Our nearly 5 year old black lab (Jake), who is THE greatest dog in the world, had his second seizure today. Our mellow totally at ease perfect dog, became unrecognizable. The first time he had a seizure was a few months back, totally random. Came out of it pretty well with just a bit of confusion. Having dealt with seizures in a dog before (my childhood dog had epilepsy), I was only slightly worried, knowing that it was manageable with medication should it prove to be an issue. A quick consultation with the vet confirmed this and we had instructions to watch for future episodes.
Today he had his second one, and it was scary. We were actually sleeping and he was laying on the floor next to my side of the bed. Our oldest DD walked in to announce she was awake and ask a question. As she approached she started yelling "Mom, its Jake!" I rolled over quickly and saw he was having a seizure. We cleared the kids from the room and shut the door. I talked softly to him as he came out of it. We expected him to be out of it, but he was totally weird. Our bedroom door doesn't latch all the way and the kids were standing in the hall. When he got control of his legs back he got up and lunged through the door at the kids and bee lined it down the steps to the back door. Obviously, I chased after him. I figured, ok, he wants to go potty. I went to go open the door and he lunged at me. I have never been afraid of him, ever, but I ran like heck. Sent the kids to their rooms until we knew it was safe. Dh called him over and he went to DH fine. When I went to approach he lunged at me again. Dh took him into our bedroom and he had all his hackles raise, something he never does. After a few more minutes he seemed ok. He put him in the backyard (fenced) for awhile just to be sure.
When we brought him back in he was extremely affectionate to me, sought me out to make sure I was ok and cuddle. Its like he knew he lunged at me and couldn't figure out why he had acted that way. We know and understand, its not his fault.
I've dealt with seizures in dogs before, but not the aggression part. We know its not unusual as parts of his brain come back on at different times. We were prepared to medicate him to manage seizures if needed, but this aggression when coming out of it changes things. We have kids, seizures are unpredictable and there is no guarantee the meds would work and over time they could get worse. We have to consider putting him to sleep. There is no way I could rehome him if there is ANY chance he could be aggressive, even to a home without kids. I'm not worried about his "normal" behavior, only when coming out of a seizure. The obvious answer would be to segregate him for a long time after a seizure. The thing is, we may not always catch his seizures. They are quiet and they could happen any time. Even when we are not home, for all we know, this may not be only his 2nd one. Both times we think he knew they were coming on because he came to be by us when it happened, but that might not always happen.
I think I know what we have to do, but this is a REALLY hard decision and I need more feedback.
If this was your dog, what would you do? PS, we are seeing the vet in an hour for a checkup with our other dog (she has medical issues of her own, sigh) and we will be bringing him as well.
Today he had his second one, and it was scary. We were actually sleeping and he was laying on the floor next to my side of the bed. Our oldest DD walked in to announce she was awake and ask a question. As she approached she started yelling "Mom, its Jake!" I rolled over quickly and saw he was having a seizure. We cleared the kids from the room and shut the door. I talked softly to him as he came out of it. We expected him to be out of it, but he was totally weird. Our bedroom door doesn't latch all the way and the kids were standing in the hall. When he got control of his legs back he got up and lunged through the door at the kids and bee lined it down the steps to the back door. Obviously, I chased after him. I figured, ok, he wants to go potty. I went to go open the door and he lunged at me. I have never been afraid of him, ever, but I ran like heck. Sent the kids to their rooms until we knew it was safe. Dh called him over and he went to DH fine. When I went to approach he lunged at me again. Dh took him into our bedroom and he had all his hackles raise, something he never does. After a few more minutes he seemed ok. He put him in the backyard (fenced) for awhile just to be sure.
When we brought him back in he was extremely affectionate to me, sought me out to make sure I was ok and cuddle. Its like he knew he lunged at me and couldn't figure out why he had acted that way. We know and understand, its not his fault.
I've dealt with seizures in dogs before, but not the aggression part. We know its not unusual as parts of his brain come back on at different times. We were prepared to medicate him to manage seizures if needed, but this aggression when coming out of it changes things. We have kids, seizures are unpredictable and there is no guarantee the meds would work and over time they could get worse. We have to consider putting him to sleep. There is no way I could rehome him if there is ANY chance he could be aggressive, even to a home without kids. I'm not worried about his "normal" behavior, only when coming out of a seizure. The obvious answer would be to segregate him for a long time after a seizure. The thing is, we may not always catch his seizures. They are quiet and they could happen any time. Even when we are not home, for all we know, this may not be only his 2nd one. Both times we think he knew they were coming on because he came to be by us when it happened, but that might not always happen.
I think I know what we have to do, but this is a REALLY hard decision and I need more feedback.
If this was your dog, what would you do? PS, we are seeing the vet in an hour for a checkup with our other dog (she has medical issues of her own, sigh) and we will be bringing him as well.
mama! What a rough time you are having.
