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Brutis

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Just wanted to post this here to see if any others had anything similar to my situation

My dog is Brutis. He is an almost 4 year old brindle English Bulldog. He is a great dog.

Unfortunately Brutis is not doing so well. He started having seizures about 5 months ago (bad ones). He is on a therapeutic dose of Phenobarbitol now and that was managing them pretty well.

At first they thought it was epilepsy, but now since he is having so many "break through seizures" they call them, now they're thinking it may be a neurological problem like a lesion, or tumor or something. He is also having what they call "head shakes" (which are not the same as seizures I guess but they are still hard to watch).

I don't know but it is really upsetting.

He is also having hip problems (or possible knee) where he doesn't want to walk around much, or is unable to walk. He stays in is little bed almost all day now. The hip...I'm thinking it may be hip displasia or maybe even related to the seizures, but we haven't had him really checked out with that problem yet. We're still trying to deal with the seizures.

The vet bills are really starting to hurt us right now, and I honestly don't know how much longer we can keep this up.

The vet recently put him on Metacam for the pain and so far that has been helping him as he is able to move around better now.

I was just wondering if any other members had these types of problems with their Bully and may be able to offer some insight and what we can do or at least some similar experiences to share that may help

We are at our wits end....

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I honestly would consider the quality of life your dog has right now and consider euthanasia.
You got to ask yourself if you are keeping him around for your benefit or is it "time" this animal.
I have owned a dog in the past that had seizures, it is very upsetting.
 
#3 ·
oh geez!!! i hate to hear this, so heart breaking! i'm so sorry. But yeah, i would for sure weigh your options on possibly costly brain surgery to take care of a maybe tumor and surgery for his hips or euthanasia.
:-(
 
#4 ·
Hi, my Bulldog Bosco also has seizures. That is a very sad story that hits very close to home. My dog had a cluster of seizure as a puppy last year. He went almost a year and only had one. Now in the past 2 months he's had two.

How many Mg's of phenobarb is your dog on? They are in the process of uping bosco's by a quarter tablet.

I cannot imagine having to go through what you are and to be selfish I hope mine doesn't go that far. I sincerely hope the best for you and your pup.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I am so sorry for you and your dog!

I have never owned a dog with seizures, but my Aunt had the same problem with her Border Collie mix, Casey. Casey was about 4 when he started having seizures. He was put on meds and still had seizures. His meds were increases and he was eventually on max dosage. He continued to have seizires, the seizures became more intense over time and the vet informed my Aunt that Casey's seizures were actually causing brain damage. My Aunt loved Casey and he had been there for her four children all their lives, so she was trying to spare the kids the pain of losing him while weighing her feelings and Casey's quality of life. Toward the end, he was having between 1-4 seizures a day and his behavior was changing. Sometimes he would just be forgetful and do things like potty inside and sometimes he would be a bit aggresive and snap at the family and then appear confused. It was all very sad as he was such a funny and lively dog before the seizures started and when he was feeling well after.

When Casey was a little over 6 he had a horrible seizure on Christmas eve, was taken to the vet, the vet said there was nothing they could do for him anymore and my Aunt was told that she could decide to euthanize or she could continue as things were. She decided it was time to let go because the expense was killing the bank account, seeing Casey seize and the upset the kids felt was killing her heart and knowing how Casey was suffering and living a lower quality life just didn't seem right. Casey said goodbye that night.

My best advice is to carefully consider everything without guilt! Can you continue to provide medical care for this dog with your financial situation? Is this dog truly content? Is the dog suffering? How is this affecting your family? Is continuing treatment doing any real good or it it prolonging the inevitable? What would you want if the situation were reversed and you were in the dogs shoes?

For me, I made a decision long ago that I would euthanize my pets if they were incurable, the disease wasn't successfully managed by meds, or their lives were shadows of their norm. Its what I would want someone to do for me.

Good luck to you and give the doggie a scratch for me.
 
#6 ·
Seizures are horrible. I had a small mutt who started having them when she was about 13. We had her on pheno. and it worked for a while. But then she started having them again while on the meds. They were minor but they were still seizures. One day she had a really bad one and wasnt coming out of it.
I knew her quality of life was not the same and made a very very sad decision that day. I cry to just think about it - my dog was dying. I loved her too much to let her "live" like that.

I know my dog was much older than yours - but if the seizures are frequent and cant be controlled by meds. You have to ask yourself if you are prolonging something for your benefit or the dogs. :(

Seek a second opinion or even a third - just so you have peace of mind should you have to go in that direction.
 
Discussion starter · #7 · (Edited)
Thanks

Thank you all for your stories.

Even thought they are all pretty sad, it does help.

We took Brutis to the vet and he increased his dose of Phenobarbital to 90mg twice a day (1.5 pills twice/day). He also put him on a different pain med to help with his leg (he thinks it may be his knee but isn’t sure without X rays).

His (and ours) main concern is the seizures of course. We need to get those under control. So the plan is now to see how this dosage works for him. If it keeps the seizures away (without causing damage to his liver), then that’s good and we will see about the other issue. He feels it may be enough to just keep the meds going and rest to let the leg heal without getting too aggressive with the treatment.

He goes back for more blood work in a few weeks to check all the levels.

I will update Brutis’ condition periodically. We are praying for the best.


Here is a picture of Brutis.
 

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#10 ·
Clara went through a stage of head tremors. They seemed to
come on when she got stressed out (when one of us had to leave on a trip).
She sleeps above my pillow at night, and sometimes if I laid my head
on her leg, she would get them. I thought her leg felt some pain and
she would start the tremors. As soon as I moved her leg, she was fine.

This being said, check to see if something could be causing Brutis any stress.
The pain in his leg could be a part of it. Just some thoughts to give you
something to look for.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Just an update about our Brutis.

The seizures are still happening but they are not as frequent (maybe 3 bad ones in the last couple months).

But his legs are not good. He is on 2 different pain meds (1 is basically an NSAID) and after a visit to the vet last night, it appears that he has a "sublux" patella on his right leg (he had an ACL repair on this leg a couple years ago), and possibly an ACL problem on his left (he is using the leg, but there may be some damage in there). The left patella is a bit suspect also the vet said.

The vet said he also has some hip displasia, but did indicate that it's not real bad and he could still function since he doesn't have to "catch food".

Even with all the meds he is on, I have to carry him upstairs each night for bed, and help him out the door sometimes so he can go outside. When he walks occasionally his legs just give out on him, and just getting up from a sit position is very difficult for him....:(

I am thinking that these seizures may have caused his pattella and ACL injuries since they are so violent. The vet seemed to think that was a definate possiblity also.

I do not think we will pursure any further treatment for Brutis. His qualilty of life is not great at all and he is suffering. When his is done with the last of his meds we will be puttin him down (which is about 10 days away...maybe less).

Our hearts are broken.:cry:
 
#16 ·
Things like this are not easy, but I looked at the picture you put up of Brutis
and you can see the pain and sadness in his eyes. He is not happy and he is
not feeling well and from what you are saying, this will not get any better
for him. Sometimes, for the good of their welfare, we just have to say goodbye.
My heart and thoughts are with you.
 
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