"My little dog-a heartbeat at my feet"-Edith Wharton

Look at that sweet face...and I'm not talking about mine.

That is Jake. He is my baby. This week has been very hard for Jake, Jason and I. On Wednesday morning Jake started having seizures. He had two within 5 minuets of each other. To any animal mommy or daddy, seeing your animal do this is horrifying! I saw both of them and I was so scared out of my mind and had no idea what to do. After making some phone calls it was decided that I take him to the hospital and get him fully checked out. Jake and I got to the Central Hospital for animals and the techs took him from me so they could start an IV just in case he had other seizures, they would be able to stop them. Jake's doctor came in and we discussed the possibilities of what was going on. I have to tell you, to hear the absolute worst case scenario is the worst conversation any pet parent can go through. Dr Emi (Jake's doc) wanted to do an neurological exam and also do a full blood work up on him. After all of these things she believed that we would know a lot more about what was going on. She came back in after his neurological exam and she said that he looked really good, in fact, she said that if I would not have told her that he has seizures that she would have never known by the way he was acting. The blood was the important part, this would tell us a lot.

That whole morning I had cried harder then I have cried in a long time. I also did a lot of praying. I waited and waited...I saw animals and their owners come and go, and the whole time wishing that I was in there just to get his nails cut, or rabies shot like the rest of them, not to see if my baby was going to be ok or not.

About forty-five minutes later Dr Emi came and got me, she said it was good news. We went into the exam room and she said that based on his blood work and neurological exam she believes that it is Idiopathic Epilepsy. Ok, so it was not what I was expecting and I was still unsure how this was good news. She told me that it is not uncommon in some dog breeds to have this, and that dogs that have this live very happy normal lives. I was feeling a little better but still not convinced. She told me that she was going to give us some anti-seizure medicine for him to take twice a day and basically he has to take it for the remainder of his life. She could not rule out other possibilities like a stroke, brain tumor, or other nasty staff but that would include other very expensive tests. I asked his doctor if she thought they were necessary but she believed that we had the right diagnosis. They kept him under seizure watch the rest of the day. I hated to leave him there but I knew that it was what was best for him.

So......here we are. Ever since I found out about Jake's condition I have been researching it and also researching his medicine. I have discovered that he will be able to live a normal life. I am still on edge right now just because it is a change for all of us and I still don't feel that educated about it but I am coming along.

I know that some of you may say, it's just a dog. What you don't understand is that he is not just a dog, he is a friend, a great listener, he gives un-conditional love at all times, he is comedian, a snuggle buddy, a member of our family. We love him and we will do our best to take care of him, special needs and all, while he is in our care. Please continue to pray for us. I am still very worried and nervous but I am sure I will get used to our new routine.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes about dogs.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Love,
Andi