Hi, here's some context:
My S/O adopted a mixed husky puppy (female, we'll call her Boo) before I met him. When it was about 2 years old, it got hit by a car and developed cluster seizures because of the brain trauma it suffered.
For the next 6 years, she would have 5-9 seizures every 2-3 months or so, sometimes as far as 14 seizures in a couple of days. Then she'd go back to normal and would be fine for the next 2-3 months. He knew it was a lot more than it should be and that every cluster was bad for her, but nothing seemed to help and she'd always go back to being the wonderful, perfect dog that everyone wishes they have ( smart, kind, obedient, adorable, calm but full of life when it was time to play, etc.)
I met him when she was about 3 or 4. We moved together and eventually got a new dog ( a little less than 2 years ago). This was also a mixed husky, but it was a 1-2 y.o. rescue that used to be in a abusive environment. We'll call her Lass.
Having another dog really helped Boo and her clusters really calmed down at first. We were a little more than 6 months without any seizures. Boo was also the best big sister to Lass, who was restless, stressed and overall not really trained. She'd dig in the trash, jump on everyone and run away as soon as she got the chance. Boo was a great example of how to behave and also helped Lass feel safer in her new home.
At the start of July, Boo's cluster began. We knew it was coming, so we did the usual : take care of her, make sure she doesn't hurt herself or overheat during her clusters, etc. The thing is that this time, the seizures didn't stop. In a weekend, she did 25+ seizures. I'll spare you the details, but it was clear for us now that there would be no "going back to normal" after that. It came as a shock because we had changed her diet and in the month prior she seemed to be going back to how she was as a puppy, it had been a while since she had been so full of life, so cheerful.
We made the hard decision to euthanize when we saw that the seizures weren't stopping and that she could even walk, see or eat anymore.
It was terribly hard for us, but we were more grateful than even to have Lass by our side to get through this.
I'm writing this post because it has now been 3 weeks since Boo left us and I've been seeing drastic changes in Lass' temperament and behavior. At first I thought it was mainly because she was grieving, but now I'm wondering if it could be something else.
She's been so much calmer, kinder, gentler. She's also more independant and listens to us more. She still eats and plays, but I don't recognize her. She's now 3 or 4 years old, so it might just be that Boo's death was the trigger to Lass' maturing.
I realise that we've been giving her a lot more attention since she's our only dog and that we might've been less patient / constant when we were dealing with Boo's seizures. Maybe it's just that.
Should I be worried? Grateful?
My S/O adopted a mixed husky puppy (female, we'll call her Boo) before I met him. When it was about 2 years old, it got hit by a car and developed cluster seizures because of the brain trauma it suffered.
For the next 6 years, she would have 5-9 seizures every 2-3 months or so, sometimes as far as 14 seizures in a couple of days. Then she'd go back to normal and would be fine for the next 2-3 months. He knew it was a lot more than it should be and that every cluster was bad for her, but nothing seemed to help and she'd always go back to being the wonderful, perfect dog that everyone wishes they have ( smart, kind, obedient, adorable, calm but full of life when it was time to play, etc.)
I met him when she was about 3 or 4. We moved together and eventually got a new dog ( a little less than 2 years ago). This was also a mixed husky, but it was a 1-2 y.o. rescue that used to be in a abusive environment. We'll call her Lass.
Having another dog really helped Boo and her clusters really calmed down at first. We were a little more than 6 months without any seizures. Boo was also the best big sister to Lass, who was restless, stressed and overall not really trained. She'd dig in the trash, jump on everyone and run away as soon as she got the chance. Boo was a great example of how to behave and also helped Lass feel safer in her new home.
At the start of July, Boo's cluster began. We knew it was coming, so we did the usual : take care of her, make sure she doesn't hurt herself or overheat during her clusters, etc. The thing is that this time, the seizures didn't stop. In a weekend, she did 25+ seizures. I'll spare you the details, but it was clear for us now that there would be no "going back to normal" after that. It came as a shock because we had changed her diet and in the month prior she seemed to be going back to how she was as a puppy, it had been a while since she had been so full of life, so cheerful.
We made the hard decision to euthanize when we saw that the seizures weren't stopping and that she could even walk, see or eat anymore.
It was terribly hard for us, but we were more grateful than even to have Lass by our side to get through this.
I'm writing this post because it has now been 3 weeks since Boo left us and I've been seeing drastic changes in Lass' temperament and behavior. At first I thought it was mainly because she was grieving, but now I'm wondering if it could be something else.
She's been so much calmer, kinder, gentler. She's also more independant and listens to us more. She still eats and plays, but I don't recognize her. She's now 3 or 4 years old, so it might just be that Boo's death was the trigger to Lass' maturing.
I realise that we've been giving her a lot more attention since she's our only dog and that we might've been less patient / constant when we were dealing with Boo's seizures. Maybe it's just that.
Should I be worried? Grateful?