I am so glad to hear Nori doesn't have Neospora, it's like hearing that one of my own pups are in the clear.
Could she have picked up something or experienced something during the flight over? A serious enough head trauma can also cause seizures, which she might have sustained if it was a turbulent flight.
@Beth - Head trauma bad enough to cause a seizure would have other "symptoms", like a cracked skull - she clearly doesn't have that. As far as other things that could have happened on a flight, your guess is as good as mine. Obviously I wasn't on the flight with her.
She doesn't show any abdominal problems? GI tract issues?
Has she been given a lukewarm dish-soap bath since her arrival to wash off any dust from her coat or residue absorbed in her skin? It won't help if a toxin was ingested or already internalized, but it'll rule out continual dosing through her skin.
I don't have anything to add, except for that this is really so sad, and I'm sending good thoughts and well wishes to you all. Hang in there. I can only imagine how stressful and disappointing (on so many levels) this must be.
I'm glad it's not Neospora, but it's too bad she is having these my last white boxer had seizures when she got old and it was heartbreaking to see it must be worse for a puppy though. I'm praying she'll grow out of it and it's nothing bad.
So happy to see that neospora was ruled out. That must have been incredibly difficult wait for those results. I know it's disappointing to still not have an answer but it must feel good to rule out some very scary options.
“As far as other things that could have happened on a flight, your guess is as good as mine. Obviously I wasn't on the flight with her.”
---Brad, even if you were on the flight you would not know if the dog is under in cargo, unless you inquire about the pressurizing and climatizing by talking to the captain when boarding . It is my understanding the captain should know what’s on board and is the one to double check upon take off that all is ready good to go.
You are entitled to make inquiry with the airline should you choose to do so (at least here in the US and UK), and most standard airlines that allow pets as cargo usually have a reporting division. I would double check the airline live animal policy. You just never know, particularly if Nora was not exhibiting symptoms weeks or days before the flight. : / It is just too odd that seizures now occur if there were none before.
take it one step at a time as you are doing.....lets hope it diminishes as she grows.
Thanks all for the thoughts, kind comments, and well wishes for Nori. This Nori situation has been hard on Jen and I.
After we got the "all clear" on whether our other dogs were safe, we started to look into other potential causes and tried different approaches to reducing her seizures.
On one hand we did reduce her seizures, but on the other hand she has started to show rather rapid neurological deterioration - she has started to run (full speed) directly into things, she has started to act somewhat aggressive toward other dogs and us if we surprise her (both probably due to a vision issue), her motor skill / coordination is becoming very poor, she doesn't eat much and is not growing (only gained 0.5lb since she got here). Nori also shows an inability, or a very severe slowness in her capacity, to learn - this is a big issue since it means she is not learning bite inhibition.
We have done 4 radiographs (sp?), an ultrasound, 5 blood tests (sent to various research centers, some were when she was fasted some not), a bile acid test, and a spinal tap and all have show us nothing. She has also seen a veterinary behaviorist who verified what I mentioned regarding her learning. To this day we are still medicating her with the antibiotic and giving her anti-seizure meds as well as honey (in case it happened to be hypoglycemia even tho several tests have said its not). We're just shooting in the dark at this point.
After talking to our vet and the specialists we have worked with, we have all come to the conclusion that the best thing to do for Nori is to put her to sleep. We feel her quality of life is starting to reduce to the point where we should make the tough choice.
Nori has an appointment at the vet this evening. I will be taking her.
I'm closing this thread as I'm not sure there is anything else to be said, we certainly didn't sign up for this and its not an easy choice for us to make. This was meant to be a happy thread for Tai and Nori. Some day I will start a new thread for Tai so he can have a happy place.
Comments
Could she have picked up something or experienced something during the flight over? A serious enough head trauma can also cause seizures, which she might have sustained if it was a turbulent flight.
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Has she been given a lukewarm dish-soap bath since her arrival to wash off any dust from her coat or residue absorbed in her skin? It won't help if a toxin was ingested or already internalized, but it'll rule out continual dosing through her skin.
"She doesn't show any abdominal problems? GI tract issues? "
>> That's the strange thing, Nori's stool is SUPER HEALTHY. She has had no GI issues.
Yes, she had a bath when she got here w/ natural "puppy shampoo".
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---Brad, even if you were on the flight you would not know if the dog is under in cargo, unless you inquire about the pressurizing and climatizing by talking to the captain when boarding . It is my understanding the captain should know what’s on board and is the one to double check upon take off that all is ready good to go.
You are entitled to make inquiry with the airline should you choose to do so (at least here in the US and UK), and most standard airlines that allow pets as cargo usually have a reporting division. I would double check the airline live animal policy. You just never know, particularly if Nora was not exhibiting symptoms weeks or days before the flight. : / It is just too odd that seizures now occur if there were none before.
take it one step at a time as you are doing.....lets hope it diminishes as she grows.
Snf
I am sending lots of thoughts and good vibes toward Taos for you guys. Keep us updated on how she is doing.
After we got the "all clear" on whether our other dogs were safe, we started to look into other potential causes and tried different approaches to reducing her seizures.
On one hand we did reduce her seizures, but on the other hand she has started to show rather rapid neurological deterioration - she has started to run (full speed) directly into things, she has started to act somewhat aggressive toward other dogs and us if we surprise her (both probably due to a vision issue), her motor skill / coordination is becoming very poor, she doesn't eat much and is not growing (only gained 0.5lb since she got here). Nori also shows an inability, or a very severe slowness in her capacity, to learn - this is a big issue since it means she is not learning bite inhibition.
We have done 4 radiographs (sp?), an ultrasound, 5 blood tests (sent to various research centers, some were when she was fasted some not), a bile acid test, and a spinal tap and all have show us nothing. She has also seen a veterinary behaviorist who verified what I mentioned regarding her learning. To this day we are still medicating her with the antibiotic and giving her anti-seizure meds as well as honey (in case it happened to be hypoglycemia even tho several tests have said its not). We're just shooting in the dark at this point.
After talking to our vet and the specialists we have worked with, we have all come to the conclusion that the best thing to do for Nori is to put her to sleep. We feel her quality of life is starting to reduce to the point where we should make the tough choice.
Nori has an appointment at the vet this evening. I will be taking her.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/4463093031_7b08a3ecaf.jpg
I'm closing this thread as I'm not sure there is anything else to be said, we certainly didn't sign up for this and its not an easy choice for us to make. This was meant to be a happy thread for Tai and Nori. Some day I will start a new thread for Tai so he can have a happy place.
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