Shaking/fits/seizures?

[ruthless]

About six months ago Angel was lying on the floor beside me and she started shaking. It lasted for under a minute. It happened another two times that night so I took her to the vet the next day. He said to keep an eye on her but it needed to be happening regularly for him to put her on medication. He took bloods and they came back fine. It didn't happen again until last week.

She was lying on the dog bed and she did a big stretch, during which she shook but then she kept shaking. I made her stand up and walk around but she kept shaking for about a minute. Not just her body, her head too. Two more times that night it happened while she was lying on the sofa. Always short, under a minute.

There was nothing again [that we saw] until this morning. I went to let them out of their crates. She stretched and it happened again.

They're not violent fits or seizures. Her eyes are open the whole time, she just starts shaking all over. No harder than a shiver, but her head goes too. I don't know how worried to be about it. She seems completely normal the rest of the time. Still running around like a lunatic and causing trouble. Has anyone experienced this before??

[AmandaJ]

Might be worth takeing her to a doggy chiro......appears to be happening when she stretches - could be pinching something.....

[westiemum]

Or it could be a form of focal epilepsy... my latest westie rescue has very mild focal epilepsy and as is common with focal epilepsy, it often happens when he is relaxed - he head shakes for between 1 and 6 minutes, isn't incontinent, doesn't lose consciousness or fall over, but goes a bit glassy eyed and shakes his head. Then after the episode he tends to sleep for some hours. I found the first episode really distressing and raced him off to the vet but now I just comfort him and observe the episode.

The vet says its focal epilepsy but he is too mild and the seizures are too infrequent to medicate him (Up until early October he had not had a seizure for 11 months which I'd observed). So I just hold him until it stops. I also keep a diary of the dates, duration and what the seizure looked like so I can report accurately to the vet, particularly any variations. I don't even take him to the vet after infrequent episodes (the vet is happy with this) - but if the nature of the seizure appeared to change or they became much more frequent I'd take him to the vet for tests.

So I suggest you write down time, date and description, including what he was doing just before the seizure started if possible in a dedicated diary - and if possible take some video of the episode to show the vet (I admit though that I've never managed this).

Anyway I hope that helps - let us know how you get on?

Edited December 5, 2010 by westiemum

[ruthless]

That sounds exactly the same Westiemum, thanks for the info. She hasn't had any more shaking incidents since, but I'll do what you suggested and just keep note of them and take her back to the vet if they become more frequent.

[westiemum]

Glad to help ruthless - I know how distressing this can be until you get a diagnosis. Here's a

to a video showing a dog with focal epilepsy - substitute a westie and this is exactly what my Andy does. If I'm not with him when it starts he usually comes looking for me - I hear him come up behind me and turn around to a shaking dog. I pick him up and cuddle him until it subsides.

My vet says this is probably cerebellar focal epilepsy - but you do really need to discuss it with your vet.

Edited December 6, 2010 by westiemum

[Dju]

Oh that's interesting, my Hugo occasionally starts shaking/twitching while he's asleep, like full body jerks and stuff like that, while he's sleeping, I wonder if that's a normal thing or whether it could be epilepsy? It doesn't last for very long, maybe only thirty seconds and it only happened twice, both times I made a loud noise to wake him up because I thought he might be having a violent nightmare or something.

[Mim]

Oh that's interesting, my Hugo occasionally starts shaking/twitching while he's asleep, like full body jerks and stuff like that, while he's sleeping, I wonder if that's a normal thing or whether it could be epilepsy? It doesn't last for very long, maybe only thirty seconds and it only happened twice, both times I made a loud noise to wake him up because I thought he might be having a violent nightmare or something.

Dju, more than likely he is just dreaming but if you are really worried, film it and show your vet.

[Tim'sMum]

Focal epilepsy usually affects one part of the body and is localised to the motor cortex of the brain. A focal seizure can become a generalised seizure however.

Eg: a focal seizure will usually start with one limb twitching. It can stop with no further involvement of any other part of the body...or the electrical disturbance can spread to other parts of the brain and cause further seizing.

Focal seizures usually stem from some sort of structural anomaly within the brain.

With dogs and humans...seizures are more common after just waking or on the threshhold of sleep....when brainwave patterns are changing. Being woken suddenly can often induce a seizure.

You see seizures in older humans & dogs due to brain degeneration, or in dogs that have had some brain damage...but usually there is no known cause for epilepsy in mammals.

Ruthless...what you describe is most likely a clonic seizure, where Angel does not lose conciousness but the muscles contract and relax rythmically....often described as 'petite mal'....a term that covers an array of seizure types where, the person or animal does not fall over and lose conciousness....which is called a tonic/clonic seizure or 'grand mal'.

You would need to discuss this latest seizure with your Vet. The blood tests that Angel had previously should have discounted some sort of metabolic cause, such as poisoning or diabetes, so you can probably assume that she has mild form of ideopathic epilepsy. 'Ideopathic' means there is no known cause.

She can be medicated....anti-convulsants often control seizures extremely well...in many cases stopping them entirely, but once you start them they must be continued and given on a twice daily basis. Stopping medication suddenly can cause a more serious seizure. As with any medication there are side effects that can affect a dog (probably the same as in humans), which can cause rashes, itching or affect liver function.

It may be worthwhile waiting to see whether the seizure activity escalates before deciding on medication....but do discuss this with the Vet.

[ruthless]

Glad to help ruthless - I know how distressing this can be until you get a diagnosis. Here's a

to a video showing a dog with focal epilepsy - substitute a westie and this is exactly what my Andy does. If I'm not with him when it starts he usually comes looking for me - I hear him come up behind me and turn around to a shaking dog. I pick him up and cuddle him until it subsides.

My vet says this is probably cerebellar focal epilepsy - but you do really need to discuss it with your vet.

Thanks, that looks similar, except with Angel it's not just the head and her head doesn't move as much as the dog in the clip. I will definitely follow up with the vet if it continues, but she hasn't had any more since so we'll just monitor her for now.

Focal epilepsy usually affects one part of the body and is localised to the motor cortex of the brain. A focal seizure can become a generalised seizure however.

Eg: a focal seizure will usually start with one limb twitching. It can stop with no further involvement of any other part of the body...or the electrical disturbance can spread to other parts of the brain and cause further seizing.

Focal seizures usually stem from some sort of structural anomaly within the brain.

With dogs and humans...seizures are more common after just waking or on the threshhold of sleep....when brainwave patterns are changing. Being woken suddenly can often induce a seizure.

You see seizures in older humans & dogs due to brain degeneration, or in dogs that have had some brain damage...but usually there is no known cause for epilepsy in mammals.

Ruthless...what you describe is most likely a clonic seizure, where Angel does not lose conciousness but the muscles contract and relax rythmically....often described as 'petite mal'....a term that covers an array of seizure types where, the person or animal does not fall over and lose conciousness....which is called a tonic/clonic seizure or 'grand mal'.

You would need to discuss this latest seizure with your Vet. The blood tests that Angel had previously should have discounted some sort of metabolic cause, such as poisoning or diabetes, so you can probably assume that she has mild form of ideopathic epilepsy. 'Ideopathic' means there is no known cause.

She can be medicated....anti-convulsants often control seizures extremely well...in many cases stopping them entirely, but once you start them they must be continued and given on a twice daily basis. Stopping medication suddenly can cause a more serious seizure. As with any medication there are side effects that can affect a dog (probably the same as in humans), which can cause rashes, itching or affect liver function.

It may be worthwhile waiting to see whether the seizure activity escalates before deciding on medication....but do discuss this with the Vet.

Thanks for that info TM

Edited December 7, 2010 by ruthless

[Tim'sMum]

Hopefully the seizures will be rare events Ruthless. I know they can be scary.

[Rottifan]

Might be worth takeing her to a doggy chiro......appears to be happening when she stretches - could be pinching something.....

Definitely contact an animal chiropractor. Most dogs have pinched nerves which result in a variety of symptoms from referral pain. Nerves do not show up on xrays so this is never correctly defined as the problem. It is a medication free easy thing to eliminate before paying for tests and going through other processes, besides your dog will benefit from having pinched nerves released and their immune system will be boosted doing so as well, nothing to lose! Nerves can be pinched as a result of living in our home environments for which their bodies were not built (eg slippery floors, stairs etc), running fence lines, rough play, being stepped on as a pup in the litter by mum, jumping down of things and slipping etc. Being out of alignment referral pain is caused when stretching and walking properly, in turn muscle spasm occurs to protect the nerves with some movements that the dog makes. My Rotti began having his body shake/quiver prior to becoming lame and then paralysed while I went through blood tests, xrays, hair analysis and a range of injections, pain killers and homeopathic supplements...none of which worked. After chiropractic adjustments the symptoms stopped but not only that he is a 10yr old who now walks perfectly and has alot more energy and is generally happier. Best of luck

[ruthless]

On a side note, she's recently started licking her nose obsessively. Could the two things be related?

I know SBTs are prone to OCD type behaviours, so it could be something separate. She is a little on the quirky side of normal in general!

[vetrg]

Staffies have an inherited metabolic condition that results in seizures that become progressively harder to control. This can be tested for with a urine sample.

Most seizures believed to be idiopathic epilepsy are relatively similar in form from seizure to seizure. When deciding to medicate you must consider the risk/benefit ratio of long term medication vs an occasional seizure. If the seizures are infrequent and very short or mild you could chose not to medicate. If the seizures are severe, frequent of the dog belongs to someone who cannot cope well we will choose to medicate. It is worth starting a seizures diary and log anything you believe could be a seizure and also anything 'odd' eg dog has peed in her bed, dog is groggy when you get home etc that may indicate a seizure while you have been out. This will allow you to make an informed decision on whether to medicate.