My poor dog!

[minkydog]

We had an epileptic poodle that we medicated. She would fall down, drool, eyes roll back and her feet would paddle like she was swimming. Sometimes she would also lose control of her bladder. She did very well on her medication and her seizures were few and far between. Often we could tell when she was getting ready to have one. She'd sometimes whimper and act a little nervous.

I'm telling this story so maybe Colette's death will help someone else. One morning she went outside. She'd been acting completely normal. While she was out there she had a seizure and fell in our shallow fish pond. The pond had never worried me, because the dogs could stand up in it and jump out. I never once dreamed she'd have a seizure and fall in the pond. Anyway, I found her too late. I never talk about this because to this day I feel so much guilt. I should have been watching her or filled in the pond when we found out she was sick. I know she forgives me, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive myself. I know exactly how a parent feels when they pull a child's body out of a swimming pool. It's horrible and I still have bad dreams about that day. So if your dog has seizures, please watch them closely, especially if there is anything that could hurt them outside.

How awful! I'm so sorry. I'm sure you know it's not really your fault, but it probably doesn't make you feel any better. So sad...

 

[Debi]

My dog was epileptic also. Denny was a black lab/husky mix, and from what the vet said, both breeds of dogs are prone to epilepsy. He gave Denny phenobarbotal (I hope I spelled that correctly), and that reduced his seziures greatly. Before meds, Denny would have one every 2-3 weeks, and after his meds, he'd have 2-3 per year. What a difference! The pheno was very inexpensive ($11 for 90 pills, and Denny took 2 pills per day - one in the morning and one at night).

Our vet did require yearly bloodwork because any seziure medication can have side effects. Denny lived a very healthy life, and was put to sleep at age 11, due to cancer (completely unrelated to his seizures or seizure meds).

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Well my story isn't as happy. We had a lab/shepherd mix named Rudy who developed this when he was 3 1/2. He had his first seizure on a "snow day" sleeping on the bed with me and DS, then 6 months old. He shook himself off of the bed! I ended up getting bitten pretty good trying to pet him and calm him down. I took him to the vet that day but they said unless he had more than one a month, medication was not an option, so we were to wait.
He had another one about 3 weeks later, which only DH witnessed, which scared the bejesus out of him. He had another one a few hours later. He started looking very intently at his tail and shaking. I grabbed the kids (girls were 3 and 6) and ran upstairs. It was heartbreaking to hear him throwing himself against walls. When he came out of it he had no idea who we were and was snappy. At that point DH took him to the emergency vet. She said he could probably be medicated, but called us back later--he had ANOTHER one at the vet's and almost bit her too. She advised us that with children that small, the best option would be to put him down. The main issue was that he was so out of it and nasty when he was coming out of it and had no idea who anyone was. We are inclined now to think that may have been a tumor of some sort, but we will never know. I hope your story has a better ending.
Robin M.

 

[chyam]

Bumping for updates on your dog

 

[Jennasis]

The vet has decided that medicating is the best route for our Kimya. We aren't doing phenobarbitol though...we are going to try potassium bromide. It has to be formulated specially for the dog by the pharmacy but the vet assure us that it shouldn't be too much more expensive than the pheonbarbitol, plus there will be less cahnce for liver damage. Kimya is only 3 and a half. She's had 3 seizures this month and 5 within the past 2 months! The poor thing. They aren't as violent as the seizures my Dalmatian used to have (he'd actually need to be held down as he threw himself violently across thge room knocking over furniture). Kimya becomes rigid, starts convulsing, drooling and foaming at the mouth, urinates, her eyes dialate, and her legs then start paddling. When I held her down the first time thinking she might start thrashing, she turned on me as she came out of the seizure and tried to bite me. Now we leave her alone until she comes out of it and she hasn'e shown any aggressive tendencies. Luckily the seizures are short 3-5 minutes episodes.

Oy...my other two dogs (another greyhound and our gigantic lab/chow mix) always look SO concerned when Kimya seizes. They sniff her and stand over her as if trying to convince her to "snap out of it". After it's over, Kimya spends about an hour panting hard and wandering around the bedroom unable to relax, so our other greyhound, Janky (who is older, wiser and the QUEEN of the household) actually gave up her doggie bed so that Kimya would lay down and relax a bit...Janky went and slept (heaven forbid) on THE FLOOR!

 

[Magickndm]

It is not uncommon in greys to have epilepsy. Have you ever been to greytalk.com? They have info on anything related to greys you could ever possibly need.
Best of luck.

 

[Magickndm]

Janky (who is older, wiser and the QUEEN of the household) actually gave up her doggie bed so that Kimya would lay down and relax a bit...Janky went and slept (heaven forbid) on THE FLOOR!

That is really funny! My guy wouldn't give up his bed for anything.

 

[chyam]

It is not uncommon in greys to have epilepsy. Have you ever been to greytalk.com? They have info on anything related to greys you could ever possibly need.
Best of luck.

Wow.........thanks for that site, when I was involved in greyhounds it was about 14 years ago and greyhound adoption was still in its infantcy. It's amazing how many now days are going into homes and people are finding what great pets they really are. My first grey Khap came home and went on the bed the first day, of course I shooed her off but she grabbed the afghan and went into the walk in closet!! It was to funny! She spent most of her afternoon yard time on the lawn chair sunning her self, they sure do like to be comfortable!

 

[krystyana]

Our golden has had seizures for a few years now. Hers are severe often with loss of bladder control. She has been medicated with a low dosage of phenobarbitol and it only costs $12 for a two month supply. She has very few seizures since medicating and is much happier. Good luck to you I just wanted to let you know that they can still live long, happy lives!