What Causes A Dog To Fit?

[Teebs]

I am looking after mum and dads Aussie (i know) Bulldog, she is about 6ish years old, she has always had a bit of trouble breathing and we have to keep her cool in summer, but nothing else.

I went around to feed her, she was standing up, fell on her side and was out of it, eyes glazed over - I tried to open her mouth to make sure nothing was caught and i couldnt get her jaws apart, she also urinated everywhere. I threw water on her and she snapped out of it.

She got up and was fine, like nothing happened.

I just want to know if i should rush her to the vet? I dont even know if they are open today, but can get in afterhours if need be. I cant bring her home as she isnt crate trained and will go nuts here, and kaos and her hate each other. Mum and Dad are back on Wednesday.

Dads last Bulldog (British) used to have massive fits and in the end died during one, Mum is in a panic over Spook and I told her i would post here and see what others think.

Thanks

[persephone]

I threw water on her and she snapped out of it.

Scary ;(

I would at least be phoning a vet ,teebs.

Fitting can have many causes ... and vet checks/tests are the only way to determine what's going on.

So this dog is home alone mostly ,while your folks are away? You are just going around to feed her? Shame you can't have her at your place ... but I agree , from your description it could be disastrous!

Bugga.

[Teebs]

Ok, managed to get hold of the vet - was a fluke, they were actually shut but she was in there checking the animals so answered the phone.

Told her everything that happened and she said that this long after the fit, they wont find too much info. that I can bring her in if i want to but all they can do is watch her and see if it happens again and she is happy for her to stay at home.

She said she may have just choked on something and cut her air off, or it could be something worse.

Brother is going around to check on her and i have let the neighbours know, they are always out in their yard and their kids often jump the fence to play with spook, so they are going to watch her all day.

Just hope it was a once off and wont happen again

[persephone]

Hoping it was a once-off ! poor Spook.

[westiemum]

Teebs big hugs - scary situation. I have a mildly epileptic westie and one with early canine dementia. And at the moment the best thing you can do is start a diary for your parents and tell them to keep it current for the vet and log all 'episodes' - date, time, duration and description = no matter how mild. That way the vet can get a good idea if the 'episodes' are increasing in frequency and severity or changing in any other way. As apart from a short video, these diary entries are really helpful in logging the course of the disease, particularly as these episodes are usually long over by the time you get the dog to the vet. Its amazing how inaccurate memory can be for this sort of stuff.

I have a diary which I bought cheaply at the beginning of the year where I log Mac's episodes of canine dementia and Andys focal seizures. (also anythign else significant like dietary changes etc). I take it to the vet with me each visit and she finds it very helpful. Its also very heartening for me to see that neither of them appear to be getting worse.

Hope it helps.

[sandgrubber]

Lots of things can cause a dog to fit. HIgh temperatures / dehydration. Poisoning. Some sort of metabolic imbalance. Exercise induced collapse. Epilepsy (which is just a catch all for 'unexplained seizure' but hopefully they'll get it down to genetics and environment one of these years). Probably other stuff too.

The hard part is dealing with vets. Some are willing to run tests galore ($$$), often coming out with inconclusive results. I'd be happier with a vet who says something like: 'Let me know if it happens again: keep a journal or take videos. Here's a number to call if it gets serious.' If it keeps happening, they usually put the dog on phenobarbitol, which usually works. Fortunately, it's also cheap, though highly controlled.

[sandgrubber]

Lots of things can cause a dog to fit. HIgh temperatures / dehydration. Poisoning. Some sort of metabolic imbalance. Exercise induced collapse. Epilepsy (which is just a catch all for 'unexplained seizure' but hopefully they'll get it down to genetics and environment one of these years). Probably other stuff too.

The hard part is dealing with vets. Some are willing to run tests galore ($$$), often coming out with inconclusive results. I'd be happier with a vet who says something like: 'Let me know if it happens again: keep a journal or take videos. Here's a number to call if it gets serious.' If it keeps happening, they usually put the dog on phenobarbitol, which usually works. Fortunately, it's also cheap, though highly controlled.