Good To Have Her Back

Reyna got to come home this afternoon. Duncan spent some time looking at her like he wasn't sure who she was, but after about 20 minutes, he decided he was thrilled she was home.

I’ll get more into specifics later (if I feel like it), but the main thing is that all her tests came back negative for seizure-causing issues. The vet feels 99% confident that she has epilepsy. There’s a slim chance that it might be some type of movement disorder, but only time will tell. Basically, if she doesn’t respond to the Phenobarbital (Pb), she has a movement disorder. If she does, she has epilepsy. The vet said her liver enzymes look great, so he’s not worried about the combination of Pb and Rimadyl on her liver. He said that he wants her to stay on the Pb for at least a year, and if she hasn’t had any seizures in that year, we can consider stepping down the dose or switching to a more mild anti-convulsant.

Poor Reyna’s a bit clumsy tonight, although the vet was surprised at how non-sedated she was when I picked her up. I wasn’t...I’ve never seen a sedative actually make her sedate. Reyna has a shaved leg, where they put in the IV, and the back of her head is also shaved, for the MRI. I’ll post a picture of that in a day or so. The Pb will possibly have a sedating effect on her, but she should be completely normal within a week. If she isn’t, I’m supposed to take her back to the vet. We also go back in two weeks for blood work, just to make sure her liver is still okay. The Pb might have a few other side effects, but they’re all pretty mild, as long as I keep an eye on her. And the meds are fairly strict...they need to be as close to 12 hours apart as possible. Once they’re totally in her system, messing with the timing or amount could actually spark a seizure. I’ve got a call in to the Dermatology department at the vet school for an appointment with them, to try and narrow down the allergy/auto immune issue.

Okay...time to go. Reyna just plowed into the wall... Spinning while on drugs is clearly not a safe activity...