Epilepsy & Treatment

[Zenith]

Looking for some experience with seizures/epilepsy and the treatment of them.

This morning my 17th month old GSP had a grand mal seizure when he woke up - it lasted about a minute, followed by about 5 minutes of startled behaviour and pacing where he was scared of me, barking at me (so I observed him post seizure through the window as he wasn't happy with me in the room with him), dilated pupils etc, then he was back to his cuddly self and had about 40 mins sleep. We woke up active and bouncy as normal.

He had a very short grand mal seizure at home with my husband in February (we got him in Jan and he'd not had one at the breeders), but otherwise his health and fitness is great, so vet thinks we may be looking at epilepsy. Vets have run bloods, and we've discussed the possibility of CT scans, further bloods etc and maybe starting him on Phenobarbital if he has more - also depending on the results of the bloods/tests to rule out other possibilities.

The only experience I've had with canine seizures was my last GSP who began having seizures at 13 (grand mal as well), and despite treatment with Phenobarbital and cortisone they became very frequent and in clusters until we made the decision for him to cross the bridge Vets assumed he had a brain tumour, although we decided not to put him through the CT scans etc at his age - he also showed a rapid decline in liver function so they thought he may have a few fast growing lesions in his brain & liver.

My boy is very active and he runs next to the bike with me 5-15kms every day, and we do lots of other activities and training. I'm not sure how the meds (if vets think epilepsy and medicate) will affect his energy levels, and I guess the fear/aggression after the seizure when he's not with it is a little worrying if we are out in public

I'm wondering what experience people have with their dogs and epilepsy, how it affects your life and what you do with your dog (if anything), how the meds affect your dog, does it change their activity/energy level etc?

I'm pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing at the moment, so awful watching them fit, and emotional after my experience with my last boy. Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated

[Jigsaw]

Epilepsy is not pleasant to deal with - hugs. I grew up with an epileptic dog. She was always very disoriented after a fit, temporarily blind and had the urge to just move. There was little treatment in those days and from memory she was treated after the fit. I believe these days it's a matter of monitoring their fits and then working with your vet to adjust to the right level of drugs. Some people do notice a drop in the activity level of their dog I believe others not. I'm sure someone with more recent experience and knowledge will reply shortly.

[Zenith]

Thanks for your reply and sharing your experience Jigsaw

[Christina]

Depends how often they have the fits & how badly.

We had a dog that had his 1st fit at age 2. He keeled over in the garden with me there & I thought it was a spider bite. Got him in the car & then he just came good

Happened again about a year later & the vet said it was probably epilepsy.

He had about 2 seizures a year after, not enough to keep him medicated for in the vets opinion. He lived until he was 16.

We just left him inside in safety when we went out just in case & comforted him through the odd fit. Not so bad once we understood it all.

Healthy dog otherwise & came good quickly after the seizures.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Christina

[sandgrubber]

Sorry to hear you're dealing with grand mals in a dog so young.

I don't think anyone can give you an accurate prognosis for epilepsy.

My first Lab had one apparent grand mal seizure when she was 18 months old and never had another incident. No real diagnosis was possible and there was no treatment.

I've seen other epilepsy . . . in running a boarding kennel we got the occasional epileptic, and almost always found we were giving Phenobarbitol. One old dear (11 yr old boxer) went into cluster grand mal while in kennels and after talking with vets and upping her dosage, we had to call her owners. They came back early from their vacation and I'm pretty sure took her to the rainbow bridge. We had an epileptic standard poodle in our neighbourhood when I was a kid. I know nothing about if or how it was treated.

Currently I have an 8 yr old who had an absolutely bizarre and terrifying series of cluster siezures after taking a pyrethroid-based drop on flea med. These were not like 'regular' grand mal -- no loss of consciousness but awful muscle spasms that knocked her off her feet. She has had subsequent seizures, including, most recently, a cluster seizure that required vet treatment. Thus she is on a low dosage of Phenobarbitol, and I imagine I'll keep her on it for a long time. . . hope it continues to be 100% effective and there's no need to up the dose.

[White Shepherd mom]

Zenith, I am sorry your dog is having seizures. You are right, they are awful things to experience and you feel so helpless. Casper has been epileptic since the age 3. He will typically have one seizure that lasts about a minute, followed by a couple of minutes of confused pacing and a huge thirst. That is followed by hours of pacing and clinging to me. Also, during his seizures, we have to hold Bella back as she stands over him growling, looking like she might attack him.

Casper was put on Phenobarbitol after his 7th seizure as the vet wanted us to keep a log to determine if the seizures were getting closer together, which they were. He remained seizure free for about 3 years, then one day slipped when going through the doggy door, he panicked and started his seizure cycle again. We doubled his pheno dose which made no difference so we added Potassium Bromide and he has now been seizure free about another 3 years. He is almost 10 years old and he is fitter and more active than me. We run around 5km every second day without a problem.

Each dog is different. Phenobarbitol is the first drug to try. I hope your vet can get the dosage right and your dog can enjoy many years seizure free.

Hugs and good luck.

[FHRP]

Zenith I'm so sorry to hear that Cash is having seizures It really is one of my worst nightmares. I have no first hand experience and can't really add anything helpful but from having friends with dogs that hae been diagnosed with epilepsy, the drugs have knocked the dogs around a bit until the right dose has been reached. But, when it's right the dogs have gone on to lead very active lives.

[Zenith]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts I feel a lot better knowing that people are able to manage, and if they go on meds its more a matter of getting the dose right. I'd prefer to keep him off anything if he's not having the seizures too regularly, especially being so young. I appreciate you all sharing your stories, and glad to hear your dogs have done well with treatment if any, and lived happy long lives.

I didn't sleep very well last night, I kept waking every time he moved (he sleeps next to me on his bed on the floor), but he's doing really well. I was like that with my old boy as well, it would take a few nights seizure free to start sleeping again.

White Shepard Mom, you touched on another question I was going to ask - how do your other dogs react when your dog is having a seizure? Mine all bark, until I put them in another room or outside, but I do worry what will happen if they turn on him during a seizure as he is very vocal during it. We are thinking about buying an airline crate and putting it next to my bed (we have a wire crate for him in the loungeroom but I get sick of taking it into our room every night), so at least he's safe if he has another seizure when he wakes up. Although that won't change anything if he has one during the day when we are at work.

Thanks again

Edited June 16, 2011 by Zenith

[White Shepherd mom]

White Shepard Mom, you touched on another question I was going to ask - how do your other dogs react when your dog is having a seizure?

Thankfully Casper never seems to have seized when the dogs are alone. Seems he wants his mummy around so he can give me a heart attack when he does it. The dogs sleep outside and when he has seized at night, I have somehow always heard something to make me run out...and he is quiet when he seizes. He makes like a hacking sound but not loud enough for me to hear in our bedroom. Just as thankfully, I always seem to get to him while he is still having the seizure so don't know what Bella would do if he came out of it, disorientated, with her standing over him.

Knowing how restless he is when he comes out of it, I don't know that Casper would be very happy to be confined in a crate after a seizure.

I love my dogs with all my heart but I try not to over panic. So far they haven't killed each other!

I'm glad we have put your mind at ease a little. Don't forget that too many seizures do start to affect the brain so don't be afraid to get him onto meds if your vet suggests it.

[frufru]

Hi Zenith, I have a standard poodle (coming up to 10 years old) who had grand mal seizures between the age of 2 and 5 years. He was never medicated as he only had about 3 seizures in a given 12 month period - sometimes he would have a 3 month interval and then go 6 months. Vet agreed that the seizures were not frequent enough to warrant medication with its long term side effects. He has a granddaughter who also has seizures so odds are inherited epilepsy (he was removed from stud after his first seizure). He has not had a seizure for over 4 years and I am glad I didn't jump the gun and medicate straight away as I have known some vets to do. There is a lot of very good info on the net about canine epilepsy and it does pay to do your own research so that you can reach informed decisions in consultation with your vet. Hopefully your dog will not have another episode - but keep a diary just in case which describes the seizures in detail.

It is not uncommon for dogs to be disorientated when coming out of a seizure - and my dog did actually bite me after his first seizure as I wanted to comfort him and check him out and didn't listen to him telling me he needed space. With his following seizures I would talk to him during the seizure - but once he regained consciousness I let him decide when he needed contact. I didn't leave him alone with my other dogs until he had been siezure free for over 1 year.

Edited June 16, 2011 by frufru

[Zenith]

Thanks again! Its awful to watch isn't it WSM?

Re the crate, I was more thinking for protection during the seizure, as this seizure was between the wall and my bed (where he sleeps), and my bed hasn't got a solid base so he ended up kind of wedged under it - so I picked the bed up and moved it as much as I could during the seizure. I guess I could always open the door after a seizure and get out of the room so he can come out of it at his own pace.

Thanks Fru Fru - thanks for sharing about your boy, was he just yarded on his own? I'm not sure Cash would cope on his own, when we first got him he had a covered run built into our yard but he just paced, so we left him in the yard with the other dogs. Will have to have a good think about it.

[frufru]

My dogs are inside dogs so I just used a baby gate to partition the house - that way they were together but could not get to Acey if he had a seizure. He had most of his seizures around 5/6 in the morning or late evening - two when I was out walking them Acey had pre seizure activity which was always the same so I actually had about a minute to get him to a safe place before he dropped. I learnt to take the phone with me to call a friend or my husband to come and help me get him home and the other dogs home. I still take the phone with me even though he has not had an episode in years.

There was actually a really good thread on DOL about epilepsy several years ago - see if you can dig it up.

Edited June 17, 2011 by frufru

[Zenith]

Thanks Fru Fru - atm when we are out (if its good weather) they are either all out together or the two little ones in, and the two bigger ones out (as Cash can't really be trusted loose in the house as yet as he's very keen on redecorating as young GSP's do). Will have to think a little harder about some options I think as to separating them!

Wow that must be scary with him having had seizures out on a walk, poor you and poor Acey.

I've done a bit more searching on DOL and google and come up with an old thread which has some links - one of which has been particularly great with info www.canine-epilepsy.com

[frufru]

Yep - really good site!!! Is your breed prone to inherited epilepsy - you may be able to contribute to a research project if that is the case. Good luck and here is hoping that your boy doesn't have any more!!!!