Seizures

[Carolyn]

Kiya had a siezure yesterday afternoon, it was horrible, she's ok now. All the bloodwork came up good. They took a stomach xray, there was something, don't know what, they induced vomitting only a little grass came up. Cant say if that caused the siezure or not. Im waiting to hear from my vet as to what we should do for further testing. I was so scared I really thought I was going to loose her. Billy wasn't home all I could do was try to tell myself to remain calm, I held her head & paw & comforted her, that was all I could do. It lasted forever but Im guessing 1-2 minutes, Shes 18months, her breeder never had any siblings or mom go thru this, he's contacting the sir's owner.
Anyone else ever experience this?
Carolyn

[Icerotti]

I am sorry to hear this. It must have scared you so much. Hopefully it will be a one time thing.

Vs are prone to seizures too

[2dobies]

A friend of mine has a 4 yr. old yellow lab female that had a seizure about a year ago--the only one it ever had.  I have a Pom that has seizures a LOT and is on phenobarbitol medication to help control them.  If she were not on the medication, she would more than likely be in a constant state of seizures.  I hope that what you experienced was a one-time-only thing, but if your vet says that it could happen again, there are some good medications (in pill form) that do a good job of controlling the episodes. We will keep hoping for the best for you and Kiya.

[newflvr]

Oh, Carolyn, I'm soo sorry you had to go through that....especi ally all by yourself!!!  Hopefully it was just something she ate!  As you know, Cowboy has seizures and it can be so awful....so scary! He started seizing, from what we've been able to figure out at about 15 months...we adopted him at 18 months.  That is about the standard age (between 14 - 15 months and 24 months) if there is a problem.   You will just have to watch her.   If she seizes again, you should probably get her in to a vet. neurologist for a complete work up.  Blood work, if it's epilepsy, doesn't show a thing, nor does an MRI or spinal tap.  Sometimes you'd like one of those tests to come back with something so that it's NOT epilepsy!!! But the good news is there are great drugs out there!

One thing you should be aware of is that many times breeders don't know (or, sadly, won't tell!) if they have epilepsy in the line.  Cowboy was the first of his breeder's dogs to show up with it and now there are a couple of more.  Not many, really considering how many litters there have been, but if you are the one to have the problem, it is just too much!  We have our fingers and paws crossed that that was the only time you have to deal with this.

IF she does seize again, just make sure that she is in a safe place where she can't hurt herself...and don't try to hold her.  They really aren't 'in their head' right then so it is SO easy to be bitten accidentally.  Also, Kiya could be very disoriented after, and panic easily so try to keep her with you for at least an hour after in a quiet place.   

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to help and share resources with you if, God forbid, you need them....

[Carolyn]

Thanks everyone, its so good to be able to share experiences & information. What scares me is both of us work so if it happens again..well I'll hope it doesnt happen. I thought about getting a "nanny cam" so I can spy in on them while Im at work. I have faith in the breeders of both parents, info on health is crutial & a big issue with them. For now I'll just sit back, wait & pray.
Carolyn

[newflvr]

Sometimes, if you come home from work and there is an 'accident' it could be from a seizure.  Before we found the right meds for  Cowboy, he would both urinate and defecate during seizures.

Again....I'm counting on Kiya never doing it again!!!

[brandon]

You don't suppose she got into something do you?   Our sheltie had a seizure once (only one he ever had) when he sniffed under the fridge where I had sprayed bug spray the day before.  He died at age 15, and as far as I know that was the only seizure he ever had, but it was scary.

[doglover]

I pray that this is a one time thing. My 9 year old beagle has epilepsy. It started around the age of 2. i didn't put him on any medicine until they started getting really bad, he would have them every friday like clock work, before he would have 1 a month. He has been sizure free for over 2 years now. He has been on the medicine longer and had 2 one year so the up the dose. He has also faked a sizure to get out of having a bath, never worked after the first time though. If you need anything just let me know. Rebel would actually come fine us when he was getting ready to have a sizure. He would also start to drool which beagle don't do, and start to start off. It would take him alittle while after the sizure ended to be able to walk straight and get his senses back. I'l be praying for you.

[suzanne]

My 5 (nearly 6) year old Pyr, Sophia, had her first seizure 8 hours after a rabies injection 18 months ago.  Fortunately, they are under control with low doses of Phenobarb and Pot. Bromide.  A website (and forum) that I found to be a gold mine of info is http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/  Also, I cannot recommend strongly enough the benefit I feel Bach Rescue Remedy has been...during and after a seizure.  It's not the quantity but the frequency that is important.  Sophia is 123 lbs...but even if she were 23 lbs., the dosage would be approx. the same....a few drops (approx. 1/4 dropper) on the fleshy, inside part of the ear flap (avoid a hairy area so the RR gets directly onto the skin).  You can administer this on the inside of the mouth, or on the tongue etc., but I find the ear location easiest.  As soon as she goes into a seizure, I grab a "puppy piddle pad", which I have located in various places around my house for this purpose, pop it under her bottom as she ususally loses control of both her bladder and bowels.  Then I run for the RR.  It seems to help shorten the length and severity of the seizure.  I give her a dose every 15 min. or so until she seems to be back to normal.  There are times I have given her 5 and 6 doses over the course of a few hours.  It's safe and good for "Mom" too to help her de-stress.  Also, if you have some ice cream..prefera bly plain, like vanilla...(in fact I used to keep some on hand just for this purpose), it can be soothing and restorative as a seizure can be exhausting.  But, don't feed anything until the seizure and re-coup time has passed. Good Luck.

[newflvr]

I've heard that Breyer's vanilla is the best for the post-ictal stage...it is the purest without many additives.  I'm mix RR in a scoop of ice cream for Cowboy after he has his rectal valium and his extra pheno.... 

[Carolyn]

Thanks everyone for being here again for me. Kiya was fine acting 100% herself. We went to bed at 10:30, 11:30 she had a seizure, again at 4am, 8:30am while we were on the way to the vets office. In the office she appeared to have another fit while standing she began to shake & foam at the mouth. I left her there Dr. Timpone wanted to get her on iv phenobarb & he said something about cathateter (spelling). I should be able to bring her home later today. This will be a learning experience on how to care for Kiya.
I am so greatfull for everyones information & support. Im tring to collect myself, 1 hour of sleep is really not good. I will be posting about this on the Shiloh yahoo group. As far as I know I have never heard anyone mention epilepsy there.
Carolyn

[newflvr]

Okay...I'm spewing profanity here!  As you know, this isn't very good news.  It sounds like Kiya has cluster seizures.  Unless they find an organic cause (brain injury, tumor, etc) the diagnosis will be idiopathic epilepsy. It's expensive initially for the testing to get the diagnosis...bu t once it's done, it's just medication costs. 

The catheter is for valium.  They will give her enough valium to basically knock her out to stop the seizures.  They will probably start you with phenobarbital because it's effective quickly and relatively inexpensive.  If pheno controls it, great!!!  It's a good idea, to learn how to do rectal valium at home because for some unknown reason, they seem to seize more in the middle of the night and it's not fun running to the ER in the middle of the night with a seizing dog.  It really is no big deal.  My advice to you is to not bother with the catheter, just use the syringe....and your vet can explain it.  It's quicker. 

Cowboy and I got his breeder to participate with us in the Epilepsy study through the University of Michigan so that hopefully they will eventually find out the cause or at least, more effectively, treat epilepsy in pure-breds.  I'll send you the info on that site and maybe you guys can participate as well.  It's just a matter of a blood draw and filling out a questionnaire.  My vet actually did the draw for free because she thought it was that important.

There are numerous wonderful websites for the support of epi dogs and of course all of us here.  It is the SH**S but it is managable.  Kiya, Tucker, Sophia, Rebel and Cowboy are worth it!

Oh, I forgot...one of the classic symptoms of an epi dogs is that they are 100% normal between seizures!!

[Moni]

I'm sorry to hear about Kiya getting the monster. 

Has she had anything in the last couple of days?  Frontline, heartworm meds, baths, dips, shots etc?  Anything that she could've gotten into over the holidays?  I second the keeping vanilla ice cream around, it helps cool them down and bring their sugar back up also.  Tenchi has grand-mal seizures also, luckily they're far apart enough that he doesn't require medication.  He has like 1 a day for 3 days, then he's good for around 6 months or so.  Actually *knock on wood*  he's holding a personal record for himself right now. 

Another thing to do is start keeping a personal journal for Kiya.  Try and write down everything she eats/does around each seizure and you might find her personal triggers.  Also, if she's on any lamb based foods, you might want to switch her to something different.  Supposedly lack of taurine can cause seizures in some dogs.  So its something to keep in mind.  Best of luck with her, epi pups can live long lives too. 

[Anky]

MONI YOUR NEW AVATAR ROCKS!

[doglover]

Sorry to hear that she had more seizures. But it will be alright. Taking care of her will end up no big deal after you get use to it. And the medicine does not cost that much either, and it does a great job once you get the correct dose, which sometimes take sometime. It will get better.