A Scary 24 Hours

Thursday night I was watching the late, late show and thinking about heading off to bed. Gertie was nestled in my lap sound asleep, putting off heat like a blast furnace as usual. All of the sudden Gertie got up and looked as if she wanted to turn over but he head was shaking like mad, eyes rolling in her head, and her legs went stiff as a board. For the next two and half minutes My emotions swung back and forth like an annoying kid with a light switch. I went from being scared out of my wits for what was happening to Gertie to wanting to burst out in tears for the thought I was losing her. The whole time trying to stay calm and reassure her that she was going to be alright. Gertie was having a seizure. When it was over she collapsed in my arms and for the next hour or so she just slept. If I tried to wake her up her eyelids opened but immediately closed - as if to say don't bother me right now.

The vet tells me there are usually two reasons a dog has a seizure out of the blue like that - and while he tried to reassure me - I knew I wasn't going to like either one. It's strange that you hope your dog has epilepsy. But that's what I'm hoping. Because the alternative is a brain tumor - and I think we all know where that one will end up. So Gertie was on a 24 hour watch - another seizure would have been grave news I was told. Thankfully she has been her usual self since, wanting to play and generally seeing how many times she could crawl into my lap - and yesterday it was as much as she wanted. The vet says that sometimes a dog will have one seizure and never have another - that's my prayer. If she does have epilepsy there are medications for it - albeit with lots of side effects. That's a bridge we'll cross when and if the time comes.