Kenzi Update

What a long week. Kenzi has been having more "episodes" recently and we have done everything the doc has asked. We've changed her food, strictly given her fish oil everyday and comforted her through her seizures. Then the past week Steven and I were home more often and that is when we realized that she is having these episodes EVERY FEW HOURS! We have seen 11 seizures since April 20th. 4 of those were since Thursday!!

We made an appointment to rerun her bloodwork Thursday morning to see if her tryglicerides were in the normal range. (last appointment she was in the 2400's and the normal levels are in the 300's!)Well, we found out that she is now in the normal range; however she is having more frequent seizures. The vet mentioned that she may not be getting enough oxygen to her brain, which causes her to seize.

In researching seizures, we have found that she doesn't have the symptoms of a grand mall seizure in that she doesn't lose consciousness, she doesn't foam at the mouth or lose bodily function. Her eyes seem to twitch, and her body seems to stiffen all it's muscles. Her hind legs get "stuck" up at her face and her neck contorts and gets hard and stiff. It is horrible!! To accurately tell what type of seizure she is having, the vet has advised us to catch one of her episodes on camera. This is difficult for us because 1) The idea of grabbing the camera when we find that she is having one doesn't cross our minds immediately and 2) We hate the idea of just watching her go through it while videoing. I understand that it could greatly help the vets help kinzi and we are trying to do that for them.

We also found a fairly new genetic disease found in Miniature Schnauzers called Myotonia Congenita. It seems like some of the symptoms might be what she has but it is doubtful. Have you ever heard of this or know anything about it??

The vet doesn't feel like Kenzi has Myotonia because she is 3 years old and they usually find this in younger dogs. He also feels that our next step is a neuroligical consult....which can mean a lot of money.

She is currently on a steady dose of valum to keep her calm, relaxed and less susceptible for a seizure.

Personally, we are having a REALLY hard time with all of this. Kenzi is our baby. She runs our household. She gives us so much joy! We fully understand that she is a dog and there is only so far that we can go with this, but for now we will go pretty far. I just ask that you keep us in your thoughts as we talk with the vets to see what is next. Any advice is helpful.