Tell Me About Seizures In Dogs?

[voloclydes]

friend has a husky 2years old. suddenly about the 24 october he had a seizure. he has a few in a group... then has none for upto 14 days. vet was seen and given meds to be used in case larger amounts of fits happening every day.

bloods have not been done yet. it was a watch to see for a pattern. anti seizure meds have not been given at this stage.

what we want is info on causes?

info on medication side effects?

info on regularity?

etc.....

wanted to pick your brains and vast knowledge.

[Cockerlover]

there is heaps of info if u google it ,sorry dont know how to put links up but if u pm me im happy to send u the info i have saved .best advise ican give is be sure to keep records of each & every seizure sevirty of each & time ,

[voloclydes]

my friends email is tina @ snowy. net . au(spaces removed) or yes you can send to my email in profile and i can forward.

[~Anne~]

Groups of seizures are referred to as a cluster. My Pug, Monte, has cluster seizures. He will have 5 - 6 within an hour on a bad day, and only 1 or 2 withing the same time frame on an exceptionally good day. The concern with clusters is that the dog will go into status (status epilepticus) which is continual seizure activity. Obviously, this places enormous pressure on the heart and brain and can be fatal.

In 5 years, we have not yet had Monte go into status thankfully but we have been warned that with each cluster, the pathways in the brain of the seizure become easier and he is more susceptible. It is pleasing to note though that the numbers of seizures he is having is decreasing in the last 6 - 8 months.

Monte's cycles of seizures regularly change. He is currently experiencing seizure activity every 3 weeks and he has remained at or around this for some time now.

To be honest, I can't imagine why the Vet hasn't done anything but has taken the attitude of 'waiting to see what the pattern is'?? How bizarre. If the dog has idiopathic epilepsy (being the most common type) then it is not called idiopathic for no reason. There is no pattern.

The age of the dog might also suggest idiopathic epilepsy, but other causes should be ruled out first. Seizures are caused by many things, including toxins, disease and injury. Normally, bloodwork and imaging tests are udnertaken to rule out these causes and if no cause can be found, a diagnoses of epilepsy is confirmed.

I would assume the Vet has given them diazepam??

If the dog is diagnosed with epilepsy they would normally put them on phenobarbital (Pb) as the first drug of choice. If the seizures are not controlled effectively with this (after adjustments) then another drug called potassium bromide (Kbr) is added. Sometimes, a 3rd drug known as keppra is also added although in Australia, this is not common.

The side effects of the drugs are similar in most cases. Ataxia (hind limb weakness), increase in thirst, increase in urine output, increase in hunger, restlessness and general lethargy are common. The body will adjust to most of these side affects within time and so they must be patient and wait for the drugs to settle in the dog's system. This can take up to 3 months with Pb in particular. Kbr builds up gradually and so the side effects are slower to show.

Edited December 9, 2009 by PugRescueSydney