Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Tag the whippet started having seizures at about 5 years old, he's just turned 8 last month. I took him to the vet after his first one and was told to keep a record of them and if they're frequent then it's worth considering medication. They've been well spaced apart, sometimes it's more than a year between them. I think they're probably considered mild by most standards too, he never loses consciousness, just gets all wobbly and rigid, (and frightened I think). I'm worried now though because he had one last month, then one this Monday and again today. I've just come back from the vet, I managed to get him there while he was still going through the tail end of it so they could see him. The vet's taken bloods although I dont really understand what they're looking for. He's told me to watch him closely because if he has another one within 24 hours it's an emergency. I've come away a bit confused, not the vets fault, they're wonderful, my own for either not asking enough questions or just not really retaining the information they've told me. So where better to ask than DOL. Why is it an emergency if he has another one so soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) oh shite Kirislin .. seizure activity close together can damage the brain...which is why it is concerning. Obviously , with seizures becoming more frequent - there is a fairly urgent need to change meds appropriate to cause ....and get some control happening. More than one in a 24 hr period is a real worry .. AFAIK because of permanent damage ..and also... not doing this to scare you, but you do need to know ..... there is a possibility that seizures may then happen concurrently ...which is a life threatening situation. Edited October 18, 2012 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Oh thats awful, poor Tag, poor you, so scary! I have no helpful advice, just hope they find something with the test so he can get some meds to help no more occurrence. I have a friend with an epileptic dog and she is on medication, seizures strated whens she was about 1, scary and horrendous for any owner to go through with their dog. Fingers crossed he has no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frufru Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Kirislin, I think you need to ring the vet and ask them why it is an emergency. I have always understood that it is an emergency if your dog has a seizure and does not come out (eg longer than 2 mins) or has clusters (seizures one after another) I would think that if he has another you will need to start medication (but this would not explain the emergency comment) - perhaps the bloods were to establish levels before beginning meds??? A general blood test may have been done as part of initial diagnostic testing to see if there is something causing the seizures. You need to understand what your vet is doing and why. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 He's not on medication as yet, they've been too far apart until now. The vet said it might just be a cluster and they'll taper off again, I hope so. He'll go everywhere with me for the next little while. I'll be watching him with an eagle eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I think they take the bloods to rule things out rather than look for something IYKWIM, as epilepsy is usually suspected when everything else is ruled out. Our old boy (RIP) had a couple of seizures but only 2 or 3 and they were spaced out over a few years so the vet said the same as they did to you, to just keep a record. I hope they find out what it is and Tag is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 He's told me to watch him closely because if he has another one within 24 hours it's an emergency. I have always understood that it is an emergency if your dog has a seizure and does not come out (eg longer than 2 mins) or has clusters (seizures one after another)<br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17.600000381469727px; background-color: rgb(238, 242, 247); "> yep..and more than one in that 24 hrs is a hair's breadth away from clusters ..which no one wants - so my guess is that they hope to be able to stop that from happening ... But, yes, that suggestion is a good one , Kirislin... ask the vet to phone you perhaps, when they have time to explain..and when you can jot notes down ...your brain will be in scramble mode for a while .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 The one he had today was alot milder than Mondays. I laid him on the floor on Monday and just sat with my hand on his chest. I could feel his heart racing that day, but today it seemed normal, even as he was in seizure, and he wasn't as rigid today, just wobbly. They took his temp and it was normal too. When I described them to the vet he said it sounds like petit mal, but was surprised at their duration. I think Mondays probably lasted about 20mins all up, and todays went for at least 10 minutes. He said that is a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Yeah, our old boys' seizures only ever went for about a minute or two, and then he was just exhausted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 You wouldn't know anything had happened to him, he's just polished off some lamb bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlingdog Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sorry you your dog is going through this. My 8 year old boy was diagnosed with epilepsy 4 months ago. The beginning of this year he developed an unexplained muscle tremour and then a couple of months later he had a seizure followed by another one 8 hours later. The blood test is to exclude other causes for the seizures. My boy is on Phenomav and doing really well. The first couple of weeks on the meds until they get the dosage right is a bit scary as motor function goes a bit haywire while the body adjusts to the medication but after they get it right it's all good. They do have to have another blood test once they have started the drugs to check the levels. Please don't be frightened...the medication is easy to live with, not expensive and my dog is doing great on it as I'm sure yours will too. Good luck I hope you get good results like I did with my dog. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Everytime Tag has one it brings back the dreadful memories of my horse Rowdy. On his last day alive I came home to see him collapse and thrash around smashing his head on the ground. I could hear the bones breaking in his skull. It's got to be up there as one of the worst days of my life. I still miss him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sorry you your dog is going through this. My 8 year old boy was diagnosed with epilepsy 4 months ago. The beginning of this year he developed an unexplained muscle tremour and then a couple of months later he had a seizure followed by another one 8 hours later. The blood test is to exclude other causes for the seizures. My boy is on Phenomav and doing really well. The first couple of weeks on the meds until they get the dosage right is a bit scary as motor function goes a bit haywire while the body adjusts to the medication but after they get it right it's all good. They do have to have another blood test once they have started the drugs to check the levels. Please don't be frightened...the medication is easy to live with, not expensive and my dog is doing great on it as I'm sure yours will too. Good luck I hope you get good results like I did with my dog. :) Thanks, that sounds encouraging. I've heard bad things about medicating them, like it spaces them out but it sounds like your dog is doing well on it. :) I dont know if we'll need to do it with Tag, I suppose it depends on the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Everytime Tag has one it brings back the dreadful memories of my horse Rowdy. On his last day alive I came home to see him collapse and thrash around smashing his head on the ground. I could hear the bones breaking in his skull. It's got to be up there as one of the worst days of my life. I still miss him. Oh Kirislin that's so sad I have no experience or advice but just wanted you to know I'm sending all the positive vibes I can for dear Tag. Hopefully when they find out what is triggering them they can be controlled somehow. Hugs from me and the hounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sorry this is brief - just home from work and about to eat dinner. The blood work has two functions -firstly to screen for underlying metabolic causes of seizures, which although uncommon can include things like liver disease, low blood glucose, low calcium etc, and secondly ensure that there is no expected issue with starting medication if required. It is most common that these results are normal, which then suggests that the cause of seizure activity is within the brain. Very generally, if seizures are not closer than 4-6 weeks apart, monitoring is a very reasonable option unless the seizures themselves are life threatening (they do not resolve within a few minutes without treatment). If you have them closer together than 24 hours, then there is a risk of excitation of the nervous system and you can end up in a cluster of seizures (several within a couple of hours) or status epilepticus (a seizure that doesn't stop by itself). If they are happening this frequently then treatment is indicated regardless of cause. Phenobarbitone is the most common drug to be used - it can initially cause ataxia (wobbliness) and sedation but patients on it generally develop a tolerance to these effects within the first week and return to normal. The occasional dog with have more significant side effects and in this case other drugs may be a better choice. The aim of treatment is not to turn them into a zombie, but sometimes dogs are started on quite high doses when they might not need to be. PM me if you have other questions otherwise I'll keep an eye on the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) Sorry this is brief - just home from work and about to eat dinner. The blood work has two functions -firstly to screen for underlying metabolic causes of seizures, which although uncommon can include things like liver disease, low blood glucose, low calcium etc, and secondly ensure that there is no expected issue with starting medication if required. It is most common that these results are normal, which then suggests that the cause of seizure activity is within the brain. Very generally, if seizures are not closer than 4-6 weeks apart, monitoring is a very reasonable option unless the seizures themselves are life threatening (they do not resolve within a few minutes without treatment). If you have them closer together than 24 hours, then there is a risk of excitation of the nervous system and you can end up in a cluster of seizures (several within a couple of hours) or status epilepticus (a seizure that doesn't stop by itself). If they are happening this frequently then treatment is indicated regardless of cause. Phenobarbitone is the most common drug to be used - it can initially cause ataxia (wobbliness) and sedation but patients on it generally develop a tolerance to these effects within the first week and return to normal. The occasional dog with have more significant side effects and in this case other drugs may be a better choice. The aim of treatment is not to turn them into a zombie, but sometimes dogs are started on quite high doses when they might not need to be. PM me if you have other questions otherwise I'll keep an eye on the thread. WOW!!!! thankyou so much, yes this explains it to me very well, and I think is probably what my lovely vet was trying to tell my addled brain yesterday because several things I read that you wrote clicked with me and I thought Oh yes, he said that. It also makes me feel alot better about it. thankyou so much. I suppose the only thing I'm wondering about at the moment is that although it seems that Tags seizures might be considered mild, because I know he is conscious throughout them, he goes very rigid, but he knows I'm there, they go for a long time. I think Mondays was probably about 20 minutes from start to finish, meaning from the time I saw him go all leg splayed, to the time he felt like standing up again. The vet was surprised when I told him how long they went for. and thankyou to everyone else for your concern and good wishes for my Tag. Edited October 18, 2012 by Kirislin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggy mum Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Thanks too Rappie for your explanation as both my iggies have seizures too. Probably very similar to Tag's seizures. They occur approximately once a month on a regular basis and can last for between ten to twenty minutes from start to finish. Same thing, wobbliness to start, then stiffness and severe shakes. Now I know a little more what to look out for. Thanks again. Glad that Tag is not fitting again. Great news Kirislin!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trishm Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Sorry to hear that poor Tag has had more seizures, sending you all whippy hugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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