Posted on 07/14/2010 12:47:36 AM PDT by Judith Anne
I have two dogs, a mastiff, and a minpin. The minpin is 14 years old, blind, and has been officially diagnosed with a brain tumor accompanied by epilepsy about 7 months ago, although the epilepsy started before that, and a brain tumor was suspected.
It's not as bad as it sounds, for her. She started having seizures about once a month, and the vet said they would increase in frequency. Due to her age, no treatment was judged likely to help much, for very long. He said her lifespan would depend on how fast it grew, and how well she tolerated the changes. She's been doing very well until July 4, when she suddenly went blind.
The seizures have become more frequent, about twice a week, but they've gotten milder. I pick her up and take her outside about 4 times a day, and she is able to find and eat her food and drink water in her crate with no problem. I keep her in her crate most of the time now, because she seems happy there, or on my lap, and to keep her safe from being hurt during a seizure. The seizure meds don't help.
I'm not explaining this very well, I hope it's clear enough. Anyway, she's been with me since she was a pup, and since she is not suffering I can't bring myself to have her put down. I've decided to take care of her until she goes.
This is a dainty and beautiful tiny dog. She "mothered" the mastiff when we brought him home 6 1/2 years ago; she has been a faithful little shadow to me, all her life.
She has "accidents" now, but it's no fuss to clean up, I have several cushions I rotate through the laundry, and usually manage to get her outdoors often enough.
The problem now is some odd behavior: She has been vigorously digging in her pillows, sometimes for an hour at a time, about three times a day. She's too weak and small to damage the pillows; but it's surprisingly noisy, esp at night. I have told her to stop, and for a second or two, she does. Then starts up again. She also walks in tight circles for 10-15 minutes at a time. Plus, she has totally stopped barking, which is uncharacteristic for her.
I am assuming that these are behaviors related to the tumor; could these behaviors be a type of seizure? The meds we tried completely knocked her out, or didn't work at all.
Again, she doesn't seem to be in pain, still eats and goes to the BR outside, except for more frequent accidents.
Is it time? Any suggestions? I'm willing to keep her with me until she goes, but I do not want to make her suffer...
You may have already encountered this, but:
“... it is possible to treat the symptoms caused by a brain tumor. For seizures caused by brain tumors, dogs can be placed on an anti-seizure drug such as Phenobarbital or potassium bromide. Tumors tend to cause the accumulation of fluid (edema) around them and this can be treated with a corticosteroid such as prednisone. As many of the clinical signs can be due to the edema, some animals show a dramatic improvement within 24 hours of starting treatment with prednisone. In one study of dogs with meningioma, the tumor’s blood volume decreased by 21% within 24 hours of beginning prednisone. This response is often short
lived as the tumor itself is not being treated by this drug, but can certainly give dogs some good quality time.”
http://www.caninecancer.com/brain.html
Now, I’ll challenge you (and your dogs) to switch from kelp to iodoral or lugol’s. They are both the same and have much higher doses of iodine AND iodide, both of which you need.
Let me know if you need more info but the bottom line is, we are almost ALL deficient in iodine.
I’ll call the vet tmo and ask him about that.
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