Riding the Storm Out with Canine Epilepsy
At quarter to eight tonight I was walking the dogs home when my chihuahua started throwing a seizure. I immediately picked him up and gently but firmly held him while his body stiffened and his front legs stretched fully in front of him. I checked the time and allowed his body to gradually relax.
The gran mal lasted less than five minutes. Anything over ten and I know to take him to the emergency vet clinic so I was relieved when he came back to consciousness. Although he couldn’t walk, he responded to my voice with his customary licks.
It’s 10pm now and the dog is curled up next to me. Judging by the alertness of his ears which are responding to the sounds of the Kid’s video game, he’s slowly getting back to normal.
This is the Chi’s first seizure since early April. Dr. Wife is on call tonight saving human lives while I tend the home fires. I live an odd life, one that accepts the responsibilities that come with my eccentricities – such as a home teeming with animal life. I was raised with animals and have had them around me ever since. While I recognize they are not people, I know that they are more than “just” cats and dogs (and gerbils, fish and even frogs). They are Life with a capital “L”, the culmination of billions of years of evolution.
Long ago I realized that there are creators and destroyers in this world.
There are Destroyers among us – those who seek to destroy whatever we build. We create skyscrapers that caress the clouds, and they destroy them. We build peace between nations, and they destroy it. We nurture understanding between faiths – and they destroy it. And even in the ashes of despair we create hope – and they seek to destroy that as well.They blow up children instead of educating and loving them. They kill and maim instead of healing and comforting. They speak hatred and lies instead of Love and Truth. They reap what other’s sow then burn the fields and plow salt into the land. They hide in darkness and pray to a disfigured god – twisted by their own ideas and horrific visions into something debased and foul.
I create life and tend it, protect it, care for it and cherish it. But I would not lose a minute’s worth of sleep if I had to kill a destroyer. I do not torment myself with futile questions or misgivings.
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