Susan, Mike &
Samantha and Sandy: Sandy
is a Yellow Lab born 6/04/1999. Sandy was a throw-away dog who joined our
family on June 7th 2001 just two days after the death of my father. My
husband knew I had been wanting another dog and he thought she would cheer
me up. She had had a seizure when she gave birth to her first litter of
pups and so was spayed and put up for sale by the breeder. The breeder
only told us she had had one and it was "just the stress of giving birth"
that caused it. Little did we know how our lives would change when we
brought her home! She joined her new canine sister Scamp and our daughter
Samantha (her best bud).
It took her a good 3 months to calm down and accept us. Because
she had never been socialized, she had to learn so many new things like
living in a house, wearing a collar and leash and going out in public. She
is also terrified of men.
Sandy had partial GM's and focals when she first joined our family in June 2001.
She is on thyroid medication and KBr but she was still having seizures every
three days in January, March and April 2002. I started her on 3mg melatonin
nightly on April 4th, 2002, and although it seemed to take a bit of time to
work, her seizure episodes lengthened to about 5 to 7 days apart with periods of
9 to 14 days apart. When I increased her to two 3mg pills in November 2002, one
in the morning and one at night I saw a great improvement in frequency of her
seizures. She even went 182 days seizure free in the winter of 2002 to spring of
2003! Now in 2004 her seizures are over 30 days apart. When I first started her
on melatonin there did seem to be an adjustment period where Sandy was hyper and
was barking at night at nothing. It was like she was having nightmares. She
would jump up out of a dead sleep growling and barking. This since gone away
completely. The melatonin is also helping her sleep though the night which is
something that seldom happened before. Her night time seizures and focals have
completely stopped. She now has only mild GM's.
We have been very lucky to have been blessed with the
Guardian Angels. Most of all we are lucky to still have our Sandy around
to love and love us. Someone else may have thrown her away but she is a
treasure to us. She has gone from a scared timid dog to a playful puppy
(at least at home) in the 2 years she has been with us. This just goes to
show that there is hope.
Medication and Food: 1.2 ml 500gm/ml KBr SID;
Eltroxin 0.3 mg tabs 1 1/2 tabs BID;
Melatonin 3mg SID;
500 mg Taurine;
Rescue Remedy as needed;
Home cooking and Nutro Natural Choice Kibble as a treat;
400IU Vit E;
500mg o-calcium + D;
Vit C
http://communitties.msn.ca/McCoyFamily
