My friend Lady Godiva and Seizures

Please everyone keep my friend Lady Godiva in your thoughts and prayers, her Mommy almost lost her this weekend. After a very scary weekend her vet discovered that she has seizures like I do. But she is on medicine and doing better now, so please send some juju her way. Sometimes it takes a while for us little ones to bounce back but I just know my brave friend Godiva is going to be back to normal in two shakes of a chihuahua tail. My Mom remembers all to well those first seizures I had and how scared she was. It took them a lot longer to figure out what was going on with me because my seizures don't present with the typical symptoms. I don't lose control of my bowels or bladder, I don't lose consciousness (I just get a little dazed) and I don't have jerky movements.  With my first one I was wobbly and just a little shaky. With the second one I couldn't stand and my mouth looked a little one sided and again I was shaky. Then with the third one I had all of the above but this time I got very stiff and had horrible shakes, but still no jerking.  Finally my vet figured out what was going on and started me on Phenobarbital which for me turned out to be a wonder drug. My seizures are now controlled and I only have one about every 8 months or so and they are never as bad as those first ones were. This bothered Mom at first because she thought the medicine was going to get rid of them completely, her excuse for this lapse in judgement is they didn't teach veterinarian care when she was in nursing school back in the 1800's. But my vet was great and explained to her that I might still have a few seizures from time to time but they would be further apart and very mild if the medication was doing it's job. I had a mild seizure last night. I always want my Mom or Lola's Boy to hold me close when the shaking starts so they wrap my blankie around me and lay very, very close to me. They whisper softly in my ear and this reassures me. If they are not there when it starts I will even crawl (because I can't walk when having a seizure) until I find one of them. They always drop what they are doing and snuggle up with me until it is over. Now that I am on my medicine the length of the seizure is a lot shorter and I am fully aware of what is going on around me.  I am not as shaky but I still get rigid and can't walk for a few minutes and my skin (I am a naked chi and have very little fur) flushes red. Sometimes my skin will stay flushed for a couple of hours even, this is one symptom the vet still hasn't figured out but since it causes no problem we just live with it. Even after all this time Mom's heart still skips a beat every time I have a seizure, she says she will never get use to them but we have all learned to live with them.

This is Truffle, Lady Godiva and Coco The Princess, aren't they a beautiful family? Godiva is the cutie in the middle soaking up some sisterly love.

 

This was me last night after my seizure:

 

 At first I want to rest for a few minutes.

  

Then I slowly start to perk up.

 

Not quite ready to get up and around yet.

 

Just going to lay here until the dizziness passes.

 

Wait...did someone go into the kitchen?

 

I'm pretty sure I hear movement in the kitchen...

 

Who is in there?

 

Yes, definitely someone is in the kitchen and they are getting cheese! I don't have time for this seizure mess when cheese is involved. Uhhhh.... you are bringing some in here for me, aren't you?

 

If I roll over and look really cute maybe they will bring the cheese to me...

 

Uhhh...excuse me...you DO see me laying here all cute and stuff, don't you? Just waiting on my cheese and if you have a few minutes a belly rub would be nice too.