Ch. Jenson Interceptor - "Cruise"

Cruise started his show career by winning Baby Dog at the NSW Parade. He wasn't shown much as a youngster as we were preparing our home for sale and spending the weekends either tidying or having Open House. His next Specialty was Qld where he won Best Minor in Show. After that was the ACT where he won his class again under Mrs D. Smith (QLD) Having finally sold our Sydney home it was time for the big move.

As some of you may know, Cruise has had two major setbacks and been out of the ring for some time since we moved up the coast 17 months ago. He is still not 100% but we just glad that he is alive and his sweet usual self.

Two weeks after we moved here into a very old farmhouse surrounded by 100 acres of dairy farm, on the night before we were due to travel to Brisbane for the 2005 Specialty, Cruise had a massive seizure. I had just been in contact with the local vet the day before to give them our dogs particulars and get their emergency number ..... which I laughingly stated that I hope we don't need it! That night all the dogs "went off" on the back verandah .... what at I don't know, but Cruise wouldn't settle so I gave him an Ace (Acepromazine) tablet. I have very rarely given our dogs these except on Vet's advice to keep them quiet after an
injury etc. In hindsight that was the worst thing I could have done.

We were woken around 2.30am by a banging noise. It was Cruise having convulsions in his crate. He had emptied his bladder and bowels, was frothing badly from the mouth and fitting. Phone calls to my Sydney vet and trying to get onto the local vet ate up precious time. Mobile phone coverage out this way isn't great so it took some time to make contact and then get him into town. Anyone who's ever seen a dog seizing will know how frightening is it to watch and how helpless you feel.

Quick work from the vet to get his skyrocketing temperature down and intravenous fluids and Valium stabilized him but it was a week before we could bring him home. Results of tests were inconclusive with organophosphate poisoning being the major suspect. Ace tablets and organophosphate poisoning is a deadly combination we have since found out so I would caution anyone using this drug unless prescribed by their vet. Cruise was also wearing a flea collar at the time.

"Contraindications
Phenothiazines may potentiate the toxicity of organophosphates.
Therefore, do not use acepromazine Maleate to control tremors associated
with organic phosphate poisoning.
Do not use in conjunction with organ phosphorus vermifuges or
ectoparasiticides, including flea collars.
Do not use with procaine hydrocloride."

As a result he now has secondary epilepsy.

We brought home a very different dog to the one we had before. Cruise had lost all of his personality and didn't recognize us or the other dogs. He was sort of zombie-like. He was not fearful but rather was in his own little world ..... just "chilling out". The only drive he seemed to have left was the drive to eat. It was a big breakthrough when weeks later we first noticed the hint of a tail wag in response to our attention. Subsequent blood tests show all of his organs in normal range so hopefully no permanent damage done.

As time went by he became more and more responsive to the point where I began to show him again. The trips away and the stimulation of the different environments and experiences definitely had a positive affect on him. The main lingering difference to his make up is that he seems to have lost the "testosterone fuelled" behaviour of an adult male Dobe. During this time he had several Challenges and classes in group at all breeds shows even though he has had to face up to two lovely Grand Champion males that show in this area. He also won Challenge Dog at the NSW Specialty and Intermediate in Show, 2nd at the Parade, 1st at the Qld Specialty and 2nd at the ACT Specialty.

Unfortunately Cruise had a second seizure on Oct 5th which required an emergency trip to the vets and a stay of only a couple of days this time as we got him there very quickly for treatment. We were overjoyed to find that this time Cruise didn't lose his personality and was very glad to be back at home with us.

The setback this time, after the drugs had worn off was that Cruise couldn't walk at all. We had to nurse him back to health and teach him to stand and walk again. This began with encouraging him to drag himself across the grass to get food .... a huge motivator for him. Once we had the back legs going to some degree it was time to get him up and try to get some balance back. It was a long process with many falls and crashing into things as his eyesight or his ability to send messages from them seemed impaired. The was done on a lead and then in a level grassed yard. He was never going to learn without a few falls and crashes so it was hard to watch.

Through all of this he was the perfect patient. He put up with us heaving him around etc with great dignity and patience. We took him on our recent trip to the Vic specialty even though he wasn't recovered enough to show. He still enjoyed the trip in the car with us, especially the opportunity to commando crawl across our luggage etc to steal an apple from our food pack.

Our vet is amazed at how Cruise recovers from these major setback and has been very supportive and has taken a keen interest in his case. No one can predict when or if another seizure will happen so we take it one day at a time. He has a very slight limp still as a result of a shoulder injury but it's nearly gone. His fitness levels are low but that should improve with time. He will probably never be the dog he was before his first seizure but he is very special and brings us so much pleasure along with the pain.

I've shared this information with you as it may be of some help in the future. It's the first time I've had to deal with anything like this
since I began in Dobes in 1979. If any of you have some similar experiences I'd love to hear from you.

Here are some links if you'd like to find out more on living with an epileptic dog.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/tablecontents.htm

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/epilepsy.html