I'm glad to hear everything is going better. For what it's worth I have seizures (well, not lately and knock on wood never again) and have hydrocephalus. In a weird way I can feel your dog's pain. Keep on giving her love and smiles it'll really mean a lot. I too am on Keppra (and two others) and can tell you that at least in humans changing pills from quick to extended or even higher or lower doses can be a trigger, at least in humans. Don't feel selfish about asking for money, especially if you are thinking of making Shadow a therapy dog. While I was in the hospital I had a therapy dog visit me and it is actually the only thing I remember of those two weeks. Dogs can do wonders and I know I would happily donate to help a dog out especially if she can help others out. That's just my two cents.

Aw, thank you! I've said it several times, but seriously I don't know how I would be surviving right now if it weren't for you all. Bgjacman, you are an inspiration, and I can only imagine what you've gone through over the course of your life, and I certainly appreciate the offer for a donation. I might do a fundraiser, but I still feel weird asking for something personal.

We had a full grand mal a little while ago, and we were able to catch it on video for our neurologist. We both felt like shit just standing there and videoing it, but hopefully it will help her in the long run. I have a feeling we're going to be headed down the shunt path, but in the meantime we have an appointment with the holistic vet at our regular practice tomorrow morning and our neurologist is going to switch her back to the 8 hour pill if the seizures continue over the next few days.

I wish so badly that I could just wave a magic wand and fix her, there is nothing more helpless than standing there and watching your dog like that and knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do to make it stop...

I watch this thread and silently follow it, and I cannot imagine how difficult this has been so far on the both of you. I continue to pray and hope for the best for Shadow.

How old is Shadow now?

21.5 weeks

Updated the blog if you guys want to see the full story from today.

merbear.laminarchaos.net

I saw the blog, and I love her picture at the end lol..she looks thrilled.

Hope you find that needle!!! Eek how scary! I'd be like, "dammit Sheba!" if she did that..damn Sibe puppies.

I really hope everything with both vets helps out and gives Shadow a little bit of relief.

I came across this today and thought you might be interested. It's a non profit called the Mia Foundation that helps special needs animals with birth defects. Some of the stories are pretty amazing. https://www.facebook.com/LoveForMiaCleftPalateChihuahua

Meredith, I have a suggestion for a blog post if you're up for it...I'd like to see a "What does a seizure look like" post. I think it would be useful for other pet owners to help identify if their dog has a seizure. I know that me personally, if Bode was to have one, I would have no clue what was going on.

Jen, thanks for the link. I will definitely look at it when I get a chance.

Sara, I actually have a pretty violent one on video, and that is something I should share both on the blog and on here. It's disturbing as hell to watch, but with the incidence of epilepsy in Huskies it's important to know. I'll get that uploaded this evening.

So I've been updating on Facebook but haven't had a chance to update here, but we had a really rough day with Shadow yesterday. She had a seizure at daycare around 10:30 in the morning, and seemed to be fine. When I got there at 4:00 they told me she'd had another one about an hour before I got there, and then she had another one right there in the lobby. I called the neurologist and they told me to take her home, keep her quiet, and keep a close eye, and that if she had another one I was to bring her straight in to the ER. Sure enough, we hadn't even gotten a mile up the road from daycare and she had another one, so I pulled a U Turn and headed towards the ER. I called enroute so they were ready for us, and they took her back immediately to evaluate and start medication. She got a loading dose of phenobarb IV, as well as valium to help break the cluster. That did the trick, but they wanted to keep her for observation. So far she's been seizure free since the initial presentation, and I have an appointment to see the neurologist and then bring her home at 4:00 today. Looks like we're going to be adding phenobarb to the mix for her medications, so I'll probably be looking at milk thistle as well to help keep her liver from being damaged.

at least she has been good since the last one yesterday, Sierra is on milk thistle, we retest her liver next month. we were also doing SAM-e for the liver. hope shadow is better today

That's terrible, I couldn't imagine going through this with my pup. I hope y'all get her on the right cocktail soon and don't have to keep taking her to the er. Good luck! Give Shadow lots of hugs for me.

Oh no, so sorry to hear that.  Did they say anything more?  Any idea as to the cause?  Can you expect this again?  I would normally check FB but I am so overwhelmed right now with house shopping stuff I barely have time to check this space as it is.  Hugs to you and Shadow.

Regarding milk thistle, my mother in law had her late chi on milk thistle for her liver for a number of years as recommended by her holistic vet.

Thanks guys. Right now they haven't offered any sort of explanation, but I will be talking to the neurologist today. I really hope we can get a better handle on this.

Hope you get some answers, it is so hard being left in the dark.

We had another hydro chi join the chi forum the other week looking for help and advice and I immediately thought of you and Shadow. It's sickening how many dogs live with this condition.  

I've been keeping up with your posts on FB. I hope the neurologist can this figured out soon! Poor Shadow

I'm so sorry, Mer. I thought Shadow was doing good with the 8 hr medicine. Hoping the neurologist can give you some insight today. *hugs*

I'm so sorry, Meredith. How frightening for you. I hope the neurologist can help.

I just happen to be looking for hereditary conditions in Siberian Huskies and I found this pdf file that list diseases for many breeds. As I was reading them I found a correlation between seizures and Hypothyroidism which is common in Huskies.

Epilepsy: a disease characterized by convulsions (seizures) and/or disturbances of
consciousness. Hypothyroidism can predispose to seizures

Hypothyroidism: a very common endocrine disease where the body produces an
abnormally low amount of thyroid hormones. An autoimmune destruction of the thyroid gland
which affects more than 50 dog breeds

If anyone is interested, this is the link where I got the information.

http://www.hsvma.org/assets/pdfs/guide-to-congenital-and-heritable-disorders.pdf

That's great information, Marla! Thanks for posting.

Shadow's seizures aren't due to hereditary epilepsy, but there are a ton of Huskies on the canine epilepsy list serve I'm on. It's definitely one of those hereditary conditions that is rising in prevalence in the breed thanks to indiscriminate, unethical breeding.

On a happy note though, Shadow has been seizure free for just about 6 months

Great news for shadow!

I am so happy to hear the news about Shadow. My daughter has also been seizure free for 7 months. So, I completely understand what you are going through. It really does not matter if it is a 4 legged child or a 2 legged child. We just want them all to be healthy.

Beautiful, sweet, adorable Shadow turned 1 year old yesterday! She had a great time at her birthday party and so did Dizzy! Neither of them were too fond of the party hats though. happy birthday Shadow!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Shadow!

Awww, Happy Birthday Shadow!