Can my cat friends spare a prayer for a Labrador Retriever, please?

[Medusa]

This is what I just posted in Dog Talk:

I'm not new to PT; I post a lot on Cat Talk but I have a serious issue that I'm hoping PTers can help me w/here. A friend of mine has a 6 yr. old female yellow lab, Bailey, who had a grand mal seizure on Sat. And she had them every 8 hrs. His vet was out of town and the office was closed and every vet we tried was either closed or booked solid. He finally got her in at an emergency clinic and they gave her phenobarbitol until his vet could see her. He's currently awaiting results from blood tests. He just called me again and I could hear Bailey crying in the background and she follows him around constantly, always underfoot. He was able to get ahold of his vet this time and he's on his way in now because Bailey had a nose bleed. I've never heard of such a thing! I've had dogs and cats all my life and never has that happened to any of them. Has anyone experienced this, especially w/this breed of dog? He's stressed to the max because he lost two labs already, both in the month of March and he's scared to death the worst is going to happen again. He takes excellent care of his dogs, coddles them even. Can anyone offer insight into this situation? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

And then this:

Well, my friend just called me again and said that until the blood work comes back, his vet said that she's shooting in the dark. She cut the phenolbarbitol in half and said to give Bailey that plus half a valium. She's afraid that the phen. has caused immediate kidney damage. God, I hope not. And her nose is still bleeding. My friend is afraid that he's going to wake up tomorrow morning and find a dead dog. Please, friends, pray for Bailey. He loves that dog so much and to lose another Lab in the month of March would be too much!

I'm not sure if I'm breaking any rules by cross posting this way but I only had one response on Dog Talk and my friend and I are pretty upset right now about Bailey. If you would, please keep her in your prayers tonight.

[Freedom]

Hi Mary -

So sorry to hear your friend and Bailey are going through this. And as always, the pets start when it is a weekend and the vet's away! I am very glad that Bailey went to the Emergency Vet, it sounds like that trip was needed.

I did a google search for dog epilepsy. (no quotes) A lot of sites come up. Here is just one:

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/epilepsy.html

This one seems to cover a lot - seizures start suddenly, can be several in one day or days apart. It say that they CAN be caused by hyperthyroid. This is likely one of many reasons that the vet wants to wait for the blood work to come through before starting any meds.

Further down, the site explains that there is no test FOR epilepsy, but the vet has to rule out everything else. It lists lots of the blood tests which Bailey has probably had blood drawn for.

For just this one site, and with no experience personally, it does sound like the vet is right, they have to wait it out for the blood work results.

I will keep Bailey in my prayers. Please post when you hear more!
Best
Sandra

[Kalei]

I will definately pray for Bailey tonight. I don't really know all too much about dog health. But I love dogs and want to have one someday and care for them alot. I am going to pray very hard that Bailey will be alright.

Please keep us update on the doggy.

[kb2yjx]

Prayers for Bailey and for her dad, too!! He must be so upset!!!

[jennielynn1970]

Oh that poor dog! She must be so confused! I will keep her and her owner in my thoughts and prayers. It's something I've never heard of happening either. We had dogs the whole time growing up, but I never had this happen. Please keep us updated with what happens.

[Medusa]

Well, he got the blood work back this morning and in his words "Everything is normal". Now how can that be? The dog had 3 grand mal seizures w/in an 18 hr. period. His vet suggested a brain tumor test but she said it's very expensive and he's a landscaper who hasn't gone back to work yet so he can't exactly afford that. He hasn't spoken to his vet this morning because she will be in surgery all day. It was the vet tech who gave him the info. He's more stressed today than he was yesterday. But Bailey has remained calm, no more nosebleeds or seizures at this point. I honestly don't know what to think. The vet tech told him that she may never have another seizure but that's a chance that I wouldn't want to take. They started for a reason. I know Dr. Lee could get to the bottom of it but he's expensive and, as I said, his finances are very limited right now.

Thanx for your prayers and support, friends. If/when I hear any more news, I'll be sure to post.