 minutes she was sitting on the couch next to George, and she just started twitching, she tried to get off the couch and come to me across the room, but she fell flat on her face in another seizure just getting off the couch, so I rushed to her, and held her with my arm around her torso and her legs pointing away from me. Her ears were still wet from the ear mite medicine, and it occured to me that maybe that was the issue, so George ran for a wash cloth, moist, no soap, and once Moose had stopped for a second, I wrapped the cloth around my finger and wiped her ear out. The seizures never resumed, so I wiped in deeper and cleaned her up really well in there. Then I realized she had peed a bit, and she started panting and drooling but didn't seem able to move. So, I held her, sat on the floor and cried. When she was ready (during the seizures she twitches and the muscles tighten and untighten, afterwards she is kind of limp and uncoordinated, and then once she is totally back her muscles feel normal and she is generally a happy, maybe slightly more nervous, dog who is panting and drooling still, so I know when she is ready to get up) I let go of her and she stood up, and we walked away and called my mom, and I let her go outside and I sat on the steps and watched her.
I assumed I knew the issue then, the ear mite medicine. It had been used within the week the first time, and within the hour the second. I felt guilty, but I figured that at least now we knew the issue.
The Third Seizure:
Yesterday was like any other, George didn't work the night before, so he stayed up all day with us. We fed the dogs around 7 or 8 am, let them out a few times throughout the day, we didn't go for a walk or run because we had a lot going on, yard work, getting my car repairs, my phone not working, etc. Then around 5 or 6 in the afternoon I made dinner, it was done at exactly 6, I remember now. A dollop of mashed potatoes fell to the floor, and Moose licked it up. George and I ate, and were sitting in the living room a bit later in our food coma.
I was on the love seat, and he was on the couch with the laptop in front of him. He got up to take a cup to the sink, and Moose stole his spot, and I teased him about it. Then Moose moved a seat over and laid down. Then she moved so her head was behind him, and I thought it was cute, but apparently she was pushing forward, trying to wedge herself between George and the couch, and that ain't good dog behavior in this house, she is lucky to be allowed on the furniture at all, but you don't gt to OWN the couch as a dog, so George yelled at her to get down. And she seemed unsure, and took awhile getting down. She came to the loveseat and sat next to me and started shaking. I assumed she wasn't used to being a couch thief and wasn't used to George raising his voice at her, so I kind of bitched at him. Then I noticed she hadn't stopped shaking.
I put her collar on her for the first time in months that morning, and it seemed like it was bugging her, so I removed it. Then I noticed pee on my leg. I didn't want to freak out, so I just pet her and said "She is acting like she had a seizure...." and BAM! It was on, she had 1 half of the love seat, and I had the other, so I leaned over and put my arm under her chest and held her on the couch. Then I leaned my head down and rested it on her twitching body (still trying to run everytime a seizure ended) and told her I loved her and it would be okay. And I didn't cry. I held it together the entire seizure while George watched. I couldn't think of anything to do for her, so I just held her.
As she seized she tried burrying her head into the cushions of the couch, but it would pop out with every seizure. She scratched me a few times, but I was positioned so she couldn't really kick the baby. I have read that soem dogs bite, but she never has and I am not about to let her seize by herself, or let her run around thrashing and throwing herself into things. I will continue to hold her body.
Afterwards we just laid there. Both of panting and me using her as a pillow. She had a dazed look in her eye, like me when I first wake up, and then started panting and drooling and slowly came back to Moose world. She got up, I used George's phone to call my mom, and I wiped the pee off my leg, and walked outside to let Moose go potty and talk to my mom. I lost it.
Moose is my baby. Before her, I personally, owned 1 dog of my very own, and she died back in 08. Sabrina. She is the reason Moose is so well behaved, she trained her. She taught her the ropes and played with her and was her best friend. After she died, Moose looked for her for weeks. It was just after we got Achilles. He was maybe 12 weeks when she passed. But since Sabrina died, I have been even more protective of Moose (Brina was chasing my mom while my mom mowed the lawn, and then she was gone. It was an hour or two later when my mom found her along the side of the road. It was one of the hardest days of my life. I stayed in my apartment for a week after that. It hurt too much to do anything. She was 3 and too young to die) and have guarded her like a treasure. Anyone of my neighbors will tell you, Moose guards me, but I guard her just as much. I worry when she is alone, I worry when she is at my mom's, I worry about her like I will worry about Huddy. Is the water she drinks healthy? Is the food enough? Does she need a doggie vitamin? What if she is attacked again? (black lab at the river attacked her and tore up her face, no lasting visable damage, but I worry) I choose her playmates wisely.
She was the best friend of a seeing eye dog, Cody, for a long time. Then we moved to the house and lost touch. She had another friend, a mutt, Connie, from the apartments who we also lost touch with. She liked Oscar the weiner dog next door, and it was cute watching a pitbull boxer mix try to play with a daschund. She could have stepped on him and ended his life without even realizing it. Her current bestie is my sister's dog (who is now my mom's dog since he has gone from"staying the weekend" to being there for over a year) Evan, a beagle, who may not be the best influence (he attacks cats) but loves Moose.
I worry. She is a pitbull mix, living in a state known for anti-pitbull laws. Hell, the county my mom lives in and our apartment was in, is known for having a dog warden who would see a pitbull, and have it put down for being "aggressive" before the owners got home from work. Who killed 140 puppies (under 12 weeks) in 1 year because they were pitbulls or pitbull mixes. She gets looks. A woman (whose weiner dogs were biting at Moose and chasing her away) even told me "It's no wonder they're attacking her, look at what she is..." like Moose being a pitbull negated the fact that her dogs were being aggressive towards my dog. One family friend won't let her daughter play near Moose. One Uncle even said "Stacey, it's a pitbull, just put it down".
But she has never bit (unless you count the "football" she played with my brother, he runs, and she jumps up and tackles him, sometimes using her mouth on his arm to pull him down, or the "shows" she and I put on, where I play with her toy and play tugs and get her riled up and then shove my hand in her mouth and tell her to bite. She bites. I scream and yell, all fake, and then say "release" and she opens her mouth, never putting enough pressure down to do anything) she plays with toddlers and has saved a baby's life (the baby's mother left her alone on the couch, baby rolled over, Moose stood next to couch and held baby so baby wouldn't fall, then whined for help until I walked in the room and found the baby basically laying on Moose's back) and claimed that baby as her baby. Seriously, after over a year of not seeing this baby, she jumped the fence to get to her and give her kisses and followed that kid everywhere. That little girl led Moose around like well, a lost puppy, the entire time she was at our house.
Anywho, Moose equals good dog. I could share Moose stories all day (someone remind me to share the story of the rest stop or the guy in the white van someday and to share Moose's full life story) and probably would enjoy it. I love this dog. We have a bond. It is almost telepathy over here. She swims, she runs, she does the Cesar Milan walk, she is the best dog anyone could ask for.
If she does have a tumor, or if these seizures are caused by something life threatening, I don't know how I will go on. Sabrina was there after my Dad died, she helped me heal. Moose has helped me heal from so much loss and pain since then. When George was in boot camp, she was my reason, my only reason, for getting up out of bed. We have had many losses with her by my side. She is my daughter. Hell, this dog knows more than most 6 year olds. In my head, if she were human, she would be a 6-8 year old with chesnut brown hair with natural highlights and she would be amazing. Yes, I can picture her as a human child.
I don't know what I will do without her. She walks off leash, but George gets mad about this. One day I asked him if he didn't trust her, and he said "I trust her, but if something happened to her, I'd be afraid for you. You'd jump off a cliff if you thought you could hit the bottom first and catch her." Which is true. No lie. She is my world. I know Huddy will be my world, but Moose is his sister. She isn't his "dog", she is his sister. She is....Moose. I say it in my sleep, I sense when she is waking up, she knows the moment I wake up, the moment I need her, the moment Huddy first kicked this dog was there.
Please, say some prayers, send us Good Luck, see if you can see anything that coul cause a seizure in what I have told you. Ask a vet friend. We have an appointment Friday night (I have an extremely busy Friday with a Huddy appointment and a Moose appointment and I will probably be missing FNL again) and will be taking my mom with us since George will be asleep. And since she is a big girl, I don't want to think of the cost. But, even if they told me it would cost $5000 to fix her, I would find a way to get it. She is my baby. My daughter. Huddy's sister. And Achilles is snoring. Just sharing
