What can I do to stop the convulsions until the lab results came back on Tuesday, we are testing her insulin to see if she has an insulinoma. My vet told me to give her a little sugar every six hours, an other vet told me to give her lots of sugar every now and then. The first vet is afraid that if she raises her level of glucose, the insulin will raise too… So what should I do???? This last week she haven’t had any seizures, but tomorrow morninng she had one. We used to give her Diazepam while she was seizuring, but now the vets tell me that if she is hipoglusemic, the Diazepam will do no goo. Nevertheless she is taking Phenobarbital, until we are completely sure that her seizures are because of the low sugar in her blood.
So if she was your dog what would you do to help her. And please don’t tell me to ask my vet, because I’ve done that, thousands of times, they don’t seem to come up with an answer, and they are the bests of the city. I live in Argentina, so sorry if my english is not that clear. Thanks for your help!!!!
I forgot to tell you that she’s eleven years old, and is a Vizsla.
We never leave her alone now because we’re afraid she would have a seizure. It started last february, but the convulsiones were very few, three in 9 months, but everything went back in December, she seizured a lot, so we started with the Phenobarbital. I did some blood tests (we did test her blood the first time she had the seizure) because I saw her kind of depressed, and her glucose was even lower. Now we’re trying to find out how to stop that.
Thanks for your answers, I do think she’s a happy dog, I treat her like a princess, we even spoiled her too much. Whenever she has the seizures, my whole family suffers a lot, the only confort I have is that she doesn’t feel pain, because she’s unconscious. But right now she seems like a happy dog, I mean, she has a normal life for an old dog, so that’s why I’m trying so hard to find a way to control the convulsions, and not simple give up on her.
First off, with your dogs age you should be thinking about the possibility of euthinizing her. I know it’s not pleasant, but if you’re vet can’t figure this out so you can get the seizures to stop, this would be the kindest thing.
Secondly, I’d find a new vet. Yes, vets study to learn all their animal medical knowledge, but some are just plain stupid and know nothing regardless. I had a vet like this and because of their inability to see my dog actually had a problem and not imply that I was just too stupid to know how to housebreak him(when I had a fully housebroken dog already), I said ***** them and found a new vet.
Good luck either way. Medical problems that aren’t easily solved are the worst.
Sorry for your problem, but in the real world, you should go find another vet, or at best take a second opinion. If this is not possible, you have to consider, surely, the quality of life your dog is currently having. If her down days out number her up days, do the only decent thing, and end her suffering.
All I can advise really.
Edot – I agree with the last statement above – ‘inconclusive’ is a word I dread. Been there and done that last year, for 6 months until I finally had to call time for my beloved b itch.
How long are her seizures? Phenobarb is a great drug for that. IF they are not happening every day and are not very long, then just hang in there. The vet i worked for always told the owners not to worry to much if they are not happening very often. The glucose on the other hand, try some honey/ sugar water to raise the insulin. IF she was my dog i would wait for the results, if need to put on insulin then i would do so. As far as the seizures i would keep on phenobarb if they were not related to the low insulin. If it was related a strict diet and insulin injections should do the trick.
Sounds like you have a tough case on your hands. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can cause seizures, but on the other hand if she has a malfunction of releasing too much insulin this can be a problem to. When you introduce sugar into the body, the body releases insulin into the bloodstream to eliminate a portion of it from the bloodstream. When there is a condition that is causing the over production of insulin, it will rid the body of that sugar plus more which will actually cause hypoglycemia, rather than helping it. I would go with the advice of the vet telling you to give sugar only every 6 hours and not flooding the body with sugar. This vet seems to have more knowledge about what may be going on and how insulin comes into play.
It might be that she has a tumor on her pancreas.