Sammy

So I have mentioned the fact that I adopted a puppy from the Humane Society but other than that I have not said too much about Sammy.  For the record he is half beagle and half schnauzer.  He has the body of a beagle, very sleek, and he has a little beard and big brown eyes.  His eyes are so big that you can only see the whites of them when he looks to the side.

Shortly after adopting Sammy he started to exhibit very odd behavior from time to time. For no apparent reason he would lose all sense and run around the room barking in a very strained voice, as if someone was beating him, and he would snip at anyone who came near him. He acted as though he were in fear of his life and would try to hide under the bed or behind the couch. These “episodes” as they came to be known happened about once or twice a month and lasted about five minutes each time.

I became worried about Sammy’s health so I took him to the veterinarian and within five minute they diagnosed him with a very aggressive form of epilepsy.

On the plus side we can treat his epilepsy with a drug called Phenobarbital. The down side is that the Phenobarbital, when used for extended periods of time, can cause massive liver and kidney damage to the animal.

Another plus side though is that Sammy’s epilepsy seems to be secondary, which means his “episodes” are not caused by his genetic make up but instead for some secondary reason.

The reason that this is good news is because the fact that his epilepsy is secondary means he could grow out of his “episodes” at any time. This is very good news because we can take him off of the Phenobarbital after a year and see if his symptoms persist or not which could help avoid any damage to his liver or kidneys.

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Images found in the personal iPhoto Library of Heather Fogle.