Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Last night at around 10pm Petunia (my pug) froze up and was making weird sounds. We noticed that she pooped on the couch and had a foul odor coming from her anal glands. She could not move and was completely disoriented. I picked her up and put her on the floor and she again was making weird sound and was pretty much rolling around. I picked her back up and rocked her. I talked to her and told her how much I loved her and how she would be ok. She "snapped" out of it and was acting completely normal. I put her back down onto the floor and she started running around as normal. At that time DH was calling the 24H vet in Selden.

I put her in the car and took her to the Vet (longest 10 min of my life) Again she was completely fine. I explained to them what I witnessed and how i thought it was a seizure. They agreed and stated that by the way I was describing what happened it sounded as if it were a seizure. They took blood, her temp and did x-rays. Everything came back normal (Thank God). We left there at about 1am. She's been fine ever since but I am so scared that this will happen again. I have never experienced anything like this before and I am in hysterics writing this. She is my life and I can't even begin to think of what could have happened.

Anyway if you have gotten this far Thank You for reading and if you have any experience at all with dogs and seizures please share some insight if you could. I have read several articles about prevention and causes but I would prefer personal experiences if possible. TIA

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Sounds very scary! I have no idea what it was. My female gets spooked and does things like that but I dont think they are seizures. I am glad your pup is okay and all checked out ok. No advice other than just some hugs.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

oh poor Petunia I also have a pug and the love of our life!! Is she eating anything different lately?

I wish I had some answers for ya Hope she is feeling better. Do they want to you follow up with your vet?

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Poor girl! Pugs are funky little doggies. I know the breed has certain health issues..maybe she has a cold or something?

Glad she is ok. Keep an eye on her. It definitely sounds like a seizure of some sort or maybe she was doing something in her sleep and she didn't know it?

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Scary! Glad she's ok now!

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

My Crystal goes through this once year. Or if exposed to flea meds. Yes the flea meds CAN cause them. I do Exactly WHAT you did. Just remember not to put your face or hands by her mouth as she might go to bite when she comes out of it, as she cans control of her legs and mouth again. I rub Crystal all over, like a message, her legs , back. Keep paper towels handy as she will have excess saliva coming out. Some last longer then the next one, some are very short. If you notice a wet spot when you come home of drool and the dogs neck wet, could have POSSIBLE been one . MY BIGGEST fear. Usually you will know when something is about to happen, well for me i tell. she wants more attention, or hides(or both) or does a circle. If I dont see it though, My one other dog usually alerts me. Mystic is very keen to picking up on it before I do. HTH FM me if you want to talk more. I KNOW how scary it can be!

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Thank you all. The emergency vet sent all of my records over to my regular Vet so that I could follow-up. So far she has been acting very normal today. I hope that was the last of this.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

she maybe tired for a little whole after but should be fine, usually with in an hour
Crystal does not take meds for it. Being it is only once a year and never gone longer then 6 mins. (thats pushing it) if she had them more ofter then I MIGHT consider meds but not now.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

OMG that sounds really scary...

do they want you to bring her back?

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Awww....I'm so sorry for Petunia. I'm glad to hear she is back to normal today. As you know my pups are my life, so I know exactly how you feel.
Sometimes during the summer Bella would just freeze, and not respond to anything, she would also make some weird sound, like she couldn't catch her breath. I took her to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong with her, so hopefully for Petunia it was just a fluke thing, that will hopefully never happen again.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Posted by Wishing4ababy

Awww....I'm so sorry for Petunia. I'm glad to hear she is back to normal today. As you know my pups are my life, so I know exactly how you feel.
Sometimes during the summer Bella would just freeze, and not respond to anything, she would also make some weird sound, like she couldn't catch her breath. I took her to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong with her, so hopefully for Petunia it was just a fluke thing, that will hopefully never happen again.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

witnessing a seizure is traumatizing... I'm glad that you and your dog are okay.

I would monitor your dog and if she has the seizures again your vet might need to put her on meds.

Did you happen to feed your dog any new foods. My brother in law's dog had seizures because he was secretly eating his macadamia nuts! it was crazy.

My past dog Buddy has seizures and we didnt know why he was having them.

I was told many dogs have seizures once and never have them again.

keep us updated on your pup!

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Thanks so much. There was nothing that she ate (that I know of) that was out of the ordinary. I hope that she never ever has to go through this again. It was horrible. Thank you to everyone who responded.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

that is so scary! I am so sorry I have no advice, but just wanted to say I hope your littly puggy is ok! I have a pug too and I love her to death...that would scare the crap out of me.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I would have had a panic attack. My moms dog is on seizure meds all the time to prevent them, a steroid I think? If it happens again, I would ask the vet about putting her on meds to control it.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

I've had to rush my Shih Tzu to the hospital which was 30 min away, I wouldnt wish that feeling on anyone. I'm sorry that you experienced that but, TG she is ok.

You should talk to Kimbilina, her pug has sezuires and she went thru something similiar not to long ago.

Hugs.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Thanks everyone. She is so much better.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

I am so sorry to hear of your poor baby.

I had a Pomeranian named Foxy who suffered a seizure. She was about to go outside and she tumbled and fell over. All stiff like. It was very odd. Vet said she had a seizure. That was the only one she ever had. It's so bizarre but they happen.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

I'm so sorry! Glad, she's feeling better.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

I'm sorry you went through this, but glad that all the tests came back normal!

My dog Daisy, who was a medium sized mutt from North Shore, started having seizures when she was about 7 years old. We had her 7 more years! She occasionally would have seizures from time to time, randomly out of nowhere, and when she did we would just let her go through it, she would basically freeze up and/or shake/roll around on the floor... we would move anything that could hurt her, or fall over, and try to give her as much space as possible, and yes then she would come out of it and probably never even remembered what happened. We'd sit with her and watch her and hug her and all that when she came out of it. It was scary but we actually got used to it. It didn't happen very often but enough that I got used to it. My parents were so worried when it started (we were still kids) that they got another dog for when Daisy would pass, to help us get through it... that's how bad they thought it was, and like I said she lived 7 more years.

So don't worry too much, dogs can live with having seizures, I'm sure now there is medicine the vet can give you if your dog is diagnosed as epileptic. I would be careful how you touch her and handle her if she's in a seizure because their jerking movements can be unpredictable and you could inadvertantly hurt her, we were always advised to let her come out of it on her own and just make sure nothing would hurt her. Feel free to FM me if you have any questions about my experience and I hope this is an isolated thing for Petunia! If not at least you know it doesn't necessarily mean its the end of the world, or that it will happen a lot.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

My dog Rocky had his first seizure on Nov. 30. Scariest thing ever He eventually needed to see a neurologist and was put on anti-seizure meds. If it ends up you need to see a vet neurologist please contact me first. I had a bad experience with one and if I had known what I know now I would've went somewhere completely different.

ETA: I'm not saying this to scare you, I just want you to have a heads up in case she begins to develop any additional symptoms. If she develops a head tilt or seems weak on one side you need to see a vet right away. My dog Rocky started developing those symptoms about 2 days after his seizure and I attributed it to being sore from the seizure (I had never seen a seizure in my life and he had been completely healthy up until that point). So I waited a few days to call the neuro vet. Well after an MRI and spinal tap, it turned out he had inflammation in the brain and diagnosed with non infectious meningo encephalitis. When there is a suspicion that a dog has this disease it is imperative that steroids be started right away to begin reducing the inflammation in the brain. Rocky has now been on steroids for a month and is doing better but I feel guilty about waiting those few days. He continues to have some weakness in his legs (he can't jump or climb multiple steps anymore) and I blame myself. If I had known that the symptoms were indicative of something serious, I would've brought him in sooner. My vet has told me not to blame myself but you know that's easier said than done. So again, this is not meant to scare you. I truly wish someone would've told me of this possibility so at least then I would've been somewhat prepared and on guard.

Message edited 1/6/2011 10:08:08 AM.

Re: Scariest and worst night of my life (long)

Thank you everyone. You have all been really helpful and I really really appreciate it!