Seizures in Dogs

[LargoLori]

Our dog had 2 seizures this afternoon. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this has occured. She is currently at the vets being watched over night and having tests done. Epilepsy has been mentioned but this is not a sure thing as of now. Does any one have any experience with their dog having seizures?

Lori

 

[chisnpeke]

My brother's dog has seizures. He has for a few years now. He has to get his blood tested and takes medication for it.

 

[golfgal]

Is it a golden lab by chance? They are prone to them. We have some friends that have a dog that has had seizures for years-10 years at least. They find with their dog she tends to get them when their schedule changes too much, like when they go on vacation or to the lake for a week. She is on meds once or twice/day and is usually fine otherwise.

 

[LargoLori]

No, not a lab. Just a mixed breed with possibly hound in her.

 

[dahirsh]

I had a beagle mix growing up. She started having seizures when she got older. I think my parents were told they "ran" in certain breeds.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I grew up with a cocker who started having them at 2. With meds she lived to 17. We had another cocker who also had them, same deal she started around 2 and with meds twice a day did fine until she died at 12. If it's epilepsy they get phenorbarital 2-3 times a day and bloods every few months.

Of course the dog that was in between the two of them (we had them overlapping for about 2 years) assumed her whole life that she got a pill twice a day.

I know it's tough leaving her at the vet overnight, but if they're not a side effect of something else, it's a totally liveable condition.

 

[tonilea]

There are many causes for seizures, as I am sure your vet mentioned.

If they are epileptic seizures, then depending on the frequency and severity, my vet thought that often the "cure" was worse than the problem - of course, like I mentioned frequent or severe seizures certainly need medication.

I worked in a vet clinic for much of the past ten years and epilepsy patients usually did very well. It does take some patience to get the medication regulated.

I wish you and your dog the very best.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

We have a pug and he has epilepsy. His seizures consist of his back legs giving out. He just lays there and tries to pick up his back legs and can't. He's on medication twice a day and goes for blood tests. It seems to control the seizures, he only gets them once in awhile now.

Hugs to you and your doggie. I hop everything is okay.

 

[LargoLori]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and the information. I just called the vet and she is doing well. She has not had another seizure which is great news since she had the first 2 within 30 min of each other. Fortunately she is at a 24hr vet so she will be monitored through the night. Thanks again to all!!!

Lori

 

[npmommie]

Yes I unfortunately have experience with this.

About 6 years ago our lab mix had a seizure after we returned from walking, I called the vet, took her in and her diagnosis was Insulinoma, basically a cancer of the pancreas affecting how insulin is made. When her blood sugar got too low she would seize.
we took her to Angell Memorial in Boston as well as Tufts for second opinion, diagnosis was correct and ultrasound showed it has spread, so chemo was an option but not a cure,
to make a long story short, they gave her 9 months TOPS to live, I had her for another two years. I had to feed her frequently to prevent low bs, plus she was on some meds

then about 3 years ago, I took one of our other dogs ( again lab mix) to groomer/boarding place we use, she said Ginger had a seizure while there, So I took her in to be evaluated, hers turned out to have no specific cause, they became more frequent so she was put on meds.........anyway, she ultimately had a seizure during the night, that turned into clusters,and she died from that , about a year ago.

Its a scary thing to see them while in a seizure...........you feel so helpless.
Hopefully your doggies can be controlled with meds

 

[Pea-n-Me]

How old is your dog? (Sending P&PD, too, btw.)

 

[LargoLori]

Yes I unfortunately have experience with this.

About 6 years ago our lab mix had a seizure after we returned from walking, I called the vet, took her in and her diagnosis was Insulinoma, basically a cancer of the pancreas affecting how insulin is made. When her blood sugar got too low she would seize.
we took her to Angell Memorial in Boston as well as Tufts for second opinion, diagnosis was correct and ultrasound showed it has spread, so chemo was an option but not a cure,
to make a long story short, they gave her 9 months TOPS to live, I had her for another two years. I had to feed her frequently to prevent low bs, plus she was on some meds

then about 3 years ago, I took one of our other dogs ( again lab mix) to groomer/boarding place we use, she said Ginger had a seizure while there, So I took her in to be evaluated, hers turned out to have no specific cause, they became more frequent so she was put on meds.........anyway, she ultimately had a seizure during the night, that turned into clusters,and she died from that , about a year ago.

Its a scary thing to see them while in a seizure...........you feel so helpless.
Hopefully your doggies can be controlled with meds

Thank you for the hugs and the info. I am sorry the outcome was not good for your dogs. Can you tell me what clusters are? Again, sorry for your loss.

 

[MushyMushy]

I had a mixed breed (mutt) that had seizures. He was probably 4 or 5 when they started and it was so scary! His whole body tensed up and he kind of pushed himself around the room by his back legs. The vet put him on some kind of med (very cheap) and they controlled his seizures really well. He lived a long life, that dog.

 

[kirbydog48]

I have a 3 yr old yellow lab who has seizures, which began when he was a yr old. We did the watch and wait approach for a year, as the seizures weren't that bad and not too frequent. Then they started lasting longer and happening more frequently. He has been on Potassium Bromide (you have to get it from a compounding pharmacy) for about 8 months and has been doing very well, but two weeks ago had two very long (5-6 minutes) seizures within 15 minutes of each other, and the same thing happened again yesterday morning. I took him to the vet yesterday and she added Phenobarbital. This is a very effective drug, but he'll have to have his blood tested every 6 months, as the drug is not great for the liver. It's scarey at first, but certainly something we can live with and it doesn't slow him down a bit. We also have a syringe of valium in case the seizure goes longer than 5 minutes. Please PM me if you want to chat further.

Liz

 

[Mikelly1221]

We had a Dalmatian that started having seizures when she was 2. She was started on phenobarbital that we gave her once a day. Over time, that wasn't doing a great job of controlling them, so Potassium Bromide was added. When she was around 9, she started really going downhill physically, and the vet told us that due to all the meds, her liver was about 1/3 the size it should be. I don't think she was monitored like she should have been. This was probably our fault-neither one of us had any experience with animals having seizures. Toward the end of her life, she looked like we had starved her and she could barely walk. We had decided to put her to sleep, but she died before we did. She was a sweet dog.

I believe clusters are when the dog goes from one seizure to another without any breaks. It can kill them because their entire body seizes up and they can't breathe.

I'm so sorry this is happening to your dog. It is heartbreaking to watch.

 

[LargoLori]

How old is your dog? (Sending P&PD, too, btw.)

5 1/2 yrs

 

[LargoLori]

I had a mixed breed (mutt) that had seizures. He was probably 4 or 5 when they started and it was so scary! His whole body tensed up and he kind of pushed himself around the room by his back legs. The vet put him on some kind of med (very cheap) and they controlled his seizures really well. He lived a long life, that dog.

That is so great to hear. Your dog sounds a lot like ours as far as age and mixed breed. You are so right, the seizures are very scary.

 

[LargoLori]

I have a 3 yr old yellow lab who has seizures, which began when he was a yr old. We did the watch and wait approach for a year, as the seizures weren't that bad and not too frequent. Then they started lasting longer and happening more frequently. He has been on Potassium Bromide (you have to get it from a compounding pharmacy) for about 8 months and has been doing very well, but two weeks ago had two very long (5-6 minutes) seizures within 15 minutes of each other, and the same thing happened again yesterday morning. I took him to the vet yesterday and she added Phenobarbital. This is a very effective drug, but he'll have to have his blood tested every 6 months, as the drug is not great for the liver. It's scarey at first, but certainly something we can live with and it doesn't slow him down a bit. We also have a syringe of valium in case the seizure goes longer than 5 minutes. Please PM me if you want to chat further.

Liz

Thank you so much Liz. I'm glad your lab is doing better.

 

[LargoLori]

We had a Dalmatian that started having seizures when she was 2. She was started on phenobarbital that we gave her once a day. Over time, that wasn't doing a great job of controlling them, so Potassium Bromide was added. When she was around 9, she started really going downhill physically, and the vet told us that due to all the meds, her liver was about 1/3 the size it should be. I don't think she was monitored like she should have been. This was probably our fault-neither one of us had any experience with animals having seizures. Toward the end of her life, she looked like we had starved her and she could barely walk. We had decided to put her to sleep, but she died before we did. She was a sweet dog.

I believe clusters are when the dog goes from one seizure to another without any breaks. It can kill them because their entire body seizes up and they can't breathe.

I'm so sorry this is happening to your dog. It is heartbreaking to watch.

Thank you so much. It was very scary and heartbreaking to watch. At least the 2nd seizure was at the vets office so the vet could see what she was going thru and give her valium. Hugs to you on the loss of your dog.

 

[Dax]

Yes, another pug owner here who had a pug have a seizure. Happened about 2 years ago...

He had been panting really really hard, and he felt warm, so I figured I would give him a cool bath to get his temp down. Well he seized while I was bathing him. I did not realize what was going on at first, and I happened to get my hand a bit to close to his mouth....well you can imagine where that went. As I was trying to stop the bleeding, after my hand being in his mouth for a full minute, my DH witnessed the second. Afterwords, he could barely walk, as his back legs would not stop thumping the ground.

Blood tests came back OK, and vet did a work up, but found nothing. Said to watch him and if they returned, to bring him back. He has "episodes" off and on, but nothing like that night.

Hope your doggie is doing better.