Awww, Minky had a seizure...

[minkydog]

My dog, Minky, that is. He's a Standard Poodle,about 7yo now and he has a seizure disorder. He has been under control for the last 2months. but today he was trying to walk toward me and his legs wouldn't work. So I just sat down with him on the floor while he quivered and shook and stared off into space for 4-5 minutes. He was so pitiful & disoriented afterward <sigh> it's almost time to check his phenobarb level. I wonder if he needs an increase

 

[lindakmonty]

sorry! I had a dog that had seizures too...It is so sad!

 

[korbbec]

Poor Minky. At least he has a good mommy to watch out for him.

 

[minkydog]

Poor Minky. At least he has a good mommy to watch out for him.

Thanks. Between Minky, my DS11, my DH, and the gerbils I have had a lot of practice with seizures. At least I didn't have to give him the emergency medicine(it goes in his butt )

 

[poohandwendy]

Aw, poor minky...and you too. It's hard to watch them have a seizure, scary and sad.

We had a Golden who had 2 seizures, spaced years apart. It never turned into anything more than that, so he never went on meds.

{{HUGS}}} to you and Minky...

 

[KristiKelly]

Glad Minky's okay.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We have Sheena's pheno levels checked every 6 months. She's been doing a lot better after we reduced the amount of beef in her diet (eating more chicken). As long as she isn't having more than a seizure a month we don't get too concerned, but she's only had one (that we know of for sure--she can have them outside or when we're not home) in probably 4-5 months. Even if she's had one or so that we don't know about, that's still less than one a month and a lot better than she was doing before we switched her food.

 

[juligrl]

My dog, Minky, that is. He's a Standard Poodle,about 7yo now and he has a seizure disorder. He has been under control for the last 2months. but today he was trying to walk toward me and his legs wouldn't work. So I just sat down with him on the floor while he quivered and shook and stared off into space for 4-5 minutes. He was so pitiful & disoriented afterward <sigh> it's almost time to check his phenobarb level. I wonder if he needs an increase

Aw, poor baby. I hope he's feeling better now. My Pebbles had a siezure a few weeks after I brought my oldest daughter home (dog was 5 at the time), went on Phenobarb briefly, could not get her to take it so went off the drug. Had another siezure one week after bringing younger daughter home (almost one year ago -dog had just turned 8). Did not start on Phenobarb this time.

Did Minky have one siezure or a series of cluster siezures. Both times my Pebbles has had them they've been cluster siezure events. She starts into a cycle which she can't seem to get out of. I have the supository for her if that should happen. It's scary, but I'm hesitant to put her on the Phenobarb because I've heard of all other kinds of complications that can come from the drug.

For those of you that do medicate, how long have you been medicating, how many seizures would your dog take, and have you seen any side effects? Also, I guess how old is your dog and how old were they when they first siezed? It is something I do worry about, but I just don't know how I should feel about it.

 

[DawnCt1]

My dog, Minky, that is. He's a Standard Poodle,about 7yo now and he has a seizure disorder. He has been under control for the last 2months. but today he was trying to walk toward me and his legs wouldn't work. So I just sat down with him on the floor while he quivered and shook and stared off into space for 4-5 minutes. He was so pitiful & disoriented afterward <sigh> it's almost time to check his phenobarb level. I wonder if he needs an increase

Those are the types of seizures that Annie used to have. She has also had grand mal seizures on occasion. No more than 5 per year. Jude had a seizure in the first two weeks he was with us. I am assuming that the stress of moving to our home lowered his threshold. He also had one about 2 months ago but since then we haven't seen any.

 

[minkydog]

I put off medication as long as I could. Minky, then 3, started seizing right after my son, Christian(then 8) did. We did some testing and determined that he probably had epilepsy, not uncommon in poodles (Christian has severe brain damage). Everytime Christian would seize, Minky would seize. We got Christian under control and Minky stopped for awhile. Then Minky started seizing and Christian started up. It seemed the answer is to medicate them both. So we did. Minky takes his phenobarb--I just push it down his throat.Christian takes 4 different meds.

They both quieted down for about 2yrs, then Christian starting seizing with a vengance about 9 months ago. He averaged one bad one a week, anywhere from 4-8 minutes every time. He has had several over 10 minutes and one over 25minutes. Minky matched him every time. We have gotten so we can just about time it--If Christian has a bad seizure, we know Minky will to, within 48hrs at the most

Minky usually seizes for 3-4 minutes. He has had some that went 20-30 minutes--those are very scary, that's why we have drugs now (I have them for Christian too.) He has had some clusters where he seizes off & on for the whole weekend. Sometimes he loses control of his bladder. Lots of times he salivates or vomits excessively.

I have never questioned our use of phenobarb. It seemed the most humane thing to do. We have him examined every 6 months and do liver profiles regularly. He's a good, sweet dog and he has some kind of connection with my son. At the moment, Christian is under control, at least for the past month. But I'll be keeping my eye on him tonight

 

[beattyfamily]

Oh, poor baby.

They are so scary, especially the very first time.

We have 5 Toy Poodles and all 5 have had varying levels of seizures.

One has only had minor seizures, usually brought on by stress/fear and only a handful in her 13 years.

Two of them have the same kind where they just freeze/tense up and it lasts awhile but they only have them maybe every six months; started at around age 3.

Two of them have really bad seizures where they foam at the mouth and pee but then they are over with quickly. The male started at about age 3 and the girl started at age 7. They are the only two on medication; phenobarb. They get their levels checked once a year. They do not seizure at all anymore (they are down to 1/2 a pill a day) and they haven't for at least 2 years, thankfully. They used to have seizures more often even being on more medicine than they are now. I'm not sure why they went away but I'm afraid to stop the little medicine they still are on.

I think seizures are common in Poodles for some reason.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Seizures are more common in poodles and labs, according to our vet. Our dog is a lab cross. They are very scary, especially the first time when a person might not realize what is going on.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Oh, how scary!

for Minky!

 

[juligrl]

Wow. I see you have experience with siezures. I could not even imagine how I would react if one of my children ever had a siezure. It's wierd though that they would both sieze around the same time. Kind of makes you wonder if there's something around them that triggers the siezures.

With Pebbles' first one she had been going through a bout of intestinal distress and wasn't eating normally. That combined with the fact that there was a new baby in the house made me think that a really high stress level and altered sleep patterns played a part in triggering her.

With her second one happening 3 days after we brought another new baby home (again higher stress, new sleep patterns) I wonder if that could have been a part of it. Before her episode last year it had been almost 3 years since her last seizure.

I have questioned the use of the phenobarb because I'm always more willing to look at things holistically than my vet so I guess I'm at odds with my vet. Despite this, I did start her on the phenobarb for about three months (or so I thought!). One day while cleaning, I decided that her dog bed, in her crate, could use a washing. I lifted the bed out and found about 3 dozen pills spit back out and buried beneath her bedding. Apparently my dog had been un-medicating herself, for how long, or how frequently, I don't know.

Flash forward to last year and second series of seizures. I was much calmer at handling it this time. Trip to the vet and phenobarbed up with a loopy dog later they ask if I want to start the drugs. I hestitantly say no, but give me the suppositories just in case.

So here's the dilemna, do I just continue not medicating her for a condition she may or may not have. For all I know she may sieze when we're out - although on both her previous experiences she's had clusters which repeat frequently and leave her confused and disoriented in between - I think I'd be able to tell. Or do I medicate to keep her seizure free even though her 2 previous seizures may have been "a fluke".

She'll soon be 9 years old, as opposed to 5 when she first siezed so I wonder if that makes a difference. She's better about pills now to than she was back then.