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Jan
11
2009
Hamlet Is Out to Get Me (Because Really, It Is All About Me) Posted on 15:24, January 11th, 2009 by Small Town MommyThe other day, Hamlet had a seizure. Now, if you have never seen a dog have a seizure, it is terrifying for those watching. He spasms all over the place and has no control. Of course, Hamlet and I were here alone (aren’t we always). In the long-standing Small Town Mommy tradition, I panicked. I had enough self-control to sit with him and pet him, but I didn’t know what else to do. I did the same thing I always do when I don’t know what to do. I called Small Town Daddy. Now Small Town Daddy doesn’t do well with surprises. These include calls at work, telling him that the dog is having a seizure. His response was, “What do you want me to do.” I don’t know about you, but I found that rather unsympathetic. I would have thought it was obvious what I wanted him to do. I wanted him to make the seizure stop. Barring that, I wanted him to teleport home so he could hold the dog’s head while I did anything else. He didn’t do either. He did give me the number of the vet, since I couldn’t very well leave the poor dog alone while I started surfing the Web to find the number. I called the vet and he sat with me on the phone and talked me through the seizure (Small Town Daddy could have done that for free, I’m just sayin’). Actually, he didn’t charge me for the phone time, but there was quite a bill for the many tests he ran once I took Hamlet to his office. I know many of you are thinking I probably caused the seizure when I tried to poison him when he got into the Christmas chocolate. But, you would be wrong. The doctor ran every test under the sun (including a chocolate poisoning testing thingee) and Hamlet was fine. He had a mild positive on his ehrlichiosis test (for those who don’t live in the middle of nowhere, ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne disease, similar to Lyme disease). Here in the Small Town, we have more ticks than people so anytime anyone goes to the doctor, (s)he is tested for Lyme disease. The other option is epilepsy. The doctor gave Hamlet a month of powerful antibiotics in case the ehrlichiosis was the cause. If you have ever been treated for Lyme disease or ehrlichiosis, you know the antibiotic is nasty. It is extremely strong and you have to take it forever 4 weeks. Hamlet has to take 3 pills a day. He loves it. It is his favorite time of day. We give it to him wrapped in cheese (Kraft Twist-Um’s string cheese to be exact). He sees me get out the dog cheese and comes running. He even puts his front paws on the counter which he knows is so totally not allowed. So far (knock on keyboard), he has not had another seizure. We are hoping he wont have another one ever (especially me, because I am with him almost all the time and as it says in the title, it’s really all about me). I hope everyone will have kind thoughts about Hamlet. The doctor has assured me he isn’t going to die (I mean he will someday, but not from this). Hope for us that he wont have another seizure, especially with the girls around. They are terribly sensitive and I am not sure how they would react to that (probably badly). On another note, I have received some fabulous ideas for names for my bossy GPS unit. Unfortunately, some of my favorites are not names I can use. Remember, I have 2 small, impressionable young children and I try really, really hard to watch my language in front of them (the teachers get testy when they go into school spouting some new vocabulary word and tell the teacher, but mommy says it). While a couple of those names may slip out when she tells me to turn after I have driven past a road, I try really hard keep it clean for the children’s sake (although you did make me laugh). Keep the fabulous name suggestions coming. You can suggest as many names as you like and enter as many times as you like (me, hubby and the girls are judging so it isn’t random). I think I will sweeten the deal. For those of you who are members of Entrecard, if you come up with the name I use, you will receive 500 EC credits. While that means nothing to those of you who aren’t members, it will allow the winner to buy an ad on someone’s blog. For those of you who don’t blog at all, I will include a link to the Web site of your choice (except porn) and you will have my long-standing gratitude. I will tell everyone who reads my blog that you are a genius. In addition, I will think of you everytime I go someplace and what’s her name tells me what to do.
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I would have been scared to death! I am glad Hamlet seems better and I hope that was his first and last seizure.
My GPS is named Tim. But I am lame.
Well, I guess in the end, your darling husband did help by getting you the phone number! Good for him.
My neighbor had a dog that had epilepsy and had to be on regular medication. The seizures were horrible. I hope the antibiotic solves the problem for Hamlet.
I hope Hamlet does not have any more seizures. I can’t imagine going through that. I know it happens, but it sounds so scary. I will keep you both in my thoughts and hope it doesn’t happen again.
Is your dog a Lab? Our best friend used to have a chocolate Lab and we watched him (the dog) all the time (b/c our friend fished a lot) and the dog had a lot of seizures. I hated it! I always thought it was separation anxiety but the vet said it was common in Labs.
We’re on the verge of getting a GPS b/c I too am directionally challenged but I’m scared once I have that crutch my direction sense is going to be off the charts bad. How about Lucretia?
Oh my gosh Anne, I hope he turns out to be okay. We give Lily this Controversial Vaccine that is for dogs who spend a lot of time outdoors. (sorry I can’t for the life of me remember the name) It is expensive but I say it is worth it. We had a puppy (he was a pure bread Border Collie) that in the end had ensyphalitis of the brain due to a birth defect. I sat with him for about 5hrs, until the vet opened while he seized, threw-up and was just a mess. I never want to see a dog that sick again it scared me a lot. I hope Hamlet is okay!!
Sorry about your dog! My friend’s brother steals her dog’s seizure meds, Valium!
I named my system Big Bertha!
Love your blog!
I hope Hamlet feels better soon. I’ve never seen a dog have a seizure but I have friends who’s dogs have. I have had lyme disease twice, and so has my dog, and you are right the antibiotics are horrible.
Our Siberian Husky started having seizures about 2 years ago now. At first we were terrified and didn’t know what to do. The vet did all the tests and couldn’t figure it out. They put him on an anti-seizure medication and it just made him out of it but still having seizures so we took him off of it and put him on a natural diet instead. We feed them cooked meats (beef, pork, chicken, fish) and rice sometimes with veggies in it and sometimes not. They love it and it has greatly reduced the number of seizures. Just wanted to mention it to you. Best of luck to you!!
My dog has seizures too. He started when he was a puppy on and off. The vet wouldn’t give him meds because he said he may grow out of it. I hope he feels better soon. It is such a horrible thing to have to watch. My second suggestion for your GPS is Amelia or Amy as in Amelia Earhart.
I’m glad Hamlet is doing okay now and hope he never has another seizure ever again!
That sounds scary–I’m so glad Hamlet is okay… I would have done the same thing as you–I don’t do well when my pets have issues… (I have a diabetic cat–that’s a story, too!) Now that you’ve sweetened the pot for a GPS name, I’ll have to give it a go… I’ll be baaack!
I’m so sorry to hear that Hamlet had a seizure. I’m sure that must have been terrifying.
I’m a nurse and I’ve been with (and helped) quite a few people while they’ve had a seizure, but I’ve never experienced a dog having a seizure. I have an 18 month old Lab and I hope that she never has a seizure. I’d be pretty upset too.
I hope that Hamlet is feeling better and that this never happens again. Hugs.
I hope that Hamlet is feeling better. That was scary about him having the seizure. I would have been running around like a crazy woman. I hope that he stays seizure-free.
Good thoughts for Hamlet. He is such a cute dog.
Aww.. poor Hamlet. Poor Mommy. We had a Golden Retriever who had seizures periodically. It was no fun.. but she didn’t have them often enough to warrant medicating.
Good luck on a name for your GPS. I am getting an Amazon Kindle (book reader) and am wondering about names myself, lol.
Sorry to burst your bubble but it’s not really all about you because it’s all about me. Have a nice day and I hope your dog’s okay.
That had to be so scary and my husband would’ve said exactly the same thing yours did. I hope the antibiotics work and he’s seizure free forever!
I’ve had several dogs in my life who had occasional seizures. The current one can tell when a seizure is coming on and she will come seek me out to be right with me so I can hold her head until its over. Vet says not to worry unless they become more frequent (about 1 /year)
We have a black Lab, who also has seizures. We did some research and now he eats dog food with no wheat and is gluten free.
He still has seizures, but they are less frequent and do not last as long.
The only place we have been able to find this dog food, “Nature’s Recipe”, is at Pet Smart.
Hope this helps.
My girls and I call our GPS Lola….I think they heard it on the movie RV with Robin Williams.
Anyway, since you have a GPS….check out geocaching.com the funnest GPS game in existance…I am completely addicted.
Poor Hamlet! I’m glad he’s doing better now. At the shelter, there is a cat with a seizure disorder. She takes phenobarbital (compounded into a fishy liquid) 2x per day and she does fine!
I’m so sorry that Hamlet had a seizure. That’s awful. I would’ve panicked just like you did…my hubby doesn’t like being called at work either. One thing I have learned though: men always need clear instructions!
Sorry, can’t think of a single name for your GPS. We just call ours ‘the thing’.
So sorry about Hamlet and Small Town Daddy’s complete and utter disregard for what YOU were going through. Harrumph! Looking forward to hearing what GPS gets dubbed. Ooooooh, the excitement is building!
So sorry to hear about Hamlet. Our Little Man (the dog) has seizures, too. DH usually handles them, but after watching him, I now know to just sit and calm the dog…talk him out of it really. Glad all is well, and here’s hoping you don’t have to see it happen again! It’s no fun for sure!
My jack russel is on phenobarbital and only has 2 seizures a year (i that ) compared to the several a month before the phenobarbital. Sometimes if I get some white noise going like running water or humming it will stop sooner.
Do you watch Family Guy, I think you should name your GPS stewie (wait it might try to kill you)
How about Alfred – Bruce Wayne’s butler in the Batman universe
Too bad you can’t make it call your Master
I had a keeshond who died from a seizure at the age of 3. I was a horrible experience and I hope I never have to go through that again.
As for your GPS, I don’t like fancy names. Call it George. It’s simple and it will confuse your neighbors and friends.
Blah. All three of my children had febral seizures as babies. Talk about giving me a heart attack EVERY time. My children all out grew them, as every Dr. told me they would, but I was ALWAYS a mess when they happened. I would also call the police and then tired papa, who actually was pretty good about them after he saw one and realized how scary it was and how terrified it made me. But now I have three healthy normal kids with no seizures and nothing else wrong with them, except how they annoy their mother from time to time.
So, I’m sorry that you and Hamlet went through this, because it is VERY scary.
Oh, if your dog is Hamlet, then the GPS should be Romeo. Romeo, Romeo, where the heck am I? Romeo. I like it.
Sorry to hear about your dog; glad he is doing better!
We named our GPS systems too
The kids decided mine was named Lola; after the GPS in the movie ‘RV’.
Awww, poor Hamlet! Hopefully he’ll be OK, it sounds like your vet is on top of things which is good!
We had a sheltie that had epilepsy and ultimately died from seizures when he was 5 (about 5 years ago)…I do not envy anyone having to sit through a seizure, I always felt so bad for him and felt really helpless… My hubby would have said the same thing had I called him at work!
Looking forward to finding out what the name-of-choice is for your GPS…
Sorry to hear about Hamlet ~ wish him the best. Do want to let you know that in 1977 we had a German Shepard X ~ Chester ~ named after Chester, CT. He developed epilepsy at 12 mo & we had to give him very expensive Pheno & Dilantin 3x daily. I had to come home at lunch to give him his meds. Not a pretty sight to see a dog have a seizure, but our vet said it was common in larger dogs. Good thing we didn’t have kids at the time, because my bathrobe looked like one of those police attach-dog-training arm thingys.