Sadie

This is Sadie. She is such a pretty girl and yet so complicated. It’s almost like she has a split personality. Some days she is just as mellow as can be, other days, she howls and hides at the smallest noise. I guess it wouldn’t be out of the question to have issues, considering the awful mill she came from. The plan for Sadie was to have her vetted and adopt her to a forever home. In fact, I did list her on Petfinder. In the meantime, the unknown medical history came to head. This girl has the most violent seizures you can ever imagine. Sure, lots of dogs are adopted to great homes and given seizure meds and live a great life. The first time I witnessed this, it was like a bowling ball bouncing recklessly down the hallway, and hitting the wall from one side of the hallway to the other. When I was able to get a hold of her, there was a lot of blood and she was still unconscious. When she came to, she couldn’t walk and was crying in pain, Before I knew it, it was happening again, and I had to literally lay on her to keep her body from ping ponging. The convulsing was severe. I took her to the vet because she couldn’t walk and had continued having violent seizures. She had an injection and the seizures did subside. The vet did blood work. I didn’t think there was anything she could’ve gotten into that caused the seizures, but we needed to check her organ function, and it was fine. Sadie had broken ribs and her legs and back were sprained. We didn’t wait for more seizures to get her onto medication, but it always takes awhile to absorb and take effect. Sadie did heal, and she still had seizures. She was such a spooky girl anyway, she was very frightened when she came, and this didn’t help. It wasn’t going to benefit Sadie to be crated during an owner’s work day. She came from being crated 24/7 and it was not good memories. She needed someone that wasn’t going to crate her, and was home more than the average person .One application after another, it just wasn’t in Sadie’s best interest. I decided as special needs as she is and she is starting to trust me and also felt safe with basset Kandy who she came with, she needed to be a permanent resident. They were a social and medical mess together. Our dear beautiful Kandy, passed away a couple years ago from Lupus.

Sadie’s seizures are much more controlled, and not as violent. Our vets have found the right combination of medication that has made a positive difference. When she starts one, I still will lay across her to keep her safest. We don’t want to go through terrible injuries. My vet said some vets will argue that seizures don’t happen when an animal is extremely scared. We can prove them wrong, and he has seen it in other dogs. It isn’t the only reason she has seizures, but fright has brought them on more times than I can count. She is very fearful of fireworks, gunfire, and storms. Often she puts her head in the corner if she is scared. One of Sadie’s nicknames is Noodle. She always wraps herself around my legs as tight as she can, and she is very long, reminding me of a spaghetti noodle! Sadie does have a medication I can give her if she becomes frightened. The less scared, the less chance for a seizure.

On November 18th, Sader Mader, another one of her nicknames, will have her bloodwork to see how her phenabarb levels are, and if any adjustments need to be made with her dosage. Potassium Bromide (KBR) which is often used for seizures causes Sadie to vomit, so we can’t use that drug. Sadie does take Gabapentin with her Phenabarb.

Sadie loves to play. Now that we have a few younger bassets, she is happy to have playmates with more energy than seniors. They wear Sadie out, and then she remembers she is a senior now.

Sadie’s favorite place to sleep is her own little hide a way. We have a Kuranda bunk bed between the couch and wall. The bottom bed is like her little safe spot that helps her feel secure, but still being with the rest of the family. She will sometimes get on the couch with me. Sadie loves mornings. She looks forward to attention and the new day. Most of the time, mornings are quiet, and nothing has scared her, and she enjoys playing outside while I clean the yard. You have no idea how a loud noise can ruin this girl’s day. We enjoy all happy moments! Often if it’s raining, she puts her head in the corner thinking it has to thunder anytime. I wish I could make all her fears disappear. She does come to me for comfort and protection, and I will always keep her safe.