Azalea

Azalea had a seizure yesterday. First her back legs splayed out behind her and I went to lift her up; next thing I knew she was falling to her left side shaking big strong shakes with her teeth bared, drooling on the floor.

I held her there and called Rob in, as calmly as I could; so I wouldn't scare the kids, "Azalea is doing something...I need you" He came in his work clothes and helped me hold her. It was terrible. It felt like it went on forever, probably really like 3-4 minutes, but we were scared and saying goodbye, trying to be calm and loving, with our hands on her brown fur. She was making whimpery barky noises and she was so strong, her body was so strong and muscular.

Lily said, "I'm going upstairs." and went to sit on the landing where she could hear, but not see. Georgia tried to step in and around to Azalea's crocodile face, trying to talk to her, "You OK, Azalea?" We shooed her out.

It sounded like Azalea was having trouble breathing; I wondered if she would just stop breathing or suffer for hours before dying. I didn't know what to do. Lily's class play was in 30 minutes and I was lying on my dying dog in my bathrobe.

Then, the snorting and kicking suddenly stopped; her tongue was lolling out on the ground and she was panting panting to catch up. My head was on her shoulder and chest and I could hear her breathing; I tried to hear her heart through her thick fur, but I couldn't. Rob didn't think she could see, she was looking at him, dazed. Then she drew her legs in and went to stand up. I couldn't believe it! She tottered around for a bit and then went to lay in her bed!

When I called the vet office, the tech said, "This happens, just watch and see if it happens again. I know Azalea's 14 and your worried about her. It might never happen again or it could be the start of something."

Unbelievable. Today she's napping and wandering around like her usual self.