KatCH
Super Boxer
I am sad to log back into the boxerworld community to share some sad news about Millie. We joined this forum 9 years ago when she and Ozzy were just babies and I have appreciate the tremendous support and information everyone has shared thus far. I am writing to share the sad news and her story and hope the community may have some advice or guidance to share to help us navigate this scary situation and also to help anyone else that may also encounter this in the future.
Millie is 9.5 years old and ever since she was a baby she has been a medical anomaly and success story. When she was just a pup we struggled with incontinence issues and she was soon diagnosed with kidney disease. The vets we saw said she would be lucky to survive 2 years, but it depended on how fast the kidney function would decline. Long story short, 9 years later and her kidney values are still elevated, but they have remained stable ever since.
Last August, Millie got very sick and we learned that she had dangerously low platelet counts (they got down to 5000 at one point when the low end of normal is 145,000). After many tests, the vets settled on an auto-immune disorder that triggered her body to attack and destroy its platelets. She was started on a very high dose of prednisone, but it wasn't long after that she started vomiting blood. The prednisone was discontinued, but by that point her red blood cell counts had dropped significantly as well. Once she stableized, we started her on Imuran and then cyclosporin. By March we had her platelets under control and back to normal and began to taper down the imuran and cyclosporin. She still seems to be doing well and her last platelet count from this week was 168,000.
So now to the current situation. This past Tuesday night Millie began having seizures. The first was a partial seizure on our walk, which I did not recognize as such at the time. At 3:30 in the morning I was woken up by a loud crash when she had fallen off of the bed. When I got to her she was in the middle of a full blown grand mal seizure. Needless to say, I panicked. I did not know if the fall off the bed had triggered the seizure or the seizure caused her to fall off the bed....later I determined it was the seizure that caused her fall.
I called the E-Vet at the time and as she was coming back around to normal, they suggested it would be ok to wait until we saw our vet that morning. We went to the vet as soon as they opened and they took blood work and sent us home to wait. We settled in for a little nap and during the nap she had another partial seizure. She started twitching, chomping, and foaming at the mouth. I snapped a pic for my vet and immediately took her back to the vets office (luckily only 5 mins down the road). She stayed there for observation where they gave her IV fluids. This was about 11 am at this point. I heard from the vet around 2 that the labs came back normal and she was doing ok, no more seizures, but they would keep her there for the rest of the afternoon. At 4pm I got another call that she had just had a grand mal seizure. They gave her valium and said she needed to go to the e-vet for overnight monitoring and to then get worked in to see the neurologist the next morning.
She did OK over night and I heard from the neurologist around 1pm. He suggested an MRI and suspected a brain tumor, but said it was possible it could be anything from a stroke, to encephalitis or infection, or best case scenario, late onset epilepsy. I was on the fence about the MRI due to its cost and that she would have to be under anesthesia, but ultimately decided to go forward with it. I called back and said OK and asked if I could come give her a kiss on the head before they put her under. I got to the e-vet about 30 mins later where I was met by the neurologist who told me she was already under and getting the MRI, he said she had 2 seizures since we had spoken and so they decided to proceed.
That afternoon I went back to review the scans and found out she had a 1.8 x 1.3 x 1.8 cm mass in her right temporal/piriform lobe and that this was the cause of her seizures. Without surgery or biopsy it's hard to know exactly what kind of tumor it is, but he suspects it is a low-grade glioma. He said it has likely been there for a few months. With her history and its location, she isn't a good candidate for surgery or any other more aggressive treatment, so we were given a prescription for prednisone to help the swelling and kepra to control the seizures. If we can control the seizures, at best he has given her 3-6 months.
Needless to say, I am heartbroken. I am sad to be losing my sweet girl and terrified as I don't know what to expect. I am scared it will be a traumatic decline for her, myself, and her lifetime companion Ozzy.
My thought is to take her to day boarding at our vets office while I am at work. Next week is a short week for us, so I will do this Monday and Tuesday and then see how she does for the rest of the week. I am worried and don't want to keep her away from Ozzy, but think this may also be a good way to help him ease into not having her around. When she was at the vet for 3 days this week, he did not eat for the entire 3 days nor did he bark at me once...which is unusual for him.
I don't realy know what else to do, but am hoping the community may be able to share some thoughts on how to manage this for however long we have left. I want her to be comfortable and pain free, but don't what signs to look for that may indicate it's close to that time. I don't know what symptoms will come next...I've heard everything from blindness, to behavioral changes, to lameness, and eventually more seizures that can't be controlled. Also, how do you deal with another dog as he is losing his companion. He is only 1 month younger than she is and aside from the 8 weeks with his liter mates, has not known a world without her.
I am not ready for this, but are we ever? I just lost my dad last June and don't know how much more heartbreak I can handle. I am so sad. I know this is a part of having fur babies, but it doesn't mean I am ready for it. I appreciate this community and how supportive everyone has been so far. I know many of you have had to go through losing a baby and am hoping you can share your thoughts and any guidance for navigating what's next.
Kat
Millie is 9.5 years old and ever since she was a baby she has been a medical anomaly and success story. When she was just a pup we struggled with incontinence issues and she was soon diagnosed with kidney disease. The vets we saw said she would be lucky to survive 2 years, but it depended on how fast the kidney function would decline. Long story short, 9 years later and her kidney values are still elevated, but they have remained stable ever since.
Last August, Millie got very sick and we learned that she had dangerously low platelet counts (they got down to 5000 at one point when the low end of normal is 145,000). After many tests, the vets settled on an auto-immune disorder that triggered her body to attack and destroy its platelets. She was started on a very high dose of prednisone, but it wasn't long after that she started vomiting blood. The prednisone was discontinued, but by that point her red blood cell counts had dropped significantly as well. Once she stableized, we started her on Imuran and then cyclosporin. By March we had her platelets under control and back to normal and began to taper down the imuran and cyclosporin. She still seems to be doing well and her last platelet count from this week was 168,000.
So now to the current situation. This past Tuesday night Millie began having seizures. The first was a partial seizure on our walk, which I did not recognize as such at the time. At 3:30 in the morning I was woken up by a loud crash when she had fallen off of the bed. When I got to her she was in the middle of a full blown grand mal seizure. Needless to say, I panicked. I did not know if the fall off the bed had triggered the seizure or the seizure caused her to fall off the bed....later I determined it was the seizure that caused her fall.
I called the E-Vet at the time and as she was coming back around to normal, they suggested it would be ok to wait until we saw our vet that morning. We went to the vet as soon as they opened and they took blood work and sent us home to wait. We settled in for a little nap and during the nap she had another partial seizure. She started twitching, chomping, and foaming at the mouth. I snapped a pic for my vet and immediately took her back to the vets office (luckily only 5 mins down the road). She stayed there for observation where they gave her IV fluids. This was about 11 am at this point. I heard from the vet around 2 that the labs came back normal and she was doing ok, no more seizures, but they would keep her there for the rest of the afternoon. At 4pm I got another call that she had just had a grand mal seizure. They gave her valium and said she needed to go to the e-vet for overnight monitoring and to then get worked in to see the neurologist the next morning.
She did OK over night and I heard from the neurologist around 1pm. He suggested an MRI and suspected a brain tumor, but said it was possible it could be anything from a stroke, to encephalitis or infection, or best case scenario, late onset epilepsy. I was on the fence about the MRI due to its cost and that she would have to be under anesthesia, but ultimately decided to go forward with it. I called back and said OK and asked if I could come give her a kiss on the head before they put her under. I got to the e-vet about 30 mins later where I was met by the neurologist who told me she was already under and getting the MRI, he said she had 2 seizures since we had spoken and so they decided to proceed.
That afternoon I went back to review the scans and found out she had a 1.8 x 1.3 x 1.8 cm mass in her right temporal/piriform lobe and that this was the cause of her seizures. Without surgery or biopsy it's hard to know exactly what kind of tumor it is, but he suspects it is a low-grade glioma. He said it has likely been there for a few months. With her history and its location, she isn't a good candidate for surgery or any other more aggressive treatment, so we were given a prescription for prednisone to help the swelling and kepra to control the seizures. If we can control the seizures, at best he has given her 3-6 months.
Needless to say, I am heartbroken. I am sad to be losing my sweet girl and terrified as I don't know what to expect. I am scared it will be a traumatic decline for her, myself, and her lifetime companion Ozzy.
My thought is to take her to day boarding at our vets office while I am at work. Next week is a short week for us, so I will do this Monday and Tuesday and then see how she does for the rest of the week. I am worried and don't want to keep her away from Ozzy, but think this may also be a good way to help him ease into not having her around. When she was at the vet for 3 days this week, he did not eat for the entire 3 days nor did he bark at me once...which is unusual for him.
I don't realy know what else to do, but am hoping the community may be able to share some thoughts on how to manage this for however long we have left. I want her to be comfortable and pain free, but don't what signs to look for that may indicate it's close to that time. I don't know what symptoms will come next...I've heard everything from blindness, to behavioral changes, to lameness, and eventually more seizures that can't be controlled. Also, how do you deal with another dog as he is losing his companion. He is only 1 month younger than she is and aside from the 8 weeks with his liter mates, has not known a world without her.
I am not ready for this, but are we ever? I just lost my dad last June and don't know how much more heartbreak I can handle. I am so sad. I know this is a part of having fur babies, but it doesn't mean I am ready for it. I appreciate this community and how supportive everyone has been so far. I know many of you have had to go through losing a baby and am hoping you can share your thoughts and any guidance for navigating what's next.
Kat
