Epileptic dog. . .I think - WWYD? HAPPY UPDATE-owner located!

[Mara]

Let me explain. Yesterday I went to the drive-up ATM at a local bank; bank was still open, but it's just easier to do the drive-thru.
Anyway, there was a large Husky-type dog wandering around looking confused in the parking lot. Twice while I was there he had seizures.
I couldn't, couldn't leave him there. I parked the car and got out, and he came right up to me. He got in right in the car, no hesitation. Fortunately my vet was still open for another 20 minutes, so I took him in, explained the situation, that the dog had had 2 seizures at least within the past hour, and of course added, "I'll pay whatever expense he incurs for initial treatment." (Sometimes the rational part of my brain ceases to fully function when I see an animal in need. What could I do - leave him to wander and maybe collapse on the busy road with a seizure)?
As soon as he was in the exam room he seized again. Big time. Very near status epilepticus, according to the vet. They did get him stabilized eventually. Vet's theory is that the dog does in fact have a seizure disorder of some sort, has gotten lost and gone without meds.
As of this morning he was awake, but barely. The vet ended up taking him home with her as she felt he needed round-the-clock supervision, and she was nice enough to call me this morning. Hopefully things will have improved vastly by tomorrow.

Only thing I could think to do after the initial frenzy was to call the bank and inform them of what was going on. I left my phone number and told them to please call me if anyone saw any "Lost Dog" signs that might refer to this dog.
He is neutered but has no collar, no chip. Very dirty, but in pretty decent condition weight-wise. Clean teeth. Vet thinks he can't be older than 5 or 6.

Any ideas on what else I can do, besides the "Found Dog" posts/ads in the local media? Do Huskies have any tendencies towards epilepsy? The good news is I've got a friend who is already DYING to take this dog if the owner's not found - and it would be a good home. I am scared that somebody dumped him because they were tired of dealing with an epileptic dog.

Please, don't tell me what I might be in for $$$-wise in terms of the vet care! I don't want to know! It will be what it is, and I'll pay it. No sense in letting it keep me up all night!

[wsmoak]

We had a Sheltie who had seizures, but they weren't frequent or severe enough to require meds. "Ideopathic seizures" the vets said. (Translates to, "We have no idea why...")

With him it was just a matter of petting and reassuring him until it was over, and then confining him until he threw up, which he *always* did afterwards.

Sounds like your guy has a more severe case, so perhaps there are some meds that will help. Good to hear you already have a home lined up if his people can't be found!

[Apocalyptic Pony]

My aunt's German Shepherd had a seizure disorder that was easily and safely managed on meds. He lived to a ripe old age. :)

Is it possible he was hit and that's why he's seizuring right now?

Glad you have a home available for him?

[vita_impavida]

I wish I could help with your question about his breed possibly having tendencies, but I am not sure. I have seen another husky with epilepsy but that was only one. I had a german shepherd/australian shepherd mix who had very severe grand mal seizures at a young age. After a few more in a 6 month time frame (to see if shed grow out of them) she ended up on phenobarbital for the rest of her life (14 years later)

One small pill a day with some cheese. No biggy, and a happy healthy dog. :-)

It sounds like youve done what you can for finding him his home, so now the wait begins.

I just want to thank you for doing what you have for him. There are far to few people who would have even stopped, non the less given him a second chance. He is such a lucky dog.

Good luck with him! Keep us posted!

[Mara]

You know, it hadn't crossed my mind that he might have been hit. I didn't see any obvious abrasions or anything, but I suppose it's possible he might have been hit just hard enough at the right angle to throw him off the road. At the time, I didn't think to ask.

To clarify: the person who will take him if the original owner isn't located has owned an epileptic dog in the past (so happens it was a Keeshond); he says he sort of made a "mental connection" with the dog when I told him about the seizures! He said it took a little time to figure the daily dosages when the diagnosis was first made, but the dog lived for another 12 happy, seizure-free years. The dog would be in great hands - my friend is a "house husband" (though he does run a home-based business as well). Own the home, and has a fenced yard.

To vita: thanks are accepted, but I really don't feel like I did anything other than what I SHOULD do. I've had dogs all my life; I guess dog people know what I mean when I say I just notice dogs! No way would I be at peace with myself if I'd left him there. Ditto calling Animal Control - not that they're bad here, but they're overworked and understaffed (big surprise).

[EqTrainer]

Oh my goodness.. you are wonderful. What a lucky dog.

One of my pals has an epileptic dog. Stress brings on his seizures, for the most part. They tried all sorts of things and then finally - accupuncture. I don't think he has had one since. I know they had to sedate him for that and perhaps use valium? but he's been fine. They might have him on a schedule - I am thinking every six months or so.

[Chall]

If you are looking for the owner, call vets in the vicinity to see if they have patients matching that description that have epilepsy. Since he needs meds, he probably was seen by someone regularly. Then do Pet finders and google. ouch for him

[MrWinston]

Bless you for showing this poor dog compassion and caring. Keep us posted, I hope to hear that he is well and in a good home.

[kdow]

One of our previous dogs developed epilepsy (he was a rotti/gsd mix) at about 2 and grew out of it by 4 or 5 - during those years he got phenobarbital every day (possibly twice a day, can't remember now) and was perfectly fine. Just had to have blood tests every so often to check the level of the medication.

If the dog has been wandering for a bit, I wonder if it's possible he got into something that's triggered the problem. (In the same way that in people migraines can be triggered by certain foods - you need to have the predisposition to migraines first, of course.) With our dog, we strongly suspect it was getting into some chocolate that started him off - he didn't have enough for his size to cause 'normal' chocolate related seizures, but perhaps a smaller amount on top of the predisposition for epilepsy was enough to get the ball rolling.

[SMF11]

OP, you are a wonderful person!!

I had an epileptic dog, though he had "fly biting seizures", not full blown ones like the husky has. He got a daily dose of phenobarb and one other drug (cannot remember, this was 10 years ago) and he was just fine and lived a long life.

In terms of finding the original owner, what about calling the dog warden, not to turn it in, but simply to inform them in case the owner calls.

[FatPalomino]

One more thought- call the local ER clinics. Often, when an owner has lost a pet that needs medications, they will call the ER clinics to give them the dog's description, hoping he'll turn up there.

I'd put an ad on Craigslist to the effect of "looking for the owner or any information on this dog." Maybe someone will tell you his story. He sure is lucky to have found you!

[Mara]

Wonderful news! We've found his owner!

Believe it or not, someone at the bank where I found Maxwell (that's his name) remembered seeing a posted notice. She called the number and told her everything I'd passed along (thank god the people there really did write down the info I gave them). The owner got in touch with the vet first off, who called me.

I have just finished talking to the woman and Maxwell has been gone for 11 days. The meter reader left the gate open to the backyard, thus the escape. He had on a safety collar which must have pulled off at some point. She (the owner) has been beside herself with worry. Maxwell is indeed on daily phenobarbitol for epilepsy, and he does well on it, but she's been scared to death since he went missing that he might have had a seizure and not recovered.

He is doing well and is ready to go home, so she's heading right over to get him before lunch. He will be microchipped before he leaves. She's very grateful, and had originally offered a reward (which I don't care about), but the vet bill is pretty much eating the reward money! She manages a restaurant, so is sending me a gift certificate. It's not at all necessary - that she and Maxwell are reunited is reward enough, but it makes her feel better to do it, so that's fine.

I'm so happy right now!

[Roomfor2]

We must have been typing at the same - Wow that's great news.

Just went through this big time this weekend. Son has a boston terrier. Yea, we know about the scrounched nose but these are now grand mal(?) . Dog is barely 3. Started at 2, small ones, they could hold dog, wrap a cold towel or put her in sink and she would come out of it. Vets did all kinds of tests, don't know, say epilepsy. Small pill 3 times a day. Has a big one, 45 minutes she is out, take her to emergency vet, she comes through. First thought it was heat now it's happening at anytime. Just had another big one on Thursday. To regular vet, they unhook her IV line at 5:00 and say come get her we are closing. (Need to find another vet in the Remington, VA area if anyone knows of one PM me) Take her to emergency vet, now over $1,000 just for this one trip. Switch her to liquid (different than pills). I have dog on Sat. Instead of making her drousy it did the opposite. She can't stand still, she can't control her bowels. Yes, my house I said, poop everywhere. My poor washing machine ran for two days straight. Steam cleaner on double duty. Finally get hold of vet, pull down the loading dose, now blood in stool, get more meds, feed her rice (she is starving). Just now getting better. No one can figure out why. Switching her to senstive stomach dog food, no preservatives. See if that helps. Can't keep going through this. Good luck to you and your friend. I hope everything works out for this dog. You are angel !for picking him up.

[BuddyRoo]

YAY!!!! Great news! Well done!

[JLMet]

Incredible news. I'm so happy that everything fell into place and this lucky dog is on his way back home to mommy! You did an incredible thing. Most people never would have stopped but you did and you saved Maxwell's life and his owner will never forget that. I'm so glad that he's going back with his family and will be getting his medications again.

[Bluey]

Good job of being Johnny on the spot that day, no one could have done any better than that.:cool:

Terrible for that lady that the dog was gone that long.:cry:
I bet she is very glad that someone took the dog in and cared for him.:yes:

[GoForAGallop]

Not going to lie, this thread made me a little teary! You're such a lovely person, to help that poor dog.

[Mara]

You know, my biggest fear was that we would locate the owner and it would turn out to be someone that shouldn't have a dog, much less one with special needs. There's nothing you can do in that case except hand the animal over and pray that his guardian angel stays on duty. But I firmly believe Maxwell is with the right family and that this was just one of those freak things. She had no complaints about the high vet bill - she was just thrilled to be getting her dog back!
I'm hoping to meet her when we use our gift certificate!

[MrWinston]

That is just sooooooo great! You not only saved the dog but you took the worry from his owner and made her very happy. I hope the karma comes back to you in good things for you and your creatures.

[kipster]

That is wonderful news! It is so nice to read the 'happy ending!'

[RainyDayRide]

Only thing I could think to do after the initial frenzy was to call the bank and inform them of what was going on. I left my phone number and told them to please call me if anyone saw any "Lost Dog" signs that might refer to this dog.


To me, this is the most amazing part of the very happy story. Around here there is no way to get the phone number of a specific branch unless you happen to have the business card of one of the staff. Only numbers listed go to central call centers. And you not even got the number but found someone to listen and write down the info'. Way to go!

[jen-s]

Fabulous news! Always excited to hear a happy ending.

[Mara]

To me, this is the most amazing part of the very happy story. Around here there is no way to get the phone number of a specific branch unless you happen to have the business card of one of the staff. Only numbers listed go to central call centers. And you not even got the number but found someone to listen and write down the info'. Way to go!


That's where I got lucky. This bank is one of the very few remaining one-man shows around. I use their ATM from time to time because my company banks with them for payroll and also does some investing through them, so we get a little bit of "preferential treatment!" They are very, very nice people.

[EqTrainer]

Oh wow, 11 days.. she must have thought she would never see him again. What a joyous reunion that must have been! Mara, you rock!