What do you think this is? Another issue #11 *sigh*

[Taz_Zoee]

I just discovered a bump on Zoee's nose. It doesn't hurt her, I pressed on it and she didn't flinch. It feels hard, not soft or fluid filled. Sorry it's a blurry pic.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q47/Taz_Zoee/2008/Mar2008092.jpg
She was just at the vet this past Tuesday for itching/biting a lot. It will suck if I have to take her back again. :(
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Just by the picture it looks like some sort of allergic reaction or a bug bite. Tango got a bunch of those on her nose at one point. I think with her it as an allergic reaction to something. I gave her some benadryl and they went away on their own pretty quick.

[Andie]

Bull use to have the exact same bump. We don't know where it came from or where it went. The vet thought it was just a bone-y growth and said not to worry about it unless there was pain associated with it. We kept an eye on it and then one day it was gone. :eek:

I wouldn't worry about it too much but keep an eye on it. If it gets bigger or starts causing her pain then I would take her to the vet.

[Taz_Zoee]

Thanks for the replies! :)
I've been giving her benedryl for her itching. I haven't given her any today though, and we did go to the dog park. I'll give her some and hopefully it'll go down. I hope that's all it is. I just spent about $300 on Taz last week then $40 for Zoee's visit. Come on kids, why ya gotta do this all at the same time? LOL But she will definitely be going to the vet if this is causing pain or doesn't go away in a couple days.
I will let you know in a few hours if it's gone down. *fingers crossed*

[Glacier]

Deuce has the same bump on his nose. It's been there as long as I've known him so I don't know where it came from. It's been checked out by my vet and no cause for concern was found. It doesn't seem to bother Deucey at all.

[Taz_Zoee]

This just appeared today. That is where I always give her kisses, so I know it hasn't always been there. I hope it's not going to stay there. But I guess if it does, oh well. It is not bothering her at all. Bruce just got home and I showed him. He kept touching it and she doesn't seem to care.
I gave her benedryl about 45 minutes ago. We shall see what happens.

[kallisto4529]

It looks like a bite or allergy bump to me. Zoee dont be scaring us like this, Auntie Marti is too far away to have to worry so much..lol you get those allergies under control. Cindy I am at work but ill keep checking back to see how she is

[caseysmom]

I would just keep an eye on it for a few days I doubt its anything serious. Maybe too many kisses :D just kidding....

[Taz_Zoee]

Well, it seems to be getting smaller. So it will probably be gone by tomorrow.

Too many kisses....LOL! Well, that's just too bad. She'll just have to get used to it. :D

Hmmm....maybe this is a way to get Auntie Marti out here to California?? ;)

[kallisto4529]

ill send you an email i will be in portland or next month.....any chance for a trip????

[Taz_Zoee]

Well, the bump on her nose is gone. But I have been up with her all night. The anxiety attacks (or that's what I thought they were) she has had in the past are actually minor seizures. I took her to the ER vet this morning and they ran all kinds of blood work and took chest x-rays. Of course everything came back fine, besides being a little dehydrated. We think it might be the benedryl that triggered it. The vet said it could be. So no more benedryl!!
So, now I know my poor puppy has seizures. I am so tired and stressed out that I am now going back to bed. :(

Edit at 1:23 PST - I think I'm taking her back to the ER vet. She seems to be starting again. :(

[Scooter's Mom]

I don't know much have been told that Australian Shepherds are prone to epilepsy. My neighbor had 2 Aussies and called me at 2 am saying, "I think Sissy's dying" and we got her rushed to the emergency vet and she had been having a seisure. That vet as well as several others (in Houston) said that Aussies are prone to epilepsy. As luck would have it, my neighbor was epileptic too, and she and Sissy had the same medication!

[Taz_Zoee]

Yeah, I had heard that too about epilepsy and Aussies. The doctor we just saw didn't seem to think it's any worse in Aussies specifically. She said there are several breeds that are prone to it, Aussie's being one. And I did know that before we got her.
So, that's the evaluation at this time. Epilepsy. But since it not happening frequently at this time and they are only petit mal there is not much to do. They gave her a shot of valium to help her relax so hopefully she can get some sleep. She (and myself) have not slept since at least 4am. I have snoozed a little, but I know she hasn't at all.
Well, she is lying down behind my chair now. So hopefully we can get some sleep.
I will just keep hoping that it does not get any worse throughout her life. :)

Happy Easter and goodnight......I hope. LOL

[caseysmom]

How stressful, I am sorry you are going through this. I hope you get some rest and Zoee doesn't have any more episodes today. You will be in my thoughts.

[Ginger's Mom]

OMGosh, how scary. I checked in to see how her nose was, and I never expected to see this. I am so sorry you had to go through this with your baby. I am sure it was tough for both of you. I hope you get some rest, and that Zoe doesn't have any more problems (I'll keep saying, maybe it's the benedryl).

[Taz_Zoee]

Thanks Casey and Ginger Moms. :)
I did get some sleep and I can only hope she did too. She has not started acting like a seizure is coming on again, so I'm assuming the shot worked.
She is still here on the floor in the office, not in the "exact" same spot, lol.
I certainly hope we can make it through the night this way.

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm sorry to hear Zoee's having problems. I hope she doesn't have more seizures.

[kallisto4529]

Oh my poor Zoee and Cindy!!!!! I so wish I was there, I hate being so far away. Are they going to put her on meds for the epilepsy??? please give her hugs and kisses from me. I know you must be worried sick. I am so sorry I pray she will continue to be ok and not have any more seizures.

[Giselle]

OMG Zoee!!! I never would have *dreamed* of seizures! Ohhhh, we are praying for you two. Stop worrying your mom, Zoee!!

[wolf_Q]

I hope everything will be ok with Zoee! Our RB Smokey had seizures and it was very frightening when he had them...luckily they weren't every often.

[Taz_Zoee]

Marti, we are not putting her on any meds at this time because the seizures are not happening very frequently (Thank God). They said we could put her on Phenobarb, but that it is hard to get them off it. So I said let's not do that unless we absolutely have to.

Sophie, Thank you. Yeah, I didn't want to believe they were seizures either. Bruce was in denial up until today about it too.

Amy, luckily her seizures are not too bad. It's just stressful because I want to help her and there's nothing I can do for her. The second doc we saw today said I could ask my regular vet for Valium but that since her attacks are so far apart it'd probably expire before I need it again.

So for now I'm just hoping the attacks will not become more frequent.
Thank you all for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. :)

[Denyce]

Marti, we are not putting her on any meds at this time because the seizures are not happening very frequently (Thank God). They said we could put her on Phenobarb, but that it is hard to get them off it. So I said let's not do that unless we absolutely have to.

Sophie, Thank you. Yeah, I didn't want to believe they were seizures either. Bruce was in denial up until today about it too.

Amy, luckily her seizures are not too bad. It's just stressful because I want to help her and there's nothing I can do for her. The second doc we saw today said I could ask my regular vet for Valium but that since her attacks are so far apart it'd probably expire before I need it again.

So for now I'm just hoping the attacks will not become more frequent.
Thank you all for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. :)

I have gone through the exact same thing with our husky Sequoia. She started having seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy but we too decided not to put her on meds. She was having seizures about every 2-3 months and the one she had last March lasted almost 45 minutes. They were starting to get a bit worse.

Then the whole dog food thing happened. You remember the recall and the gluten and all that crap. I decided that I wanted her off of anything with glutens in it. I read what others were doing and did some research. We ended up putting her on Innova Red Meat. She started that last April.

She was doing fine on it but her coat started to get crappy and she was putting on weight. But by the beginning of August she hadn't had a seizure at all. Then about late August she had a very small seizure that lasted only a minute. By the time we figured out what was going on it was over.

But I still didn't like what her coat was doing. It was starting to lose the color and get greasy feeling. It dawned on me one day that she was showing signs of low thyroid. I took her in for a blood test and sure enough she was borderline. So we put her on medication for low thyroid.

So here it is almost a year since we put her on the Innova and 7 months since she was diagnosed low thyroid and now her coat is wonderful and she lost 6 pounds and she is doing GREAT! She still has not had another seizure since that very small one in August. So we went from long severe seizures every 2 months or so for a couple of years to ONE in the last year that only lasted a minute.

I don't know for absolute certain whether it was the diet or the low thyroid that made the major change in the seizures. Since she went for almost 5 months without a seizure just from changing her diet I am tending to lean towards that. But it could have even been a combination of the two.

But if I were you I would explore other diets. I am blaming the glutens in the Nutros Natural she was on before for the seizures. I don't think they CAUSED the epilepsy but I think that they trigger the seizures.

It is certainly worth checking into further because seizures are terrifying. It is so hard to remain calm when they are looking you in the eye for help and all you can do is wipe up the drool and tell them how much you love them and try to keep them from hurting themselves more.

Denyce

[pitc9]

Oh No! :eek:
I'm so sorry this is happening to her (and you)
{{{HUGS}}}
Prayers sent!

[Taz_Zoee]

Denyce, should I be more concerned even though the episodes are spread apart by many months? The last one I can remember was Dec of 06. She might have had one in 07, but I honestly can't even remember.
I think I'm calling my regular vet today and talk to her about the whole situation.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that the vet thought that maybe the benedryl caused this seizure. So now she is still itching like crazy. My poor baby girl. :(

Thank you pitc9 and chocolatepuppy(I missed yours before). :)

[Denyce]

The concern is more in the severity and the length of the seizure than in the amount of time in between although that is a concern also. At any time a seizure can go to the point of brain damage. It could be their first seizure even. The body temperature rises dramatically during a seizure and this is where the danger comes in. Also noises and lights can keep a seizure going so when your dog is seizing you need to be calm and talk softly and just try to keep them from hitting their head or falling off of something.

What we did was keep phenobarbitol in a dosage that was higher which we would give her at the VERY FIRST sign of a seizure. She always alerted us to what was happening by looking right at me and whining in a different manner. I would see her eyes dilate and we would get the phenobarbitol in her before she was unable to swallow. But it takes 45 minutes to work. What that would do is keep her from seizing again and again. It was just a one time dose, not a maintenance dosage. We also kept liqued valium which would be given anally just in case the seizure was so severe we were going to lose her. We never had to use that

What are you feeding Zoee now? Because itching skin can also be caused by food allergies. I am not saying what you are feeding her isn't a good food because I don't even know what it is but it might not be working for her right now.

Also, how old is Zoee? Sequoia was about 3.5 when we started with the seizures. We had fed her the Nutros for a year before she stared seizing and for several years after until the dog food recall. It was only by chance that we changed the food.

[Taz_Zoee]

This is what we feed her and have been feeding her since she got off puppy food.
http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-3755953t400.jpg
Zoee turned 3 years old back in January. Could she become allergic to things as she gets older? I guess humans can, so why not dogs too?
Any suggestions on what kind of food to switch her to? We cannot do a raw diet, it's just not possible, unfortunately.

I completely understand what you are saying about the seizures. But honestly they are not that severe. I mean the vet said they are petit mal. The only symptoms are panting, drooling, shivering and then she did get a slight head twitch. I actually took video to show the doctor. Also, she was still twitching the head a tiny bit at the vet and they took her temp and she was normal.
Ugh, I'm just so confused!! I, of course, want to do the best for her. Am I in denial thinking it's not that bad of a case?
This is just so stressful! I don't know what is right!!! :(

[Denyce]

We also fed Sequoia the Nutros Natural but it was the different green bag. It wasn't lamb and rice.

I do not feed raw I feed Innova's Red Meat formula. You can find it here..

http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp (http://http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp)

It is just kind of a coincidence. Sequoia's started at about the same age and started very mild like Zoee's. Then they started becoming more severe. At first there was almost 6 months between the first and second. Then they started every 3 months and then every 2. This was for about 3 years.

This is what we fed her. http://www.nutroproducts.com/maxdog/dry-N.jpg

I am honestly not trying to scare you. But should you take this seriously? Yes. Should you change what you are doing? I don't know. I am just saying that the coincidences are there and our dog's seizures have decreased DRAMATICALLY since switching to a different food. One without glutens and grains. But I can't swear to you that the food has made the difference. But usually epilepsy doesn't just go away. Since she went from seizures every 2 months and the last one being 45 minutes long and with a lot of paddling, drooling and muscle contractions to one that is less severe than what you have described Zoee having 5 months later. And now it has been another 7 months and she still has not had a seizure. The only other change we made was the low thyroid meds at the 5 month mark.

Denyce

[Taz_Zoee]

Thank you so much for all your suggestions and information Denyce. I am not taking this lightly and will be researching ALL of this. I've already emailed myself a link to look at regarding K9 epilepsy. I will also discuss the food change with my vet. She is not in until tomorrow afternoon, but I will be calling her.
Changing food would be a simple solution and worth a shot in comparison to her being on drugs all the time.

I just talked to Bruce and she is doing great this morning. I almost thought she was having another attack, but she didn't...whew!

Here is another reason why I can't live without PT! :D Everyone cares so much for people and their pets that they've never even met. I love it!

[Denyce]

You are welcome and I KNOW you are worried about your beloved pup. I hope our experience can help somewhat. I know how grateful I am that Sequoia isn't having seizures now. But I also know they could come back so I watch her carefully still. Please keep us all updated on how your puppers is doing. :D