Hey all, it's been awhile since I posted here. Things have been kinda crazy the last several weeks. Went to Dallas in mid-June for the Chinese Crested specialty show, met up with about 16 girls from a crestie chat group and to make a long story short....a great time was had by all and it will now be an annual event. Brought back 4 rescue Cresties with me from Dallas, then my sis brought one with her from Houston the following Saturday...had 9 dogs in the house that nite - talk about a total zoo. Moved 4 of the 5 rescues to the other side of St. Louis the next day, where they are now all in their foster homes in Indiana & Ohio.

Now for Lil Ricky's saga. As some of you may or may not be aware, Lil Ricky is a very special little guy. He's a former puppymill dog that has some serious vision impairment, orthopedic & neurological deficits. We adopetd him after finding out about all his problems because we just couldn't bear the thought of him going anywhere else & them not being able to deal with all his littlel quirks & issues. Last nite Lil Ricky had a severe seizure and to my knowledge this is his first. I heard this awful noise in the other room and when I went to see what it was, there was Ricky laying on the floor entire body convulsing, legs as stiff as a board, peeing & pooping himself and frothing at the mouth, lips curled back like he was going to bite (although I don't think he could have even if he wanted to) and Bandit hovering right over him. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. If it hadn't been for my witnessing Gypsy's (one of the 5 rescue dogs I brought back from Dallas with me) small seizure a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure I would have recognized the symptoms immediately. The whole thing felt like it lasted 3 days, but in reality I think it was only probably a bout 90 seconds for the worst of it to pass. I continued to cradle him next to me until he began to relax his muscles and start look around. Shortly thereafter he was resting comfortably in his bed, but was absolutely exhausted and still a bit confused (but he's always a bit confused LOL). I gave him some Nutrical & Gatorade and shortly after that he got out of the bed and went to get a big drink of water.

Thankfully, Ricky slept quietly all nite long right by my side and has been his happy little self all day. I called the vet first thing this a.m. and he said unless Ricky had another one today before they close at noon, there's really nothing they can do for him today. I am to start keeping a log of when he has them, the duration, the symptoms exhibited and so on and we'll take it from there (hopefully, there won't be another one). He, of course, said that if he has another one after hours to call him immediately and he'll meet me at the clinic...biggest problem is he is a 40 min. drive from me. I went out today to go buy another baby gate so when we're not home he’ll be separated from the others in the kitchen but still have access to his doggy door (the others won't but that's okay they'd rather lay on the sofa anyway…and Lord knows Chancey doesn't use it to go out to pee). Ricky spends the majority of his days laying outside on the deck going back and forth from his bed in the sun to his bed in the shade .

I normally handle crises very well when they're happening and then fall apart after it's all over, but I sure didn't handle last nite too well. I was so scared he was going to die right in my arms and there was nothing I could for him. Things are pretty much back on an even keel now, but I'll be watching the lil guy like a hawk for awhile.

Any of you with experience dealing with seizures, I'd love to hear from you.