Cory’s Story

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is a continuation of our guest author series. Kaydee’s Story follows Kaydee and her health as she switches to a raw food diet.

The day after our trip to Purdue Kaydee pretty much slept all day and some of the next. The trip had really wiped her out! We even kept her covered up with her blankie which is not a normal thing for her.

Two days later I had an appointment late in the afternoon at the hair salon. I was gone only for an hour and a half. When I arrived home I felt a knot begin to form as I reached the back door… no Kaydee to greet me. I opened the door and walked in… still no Kaydee to greet me. Panic was starting to grip at my heart as I am rounding the corner from the kitchen to the living room. There she is!! All wiggles and waggles. I see her. She jumps up standing on her hind legs to greet me but her right front leg starts to bend and then I see her go …. I grab her holding her upright she is trying to fight this monster… she tries to give me kisses her legs wanting to go stiff… she’s fighting not wanting it to take over… still wanting to give mommy “hello” kisses. All the while I’m telling her “it’s okay, good girl.”

Brent came out of the bedroom from his daily nap and hurried to get the ice pack and honey. He couldn’t find the ice pack and only came back with the honey where he put a glob on his finger and placed it on Kaydee’s tongue. Now for some reason today Brent decided he was going to keep his finger on her tongue — why? Because he is always afraid she will swallow her tongue. I have told him repeatedly, the vets have told him that she WILL NOT SWALLOW her tongue.

I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it away from Kaydee glaring at him. I asked him where the ice bag was. He just looked at me with that deer-in-the-headlight-look and said “I can’t find it.“ I let go of Kaydee — she was laying in an upright position just shaking. But at that fine line it could go either way of stopping or going to a full blown seizure.

I found the ice pack where it is ALWAYS at, in the door of the freezer and placed it on Kaydee’s back. Within a few minutes she is responding to the ice pack. She is still shaking but this was more like she is shaking from being cold. She tried to break away but I held her there for a minute longer. She wanted away from the ice pack. Still shaking I let her go and as I told her “good girl” she turned to look at me, her eyes softly glowing with her ears kinda flopped back and now her little butt wiggle waggling as if to say “mommy I love you.” She was okay again!

I am noticing when I can get the ice pack on Kaydee’s back QUICKLY the seizure does not last very long. My friend has used this method on her Boston Terrier and she is seeing a small but yet significant shortened seizure.

Below is info I found regarding the ice pack and placement.

*** excerpt from Canine Guardian Angels ***

It is as simple as applying a bag of ice to the lower-midsection of your dog’s back (the small of the back), and holding the bag firmly in position until the seizure ends. The exact area on the back is between the 10th thoracic (chest) and 4th lumbar (lower back) vertebrae (bones in the spine); what this means is that the top of the ice bag should rest just above the middle of your dog’s back, following along the spine, and drape down to the lower-midsection of the back.

To see a very good diagram of where the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae meet on a dog’s spine, go to:

http://www.infovisual.info/02/070_en.html

The ice bag should rest between the middle of the thoracic vertebrae and the middle of the lumbar vertebrae. With a properly sized ice bag, you should not have to worry about being too exact: aim for the middle of the back, and the correct area will be covered. Application of ice to other areas of the body (head, neck, legs and other areas of the spine) was not found to be effective. Ice bags on the middle of the back was the only area found to work.