My Girl Keeps Seizuring!

[Guest janiesmom]

My 7 yr. old female started seizuring about a year ago. She was started on phenobarb and then potassium bromide. She now takes 2 pheno 100mg. 2x day and 4 ml of pot. br. 2 x day. She also takes meds for incontinence. During the last several months she has had seizures twice a month and now has 2 at a time. When that happened for the first time it was a weekend and the vet said to give her 4 gravol and a phenobarb which finally put her out. So we had a complete blood panel and thyroid test done after that and she was in the acceptable range so the vet gave me some Valium to give to her rectally when she starts seizing to stop them. I have to give her two vials to put her out.

Last night we were at a friend's house for New Year's Eve and she had one light seizure. About 20 mins. later she had a more severe one. It seemed like she wanted to go out and was quite anxious and as we were getting ready to go home, as I didn't have any meds with me, she had a more severe one outstide. Needless to say we were in the car immediately and once home she got a valium shot right away. She was still quite anxious after 15 mins. so I gave her another which finally put her out for the night. I will advise the vet tomorrow and get his advice. Maybe her meds need to be increased. I can't figure out a trigger for this. Stress doesn't seem to be it as we drove to Winnipeg and back for Xmas and she was fine! She is a big girl (80 lbs.) and seems hungry all the time, or would eat all the time. I feed her Ori-Jen kibble with tripe or sardines 2x day but now I am giving her some protein and kibble at lunchtime too. Any help from anyone on this would be appreciated.

 

 

[silverfish]

I don't have any personal experience with owning seizure dogs, but if you haven't seen a specialist with her, I'd ask for a referral right about now, I think. It doesn't sound as if her seizures are being controlled very well. I might also get a second opinion on the thyroid, but as I understand it, seizure meds can make them hungry.

[Guest greytexplorer]

Are greyhounds prone to diabetes?

When blood sugar gets too low, seizure can result.

 

Good luck! and for being such a good owner!!!

 

~Pat

[Guest sweetgsmom]

I have a siezure girl Aidan. we went through a series of tests and vets finally ended up with a specialist, she has Grand Mal siezures. They are under control now but its taken quite a while, shes on Phena and Potassium Bromide. I really would try to get her to a Neurologist ours has been a life saver.

I know how scary they can be, and how helpless you feel. I will say a little prayer for your girl and you.

[TheFullHouse]

Have the vet draw some blood and check her medication levels, even though they may be within what is considered "controllable" range, she may be in the low portion and could use an increase in her medication. It took us quite a few tries to get Saints where he could be controlled. Keep some ice cream on hand and after she seizes give her some, it will bring her blood sugar back up and could possibly keep her from having another one.

[Burpdog]

Since incontinence meds can cause seizures, I'd be seeing a specialist. I also would not be using them.

 

Sending prayers.

[Trudy]

As Judy said, get some bloodwork to check levels for the Pb and KBr. Those meds may not be at a high enough dose to control now or you may need to try another medication. For another reason, Ryan was on gabapentin for a while which is a seizure drug.

I don't know how much 4ml is, but Ryan was taking 2000 mg of KBr a day for quite a while before we had to drop the dose because he was way too "drugged" at that amt.

 

Also check to be sure the meds for incontinence are ok to take with the Pb and KBr - and if seizures are a side effect, I'd not be giving them to my seizure dog.

[Guest janiesmom]

Thank you everyone, I will keep you posted on what the vet tells me.

You have given me some good questions to ask him.

 

[Guest LindsaySF]

I wondered about low blood sugar too, if she seems hungry all the time and food helps. Good luck and keep us updated.

[Guest argolola]

Sending prayers for your sweet pup.

[Guest greyhound_mommy]

No advice just wanted to send well wishes and thoughts.

[turbotaina]

For what it's worth, diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) is not common in dogs (including greyhounds ). Cats are prone to it. Not to say it couldn't happen, but it's unlikely.

 

And yeah, I'd also be asking re: incontinence meds.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Jackandgrey]

So what did the vet say Heather?

[Guest vahoundlover]

I had an interesing conversation with my holistic vet today....she has had a lot of success with taking grains out of the diet of seizure dogs to the extent that quite a few are off phene and Kbr. Might be worth finding a holistic vet in your area and discussing diet. She also said that any of the semi moist foods and treats are the worst for seizure dogs.

 

She also gave me another tip...(I have a terrier with seizures) If they are seizing take both ears and fold them in 1/2 forward so the tip of the ear is touching their head and squeeze "the heck" out of them in the center of the fold..she said this past weekend at the EVet's (she is on the board and works some shifts when they need coverage) she brought a dog having cluster seizures out of the seizure before they could admin valuum. (that's pretty fast!) I'll take a pic and post it if you are interested.

 

 

[Guest LolasMom]

I had an interesing conversation with my holistic vet today....she has had a lot of success with taking grains out of the diet of seizure dogs to the extent that quite a few are off phene and Kbr. Might be worth finding a holistic vet in your area and discussing diet. She also said that any of the semi moist foods and treats are the worst for seizure dogs.

 

She also gave me another tip...(I have a terrier with seizures) If they are seizing take both ears and fold them in 1/2 forward so the tip of the ear is touching their head and squeeze "the heck" out of them in the center of the fold..she said this past weekend at the EVet's (she is on the board and works some shifts when they need coverage) she brought a dog having cluster seizures out of the seizure before they could admin valuum. (that's pretty fast!) I'll take a pic and post it if you are interested.

 

Please do . I'd love to see what you mean. It's a little hard to imagine where exactly on the ear you mean. And it's great information to have in an emergency!

[Guest greyt2love]

Caesar is now taking 4 60mg Pheno tabs twice a day, and 1 750mg potassium bromide capsule once a day. We just increased his pheno from 3 to 4 about a month ago. He had been pretty well controlled - maybe one mild seizure every 4 or 5 weeks, then one weekend he had 8 seizures over a two day period. He lost all memory of his name, me, his housebraking, steps, everything. I was so scared, but my vet said that was not uncommon, and Caesar did fully recover by the end of that week. We did all the testd and he was on the low end of the pheno, so that;s why we raised it. Potassium levles were okay. Liver and kidneys are all fine. I asked about diabetes, too, because he also wants to eat all the time. Blood work came back negative for diabetes and, as was already stated here, research and the vet affirmed thast the medicine was causing it. His weight has not changed more than a pound up or down in over a year, so I just let him eat whaat he seems to want. I also have Valium because soon after I first got him, he had Grand Mal seizures and I nearly lost him. The e-vet- bless them - pulled him through, and sent him home with Valium. Thank God, I have never had to use it.

 

I had an interesing conversation with my holistic vet today....she has had a lot of success with taking grains out of the diet of seizure dogs to the extent that quite a few are off phene and Kbr. Might be worth finding a holistic vet in your area and discussing diet. She also said that any of the semi moist foods and treats are the worst for seizure dogs.

 

She also gave me another tip...(I have a terrier with seizures) If they are seizing take both ears and fold them in 1/2 forward so the tip of the ear is touching their head and squeeze "the heck" out of them in the center of the fold..she said this past weekend at the EVet's (she is on the board and works some shifts when they need coverage) she brought a dog having cluster seizures out of the seizure before they could admin valuum. (that's pretty fast!) I'll take a pic and post it if you are interested.

 

Please do. I'd love to see it. I feel so helpless watching him and not being able to do anything.

[Guest vahoundlover]

I had an interesing conversation with my holistic vet today....she has had a lot of success with taking grains out of the diet of seizure dogs to the extent that quite a few are off phene and Kbr. Might be worth finding a holistic vet in your area and discussing diet. She also said that any of the semi moist foods and treats are the worst for seizure dogs.

 

She also gave me another tip...(I have a terrier with seizures) If they are seizing take both ears and fold them in 1/2 forward so the tip of the ear is touching their head and squeeze "the heck" out of them in the center of the fold..she said this past weekend at the EVet's (she is on the board and works some shifts when they need coverage) she brought a dog having cluster seizures out of the seizure before they could admin valuum. (that's pretty fast!) I'll take a pic and post it if you are interested.

 

Please do . I'd love to see what you mean. It's a little hard to imagine where exactly on the ear you mean. And it's great information to have in an emergency!

 

I'm worthless as a leftie But this should give you an idea, she did it on Boss today to show me and she said "squeeze the heck" out of it. She must have seen the look in my eye (I was thinking OUCH) so she made me do it and Boss didn't even flinch.

 

 

 

[Guest greyt2love]

Okay. Thanks, Hope. Looks easy enough to do. Hopefully I will not have a need for it anytime soon, though.

[Guest offrecord]

Although my dog does not have seizures, I have epilepsy and have had both grand mal and non-convulsive seizures since I was thirteen. Someday, I would like to adopt a greyhound who has epilepsy. It's my understanding that epilepsy in dogs is quite similar to epilepsy in humans, that 's why the medications are the same. I am posting because I'd like to reassure the parents out there that having a seizure is not nearly as painful as it looks. I'm convinced that it is way worse for my parents or husband to see me have a seizure than it is for me to have one. It's just a little disorientation and sleepiness. At least dogs don't feel the same humiliation. As with people, finding the right medication is a trial and error effort. Some medicines work on some people (or dogs), but don't work for others who have the same type of seizures. There is still a lot unknown about how medications work and the area of the brain that may be affected (it is brain science afterall). I would be surpised if blood sugars were causing seizures because most cases of epilepsy (defined as multiple seizures) are caused by a neurological event in the brain. For the same reason, I doubt squeezing the ears is anything more than coincidental. The only natural remedy proven to help prevent seizures is a high protein diet because protein helps buffer the nervous system. But if squeezing ears makes you feel better to have something to do during the seizure and it doesn't hurt the dog, by all means go for it. Bless you all for caring for dogs with seizures! And, stay hopeful. I finally found a medication that works and have been seizure free for quite awhile.

[Guest janiesmom]

thank you all for the info. My vet referred me to a specialist for further testing next week and I will keep you posted on what he says...thanks again!

 

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Our grey mix has epilepsy. He is on pheno and potassium bromide. I also have valium on hand in case he clusters, but have not had to use it yet since he joined our family in Oct.

 

The potassium bromide is what I think is really doing the trick for Henry. He used to cluster, but has not clustered since the addition of potassium bromide in October. (Though he did have one single seizure, we believe this was triggered by a severe urinary tact infection) Henry is over the therapuetic levels of potassium bromide in his system as we are weaning him off pheno to allow this higher dose of potassium bromide.

 

It's really trial and error and lots of prayer.

 

We also switched Henry to a high quality kibble tha has no preservatives. (Solid Gold) Also I have heard in seizure prone dogs, sometimes rosemary and sage can be seizure triggers, so just to play it safe, I make sure Henry's kibble doesnt have either. I give Henry taurine as well. I empty contents of taurine capsule directly onto some blueberries. He also gets a kibble snack about a half hour after the blueberries with taurine. Dont know if it helps, but it cant hurt. We are on vacation right now in Florida, but when we get home, we intend to start Henry on a raw diet. Apparently there is many ways of doing it. Ground versus whole, meat only versus mixed with veggies, fruit, etc. I know for sure I will not be adding any grain to Henry's kibble. Here is an article about how one family did it and how much it helped their dog: http://www.lascruces.com/~dalcrazy/Diet.html

 

I believe someone already linked you to Epil-K9. I highly reccomend joining. I have learned so much and gotten so many ideas from all the emails I get through that.

[Jeff]

It's really trial and error and lots of prayer.

 

Umm, no. It is really trial and error with lots of spaced out blood tests to verify the proper levels of the medications.

 

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Well yes of course blood tests as well. And if you are a praying family, then prayer too, which is us!

[Guest neworleansmama]

Our vet told me he puts his epilepsy dogs on a raw diet. I guess that makes it easy to avoid any allergy triggers.

[silverfish]

For the same reason, I doubt squeezing the ears is anything more than coincidental. The only natural remedy proven to help prevent seizures is a high protein diet because protein helps buffer the nervous system. But if squeezing ears makes you feel better to have something to do during the seizure and it doesn't hurt the dog, by all means go for it.

 

I'll reserve judgement. Sometimes some surprisingly bizarre sounding things can have a definite effect - like the trick I learned to stop a sneeze when you feel that dreaded tickle. If you press the tip of your tongue as hard as you can up against the little ledge of hard palate just behind your front (top) teeth, you can often hold it off. Who knows why that works, but it does.