Problem solving

Problem solving

When I was working on my (second) master's degree, I was in a class taught by my advisor. I used to take his classes just so I could look at him.

In one of his classes, he demonstrated the power of group problem solving. He did a demonstration with some members of the class putting together a toy that required assembly using directions. He had one group read the directions to an assembler without looking at him, and he had a second group all working together to read and assemble. Easy to guess which group got done first, right?

I need some group input. As I wrote last time, Molly has had seizures the last two times she went to the vet's office. It truly scares the crap out of me. Truly, but not literally. My last dog, Maggie, had seizures on my bathroom floor for 8 hours while I helplessly watched her edge closer every hour to death. I was unable to lift her to get her to the vet, although all they could have done was put her down sooner. It was a night I will never be able to forget. It left me fearful of seizures. (she had an undiagnosed brain tumor)

Molly has never liked the car. Both she and Baby jump in the car and insist on sitting in the front. I have to shoo Molly out of the driver's seat every time. She gives me grief, but she has so far been unable to produce documentation showing that she has a valid driver's license. So the two of them cram into the rider's seat. It's not a pretty picture. Baby lies down eventually across the whole seat and goes to sleep. Molly generally sits on her head and shakes. Violently. With palpable fear.

I have tried to get Molly to ride in the car and enjoy it like 99.9% of all other dogs. I used to take her every weekend to stay with me at the ex-bf's house. The first trip, she desperately tried to climb on top of my head while I was on a cloverleaf exhange of freeway systems, while I was also on my cell phone talking to a police officer regarding a new child abuse situation. After that, I tied her leash to the seatbelt for a long time. She learned to stay in her seat, but she still didn't like it.

Yet I could always count on them being happy to arrive any place I took them in the car. Both have always enjoyed going to the vet's office, the pet store, to visit friends, to the park to walk. I don't take them often, but it didn't seem to be a huge issue thatMolly did not like the mode of transporation. I pet them and talk to them in the car, and until recently, did not see any serious signs of distress.

Now I am afraid she will convulse in the car on the two-mile ride to the vet's office. I am afraid her seizures will intensify and/or leave her with some permanent damage. Phenobarbital can be used as an canine ani-convulsant, but it is contraindicated with her prednisolone that she needs daily to sustain her life. I think the pb causes the pred to metabolize faster and become non-effective as a result.

Have any of you ever dealt with or know of an Addison's dog? I did find a support group online, but the Js reach a more diverse audience. I need input on dogs who find car riding to be aversion therapy, on dogs with seizures, and suggestions for what to do. I am terrified of driving her the two miles to the vet's office in less than two weeks.

I am unsure whether it is the car ride or the vet that is the issue. I assume it's the vet, since she used to love to go and now does not want to be there. The first seizure came when we were waiting to be seen in the exam room. The next visit, we were not even into the exam room yet when she had the seizures. Before she got ill, we could have walked there if the ride was the problem, but now that distance is not tolerable for her. Surely she associates the ride now with the pain at the vet's, so by the time she gets there she is all worked up. I am considering taking her for rides to the Dairy Queen and such, but am leery to put her in the car unless I have to. I just don't know what to do. The vet has taken a "let's see" attitude. I trust her, since from what I have read on the support group, I was very lucky to have a vet who was able to diagnose this illness so fast.

How is she doing otherwise? She has been filling out forms she downloaded off the Internet for a CCW so I will give in more readily to her demands for more food. Still, I won't let her drive until she can reach the pedals