Attention dog owners - epilepsy

Battlesnake

Hiya,
out of interest have any of you had probs with your dog having fits after an xray, or after any operation where the animal has had to be anesthetized?
My dog (cavalier king charles spaniel) had a number of fits following an xray aged 4 months. The vets say its genetic, fair enough. Was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else, could the anesthetic have brought on the fits or was it just a coincidence?
He's had no fits in the last 8 months, but remains on medication.

Sarky

My last dog, Grog, became epileptic before he died. He started having seizures, and eventually died of a heart attack. He was on heavy medication towards the end, mostly valium.

No idea why it happened. We think he might have gotten a stroke at some time. He was perfectly healthy and full of energy, then suddenly bang, he could barely breathe...

It's a horrible experience, watching your dog have a fit. Our guy would come out of them dazed and confused, he'd even growl and bark at us for a few seconds afterwards, as if he didn't recognise us. Take good care of your fella.

eth0_

Originally posted by Battlesnake
Hiya,
out of interest have any of you had probs with your dog having fits after an xray, or after any operation where the animal has had to be anesthetized?

Have the vet examine the dog for cardiac problems. There are several heart conditions (which could be exacerbated by the strain of a G.A) which can cause fits which look a lot like an epileptic fit, but are in fact caused by a sudden and dramatic drop in blood pressure.

Battlesnake

I will def take care of him. Love him to bits and pieces!
Am going to ask the vet about the possiblity of cardiac probs next time I see him. Seems likely as cavaliers have a lot of probs with their hearts. Mitral valve disease is a pretty big issue for them
Cheers for advice

Aimee_gleeson

Originally posted by Battlesnake
Hiya,
out of interest have any of you had probs with your dog having fits after an xray, or after any operation where the animal has had to be anesthetized?
My dog (cavalier king charles spaniel) had a number of fits following an xray aged 4 months. The vets say its genetic, fair enough. Was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else, could the anesthetic have brought on the fits or was it just a coincidence?
He's had no fits in the last 8 months, but remains on medication.

It hasnt happened to us after an anesthetic but our half wolf dog has been having fits for 5years now at this stage and he has them every few months really bad but pulls out of them after a day or two(depending on how bad he has them) He in on phenobarbital now 4 morning and 4 night to keep them at bay but still has the fits when he is basically due them. Its an ongoing now at this stage so i guess we have deal with it for the rest of his life! Its fine though because we are so used to it at this stage. He also gets valium if he is very aggitated after a fit to calm him down a fair bit.

Also you said about king charles having bad hearts that is true we just lost our oldest(13) of the 3 king charles and she had an irregular heart beat for her whole life basically but she lived on the days as you see with the age she died at but also our 5 year ones heart is also a lil bit weak but nothing to worry about as it is genetic!

Dyr

our first shepard developed epilepsy halfway through his life, and i later found out that the medication he was put on (PLT i think) can also cause hip and heart problems wheich he also suffered later in life, however he lived to 14 which is a good innings for that breed. So it might be a good idea to look into the heart problem thoroughly.