Splotty

Poor Splott had some sort of episode last night.  I woke up at 130am and heard him trying to get out of the kitchen by scrabbling at the floor by the gate.  When I went in, he was not trying to get out, but laying on his side, eyes wide open foaming at the mount and running full blast as fast as he could (but going nowhere because he was laying down).  Poor little guy---I didn't know what to do except pet him and try to calm him down.  It was very scary and upsetting.  Finally he stopped 'running' but he was all limp and still breathing heavy.  I stayed with him, then he struggled up and sat up.  I was going to keep petting him and reassuring him he'd be ok, but he growled and bit me (but did not break the skin or really hurt me).  He was just so frightened he didn't know what to do, but I saw the foaming at the mouth and worried about rabies (because I have never seen and animal with rabies before).  He kept walking around in circles and slipping and falling down on his hind legs.  I got in the frigde and gave him a bit of ham, which he ignored.  I was worried he might try to break out and by doing that might hurt himself or that he might get in to the kids.  I woke them up and put them in my room and explained what happened.  Nothing doing but Lexie had to go check on him, and being probably still very disoriented, confused and scared, he growled at her too.  He has never growled at any of us, and even rarely other dogs.

 

We went to sleep after a long time.  I had to get up and tell him to "hush" because he was howling.  He calmed down, we did too, and when we got up in the morning, the kitchen was a disaster with his pee-and-poo messes, but he was wagging his tail and looking very ashamed and humble.  We all petted him and Lexie fed him little bits of dog treats while I cleaned up the worst of the mess.  Lexie finished cleaning it up for me (and never complained once) while Logan took him for a walk around the courtyard.  He was back to his old self.  We are worried, but I did some reading and it seems not that uncommon for dogs to have siezures.  One vet said that unlike humans, dogs all have a 'siezure threshold' and there are many things that can set it off.  Hypo and Hyperglycemia, among the most common blood-chemistry reasons, as well as external triggers like poisons, toxins, and injury.  I don't think he could have gotten injured or gotten into anything, so I'm hoping it will not become a common thing.  Then again, I have a friend who's dog has them so often (an older dog) that she knows when one's coming on, and she will come to her owner and lay beside them for comfort until it's over.  I'm guessing this has either never happened to Splott, or is so rare that he was reacting with fight/flight instinct when he bit and growled...  Because he is such a lovable and timid dog.

 

I went home today at lunch.  He was a little lethargic, and had made another mess.  I don't know if this means he had another seizure because when I took him out for a walk, he seemed ok.  I will be keeping a really close eye on him.