Chewtoy
Boxer Pal
Hi Everyone,
I just wanted someone's opinion on this who has either heard of, or has dealt with this particular issue of seizure in an older male boxer.
My Otis started seizuring just a week ago. He has never shown signs of seizure, but we did have a malignant tumor removed from his leg this past August. His first seizure involved drooling and a longish recovery time, but he did not drop to the ground, stiffen, or paddle. It was eerie, and frightening. The three following seizures have been mild grand mals.
The next ones happened a couple of days apart, and after the third seizure I noticed THEY ONLY HAPPEN AFTER PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, when the brain demands more oxygen. Even walking him brought one on, because he was straining at the collar. (thus cutting off some oxygen to his brain?)
How am I supposed to let Otis play when activity makes him drop like a stone, stiffen, paddle and urinate? The really odd part is that he shows no discernible pre-seizure aura, no circling, no advance warning at all. He goes down, he seizures for about 30 seconds, and then he's back up like nothing happened.
The dr. has taken blood, and nothing is there to indicate seizure activity. He has taken x-rays of his heart, taken an EKG, and it's not Otis' heart. I can't afford more testing, because now they get into the thousands.
Otis is now on clavamox (in case it's an inflammation or an infection) for the next two weeks, and because there have been 4 seizures in one week, the vet put him on 1 grain of phenobarbital, 2x daily.
The thing that gets me is the activity. I watch him like an overprotective hawk, but I can't stop him from playing completely. His spirit is not diminished; he wants to play with our other boxer girl, Brandy. They're great buddies, and usually romp for hours on the weekend.
I have changed his food just today from Iams to a senior mix from Innova, and am mixing it with a senior ProPlan can food to make it more palatable. I have also started a multivitamin daily.
Any suggestions?
Chewtoy
I just wanted someone's opinion on this who has either heard of, or has dealt with this particular issue of seizure in an older male boxer.
My Otis started seizuring just a week ago. He has never shown signs of seizure, but we did have a malignant tumor removed from his leg this past August. His first seizure involved drooling and a longish recovery time, but he did not drop to the ground, stiffen, or paddle. It was eerie, and frightening. The three following seizures have been mild grand mals.
The next ones happened a couple of days apart, and after the third seizure I noticed THEY ONLY HAPPEN AFTER PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, when the brain demands more oxygen. Even walking him brought one on, because he was straining at the collar. (thus cutting off some oxygen to his brain?)
How am I supposed to let Otis play when activity makes him drop like a stone, stiffen, paddle and urinate? The really odd part is that he shows no discernible pre-seizure aura, no circling, no advance warning at all. He goes down, he seizures for about 30 seconds, and then he's back up like nothing happened.
The dr. has taken blood, and nothing is there to indicate seizure activity. He has taken x-rays of his heart, taken an EKG, and it's not Otis' heart. I can't afford more testing, because now they get into the thousands.
Otis is now on clavamox (in case it's an inflammation or an infection) for the next two weeks, and because there have been 4 seizures in one week, the vet put him on 1 grain of phenobarbital, 2x daily.
The thing that gets me is the activity. I watch him like an overprotective hawk, but I can't stop him from playing completely. His spirit is not diminished; he wants to play with our other boxer girl, Brandy. They're great buddies, and usually romp for hours on the weekend.
I have changed his food just today from Iams to a senior mix from Innova, and am mixing it with a senior ProPlan can food to make it more palatable. I have also started a multivitamin daily.
Any suggestions?
Chewtoy
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