Medications and food:  90 mg Phenobarbital and 0.5 mg Thyrozine two times a day.   Nutro lamb and Rice dry and Nature's Recipe wet food.  His dinner is supplemented with Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium and B-Complex.

Joan and Beauregard: 3-year-old, 43 lb. terrier mix

Beauregard was literally thrown away when he was about three weeks old. He was found in a dumpster, then brought to the pet store where my daughter worked. He was thin and malnourished when we took him in, but he was so cute, who could resist? His life, as a result of having limited interaction in a litter, is full of “issues.”

His first seizure happened when he was about 20 months old. I have no way of proving what started them, but I think it was the use of artificial pheromones recommended by a rescue group as a way of quieting him down. For several days I didn’t recognize the seizures for what they were. At first, they always happened in the middle of the night, and by the time I would get to him the seizure was over and what I found was a very confused looking dog.  After about a week of late night visitations by the monster, Beau had a seizure in the early evening. At least, then, I knew what was plaguing him! After a night filled with eight Grand Mals complete with loud vocalization (very scary, indeed) in 10 hours, I took him to the vet and he was given Valium intravenously, and then sent him home with 64.8 mg. of Phenobarbital every twelve hours.

After I found the Guardian Angels website, I had Beau tested for hypothyroidism and found that he was, indeed, low. He now gets .35 mg. of soloxine every twelve hours. After reading the advice on the GA website, I also added Taurine and Melatonin to his diet, as well as vitamins and calcium. He gets the home-cooked Healthy Adult diet, as well as a little Wellness Super Mix kibble to add crunchiness and interest to his meals, as well as a snack before bedtime.  While on this regimen, he was seizure-free for one year and one week. He was off Melatonin for three weeks when I started work with the animal communicator, and I believe being off it was what triggered his seizure in mid-March of this year. He is back on the Melatonin now, and has not had any seizures since. 

I doubt that we will ever overcome all of Beau’s issues. Two trainers and an animal communicator concur that he is very resistant to change and fearful of new or unusual circumstances. Because he is of some sort of terrier lineage, he would rather argue than give in to anything. He behaves best in structured situations (he was an absolute star in obedience classes, but at home, not so much!). He adores being able to run free, ears flapping in the wind, when we are at the family farm. Even with much obedience work he doesn’t recognize the “come” command, so at the farm is the only time he is off-leash. Although I wasn’t anticipating being faced with something as time-consuming as this disease is at this point in my life, I just consider him my mid-life intellectual challenge! I wouldn’t wish the challenges of epilepsy or fear-aggression on anyone, but it is an interesting journey that we are on!

 

John and Edison: When I first saw Edison (My St Bernard) he was a puppy listed on a breeder’s website. I called the breeder up and said that he was my new dog she laughed and said “Okay but when you get here if you want a different puppy that is fine”. After an 11 hour drive we arrived at the breeder’s house. I sat down with all the puppies and they were all so cute, but when I got up to go see the parents of these puppies there was one little guy that followed me everywhere. It was the puppy I had told her was mine (Edison). 

Edison was born on April 5^th 2001. He was diagnosed at eight months of age with severe hip dysplasia, front leg alignment problems and a severe case of Panoceitis (a very painful bone disease common in larger dogs). His first seizure came on August 14^th 2003. He had them every two weeks almost to the minute after that. Until September 11^th 2003 when he had his first cluster he had six grand mals in one day and ended up spending the night in the emergency hospital. After some changes in his diet we managed to slow the seizures down to once a month. On April 9^th 2004 I was awaken at 4 am to a loud boom. It was his head slamming against the wall in the midst of a severe seizure. He continued to have 3 more grand mals in the next 10 minutes. After calling the vet they said to bring him in asap. Well Edison went into another grand mal in the car and ended up stuck under the front seat of my car, before we could even get out of the garage. Somehow the poor guy let me get him out of the car before he went into another cluster of three grand mals.

While trying to get him out from under the seat I was on the phone searching for a mobile vet. I had found one and he was on his way. When the vet arrived he used valium to stop the cluster. I was told however that due to the severity if his seizures that he would probably be dead by the age of five.

Edison had changed my life for the better in so many ways I decided I was not going to let that happen. He has taught me so many things about life, like determination, forgiveness and unconditional love that I could have never learned anywhere else.

That is when I found the Guardian Angels. The knowledge and dedication of this group is priceless.  Aside from the knowledge, the overwhelming support and just family like atmosphere of this group has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. The Angels are honestly the most dedicated group of individuals I have ever met, they truly care about our epi-pups and I will be forever indebted to them for the help and support they have provided me for Edison.

Currently Edison is fed IVD Potato and Duck formula mixed with a home cooked diet of  ground round, string beans and zucchini. His medications are 150 mg Phenobarbital twice a day, 500 mg Taurine once a day and .8 mg of Soloxine twice a day for his hypothyroid.