
Bringing Bailey Home
My whole life I had always been surrounded by dogs, so when I finally reached a point in my life where I had the space and time to buy one, I couldn't wait!
I bought my puppy Bailey from a lovely couple in the countryside. He was the sweetest, most sensitive boy and quickly became our little family's third member. I couldn’t have been happier to have this bundle of love by my side every day.
The First Seizure
Two years later, a month after moving house, Bailey jumped on the sofa, collapsed and started shaking violently. I watched in horror- totally at a loss for what to do. I remember picking him up and running down the road in tears, trying to hail a cab to get him to an animal hospital. Once at the vet, she reassured me that this was most likely a one-off seizure and that I had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, she was wrong.
Trying to Live with Canine Epilepsy
The seizures kept coming, and they started becoming more frequent. He was put on medication to try and stop them, but it just wasn’t helping. Between work, my social life and managing a household, I was now rushing to vet appointments, administering exact dosages of medication at precise times during the day and constantly worried my dog was about to die.
I could never get used to watching him lying on the floor half-conscious, desperately paddling his paws. The seizures lasted around 5 minutes each time, and he would lose control of his bladder and bowels. All I could do was sit by his side and try to reassure him. Afterwards, he would be scared and clingy, drooling until his brain could find equilibrium again.
Months of changing medication dosages followed, but nothing was having an impact. I was continuously dealing with several vets who didn’t seem to know what they were doing and weren’t providing adequate care.
He was sent for an MRI and Cerebral Fluid test to rule out canine distemper and check for structural issues in the brain that could be causing the seizures. The vet lost the spinal fluid sample and wanted to do the procedure again, putting him under general anaesthetic for a second time. I also watched junior vets try to perform blood draws but were unable to find a vein; they stabbed my poor dog up to 20 times. I was so sick and tired of no one having the situation under control and feeling totally helpless.