Seizures, Microvascular dysplasia, shunt....full report

[Boggie]

Below is for people who are searching for similiar symptons:
** microvascular dysplasia , liver shunt , shunts , seizures , mouth twitching , twitch , epilepsy , tremors , shaking , hypoglycemia , hydrocephalus shunt , portosystemic shunt , inflammation , brain swelling , ventricle in brain , fluid pocket **


Im gonna start from the beginning and list everything in detail.

The following is the full medical detail of our little baby yorkie, and her medical experience.

Icee Blue is her name. She was born on June 9th, 2005. She was the second smallest baby of a little of 6 pups. She was hand fed along with all of the babies. At 6 weeks old, she weighed 8 oz. There were no problems, nor any history of problems in her blood line. We met the momma, daddy, sister, and the breeder’s sister, had another sister. They were/are all fine.

Not a single thing was wrong with her until 10 weeks old. She was eating great. Having regular bowel movements and no diarrhea. She didn’t require the nutrical, but we gave it to her anyways, especially for a treat when she used the pee pad.

August 19th, 2005 5:30am
Icee woke up at 5:30am and startled my wife with shaking and foaming of her mouth. Immediately, she grabbed the nutrical suspecting a hypoglycemia attack. After about 30 to 40 seconds of seizing, she stopped and went back to completely normal and ate some food.

7:30am
Icee had another seizure. She started with her mouth twitching, and she kinda jerked to one side. She also did a lot of “chopping” with her mouth. She almost looked like she was eating something, biting at the air. Again , it was very short lived, about 15 seconds. Then she continued as normal.

8:30am
Another seizure , the exact same as the above. They seemed to be shorter length seizures.

9:50am
Another seizure, similar to the 7:30am one, but it was the shortest of them so far. It almost seemed like they were decreasing in time.

After that we took her to the vets office. He did a poop sample and said that she had some weird fibers in her poop, but nothing bad. (probably from her chew doll). He gave her some reglan for nausea by mouth, but she vomited it up. So he gave it to her introveneously. He said it was probably a hypoglycemia attack. We took her home.

*this whole time, she is eating regularly and having normal bowel movements.



4:00pm
She had a final seizure for that day, it was very short, no longer than 10 seconds. She had no more until the next day.


Saturday August 20, 2005

11:00am
Icee had another seizure. It was the same as all the others, but again, very short.

1:15pm
another short 10 second seizure.

3:30pm
This was the worst seizure we had seen yet. She started twitching, chopping, squirming. She lost control of her bowels and urinated on my wife while she was being held. She was squirming so bad, and she was so anxious we put her down. She then looked lost. She had both ears back and was running around, not knowing where she was going. Her heart was racing and her respirations were through the roof. That seizure lasted about 1 minute. After we picked her back up, she kinda settled down. We tried to feed her, but she only ate a little bit. After that, she seemed very exhausted, and tired.

We called the Emergency Vet Clinic and brought her immediately. On the way there, she started panting. She had her tongue out, curled up at the end. She kept licking her lips, and yawning. We waited to be seen. After we got into the examination room, she seemed fine.

After about 3 minutes of waiting, she started to have another seizure (it was about 3:50pm). We ran and got the doctor and we put her on the table. She laid down on her side. She started running in place. She had her whole body arched with her head and rear pointing up. There was a lot of fluid coming out of her mouth. She also lost control of her bowels.

That went on for about 2 or 3 minutes. They gave her some valume and put her on seizure watch for the night.

She continued to have seizures every 1 and a half hour that whole night. They started an IV and put her on fluids for food, and a Dextrose drip.

Sunday August 21, 2005

She continued to have seizures every hour. They continued with the valume for every seizure that lasted over a minute.
Late Sunday night, they gave her a HEFTY dose of Phenobarbital. She did fine, until Monday morning.

Monday August 22, 2005

We were scheduled to pick her up at 7:00am. When we got there, they reported that she had a couple of seizures earlier that morning. But they were very short.

7:15am
We picked Icee up from the EVC and brought her to our vet. From then on, she had NO MORE SEIZURES.

8:30am
When we arrived at our vets office, they wanted to begin with the blood tests. Because she was so small, they were worried about how much blood she could stand to loose. Our vet called around and immediately referred us to LSU Small Animal Clinic in Baton Rouge , Louisiana. They sent us on our way with some warm water bottles, to regulate her temperature, and some nutrical. Icee was still very knocked out because of the valume/Phenobarbital.

It took us about 2 hours to drive to Baton Rouge. Icee did very well, not having any seizures.


11:15am
We arrived at the LSU clinic and were seen by the doc and his student. The were expecting her and immediately took her back to ICU.

*** The following is the discharge report from LSU***

Icee presented to the hospital quiet, alert, and responsive although in a stuporous state, probably due to the Phenobarbital. A full neurological examination was therefore impossible. Blood was drawn for CBC, serum chemistry, and pre-prandial serum bile acid. The CBC and chemistry were unremarkable with minor changes in some electrolyte values and a normal glucose level. The pre-prandial bile acid level was normal. Abdominal ultrasound showed no evidence of a portosystemic shunt. The following day, she was brighter and a neurological examination was possible, which revealed mild trunkal *ataxia (she was off balance). A CT scan of her brain revealed of inflammation. A CSF analysis showed no marked abnormalities. Icee was not offered food until the afternoon of 8/23/2005 when she ate eagerly. She therefore had blood drawn for a post-prandial bile acid level. The rest of the CSF collected was sent to the diagnostic lab for distemper antibody titers and PCR, as well as a parvo antibody titer. The results of the post-prandial bile acid level, titers, and PCR are pending.

At this time, no other diagnostics are indicated. The owners were advised of the poor prognosis due to the history of our findings. She was discharged with Phenobarbital at a dose of 2mg/kg.

***************************************

So there ya go. I might add that she did awesome on the way home, and is now gaining her strength back. She still hasn’t had a seizure. She is very sleepy and looks tired. She will get up and play a bit, then go to sleep, eat, etc.

During our experience, we have gained an incredible amount of knowledge and will share it with all of you.


Chad

[red98vett]

OMG that is the best detailed report ever that I've read concerning a sick puppy and I'm really glad Icee is doing better - you must be so relieved to not see any more seizures - I felt like I was right there your description was so vivid.....but I felt so sad reading the end....

I'm so sorry you all have gone through this but now that she got tested and they found nothing - what do they think could have caused this ? When at the end it says poor prognosis ...does this mean they are holding no hope ? Could this be epilepsy ?

I know you've thought of everything - when do the rest of the tests come in ? Do they have a clue as to what caused this and my last question - HOW is she now ? Is she feeling better ? Maybe the pheno will help her not seize but man - this must be the scariest thing for you - I wish you the very best of luck - whatever happens....It sounds like she's got the best mom and dad loving her - my heart goes out to you.

[mstemason]

I am so sorry you baby has been so sick. I'm like red98vett and am wondering about what they meant about a poor prognosis. It's good that she hasn't had any seizures since you came home. I was wondering about epilepsy also. My last yorkie has seizures that started about 9 months old - not nearly that bad but he eventually outgrew them. Please keep us posted and I am so sorry for your baby and you. My prayers are with all of you.

harley's mom

[whispersmom2]

OMG, how terrified you must have been. I will add your baby to my prayers. I breed and will be watching and reading everything you pot. The discharge summary was beyond great. Your vet obviously is very experienced and the fact that you have access to a teaching hosp is one of the bestest parts of this whole scenario. Please keep us posted and give your baby huge Yorkie smooches from Rini's cuties. And, from my new litter of partis..

[Boggie]

Well...........

As far as the seizures are concerned, in our personal study.

*Infection due to her first round of shots.

Here's the low down on infections. In dogs, when infections happen, white blood cells rush to that area. They interact with other cells causing oxidation. Which results in inflammation, which is the dog's bodys' natural way of keeping out additional infection, giving the antibodys a better chance of working against the existing infection. The point being, the inflammation. Inflammation is not usually bad. This is how the body fights. But in our case (if this is the problem) little Icee got an infection in her brain, then the white cells would indirectly cause the pressure. And pressure on the brain can cause all of the mentioned symptoms.

Another note about infection:

When an animal's body is infected in some area, inflammation is the usual result as stated above. Another way animal's bodys deal with inflammation is they lower their body temperature. The cooling can sometimes aid in the resolving of the inflammation. In Icee's case, they had a hard time keeping her temp up, so this could be possible.


*Trauma

Again, this was never proven. But if she could have hit her head with just enough force to cause swelling, but not be able to detect any evidence. This is a long shot, but possible. Trauma can take years to develop into symptoms. Ex:: She could have had a traumatic birth, and just now the symptoms are revealing themselves. But in this case, the breeder confirmed a normal birth.


*Brain lesion

This could be anything from tumor to blood spot. Anything that is accumilated on the brain itself. It could be a birth defect or cause by trauma as well. It could also be mutation in her genetic stran.....etc.

In really small dogs, they lesions or spots would have to be big enough to show up on a cat scan. Their little brains are so small that anything that's gonna cause a problem would mostly show up on a CT scan.

*Bizarre problem

This could also be just a food allergy, some reaction. She could have been exposed to something that caused the swelling. She didn't show any signs of poison, but maybe she got just enough to cause the infection.

Our puppy is so tiny that anything from a bite from a bug, or even one single lick of something nasty could have caused her to have the seizures. Or even something that's very slightly toxic would probably be very toxic to her.

*Epilipsy

They completely ruled out this because of her young age. Inflammation of the brain doesn't happen for no reason, something jumpstarted it. Whether it was the seizures or the infection, something caused the inflammation. Which the inflammation contributed the frequency and intensity of the siezures. It's kinda like "what came first, the chicken or the egg" heh.

They also ruled it out because, after the seizures she wasn't disoriented, depressed, she ate good. She didn't show the classic signs of post-seizure behavior. It's very possible, after she reaches 1 year old, that if the seizures continue with no aparent cause, they could classify it as idiopathic epilipsy only because she would fit in no other category. In that case, we would just be treating the seizures.

Hope this helps



chad

[whispersmom2]

My vote goes to the vaccines. We are now researching neurological problems in human kids post vaccination.

[Boggie]

As far as the poor prognosis is concerned:

The biggest rule in any medical field is they CANNOT give false hope. Being an EMT at the fire department, this is drilled into our heads.

Because they didn't find anything indefinately, they have to give us a "guess" based on experience. This is very very rare. The vet school as LSU has some of the best vets in the US. The neurologist she saw is the best in the country. Still they couldn't pinpoint the problem. But because of her history, and b/c of the siezures not having any definate cause, and her size and age, they have to give a poor prognosis.

They basically send her home, to let her be the judge. They just told us to watch her clinical signs and let them be the judge of her recovery.


Chad

[Marie]

That is a great report. I will have Icee in my prayers. I hope the new med stop her seizures.

[Boggie]

I have started posting all of the costs for different things here , so pull out all the vet bills and let's build a nice information database on vet costs.


Icee pooped!!!! wahoo !!!!!

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Originally Posted by whispersmom2

My vote goes to the vaccines. We are now researching neurological problems in human kids post vaccination.

MIne too! Please email Dr. Stephen Blake www.thepetwhisperer.com. He is an expert in this area. I would not ever vaccinate that baby again. In fact, I will probably never vaccinate another animal period after talking to him. His evidence and research is very onvincing and based on scientific fact.

[Flakes]

Great reporting Chad. We are delighted to here she is doing better.

Re the epilepsy and her not showing any signs post seizures. I disagree with their assessment. I had a maltese who had epilepsy from birth, he lived to age 13 and the seizures you described sound exactly the same as what BumBum would go through. It always amazed me that after a seizure he would just get up and walk off as if nothing had ever happened. There is treatment for epilepsy but my guy was just too small for them to be able to get the dose down enough for him. I would not rule out epilespy just yet.

Perhaps others on this list have experience with the medications.

I know you are extremely thorough in your search for answers, so please keep us informed and good luck to your little one and your family.

[red98vett]

How is she doing today ? More good news I hope ?

[River]

So glad to hear that Icee is doing better!! We were thinking about you guys!! I have to agree with Flakes regarding the epilepsy. We had a shepherd/wolfhound cross that started seizuring when she was 8wks old. She would have what they called the "grand mal" seizures where she would shake, then start to contort, then flat out on her side with her legs stiff and shaking. She would drool enough to soak a kitchen towel! Her's lasted about 10 min from start to finish, then she would get up and want to go out, then she would come in for a cookie and go on like nothing was wrong. The first day she started seizing she had about 25 seizures that day. The phenobarb worked right away with no side affects, she was on it for 15 years when she died of cancer. She did have the occassional seizure, about 1 every 4 or 5 months, but we could live with that. Hope the phenobarb is the answer for your Icee!! Good luck!!

[Boggie]

Hi guys,

Icee is.........recovering. She is mostly constipated so we went to the vet this morning and got an enema. She had a bowel movement there, but hasn't #2'd it since then. She kinda cries a lot. Im sure her stomach is still adjusting to being able to eat. I really hope she continues to get better. We were laying on our bed and she played a little bit, pawing at my mouth when i would talk to her. She is back asleep now. Hopefully she is regaining all her strength with the sleep.


chad

[Marie]

Im glad that Icee is improving. I hope her contispation also gets better. I will keep her in my prayers. Please keep us updated.

PS: I got this info to treat constipation.
Metamucil: Used for constipation. For small dogs use 1Ú2 a teaspoon a couple times a day, and for large dogs use up to 2 teaspoons twice a day.

Mineral Oil: Used for constipation and ear mite relief. Give your canine buddy up to 4 tablespoons a day for constipation. To combat ear mites, once a day heat some oil until itÕs warm to the touch. Then put a couple of drops in the ear canal. Repeat for at least one month. Olive oil mixed with garlic can also be used as an ear mite remedy. Crush a few garlic cloves and let them soak in olive oil overnight. Then, remove the garlic, heat the oil until itÕs warm to the touch and, as with the mineral oil, place a couple drops in your dogÕs ear canal. Repeat about every other day or so, for at least one month.

Oat bran and Canned Pumpkin: Also for constipation relief. Add a teaspoon or two of either to your dogs food everyday until bowel movements are regular again.