Yeah, yeah, I'm not a regular husky, so don't be expecting regular posts, I'm too busy having fun and creating bruise artwork on Bleeder, or using her as a pillow:
I've said it before, but I'll say it again, so pay attention:
I have epilepsy.
Heartworm pills set off my seizures
Yes, ALL of the heartworm pills.
3-10 days after taking a heartworm pill, I'll have a seizure.
Heartworm pills are nothing but a neurotoxin in doses that kill the stupid little bugs that grow into large bugs that are injected by infected mosquitos. In me, it sets off my seizure trigger.
My choices are:
- Don't take any heartworm pills and risk dying of heartworm disease
- Take them while also taking anti-seizure medications and hope that staves off the seizure.
So, I take monthly heartworm pills while also taking anti-seizure medications (generic Keppra). I get my 2 Keppra pills three times a day, 8 hours apart with whipped cream cheese. Once a month I get the lowest dosage of heartworm pills for my weight.
Once a month, for 3-10 days, my humans are nervous wrecks. I am oblivious and go about my days like normal.
On Thursday (day 7) I had a recheck with my neurologist. He has three assistants and they sat on the floor, so I made sure to give them the full husky attention. My owners proudly talked about how I've been doing fantastic, no seizures for over 3 months, everything going well, optimistic, wonderful, very pleased. Keep doing what we're doing he said. Hope for the best he said. Seizures are stupid and nobody knows what the heckin to expect so do what works for each pupper (I'm paraphrasing that).
On Friday (day 8) I puked, fell over (that's how all of them start) then woke up in a puddle of drool and pee.
I don't feel them, I have no clue what the fluff even happens, so I'm confused when I wake up, and frankly this time I bit my tongue a little and that was annoying.
I'm clingy and restless for about an hour, and need to poop immediately, so I'm ushered outside where EVERYTHING SMELLS AMAZING. Then I poop. Then I pace, pace, pace while one of them tries to towel the drool and gunk off of me (I prefer to wipe my mouth on their clothes), and steam clean up my drool and pee.
The humans are always freaked out, according to them, it's horrible to watch, but they say they stay with me to make sure I'm safe and don't bonk my head or other things into hard objects and tell me I'm a good girl (because I am). They move away from me when I come out of it because they know I'll be confused and may be afraid and try to attack them if I feel vulnerable and threatened.
They are watchful because with seizures, you never know if that was the first and only... or if more are coming. During seizures they video me, and time them... anything over 5 minutes is very bad. According to them, even 1-2 minutes seems like an eternity.
I have an amazing amount of energy after a seizure. I want to play, play, play and they do play play play with me once I have my balance back... I'm a bit wobbly in the beginning, but I'm actually not that coordinated under normal circumstances.
When I do finally rest, I rest pretty hard.
It takes a day or two to recover fully, muscles a bit sore, stomach a bit upset, etc. But then it's back to normal... except for the humans, who watch me like a hawk and log my every movement, burp, hiccup, bowl movement, food intake, and pilling.
Seizures suck. I have epilepsy. Would I have them if I didn't take the heartworm pill? Don't know, but until my humans can find some state that doesn't have stupid mosquitos... we just do what we need to do to keep them at a minimum and hope for the best.
We thank all of our social media fans for their care and concern. Feel free to let us know if you live some place in the United States where your pup is not on heartworm because the risk is low to non-existent. It also has to be a place with good access to vet care (neurology included) and Emergency vet services.
Big shout out to Chewy.com for affordable and reliable Pharmacy services that keep my generic Keppra flowing without drama.
UPDATE - We have now switched Casey to oral Ivermectin compounded by the wonderful Chewy pharmacy instead of heartworm pills to minimize unnecessary neurotoxins). So far, so good.
This will probably be the last post about my epilepsy, as I don't want my fun blog to become a downer. I am a normal pup 99% of the time, it's just those bad days that ruin the mood.
-Casey-
