Yorkie: Bad Seizure
 

around 1am eastern time tonight I was in bed thinking about politics trying to fall asleep. My sisters yorkshire terrior was on the ottoman in her little bed sleeping next to my bed. The yorkshire terrior is 4 years 10 months. I will call her "tessy" because of the sensitivity of the matter and the fact that she is not actually my pet. She is an awesome and great pet, I have babysat her on several occasions. Anyway. while lying in bed I heard a rumble outside, like a small earthquake. I heard some rustling and in the shadow of tessy on the ottoman I witness her thrashing, rocking back and forth like a wooden rocking horse all legs stiff out. I turned on the lights and saw her very stiff, she was staring away from me looking at the ground as though she could not focus on anything her legs pressed stiff away from her. I called my mom in, she pet tessy while she continued to stare off widly, frightened and still seizuring. My mother picked her up when she realized tessy was trying to gain a standing posture. Tessy starting pooping in my moms arms. Tessy seizure for a good 3 minutes straight. After it was over she panted, drooled, and her heart was racing as my mom held her.

I have never in my years seen anything like this. Tessy is such a beloved pet. Some of you yorkie owners or family members might understand how difficult it is to imagine seeing this. We took her to the 24 hour emergency dog vet...luckily we have one pretty close to the house. She is in good hands tonight... though I wish almost that I never grew so close to this pet because my instincts told me it was not right to dote on an animal, that is was silly, and really just strange and unusual...that we projected too much on her, that she is too small, fragile, delicate. Dogs are not people and should not be treated like grandchildren, neices, or spoiled like children. People are more complex than animals and their bodily functions are better able to stand complex communication and things like this. Say a prayer for this little animal.

Does anyone have a similar experience?

Prayer sent.

Welcome to YT.

Seizures can be caused by many things such as brain tumors, liver shunts, poisoning, falls and head injuries, etc. Hopefully the vet can give you some answers.

I have witnessed seizures with my beloved Stormy(RIP) and they are the most frightening things I have ever seen. I will pray for your Tessy. My mom says the same thing that you said in your last paragraph about animals. But it is so hard not to love and feel compassion for these animals. Even if they are not people they still love and are eager to please you. Spoiling yorkies is okay too they deserve it!

Roxy just turned 5 years old and I cannot tell you how many seizures we went through with her. She started when she was 2 months old. She has been seizure free almost a year now. I will never get used to seeing a seizure. It is horrible. I am so sorry you and your baby are going through that. Believe me, I know what it's like. Roxy usually pees and poops. Sticky Saliva all over her beautiful hair, very hungry and thirsty after. I hope you get to the bottom of it.
Roxy's mom,
Maria

Following-up
 

Thanks for the information and well wishes/prayers.

The doctor's found irregularity in 'Tessy's' liver after running tests and holding her for 12 hours. She is back at the hospital today for more tests- MRI etc. The doctor initially said Epilepsy then after test results said the Portosystemic Shunt (liver vessel), now they are saying anything from cancer to liver etc.

I do not recommend Yorkies for first time dog owners!

Checking in for an update... and sending more prayers...

sounds like liver shunt and it can show up later in life :( due to age at first i would suspect epilepsy as that tends to happen after age 3 and not very common in this breed but liver shunt is very common. Are you near university of tennessee if so i would go to dr tobias - did they run pre and post bile acid tests and were they over 100 - what was the ALT on blood panel as well? If liver shunt or liver issue please join this group asap

Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support@yahoogroups.com - they deal with this day in and day out. You will need to put the dog on low protein diet 18% or less. Hopefully just mvd and not a shunt. Also very important make sure the dog has NOTHING with rosemary in it as rosemary can trigger seizures in dogs prone to seizures

Welcome, sorry your introduction has to be about something so traumatic. The seizures can be so upsetting to witness, I lived through it twice, once with eplilepsy in a female due to her heart stopping beating prior to sergery, the other in a young bitch which was diagnosed initially as epilepsy, but failed to respond to treatment. After joining this site and reading other peoples experiences I now strongly believe it may have been livershunt. Unfortunately as its not really recognised as a Yorkie problem over here it was not tested for and I'd never heard of it except in Bedlington terriers.
That said there is nothing wrong in giving your heart to these little dogs. We love them and cherish them in all their shapes and sizes, but still remember they are dogs.