Holding My Breathilepsy*

Monday night, Stormy had a 15-minute episode of something that looked like full-body hiccups, except it wasn't affecting her breathing.  I'd never seen this before, and it was a bit disturbing!  A vet appointment the next morning verified that it was very mild seizure activity... nothing to be done at this point and not a concern, but that I should record it if it happens again.

Early this morning, it happened again, for a full HOUR.  I took her in today, along with the video.  The intensity is not of any real concern, but the length is.  Theoretically, it could make her overheat and cause brain damage, so if it happens again and is longer than 30 minutes then we need to wrap her in cold wet sheets.

A bit disconcerting when it just won't stop.

In the meantime, we wait.  Blood test results should come back in a few days... is it the liver, pancreas, or kidneys?  Is it diabetes?  Is it an electrolyte imbalance or Addison's disease (which are supposed to be more common in poodles).  Theoretically it's rare for her to have a seizure disorder since she has no family history of it and is so young, but if none of these things come back positive then she's looking at a lifetime of phenobarbital for epilepsy.

I have a hunch that it has something to do with her being in heat (yes, our little Stormy became a woman this month!), and the internet agrees with me, but the vet says there is no research out there that says heat causes it, only that being in heat can make it more frequent.

If the testing points to epilepsy, but her sudden onset of these symptoms completely disappear in a week and a half when the heat is over, I'll be looking for a second opinion just to be sure... the liver damage risk with phenobarbital is something I'd like to avoid.  Here's hoping it is something easily curable.

This is me, keeping my sense of humor.

*Sorry, my sense of humor was not intact enough to come up with a better title.