A few days ago, some of you know that my little dog, Betsy, had a Grand Mal seizure. She is four years old. She had never had a seizure before. She had never been ill before. It was totally out of the blue. It lasted 6.5 minutes, which according to my vet, is not a good thing.
I rushed Betsy to the nearest vet. On the advice of the vet, she had complete blood work. Betsy, you see, is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They have some genetic issues. The vet was worried about her heart. She passed all her blood tests with flying colors. Nothing was wrong.
Right. Nothing was wrong. I saw Betsy have this seizure. SOMETHING was wrong.
To find out what is wrong, or to possibly find out, Betsy will have to see a specialist, but it makes the most sense to try to track down any possible environment causes first. I live in the forest. My previous dog, Eliza, developed pancreatitis from eating parts of a dead bird that was in my large fenced in back yard. She, subsequently, had chronic pancreatitis the rest of her life. The first thing I thought of was that something was in the back yard that Betsy could have eaten. It made me feel like I was reliving a nightmare.
It is simply not possible to keep things out of a forested yard. Critters are in that yard every night. Birds are there. Insects are there. It is winter and nothing is growing, but birds drop berries, some of which could be poisonous. Betsy will eat anything! Taking inventory of all this made me feel helpless.
There was another possibility. Something could have bitten Betsy. There are virtually infinite possibilities. Another previous dog was bitten by something. I never knew what but it was a terrible bite. It could have been a snake, probably non-poisonous. It could have been a opossum. I live in the forest! There are other possibilities. He was sick a long time. But, Betsy had no visible bite marks.
But, insects may not leave visible bite marks, at least not on a heavily-coated dog. Then, it struck me. A spider! We have a number of poisonous spiders here like the brown recluse spider.
Sigh…..the bottom line is that we don’t know and may never know. Alternatively, there may be a veterinary neurologist in Betsy’s future. Keep your fingers crossed for her. She’s the sweetest dog and best companion in the world! #JusJoJan #amwriting #amblogging #writing #cavalierkingcharles
The Write Scribe 
Good luck. I’m envious of your environment!😉
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may she be well
and continue to
feel your love and care 🙂
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I’m sorry, I’m sure it is awful, particularly with a dog that young. I hope you find out what it was so you can avoid another seizure.
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Thanks so much. Cavaliers, like Betsy, have weird genetic disorders due to overbreeding. No telling what it is. Worries me.
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Boxers have some genetic issues, though I’m sure not as bad, and we’ve lost our last two at very young ages because of them.
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Actually, boxers have bad genetic issues, as bad as Cavaliers. My ex had a boxer that also died young. She was very sweet. Cancer. I am so sorry you lost yours.
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Oh no! I hope she’s going to be okay, Rosemary. It’s so hard having sick pets. My dog had a major operation last winter for some weird out-of-the-blue illness, so I know what that’s like.
All the best to you and Betsy!
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I hope your dog is OK now. Cavaliers, like Betsy, have weird genetic things from overbreeding. No telling what will happen, Linda. Worried.
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Winston, my beagle/Basset cross is okay other than the occasional burp he can’t get rid of. He needs medicine when it happens, so we have to keep an eye on him.
Is there any improvement in Betsy?
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She is OK right now, though her personality has changed since the seizure. It was a bad one. I’m trying to reach her breeder but can’t so far. We are leaving for Florida for a month Jan 17. (I’ll be blogging the whole time.) I may try to find a veterinary neurologist around Tampa or Ft Myers, where we are going. You are lucky, probably, to have a mixed breed…..I may do the same next time around. Healthier probably. It’s funny, Linda. The first dog we ever had was a beagle/bassett cross. He was delightful!
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I’m surprised to see how common beagle/bassets are! It’s a lovely cross.
I hope you’re able to get things sorted out with Betsy. All the best, Rosemary. 🙂
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