I hope Pereg has taken no more fits Malka and that you have managed some rest.

No rest unfortunately, as what with the seizure this morning, cope with cleaning up Pereg, having to strip the bed, trying to keep her quiet while getting washed and dressed [and sadly having to throw yesterday's ruined brand new clothes in the bin ] - but at least I was able to sort out and make a bowl of salad although once made it had to go back in the fridge because Pereg decided it was time for her meal to be prepared...

...and by the time I started to eat it was time for her 3pm pills so the salad went back in the fridge, which was cue for Pereg to try her luck asking for more. And then once I had finished eating and done the washing up Pereg started acting up again, all antsy and pacing and I when I ignored her she literally threw a tantrum. Toy box picked up and emptied, toys everywhere, and a screeching Pereg "this is what I do when you do not give me more food".

Gave her another 10mg Diazepam and a dead [ie no meat left on it] bone from the freezer, and she attacked that until she decided it was time for her chicken carcass. The thing is that this is not Pereg as she is normally - it is what the seizures do to her and it is impossible to ignore that sort of behaviour as it will go when she has gotten over the seizure or series of seizures. Then she will be back to being the loving Pereg that she really is.

But I am still not sure whether it is over yet, and my bed still has not been made up with fresh sheets and mattress cover. And at coming up to 8.45pm I am too exhausted to even think about attempting it.

Goodness. You're busy. So sorry to hear about Pereg's seizures. I didn't realise how much epilepsy could change a dog's personality. Take care of yourself. You must be exhausted.

It must be absolutely exhausting for both of you. I think you are doing completely the right thing by giving her more food or at least bones when she demands it. Like you say, it's not the normal Pereg doing it. Who knows whether the seizure makes her extremly hungry or just does something to her that makes her feel hungry....but the end results are the same.

I feel exhausted myself just reading about it. I'm only sorry there's nothing we can do on a practical level to help - all we can do is send our best wishes.

Hoping for good news in the morning.

Oh Malka you made me feel exhausted! I sincerely hope that both you and Pereg will get an all night sleep. It is a strain when they come out of the fits.

Sending good wishes to you and healing wishes to Pereg with cuddles from me and hugs from Loki xx

Sorry I cannot respond to everyone but I thank you all for just being there and listening to me, and sending your best wishes to my beloved Pereg. Just a couple of answers.

To put it simply, it is wires in the brain that sometimes short-circuit, causing the seizure. And until the post-ictal [the period following the actual seizure] is over, the dog's senses are all over the place and he or she unintentionally acts irrationally. Once the whole thing, seizure and post-ictal irrationality is over, the dog returns to being absolutely normal.

An epileptic seizure has been likened to a person running a marathon. The epilepsy takes so much energy that the dog is hungry - but even after giving him or her food the brain does not realise they have a full stomach and the dog still thinks it is hungry. Not just hungry but ravenous and desperate for food. In addition, drugs like Phenobarbitone make a dog feel almost permanently hungry - and thirsty.

That is why in the first six months from Pereg being diagnosed and put on Pb, when her medication had to keep being increased to try to control her seizures, her weight shot up from 17kg to 20.8. It was only once her seizures were reasonably under control that I was able to put her on a weight-reducing diet.

Our initial aim was to keep Grand Mal seizures to a maximum of once a month, with the hope that Pereg would stay seizure-free for as long as possible, but it took six terrible months before we got anywhere near that stage. And then she did go one year and 177 days seizure-free until she broke her streak at the beginning of April this year.

Some dogs will have a seizure at very regular intervals or at regular times of the day or night. Others, like Pereg, have no regularity at all. The seizures just happen when they happen. Most seizures occur when the dog is sleeping or resting, but not all. Yesterday afternoon Pereg was walking through the little hallway when she just crashed down. Some dogs have "triggers" that cause then to seize - for example if the neighbour has sprayed weed killer. Others have no trigger at all.

The only certainty about epilepsy is its uncertainty.

A year and 177 days! Wow. Fingers crossed. He manages to repeat that again!

Its dreadful she went so long with a seizure and now she has started with them again. Every time I hope that this is the last one and you can relax again Malka.
Hope you managed to get some sheets on your bed and manage some sleep.

Oh Malka I'm so sorry to read this. Poor Pereg and you

I find it difficult enough dealing with Scooby's fits and I am fully mobile. You do so well to care for Pereg and your dedication shows.

Scooby's last one was on at 3am Wednesday morning. I think after having him up and down all night while I tended to one of the horses was too much for him. So as well as being exhausted since by that point I'd been up for 20 hours and working 19 of those I had to sort him out and deal with his post seizure behaviour which consisted of lots of pacing.

I think I finally passed out about 5am and was up checking the horse again at 7.

It was a very long night and not one I'd like to repeat, ever.