Looking for support

[Marlene Slade]

Hi. My name is Marlene. I don't have a pug, but my son does, and I need some support and honest information from someone out there who is a pug person. Monet is about a year and a half and was healthy until September, when he started having seizures. They've been about 3 weeks apart, and they've gotten worse. He's been to the vet twice now and had to be put on an IV because they wouldn't stop, but in between seizures, he seems fine. The possibility of PDE has been brought up, but our vet won't say that he thinks that that's what it is. I've read up on PDE and the slow progressive form of this disease, but there's no time frame given. Does slow progressive means days, weeks, months? My son and daughter in law, who love this little dog so very much, are living day to day on pins and needles and they're devastated, especially now around the holidays. Can someone out there share their story or advice on how we can deal with this and maybe come to terms with this. The vet has been wonderful, but she's a vet, not a pet owner. She says she's at the end of her care and there's nothing else she can do, but still says that he either has seizures or PDE but won't say which she thinks it might be and what to expect in the coming days or weeks, if there will be days or weeks. We don't know what to do! Monet is already on 4 or 5 pills a day, including PHenobarb, Valium and now Prednisone. Can anyone provide us with support, information or maybe a shoulder to cry on? Thanks!

[ladiepug]

I have no information for you, just wanted to send hugs and prayers your way! this is a wonderful site and I hope that you can get some answers. I know you will get good advice.

[BrendaM]

I am very sorry this has brought you to this site, but here you will find some good advice. I would highly suggest this pug see a neurologist. There are many things that can cause seizures in pug, not just PDE and tests can be done to rule these out. Many pugs have a liver shunt which can cause neurological symptoms as well as lethargy. A bile acids test can be done to determine if there is a shunt present and surgery can correct it.

There is also GME, which is an encephalitis, but not PDE. Is there a spoecialist they could see?

[Lisa&Izzy&Aggy]

I'm so sorry. I don't have any knowledge but I can offer you my sympathies and my prayers.

[ZoeZoesmom]

There are plenty of people here to give you advice from thier own experiences. I just want to offer my thoughts and prayers that it is not PDE.

[The Pugdads]

I don't know that they can really tell if it's PDE until the Pug is gone.

My first Pug, Phoebe, had PDE. This was several years ago, and still very little is really known about the disease. Phoebe was five years old when she had her first seizure. The vet was positive she must just be epileptic, because PDE happens in much younger Pugs. He treated her seizures with Prednisone, I believe. She'd have a seizure maybe every six weeks. Didn't scare us too much after going through them a few times, though we were always sad afterwards that she had this problem. But then, one night, she had five seizures in a row and we rushed her to the emergency hospital. She was at one hospital until they could get her strong enough to make the 45-minute drive to a doggy neurologist. She passed away the day before she was scheduled for an MRI. We had the dogtor perform an autopsy, and that's when we learned it was PDE. We were surprised. She lived about a year and a half with Prednisone and seizures.

This is just Phoebe's story. Every Pug is different. I'm very sorry you're going through this, though. Seizures are scary things. Phoebe's dose of Prednisone wasn't very high, because the vet said it can make her groggy, and a groggy life isn't a quality life. She lived well that year and a half.

All you can do is love you Pug and make her as comfortable and as happy as can be. I, personally, would keep treating her for the seizures as long as she has a sparkle in her eyes, but again... every situation is different.

GIANT PUG HUGS to you and your's. I welcome you to the Village as well, but wish you discovered us in happier times.

[Pugsprints]

I don't have any information for you either, but I can also offer you my thoughts and prayers for you, your family, and their little puggy...

[Rosemary]

I'm am so sorry that this is what brings you to this site, but I am sure that you will find some good advice here. I myself don't have any advice, as this is not something that I have had to deal with, but I wanted to let you know that Monet, you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. I really hope that it isn't PDE- please keep us updated. We are all here for you.

[hagridsmom]

I'm sorry that this is what brought you to PV, but welcome, anyway.

Seizures don't necessairly mean PDE in pugs...Our Leroy lived for about 3 years with seizures and we kept him going with medication until his and our quality of life was gone. When we realized that the light had gone from his eyes, and he was fearful and upset most of the time, or otherwise just wandering aimlessly (like he didn't know where he was), continuously incontinent of his urine and didn't recognize food when it was presented to him (he would just look at the kibble in his bowl like he didn't know what it was or what to do with it), it was time.

There were other changes in our sweet Leroy that are difficult to describe, however we noticed physical changes in his appearance. He was 3 and should have been done growing, however he actually grew after the seizures developed. His weight increased and he got very thick in the shoulders and head. His facial features turned very coarse and thick appearing and his head grew substantially. He turned from looking like a rough and tumble pug into what appeared more like a football player or a WWF wrestler complete with the personality changes you might expect to see with someone on steriods (he was pushy with the other pugs and went from being a totally docile easy going pug into a pushy alpha type). This all occurred over a period of about 3 years. It did not happen quickly, nor did it mean that Leroy had a poor quality of life the entire time. He actually had a great life, up until the last 3 weeks. We were able to control the seizures, initially with medication and you would never have known there was anything wrong with him most of the time.

I'm telling my story to you to show that seizures do not automatically mean PDE and that there can be quality of life after seizures. Hang in there with little Monet and see if you can find a neurologist. It will be totally worth it to find out what is wrong.

[Imon]

I can't give you any advice or information about the seizures, but I wanted to say that I'm glad you've found us, I hope someone here can help you or give you some information that may help Money and that I'm so sorry he's going through this. We all understand how very much you and his family love Monet and how you hate to see him dealing with this. Pug hugs to all of you, and especially to Monet.