Dog Epilepsy

MeerKat17

Hi All!

A few months ago my beautiful Lab Token was walking in the sitting room when all of a sudden he lost control of all his limbs as though he had an all over body case of pins and needles, he started shaking violently, his eyes rolled around in his head and he was frothing at the mouth. It only lasted a few minutes but it was absolutely terrifying, and then he was fine afterwards. Since then it has happened 3 more times, with the one yesterday being the longest and most violent (I was not there at the time but was told about it). Brought him to the vet today and got blood tests done, the blood tests are fine but the Vet says he is probably epileptic.
I don't know anyone with epilepsy, and to me this is terrifying, I am so worried about him! On top of that I will be away working for the next 2 weeks and he will be at a minders, I feel so guilty leaving him when he has just been diagnosed with this but it can't be helped.
Have any of you had any similar experiences? Am I over reacting being so worried? Please help ease my mind!!
Also, what do you think of the medication for epilepsy for dogs? Will he be "out of it" while he's on it or will it change his behavior at all?

Any advice much appreciated! :(

pokertalk

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Hi All!

A few months ago my beautiful Lab Token was walking in the sitting room when all of a sudden he lost control of all his limbs as though he had an all over body case of pins and needles, he started shaking violently, his eyes rolled around in his head and he was frothing at the mouth. It only lasted a few minutes but it was absolutely terrifying, and then he was fine afterwards. Since then it has happened 3 more times, with the one yesterday being the longest and most violent (I was not there at the time but was told about it). Brought him to the vet today and got blood tests done, the blood tests are fine but the Vet says he is probably epileptic.
I don't know anyone with epilepsy, and to me this is terrifying, I am so worried about him! On top of that I will be away working for the next 2 weeks and he will be at a minders, I feel so guilty leaving him when he has just been diagnosed with this but it can't be helped
Any advice much appreciated! :([/QUOTE."probably epileptic" is that all the vet said ? did he put the dog on any medication?i hate it when a vet says "probably ".is your dog reged ? how old is he? you should consider Contacting the owner of the sire and owners of the dam’s siblings

MeerKat17

Well the Vet did blood tests to rule out anything else, and when we came back for the results of the blood test the vet was not there and the nurse said his blood was fine so that seemed to rule out everything else but epilepsy. She gave us medication, and was told its the same medication epileptic humans take?
He has just turned 2 years old and is a purebred dog, contacting the breeder is a good idea. What do you mean by reged?

pokertalk

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Well the Vet did blood tests to rule out anything else, and when we came back for the results of the blood test the vet was not there and the nurse said his blood was fine so that seemed to rule out everything else but epilepsy. She gave us medication, and was told its the same medication epileptic humans take?
He has just turned 2 years old and is a purebred dog, contacting the breeder is a good idea. What do you mean by reged?

sorry i meant registered breed .its a problem that can be controled with the rite medication. if they attacks start happening on a daily basis and sometimes can go on for hours then it can become a real concern.i know it looks terrible but he wont swallow his tongue. its the lack of oxygen thats the problem going to the brain thats y it becomes a real worry if its happening on a daily basis for long periods of time/ dont forget to go back to the vet to have a discussion about it to put your mind at ease. there are different levels as far as i know . hope the poor ladfeels better with the meds. has he had any today?

MeerKat17

pokertalk wrote: »

sorry i meant registered breed .its a problem that can be controled with the rite medication. if they attacks start happening on a daily basis and sometimes can go on for hours then it can become a real concern.i know it looks terrible but he wont swallow his tongue. its the of oxygen thats the problem going to the brain thats y it becomes a real worry if its happening on a daily basis for long periods of time/ dont forget to go back to the vet to have a discussion about it to put your mind at ease. there are different levels as far as i know . hope the poor ladfeels better with the meds. has he had any today?

Thanks pokertalk! I feel a bit better now! Its only happened 3/4 times in the last 6 months so its not so bad I guess! He hasn't had any yet but I'll give them to him tonight when I feed him, it might be easier to mix it into his food. Have you had an experience of this with a dog before? Do you know how the meds usually effect them?

pokertalk

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Thanks pokertalk! I feel a bit better now! Its only happened 3/4 times in the last 6 months so its not so bad I guess! He hasn't had any yet but I'll give them to him tonight when I feed him, it might be easier to mix it into his food. Have you had an experience of this with a dog before? Do you know how the meds usually effect them?

no i have had no experience but i know someone s king charles that had it. only side effects that he had were drinking alot of waterthe dog that is;).maybe there is someone on here with first had experience i have read up on it abit thats the extent of by knowledge;)

Julybreeze

Hi there,

Just wanted to tell my positive story of owning a dog with epilepsy. My dog was diagnosed when he was 2 and he's now 6. He had full bloods done on the day of his first fit, our vet thought he was poisoned but everything came back negative/clear. We then took him to UCD for heart tests, heart problems were ruled out so through a process of elimination he was diagnosed with epilepsy (there is no definitive test for epilepsy).

Our vet started him on Phenobarbital straight away and he has only had 3 fits in the past 4 years, stress is his main trigger for fits as he had one when he was being groomed another when he was in the vets for a check-up. He has a blood test every 6 months to check that his Phenobarbital levels are adequate, he hasn't had to have his dose increased since he started so we're delighted about that.

He is a bit drowsy after his tablet in the mornings so I wouldn't bring him for a walk right away, same in the evening, I give it to him at bedtime. He is really fit and apart from giving him his medication we forget there's anything wrong with him so hopefully it will be the same for your guy!

Best if luck with it

MeerKat17

Julybreeze wrote: »

Hi there,

Just wanted to tell my positive story of owning a dog with epilepsy. My dog was diagnosed when he was 2 and he's now 6. He had full bloods done on the day of his first fit, our vet thought he was poisoned but everything came back negative/clear. We then took him to UCD for heart tests, heart problems were ruled out so through a process of elimination he was diagnosed with epilepsy (there is no definitive test for epilepsy).

Our vet started him on Phenobarbital straight away and he has only had 3 fits in the past 4 years, stress is his main trigger for fits as he had one when he was being groomed another when he was in the vets for a check-up. He has a blood test every 6 months to check that his Phenobarbital levels are adequate, he hasn't had to have his dose increased since he started so we're delighted about that.

He is a bit drowsy after his tablet in the mornings so I wouldn't bring him for a walk right away, same in the evening, I give it to him at bedtime. He is really fit and apart from giving him his medication we forget there's anything wrong with him so hopefully it will be the same for your guy!

Best if luck with it

Thanks for that! Its good to know it won't affect his life too much!
Do you have to give your dog the meds every day since he was diagnosed? Is it expensive?

Julybreeze

MeerKat17 wrote: »

Thanks for that! Its good to know it won't affect his life too much!
Do you have to give your dog the meds every day since he was diagnosed? Is it expensive?

No problem, yes he gets a tablet twice everyday. Thankfully it's just under a tenner for a month's supply. I've insured him since but he's obviously not covered for existing illnesses and won't be covered if he gets any other neurological disorders.

echosound

We had a dog with epilepsy, and it is a lot easier to manage than you might think when you first find out (I had visions of having to inject her and watch her 24/7 etc!)

Her fits weren't really the shaking out kind, rather she would start awkwardly walking in circles, her back legs going weak, and she'd start drooling and looking "sad", for want of a better word. She'd also stiffen up and you could feel the muscles in her haunch tensing up. We always managed to settle her by bringing her outside into the fresh air and holding her and soothing her while the worst of it was going on, then she'd roll around a bit in the grass to revive herself after it had passed.

We brought her to the vets after a few of these fits (she came to us as an older dog so we had no idea if she had epilepsy all along, or if it came on her later in life, as she didn't throw a fit for almost a year after we got her, then all of a sudden they started coming more than once a week).

The Vet said "epilepsy", and started her off on phenobarbitol, we had a few weeks of trying out different dosage levels to find one which suited best. We gave her a tablet every day, found it easy to get into her by just getting a little knob of butter and sticking the tablet in it, she looked forward to getting her tablet as it meant a treat of butter and she'd wolf it down and not notice the tablet in it! Tablets were cheap enough, as mentioned under a tenner for a month's supply. We used to get a 6 month prescription from the vet at her check-ups, and our local chemist would fill the prescription for us every few months.

Her personality didn't change much on the meds, but I did find she'd space out a bit for about 20 minutes after the tablet. Just kinda sit around staring off into the distance like she was contemplating the mysteries of the universe :pac: After that, it was business as usual Looking for walks, treats, affection, etc. Like any normal dog!

The fits decreased with the meds, at the start when we were settling her on the meds she'd have one every few days, but on the meds it could go for weeks in between the fits, and they were nowhere near as severe as before. Once the fits were over, it was like she was snapping straight back into normality, bouncing around the place like nothing had happened.

She lived a long and happy life for many years whilst on the meds, no health or fitness issues really. She's dead a few years now (unrelated to the epilepsy, she just got very very old for her breed, and everything started packing up on the poor aul sausage and we had to have her put to sleep).

Sorry for the essay just wanted to reassure you that epilepsy is quite easy to manage in dogs, and that it won't affect your dog too much at all once you're just keeping an eye on it. Best of luck and if you have any other questions at any time feel free to ask

suziwalsh

I have an epileptic labrador.....diagnosed at a year old on phenobarbital twice a day for the past 18 months hasn't had a seizure since. Were very lucky insurance covers majority but even if it didnt, its not an expensive condition. Our lab was out of sorts the first couple of weeks on meds but now as good as ever comes running every day and gets probably 10 miles or more a day not a bother. I do have to watch his diets as the condition can make him gain weight.

Its lucky if your vet is experienced and can get the meds right quickly if not that part is the most difficult.

I would recommend that unless your dog is having fits very regularly that there might be no need for medication as long term it can have an effect on the liver. I wouldnt have put him on meds except his seizures were too close together. I have spoken to people at length that have epilepsy to get an idea of what my dog experiences so thats always a good route also there are some great websites :

http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/
http://www.canine-seizures.freeservers.com/
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/living.html

this one I like the best www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/

I also have other experiences with dogs I work with and the condition....all are doing well but the younger of the two is taking a long time to find the right combination of medication etc. so it can take time.

I have no regrets about owning an epileptic dog. Best dog ever!!!! He is fantastic. I would just let everyone know the protocol when or if your dog has another seizure as dogs can react differently prior to or following an episode.

suziwalsh

Also just to make you aware some seizures can be brought on my allergies to diet....so worth looking in to....I know of a dog whos seizures completely stopped following a change to the raw food diet.

Ann22

Sometimes poisoning can cause seizures in dogs. I saw an episode of Animal Rescue Australia recently where a dog was found abandoned in a yard where there were bodies of some other poor dogs that had died from poisoning.

The dog had been stolen from its owner 2yrs before, lucky he'd been microchipped, so much to his joy, he got his beloved pet back. I was in tears watching. Soon after being rescued, the dog started having seizures..the vet said the fits were either caused by epilepsy or were the aftereffects of poisoning.The owner gave him the anti-epileptic drugs for a while but stopped them to see what would happen. The dog was grand, the seizures stopped...so it must've been the poisoning that caused it and it had faded out of his system.

It's unlikely that, that's what's wrong with your dog op...I just mentioned it 'cos a workmate of mine has a much pampered Bichon Frise rescue dog who was maliciously poisoned lately. Lucky he survived. She said a few pets in her area have been mysteriously poisoned. I can't get my head around the fact that there are individuals around that could cause such pain to a poor innocent animal.

LucieG

Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but does anybody have any experience with holistic aproach when it comes to epilepsy in dogs? Or vitamin supplements? Read recently about acupuncture in the dogs ears, supposed to be working on some dogs. I have my own cavalier king charles, his seizures are coming on now twice a month, 3 to 10 mins, vet doesnt want to put him on medication yet, we rulled out every possible reason and trigger, no idea what is causing it, tried bio energy on him, seizure came on only 3 minute one, so not too bad, but still, a session cost us 50 euro and we need more sessions if we want to see a good result. I find it emotionally challenging as my dog is just like my baby (we dont have kids yet). I would appreciate any comment.

Inexile

Just to add to what Suzi Walsh said. A rescue Im involved with had an epiletic hound. It was homed abroad to a person who had previous experience of eilepsy in dogs. She put the dog onto a completely natural diet as she reckoned that additives in some of the processed foods can trigger attacks. The dog is doing well ever since.

LucieG

What I have a hard time to understand is fact that he is on his feed since he was 10 weeks old, the royal canin cavalier king charles mix and his first seizure occured when he was 2 years old, he will be 4 next month and seizures are coming on more often for last 4 months, cant understand why, checked the breeder and no history of epilepsy in there. His routine hasnt changed a bit neither his feed. The unknown is frustrating as hell, but willing to try more things before it comes to phenobarbitol...