It happened again :(

[Nishasmom]

Sorry, Nisha hasn't had vaccines in about a year. She is actually due this month...although I doubt the vet will give her any until she is well.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

Gina,
Our floors are stained concrete...I wonder how we would test for an electrical current; also, twice it has happened outside (grass).

We have stopped trying to soothe her (for the most part)...I mostly did it this time for the sake of the video. Usually we send her straight to her kennel and leave the room.

Grass (wet) is a great conductor of electricity. Is your home a new home? In a sub-division? what was there before houses were built on it?
I think an electrician would be able to tell you if there is some sort of electrical current going through the property and home.

What happens when you put her in the crate and and leave? Try covering it up too...peak through the door to see if you can hear any distress or movement.

Poor things.

Gina

[kilasmamix3]

Oh dear god, I hope she'll be okay...
I haven't been on in a while and came to this thread. Because I read your previous thread about her first freak out and i saw that it happened again.
I've read this threat holding my breathe because I was hoping we'd hear good news.

You should really get the tumor thing canceled out.

Maybe the toad is still in her blood?

I watched the video and saw pain and hearing sensitivity..

Does the vet know if she's in pain?

Dezaree

[Nishasmom]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

Grass (wet) is a great conductor of electricity. Is your home a new home? In a sub-division? what was there before houses were built on it?
I think an electrician would be able to tell you if there is some sort of electrical current going through the property and home.

What happens when you put her in the crate and and leave? Try covering it up too...peak through the door to see if you can hear any distress or movement.

Poor things.

Gina

Our home is older (maybe 50 yrs) and in a small "subdivision"...maybe 15 houses. Also, two of the episodes were not at home.

When we leave her in the crate she pretty much does the same thing. We will try covering it next time.

Can they give hearing tests to dogs? Maybe this would help?

[Weily4Life]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

If it is seizures, is the best medicine Phenobarbatol (sp?). Are there any "natural" options? Someone mentioned to me to try a holistic vet; we found one in town...haven't made an appointment yet, but I am keeping her info on hand.

I don't know if phenobarbital is the best medicine.


However, in response to your question about "natural options I found this:

1. Use a natural diet, food additives may irritate brain tissue. Exclude all commercial foods, snacks, or foods containing additives or coloring agents
2. Limit organ meats (especially liver and kidney) to once a week or less
3. Consider a vegetarian diet or using a low-meat recipe (trial period of 3 months or so)
4. Special supplements. B vitamins are very important to nerve tissue, use a natural, complete B complex in the 10 to 50 milligram range, depending on your dog's size. Niacin or niacinamide should be a minimum of 5 to 25 milligrams. Also supplement with 1/4 to 2 teaspoons of lecithin and 10 to 30 milligrams of zinc (the chelated form is best) Give about 250 to 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily to assist in detoxification (divided over to meals) using the level best suited to your pet's size.
5. Use herbal treatment's that strengthen the nervous system: 1. Common oat (Avena sativa) 2. Blue vervain (Verbena) 3. Skullcap (Scutallaria lateriflora)
6. As an alternative to herbal treatment, there are specific homeopathic remedies that are often quite useful: 1. Belladonna 2. Thuya or Thuja 3. Arnica montana

[Marley55]

Nishasmom,

I am so sorry your beautiful girl is going through this, The video was hard to watch, its so clear that she is in distress.

This may be a long shot but we had a case that presented the very same symptoms when I worked at the vet's office.

Have you recently had new carpeting installed in our home ? New carpet has both benzene and formaldehyde and a host of other toxic chemicals in lesser amounts. Some carpet adhesives have styrene-butadiene as well. Inhaling the fumes can cause a wide range of symptoms in both humans and animals.

Our client bought her dog in after having symptoms very much like Nisha is having. Tons of tests and research developed nothing until it was discovered that 5 days prior the entire house has been newly carpeted. A few weeks went by and the problem resolved itself.

A rare case to be sure, but worth asking.

Take care....Marley

[Bosko]

While am not an electrician, I am an electronic engineer and the chance of her cage being charged is slim. The cage would have to be in direct contact with a open line/circuit. Also, I think you would feel the current flow when you touch the metal yourself, but you test for it by using a voltmeter. They are pretty cheap from Sears (~$20), just touch the cage and a ground point in your house. The reading should be 0 volts or floating ( meaning the numbers will be "bouncing" around).



If you not comfortable doing this, find someone who is.
It takes less that .5 amps of current to cause DEATH.

[Nishasmom]

Marley,
We actually did get new carpet installed. It was put in on April 21st. How did your vet diagnose that this was the cause?

[Marley55]

Forgive me but it has been awhile and I was a "newbie tech". I do not know every detail however the end result was a problem with the nervous system caused by a severe reaction to the chemicals. It lead to the same symptoms Nisha is having.
It was really a process of elimination by medical testing and then environmental research to see what if anything had changed in the home, yard, etc.
I am still in touch with Dr R and will send him an email to inquire on the details and post his response as soon as I receive it.

[Nishasmom]

Thank you so much; the vet is going to be overwelmed when she sees all the tests I want done !

Having the details about the carpet would be great. But, would it make a difference that she wasn't around the carpet at the time of her actual "episode"? (home depot, my office, ect.) would the "fumes" stay with her that long?

[LynnS]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

Okay....here we go again...I got most of it on tape this time!

We were walking inside from a 'potty trip' when she stopped dead in her tracks and started looking around. I told Jesse "she's freaking out again" and we quickly brought her inside to her kennel which is where most of the video takes place. What I didn't get to tape was her running inside and trying to run into the shower, and up the walls.

Sorry the video is so dark...it is 9:00 here and I guess our lights aren't very bright .

On a scale of 1-10...10 being the worst we have seen, we vote this "episode" as a 6.

so anxiety attack...or seizure?

YouTube - Nisha freak out # 5

This is EXACTLY the same behavior that Bella exhibited whe she was in standing heat (I would have rated your video a *6* as well based on seeing Bella's *10*). The onset of this behavior was at approximately 18 months of age. In Bella's case, it was clearly connected with the stress of being in standing heat although we never really got to the bottom of it. After she was spayed, she never had any episodes although once in a great while she snaps at an imaginary fly or two but is easily disracted out of it. I know this is really not much help....

[moondog]

I might also add that LynnS has no carpeting in her home.

BUT....if the chemicals in new carpeting could be a cause (and I sure do think it's possible), would shampooing the new carpeting help?

[Nishasmom]

I don't know if shampooing would help; I will call the carpet people tomorrow.

LynnS, Nisha is spayed, so a reaction to heat cycle isn't possible with her.

We are trying to stay positive and hopeful about her condition. So I guess its a wait and see thing .

I switched my appt to tomorrow, we will see what the vet says. It is so hard to watch her like this; I hate to see her suffer, and that is what is happening . Jesse and I both cried when we watched the video; and this wasn't even the worst one . Thank god we had the leash already on her this time; trying to catch a dog going through that is quite a depressing/ stressful experience.

[jlaack]

If new carpet is a possible cause here is some information I found online. I also think that 100+ chemicals found in most carpets to make them resistant to stains, fire while being extremely long lasting can have a significant impact on health especially for animals and kids that spend a lot of time breathing and laying on the floor. This is a problem with most building materials (unless they are green) and it is absolutely astounding how toxic remodeled homes and new homes usually are. I am no expert, but since these chemicals are so incorporated into the product shampooing will probably not have any impact on the offgassing of VOC's. I also probably wouldn't trust the opinion of a carpet cleaner on this. Most use harmful chemicals to clean carpets and I doubt few are going to have a true understanding of the health concerns of carpet (if they really did, they probably would not be in that line of work). I have carpet in two rooms but it is 100% wool without any stain resisters and the treatment to meet code for fire resistance is natural additive. I realize I went off on a tangent, hopefully the links below will help some. A lot list neuro disorders in humans such as twitching one site mentioned hallucinations. I really feel for you and your girl and hope you can find answers soon. Perhaps you can search for a list of chemicals in the carpet through the manufacturer according with their concentration in the product? This might provide more information or let you know if this is a dead end.

CARPET DANGERS
http://www.holisticmed.com/carpet/tc1.txt
Carpet Installers Speak Out

[jlaack]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I just thought of something else you can do to maybe provide information on an environmental cause. We had a mold problem at a previous residence and had our air quality tested. We limited the test to fungi since we knew that was a problem but wanted to see how bad, but we could have tested for other pollutants the list being quite exhaustive. Just another thought. Sorry if my posts are overwhelming...