My Dog Just Had A Fit Or Seizure

[~Anne~]

I administer valium rectally every time Monte has a seizure as he clusters.. but he still will have another 3 or more seizures. There isn't enough time in bewteen Monte's seizures to get the cluster adequately under control.

I would assume that if I didn't give the valium he might have double the amount of seizures in his cluster.

Monte has only ever had a single seizure twice now I think, the others are all clusters. He currently is on a monthly cycle of clusters.

[SueM]

Thanks for all the tips am back home now and he seems his normal self,we had blood tests done and he is able to up his dose of pheno I will discuss adding another medication with my new vet now that I have moved and hopefully he can get under control...Harvey is a approx 2 1/2 - 3 he was a pound dog so cant be absolutely certain they started Nov 2006 the first post on this thread..

Edited March 10, 2008 by varicool

[frufru]

Thanks for the update Varicool and fingers crossed for Harvey.

[SueM]

All is well at present no more seizures since, he is having his pheno levels checked again in another fortnight and I also have some Valium on hand in case he seizures again, he was on a monthly cycle of seizures so wont really know if the increased meds are working until early next month..

Edited March 19, 2008 by varicool

[SueM]

Has anyone heard that Gluten can contribute to Seizures?

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Thanks for the updates everyone.

I've just realised it's time for Molly to have her blood work done. AFAIK, she's been seizure-free since last April/May but we work through the week so can't be absolutely certain she doesn't seize while we're not home. There's no evidence of it...but I suppose you can never tell.

Hugs and kisses to all the epi dogs out there.

[CaseyKay]

Maddie my older BC is seizure-free since going on Pb on the 10th January. I'm still not 100% convinced she has epilepsy. There was a lot going on there with her bloodwork and general health/appearance over Dec/Jan when she had the seizures. She has put back on the weight she lost in Dec, her coat looks much better and she is brighter and much more active. Since the weather has cooled down from a VERY hot summer she seems so much better. The vet said this could still mean she is epileptic, and is triggered over-heating. He always says there are as many kinds of canine epilepsy as there are dogs with epilepsy! We are back doing tracking again, on cooler evenings and I am careful with her. It makes her happy though. I think she will be able to compete again, probably not until winter though just to be safe. She is back competing in obedience again.

KC is good, she had a seizure in mid Feb, but only one, and short and relatively minor. She has unusual sort of seizures, they aren't grand mals. She does foam at the mouth and urinate and her head makes violent jerking movements and snapping jaws. She doesn't fall down or lose conciousness. Afterwards she runs blindly around (the worst part as sometimes she yelps) and then she paces up to an hour. If she doesn't pace after, I know we are in for a cluster. Although she has been epi since March 2004 i had never witnessed a grand mal until Maddie started having them. I realise now we have it relatively easy with KC.

Varicool, I'm not sure about Gluten. Both of mine are on a meat only diet (a commercially made raw diet of meat, bone, veges, fish oil etc). We found that this made KC's original ataxia much better (prior to this they were on Canidae dry food for a couple of years). They have been on this diet 18 months. She still seizes on this diet, maybe every 2-3 months.

[stari]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but rather than start a new one I thought I would ask here Apologies if I am repeating anything.

My staffy boy, who is three and a half, had a seizure yesterday. One minute he was sitting on the lounge, the next he was on the ground convulsing. It lasted for about 5 mins, and he was foaming at the mouth and lost control of his bowel/bladder. When he came out of it, my hubby and I couldn't get near him for about 15 mins, he hackeled up and growled at us if we tried to approach him. Eventually he got up and walked over to my husband, he had a drink of water and was fine after that, like nothing had happened.

I phoned the vet as it was happening and she told me it was normal and not to worry unless he has another one. I was too shaken up to ask her much, but I would like to know if it is pretty common for dogs to have seizures out of nowhere, and apart from epilepsy are there any causes for random seizures in healthy young dogs? Could something environmental, like a flea treatment or an insect bite be a cause?

Thanks

[~Anne~]

Hi Stari,

Your boy is in the right age group to develop epilpsy. The growling bit was whilst he was in a post ictal stage and they all have different behaviours at this point. My boy becomes dazed and blind-like but his post ictal literally only last minutes. It can last for up to 24 hours though!

I am surprised that your Vet has taken it so casually. I would have thought that they would at least want to check him out in ncase the siezure was caused by a toxicity or something else. Admittedly, there is nothing that they can test for to show epilpesy but they can rule out everything else by testing.

It could very well have been environmental as you have asked. I tcould also be caused by disease or trauma.

[stari]

Thanks for replying :D

The vet said there isn't much they can do at this stage and it is up to us whether or not to bring him in, but she did say definately bring him in if it happens again.

He hasn't suffered any trauma that I know of, and the only new things he has been exposed to that I can think of are flea powder and eucalyptus oil (diluted and sprayed on the floor). Our other two dogs are fine, so I don't think it could have been anything in the yard or anything he ate.

I'll keep an eye on him, hopefully it was just a one off. It was bloody scary though, especially when he started foaming. My poor hubby thought the little guy was dying

[frufru]

Hi Stari, nasty things those seizures when you see them for the first time. Lets hope this is a one off but in case it is not you should start a diary. Describe what happened, duration etc include the fact that you had used the fleas powder and eucalyptus (these things can be triggers if your dog has epilepsy). Heaps of info out there and this is a great place to start.

[~Anne~]

Eucalyptus a trigger? Please tell me it isn't??? I have never heard of it. I use eucalyptus on my wood laminate floors almost every day, mixed with windex. I love the smell of it.

[frufru]

Hi Puggles - when my boy first started having seizures I read everything I could find and there was an article from the canine epilepsy website that mentioned floor cleaners - specifically a dog whose seizures were triggered by a pine scented floor cleaner. I am always very careful with anything that has a strong smell - particularly essential oils as a dogs nose is so much more sensitive than ours. Couldn't any chemical potentially act as a trigger for a specific dog ? Have you identified anything that acts as a trigger for Monte's seizures?

Edited March 26, 2008 by frufru

[~Anne~]

Hi Puggles - when my boy first started having seizures I read everything I could find and there was an article from the canine epilepsy website that mentioned floor cleaners - specifically a dog whose seizures were triggered by a pine scented floor cleaner. I am always very careful with anything that has a strong smell - particularly essential oils as a dogs nose is so much more sensitive than ours. Couldn't any chemical potentially act as a trigger for a specific dog ? Have you identified anything that acts as a trigger for Monte's seizures?

Ahhok, I thought you meant that you had read specifically that eucalyptus was a trigger.

Monte doesn't appear to have any triggers. I have only been using the euclyptus for the last 2 years and he has been having siezures for over 4 years now. He was a rescue dog originally and was surrendered due to his epilepsy, so if there was a trigger then his original owenrs and I would have to have a trigger in commmon.

We have thoroughly researched and watched him though and at one time we thought we could pin point it to weather, and then it would change, and then food, and then that would change and amny other things.

There is no rhyme or reason to his siezures and I keep detailed notes on every single seizure he has ever had over the last 4 years, and there have been a lot I can tell you!

[frufru]

I did the same thing with the note making and thank god my dog did not have the seizures your poor guy does. Mine did not appear to have any triggers either - but I am still really careful with chemicals and have not sprayed the lawn, house or garden with anything since Aces first seizure and I have a little panic if one of the neighbours sprays but in a way I think that is more to do with my fears than the seizures. We use vinegar and bi carb soda a lot!

[CaseyKay]

Hi Stari,

Sorry to hear about your boy. I'm also surprised the vet was so casual. A 5 minute seizure is "normal"?? BTW if he has another one, you should time it, they always seem longer than they really are. Maddie had her first seizure at the beginning of Dec last year and we took her in straight away because my main concern was toxin. She was tested for a LOT of things over the next couple of weeks. Things I never even considered would cause seizures.

As for Triggers, Maddie's is definately overheating...all times she seized was was exercising when it was hot, and she has always had a problem with overheating. KC I have no idea. Occasionally stress, mostly in the beginning but they happen when she is asleep, sitting there doing nothing, chasing a ball etc etc. Over 4 years of keeping a record there is no pattern and no obvious triggers.