Epilepsy

[Meg_Ed]

Hello,

Iam new here

Ive been on the net most of the day searching for information on different treatments for Epilepsy.My 4yr old Norfolk terrier X Fox terrier(Eddie) has been diagnosed with it.First seizure was 18mth ago then the 2nd was August this year.Bloods were taken and all came back normal.He has had 5 seizures to date each approx 3 weeks apart.

Iam hoping there will be someone here that i bounce my ideas and thoughts off,or who can share their experiences with me on this.

Iam am a member of a forum for horse lovers(as i have them too) and know these forums can be quiet helpful and a lot can be learnt.

However I am about to head home from work now(great time to post LOL) so i will be checking for any reply post first thing tomorrw morn so please help if you can

Hope to hear from you all soon

Cheers Megs

[booboo]

*

Edited March 12, 2009 by booboo

[wolfie]

Hi Megs,

my ACD had his first epileptic seizure when he was 5 years. He lived until he was 12 years and died of something unrelated to epilepsy.

The seizures can be pretty overwhelming, my boy had grand mals, which meant foaming at the mouth, squealing and howling, thrashing around and urinating and defecating. These happened every 2-3 months once he was on medication. He was on phenobarbitone and would have a blood test every 6 months or so to make sure that his medication levels were ok.

While distressing to watch, most dogs seem to come out of the seizures ok, without so much as even appearing to have a headache. If they keep recurring or go for more than 5-10 minutes some vets recommend having valium to administer to your dog to sedate it to stop the seizure.

One big side effect of the phenobarb is that it really increases appetite. If Eddie goes on to it really watch his weight. My boy turned into an awful food thief and packed on weight without us realising. It took over a year to get back to a good size.

Good luck with Eddie. While you wouldn't wish to have a dog with epilepsy it won't stop him doing any activity that you want, be it agility, obedience or just being a great pet!

Wolfie

[Lesley]

Hi Meg Ed,

I reiterate all that Wolfie has said.

Our first Saint suffered from Epilepsy amongst nearly every other nasty one could think of.

He too had Grand Mal seizures and was on Epiphen which is a Phenobarbital.

The Epiphen initially did not stop the seizures but rather slowed them somewhat, however eventually they increased again and medication was also continually increased to help cover this.

Eventually he was on the highest dose the vet would prescribe, explaining that the long term side effects were liver damage so we just had to live with it.

We knew with all of his other problems that he would not be with us long enough to show liver damage, as he also was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which caused a conflict with medication.

Scary as it is for you watching him seizure, when they come out of one they are unaware of the fuss they have caused!

We were not at home when our guy had his first seizure and we got a very distressed phone call from our son who was only 12 at the time.

By the time we got home our Saint was running around the yard and we were sure our son had dreamt it all up.

His next seizure we witnessed ourselves and it was a case of I told you so!

We too witnessed the foaming at the mouth, thrashing around, urinating and defecating, it made us feel so helpless. The vet explained that it is extremely rare for any to die as a result of a seizure however if death occurs, it is usually due to an injury caused whilst seizuring.

We woke one night to heear him thrashing around and he was lying on his bed and actually hitting his head against a brick wall. In this case we had to move him in the midst of his seizure to prevent injury.

So scary as it seems to you now, it is something you will learn to live with and also learn to cope with.

Sometimes you can find a trigger, we were unable pinpoint one but I have heard of people who are fortunate to do this, which in some cases can alleviate some seizures happening.

We were told bright lights can be a trigger and we always made sure he did not travel at the back of the trailer where lights from cars behind could set him off, but we could not assert this for sure.

Also when one works, it is difficult to monitor all seizures but our guy was having them at least every second or third day that we knew of, so I would say his were very frequent.

Epilepsy is not a death sentence it is a way of life and as he looks at you in the same way, you also owe it to him to show him that he is just that little bit more special but never the less he is still your beautiful boy who you love regardless.

Hang in there and just show him that he is loved and make him as secure as you can and most importantly treasure every moment you have with him.

Life is too short with no problems, the ones that do have them I am sure are sent to us for a reason and only you will be able to look into his eyes and try to understand why!

Our boys breeders denied any knowledge of such and yet only months after he was diagnosed and we were on a visit, we witnessed his dam also incurring a seizure!

We made the decision to release our boy from his suffering at only 3 years of age when his hips popped their socket due to severe displaysia.

He was a truly beautiful soul who was robbed of his life by being created in a body filled with destruction.

In retrospect, his epilepsy was the least of his problems and he just should never have been!

But I thank God for sending him to us, as in his short time with us he made such an impact on all our lives.

And every day I look at all the healthy Saintly souls that now surround us and continue to fill our lives with happiness and I look at his pictures and I say to him, this is all for you!

He made us enquiring, he made us research and learn about many problems we would never have even known existed but most importantly he made us learn about ethics in breeders.

Just know that you are not alone and if your breeder is ethical and close by, he/she should help support you through this.

Take care and all the best,

Lesley

[~Anne~]

I live with a gorgeous little epileptic Pug. Monte without meds was having up to 10 seizures in a row occurring every 10 days on average.

They are scary to watch in the beginning... now I just feel soory for my poor little man and I wish I could stop the seizure and cuddle him. But, as has been said, after the siezure he is fine, albeit a little tired sometimes and if he is going to have multiples he will remain a little 'dazed' in between them.

We can always tell if he has had one when we have not witnessed it because there will be wet patches on the floor or around his mouth from the drool.

Monte is currently on 60mg of Phenobarbital per day and 400mg of Bromide per day. The Phenobarbital was not enough to control his seizures effectively and so the Bromide was introduced approximately 6 months later.

Medications don't always control the seizures completely in dogs (or humans) that have epilepsy to a med - high degree. Expect that he will still have a seizure now and then.

The meds will need to be constantly adjusted and checked throughout his life. Every 12 - 24 months he should have his liver function tested to ensure there are no problems and he should have his drug therapeutic levels tested every 6 - 12 months if there are no problems with siezures and more often if there are. We have chnaged the dosage umpteen times for Monte and this needs to be done till you get the levels perfect for your dog.

Monte is a happy little vegemite and I expect he will live a full life. He has some little problems that are related to the epilepsy but nothing of great concern.

One word of advice - in order to effectively control the seizures the medication MUST be kept constant in his system and this means giving his meds EXACTLY 12 hours apart every day. If we failt to give them 12 hours apart with Monte, he will begin to have seizures, not straight away but within a few days as it takes some time to build the levels again. They drop immediately but take time to build up.

[Meg_Ed]

Thanks to all you your stories.

Eddie's seems to be having petty mal seizures at the monent.But to my knowledge he seems to have them when he's asleep.3 turns have been between 6-7am with the other 2 about 1-3am (i know this coz he sleeps on my bed. Um ma )in most he sits up,his eyes glaze over ,he stiffens and trembles.He doesn't loose control of his bowels or urinate.All have lasted 1-2mins.For a few mins after he's a little confused and wobbley on his legs but he's back to himself within about 10mins tops but i cant say that he's tired afterward.I talk to him and pat him while he's seizing,in 1 or 2 of them i think he's kind of aware somethings going on coz he tries to get up to sit on me but his legs wont co-operate.

I've found a homeopathic med on the net that i want to dicuss with my vet.It seems to have had good success with slowing the frequencey and serverity of the seizure and in a lot of cases stopped them.It's not had the side effect of the traditiomal meds and has been trailed for many years.Has anyone else tried and alternate medication?

Thanks again

Cheers Megs

[~Anne~]

Monte doesn't urinate or defecate either and can have several different kinds of seizures.

Monte's seizures range from an almost 'frantic' state where he is panting, his heart races and he appears to be in anothr world, then he will stop, stare and stiffen up and usually drops at this pointnt on his stomach. He remains this way with just stiffening and a few twitches and drooling and then is up and almost manic again. This type usually lasts for up to an hour.

He also has another type where he becomes very wobbly in his hind legs like he is drunk, staggers around and sounds almost like he is choking and he stops breathing almost completely. He almost 'snaps' out of these and becomes completely normal within 30 seconds and leaves no evidence of what has happended.

He also has the usuaul cyclonic type where he stiffens and stares, drops on his sides, froths at the mouth and 'runs'... this also gradually slows down after a few minutes and he will be up and a little dazed for a few minutes while slowly coming to.

I'd be interested to hear more about the homeopathic treatment althoug I doubt this would be suitable for Monte due to the severity of his condition.

[Lesley]

What's in a name?????

Puggles, I have to add, that our Saint was Monty too!

Different spelling but never the less, a Monty!

We used to tell everyone he was our "Full Monty"!

God bless them all!

Lesley

[~Anne~]

What's in a name?????

Puggles, I have to add, that our Saint was Monty too!

Different spelling but never the less, a Monty!

We used to tell everyone he was our "Full Monty"!

God bless them all!

Lesley

We call ours Monte Bear because he is such a teddy bear!

[Lesley]

LOL

Ours was "Montahontas"

cos he was our little Indian Brave!

Cheers,

Lesley

[Meg_Ed]

The Name of it is Vet-Select Seizure Fomula. It produced by I think(??) a Canadian company.The web site is www.allergicpet.com.They are able to ship to Australia.Have a read and tell me what you guys think.

I just don't like the side-effects of the Phenobarbital.I have my horse on the herbal supplement of his oesteo-arthritis and this works a treat for him.I do realise thought that seizures are a lot different.I figure if he's gotta be on something for the rest of his life i'd don't want it causing other problems.

Cheers Megs

[~Anne~]

Sorry but I am very sceptical. There is no explanation as to how the medication works and their information on what seizures are and what causes them is very limited and not always factual, in fact it even states that is is only 'based on' material written by a supposed Vet.

I would not risk my dog with these drugs and I would advise you to do the same.

The side effects from both Pheno and Bromide are minimal. Damage to the liver can happen but this is also not common. The most common side effects are harmless and include things like increased hunger and thirst, idiosycrinic (sp) behaviour and some hind leg weakness.

My advice is to stick with your vet and listen to his instructions. Athritis is a relatively harmless condtion, epilepsy is not.

Before you make any decisions research epilepsy a little more. I can highly recommend these two sites (just click on the link below);

Understanding Your Pet's Epilepsy

and

Veterinary Partner

EFS (as usual )

Edited November 22, 2005 by Puggles

[Meg_Ed]

Thanks for the links Puggles Iam having a read now.

I know arthritis is a lot different to epilepsy.It's just that as i said in my first post i want to bounce ideas and find out different views and experences.My vet hasn't advised that he start meds yet but as they are starting to become a little more frequent iam just looking at options.

Thanks Again

Cheers Megs

[White Shepherd mom]

Hi Megs,

I'm so sorry your pup is epileptic. There have been a few topics on this forum regarding epilepsy. Have you done a search on DOL?

Also, there's this brilliant website http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/ with stacks of info as well as a group you can join to ask your questions. There's a lot of people on there whose epi dogs are 100 times worse than most of us can imagine so they would be able to help you.

My dog's first two seizures were a month apart. Seizure 6&7 were 2 weeks apart. This is when my vet put him on phenobarbitone. This was in May and he has not had a seizure since. Don't dismiss the meds too quickly. If you can stop the seizures, in the future you can look at reducing his dose.

Best of luck to you and let us know how you go.

[Meg_Ed]

Thanks White Shep Mom

Iam spending today reading all the xtra info you guys have give me,then iam going to talk to his vet.

Funny thought ,i had people(my mother) telling me that he was just having nightmares or night horrors because they seem to be always asleep when he had them.But i've just read that they are more likely when they are relaxed,even sound asleep.

Will keep ypu posted Thank heaps

[~Anne~]

Thanks White Shep Mom

Iam spending today reading all the xtra info you guys have give me,then iam going to talk to his vet.

Funny thought ,i had people(my mother) telling me that he was just having nightmares or night horrors because they seem to be always asleep when he had them.But i've just read that they are more likely when they are relaxed,even sound asleep.

Will keep ypu posted Thank heaps

The majority of seizures that Monte has are in the middle of the night......the next most common time is at breakky.

[Meg_Ed]

Puggles!

Thanks so much for those links.The first one was most helpful.The Phenobarbital doesn't appear to be as nasty as i was first led to believe.

Thanks again

Cheers Megs

[~Anne~]

Glad to hear you got some value out of them.

Please keep in touch and let us know how your boy does. Be patient as it can take up to 12 months to get his levels to the optimum amount to prevent his seizures.

[Staffy-Lover]

All my best

Edited December 13, 2005 by Staffy-Lover

[Owned by Shelties]

Hi All, I have got a 4 year old sheltie that has got epilepsy, she started having "s" 3 weeks into her pregnancy as a result in this I had pups aborted as I didnt want her to having a "s" while giving birth.... Any way she is on 37.5mg pb twice daily plus 175mg kbr twice daily she went 7 months without any "s" then they came every 2-3 wks apart.. thankfully they only last about 1min..

I'm looking into trying Gabapentine has anybody tried this drug????

I've been reading alot bout it know it's expensive and they do use it overseas with alot of success.. can anybody give me any indication on their experiences??? I know that every dogs is different but any info will be a grate help..

Thankyou in advance