Thread: Dog Seizures

Hi all. My 12yr old Lab just had a seizure, mouth was foaming, legs started kicking around then went tense. It lasted a few minutes, when she came out of it she didn't recognize me, got aggressive towards me and tried to get some distance from me. after 5-10 minutes she recognize me and got very clingy. her behavior now is like she's a puppy again, very active, playful and follows me everywhere. Anyone got any advice? I'll keep her in the house tonight and ring the vet in the morning.

Had the same on an 18mth old jack Russell foxy cross, canine epilepsy I believe. He would come out of it buggered and sleep a few hours. Very scary for the kids. Took him for blood tests vet said to give him steroid pills? Spoke to someone who did that and said there dog was a zombie. Poor wee bugger had multiple seizures and I suspect a stroke as he passed 6mths later, not nice at all.

Originally Posted by Three O'Three

Hi all. My 12yr old Lab just had a seizure, mouth was foaming, legs started kicking around then went tense. It lasted a few minutes, when she came out of it she didn't recognize me, got aggressive towards me and tried to get some distance from me. after 5-10 minutes she recognize me and got very clingy. her behavior now is like she's a puppy again, very active, playful and follows me everywhere. Anyone got any advice? I'll keep her in the house tonight and ring the vet in the morning.

Found your stash?

chocolate?
can do nasty things to dogs

Haven't recently given her flea treatment of any type ? some dogs are reported to develop a tendency for seizures after Bravecto or such like.

I had a pig dog that had the exact same seizures, once for up to a hour long, had to carry him out. Over exertion in hot conditions can cause a blood sugar level in balance in some dogs, the same “coma” that diabetics can have. Vet said to carry some honey and rub on the gums when ever it happened and it should bring him out of it.. as a pighunter I didn’t want to have a team member with a health condition so I found him a home as a pet and he was fine after that

Vet is going to make all the appropriate sounds and take bloods and basically tell you no more than you already know, use the money you would be giving the vet to buy a box of beers.....I watched my neighbour shove a handful of dirt down his dogs throat when it was having a fit and it came right in no time at all.

Originally Posted by OPO

Haven't recently given her flea treatment of any type ? some dogs are reported to develop a tendency for seizures after Bravecto or such like.

She wears a serestos flea collar only during the summer months

Update: She had another seizure 1 1/2 hours after the first seizure so I rushed her the late night vet in Hamilton. Two hours and $360 later I walked out with not much reassurance and a hand full of pills to try out. I've taken today off work to monitor her, gave her a levetiracetam tablet which seems to be doing the trick. Now I'm trying to find a cheap supply of levetiracetam, purpose I'm pushing shit uphill with that.

I had a labrador start doing exactly the same, vet tried telling me it was epilepsy and here are some pills that will cost you big money for the rest of her life. It didn't seem right to me as it seemed more like a low blood sugar seizure as she was ravenous afterwards. I pushed them into doing a scan and hello what's this... huge growth/benign tumour about half a soccer ball size on her intestine which I guess was draining her sugar levels down. Anyway spent way too much getting the growth removed and she carried on problem free for another 7 years and lived till she was 15. So before accepting it is epilepsy, get a scan to make sure there are no internal growths or tumors

it is one of the great injustice's of this world that a man lives longer than his most loyal friend......
good luck bud....only you will know what is right thing to do
our cocker got this at 11years old so took final journey to the big duckpond in the sky,Im sure he will be giving the eternal gamekeeper a hard time

Before you try any of the voodoo or black Majic suggested here best to let the vet have a good go at your wallet. Might as well try to get to the bottom of it instead of forcing dirt down it's throat
I would suggest you try to get a definitive diagnosis first to rule out other stuff like Brakelie mentioned. The anti seizure stuff the vet gave you will just be a try to get the seizures under control first type thing, as opposed to an actual diagnosis. Sounds like a pretty scary event

Originally Posted by Brakelie

I had a labrador start doing exactly the same, vet tried telling me it was epilepsy and here are some pills that will cost you big money for the rest of her life. It didn't seem right to me as it seemed more like a low blood sugar seizure as she was ravenous afterwards. I pushed them into doing a scan and hello what's this... huge growth/benign tumour about half a soccer ball size on her intestine which I guess was draining her sugar levels down. Anyway spent way too much getting the growth removed and she carried on problem free for another 7 years and lived till she was 15. So before accepting it is epilepsy, get a scan to make sure there are no internal growths or tumors

What do you mean by 'ravenous"? hungry and viscous?

At 12 years old I would strongly suspect there is a pretty serious underlying cause for this, possibly an infection however if she is otherwise well between seizures I would think cancer or more likely tumour. Sure these drugs might help keep the seizures at bay but the primary cause needs to be dealt with. I would be taking another trip back to the vets for a thorough look over, afterhours vets are known for not being overly thorough. I see your in Huntly, I know it’s a long way to travel but Te Aroha vets are by far the best vets in the waikato in my opinion if your willing to make a trip.

as a full brother to a Dr of veterniary Science,Ex reigstered nurse with some expertise in Epileptic activity ,and having owned a dog who developed it heres some thoughts .

Onions -yes go with steak DO NOT FEED TO DOGS-IT INDUCES CANINE PARKINSONISM It cost us around $1k some years ago to have this confirmed in a terrier cross we had.

Chocolate -IT WILL KILL A DOG!
My late much lamented corgi Whiskey developed focal point epilepsy(AKA Jacksonian epilepsy) the seizure would start under his left ear and run down the side of his face.
My vet at the time wanted to chart phenobarbitone -a very powerful anticonvulsant we used a lot .however had seen a mates german shepherd go mad on it -so i opted for Dilantin another anti convulsant (and which I could get a supply of).If whiskey had a seizure a capsule in a knob of butter slid in the side of his mouth did the trick,hed recover in his won time somewhere nice and quiet ,and often sought a feed afterward. alas lost the bugger at 10.5 yeas old with cancerous spinal tumour. as seizures are in essence uncontrolled electrical activity in the nervous system investigations often reveal abnormality in the brain /spine or else injury to same can be causative . Severe INFECTION is another case where seizures can manifest-often the case with infants toddlers