Dear Ferret Folks-

This is not going to be one of my funny posts, sorry. We had a heck of
a scare the other night, and learned a great deal from it. I thought
I'd pass the knowledge on, in case it proved useful to some of you
down the line.

The other night our dog, the Noble Allis Chompers had what is called a
"TIA", or Transient Ischemic Attack. Basically, a clot was dislodged
from wherever it had grown, very likely a heart valve. (She is
minimally 13 and has had heart issues in the past.)The pumping of
her heart pushed it along and it lodged, very briefly, in one of the
vessels that supplies her brain with fresh, oxygenated blood. It stuck
in place just for a minute or two before the beating of her heart
popped it free, like a cork, and she was fine again.

We witnessed the attack. Allis was comfortably asleep on the sofa, and
all of the sudden she fell out of it and onto the floor. She couldn't
get her feet back under her, the left side of her body wasn't working
properly. She sort of dragged herself ten feet to her soft dog pillow
by the wood stove and thumped down into it. She lay there, stunned, for
two or three minutes. While she was transiting her right ear stood
straight up, as if to say that she was scared to death. Her left ear,
however, lay limp against her head. After a minute or two her ears went
back into sync.

My husband and I were thinking "seizure or stroke?" We thought that you
just don't get up after a stroke as if nothing had happened, but that
is what Allis did, after a few minutes. She still looked alarmed, but
could catch little bits of cheese from the air with no difficulty when
thrown from either the right or the left. (Strokes are generally one
sided affairs.) I picked up each foot in turn to test for muscle
weakness and balance. Her strength was symmetrical, and her balance
fine. After fifteen minutes had passed, she was happily asleep once
more.

Of course this happened on a WEEKEND NIGHT. In short order Allis found
herself at my Mom's house. Mom is a professor of neurology with about
forty years of strokes and seizures under her belt. She examined Allis,
and listened to our description of what had happened. She said that
although seizures are actually very common in dogs, this had been a
TIA, which is like the little brother of a stroke. They are temporary,
fleeting, and you recover from them completely. A genuine stroke
generally does permanent damage to brain tissue that winds up
oxygen-starved because of an immovable clot. Allis had dodged a bullet.

Apparently one of the biggest clues to what had happened was the one
ear up, one ear down thing. Ears should move perfectly in tandem. One
up, one down, indicates that one whole side of the body is
incapacitated. If your companion critter has one up, one down, and
can't stand, you are most likely looking at a TIA or a genuine stroke
rather than a seizure. It might pass, it might not, but it is
indicative of a serious problem.

And Allis? Is just fine, although TIA's often suggest that a big,
serious stroke is a real possibility in the future. She is getting an
aspirin blood-thinner, and aside from that, there isn't much that can
be done practically. She is an old dog. And she is our dog, and we are
loving her extra. She might not be able to dodge the next round. Cross
your fingers.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6522]