Henry!!!

I hesitated with this post, because I don’t want to invite y’all to a pity party, but I’m all about full disclosure.

Henry and I had a scare last week – he had a seizure Wednesday night. A mild one, but very upsetting. He never lost awareness – he was able to make eye contact and he responded to his name, but he was scared. He climbed into my lap when it was over, and pressed against me. Broke my heart. He recovered pretty quickly, walking normally and trying to jump up into bed. He can’t jump up into the bed on a good day, so I don’t know why he thought he’d be able to do it after a seizure!  His legs are too little!  🤣

We went to the vet – Dr Jared at West Lorne Animal Hospital rocks!  All of his neurological tests and bloodwork came back negative, ruling out any toxins or organ issues. As a result, the presumptive diagnosis is idiopathic epilepsy, which corgis can be prone to, something I didn’t know. Anyway, we won’t know for sure unless we do an MRI, but Dr Jared and I agreed that’s not necessary until/if Henry has more seizures and if they get more severe. Thankfully, we have insurance, so cost isn’t an issue. Same with meds – we won’t start those yet. So for now, it’s just a waiting game. 

Some of you might remember that my Lily also has seizures. She hasn’t had one for 3 years (knock, knock, knock on wood), but I still watch her like a hawk, and low-grade panic when I can’t find her in her usual spots.  When I got Henry’s diagnosis, I thought, “Well, of course he has epilepsy!  His sister has epilepsy, and it can be genetic!”  It took me a minute to remember that his sister is a cat. 🙄

In any case, it has me wondering: how common is epilepsy in animals? I have 4 fur babies, and 2 of them (presumptively) have epilepsy. And they’re not blood related. Is this a thing that I never knew about?  Or is it a karmic thing, payback for some evil deed I committed in my misspent youth, and the universe is taking it out on my kids?  I don’t know the answer, but it’s something to think about. 

Henry has been fine since Wednesday – no more spasms or tremors, so we’re just going to take it day-by-day. We’re going to keep doing all the things, and getting all the cuddles and kisses, and hope he’s able to live a long and healthy life, just like his sister!