Seizures

[Guest sandlot13433]

I woke up this morning at 4 am to my baby, Tucker, having a grand mal seizure. He has never had one before, and I have had him for four years now. This got me wondering about when other greys started having seizures. It was so scary, and I felt so helpless, but he is doing fine now. The vet said he may never have another one, or he could have another one tomorrow, but they can't do much for him until he has another one. So now I guess it's just a waiting game??? Any advice in the mean time? Thanks everyone! Oh, and please let me know if any of the poll questions need to be re-worded or are unclear.

[Trudy]

Ryan's seizure pattern is to have a violent seizure and then within 10 days have another, but not as bad. How long between series has never been constant.

 

We waited a while before medicating him to see if we could find a pattern and then decide if he needed meds all the time or if we could just medicate to the pattern.

Around the end of 2007, he was having a seizure a month since the clotting was preventing him from processing all his meds efficiently, but he's not had a seizure since June now.

 

 

But your vet is correct - he may never have another, but if he does, then you need to decide what to do to figure out the cause of it.

Keep track of when they were and if you noticed anything different about him before he seized.

 

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Oh no! I am so sorry!

 

Henry is my second dog to have epilepsy. My first has epilepsy as a result of massive brain trauma at age one. 99% of his seizures were petit mal. One vet wanted me to medicate because he felt a pattern would be burned into the brain, paving the way for more seizures. Fortunately he was wrong. I believe because the seizures were mild enough and infrequent, his brain was able to recover enough between seizures that his epilepsy did not worsen. He lived to be 12, and died of unrelated causes.

 

Henry however, is a whole different story. for him, definately a pattern got burnt into the brain. He had extremely massive grand-mals. The went from every three months to every 8 days, and then he stated to have cluster, and then his last cluster, it was just not going to end on it's own. We hurried him to the vet where he was immediately given Valium, and a sixth grand-Mal began to start right after, but never did become full blown seizure. For three days aterwards, that cluster monster lingered over him and kept trying to take Henry. He would pant, cry and shiver before a Grand-Mal so I knew I had to keep on giving the rectal valium. It was when the Phenobarbital kicked in, that I was able to stop keeping him drugged up on Valium. Since starting Pheno he has been Grand-Mal free, 112 days now! I have tried diet, I have tried chiropractic, I have tried supplements, But plain and simple, drugs were what worked the most. I do avoid his triggers, which are chicken, eggs and Flagyl is a big no no for Henry.

 

They say if your dog has more than one Grand-Mal a month, it's time to medicate. I think severity of Grand-Mal should be considered also. Educate yourself on what Focal seizures look like, so you will be able to recognize if Tucker has these. For Henry, his focal seizures look like he is snapping at flies. He is unresponsive to his name and has a glazed look in his eyes when having Focals. Episodes usually last 15-20 seconds. The focals helped me do detective work in finding out what were triggers for Henry. He first had Focals when given Flagyl, which is his biggest trigger.

 

In answer to your poll, which I couldn't really answer, Henry was approx. 6 when rescued from death row at an animal shelter in Ohio. He started having Grand-Mals right away, what age they started is not known. The second one observed was approx. a couple months later.

Edited January 25, 2009 by EmilyAnne

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Here's some more info that may be helpful that I posted in somebody else's thread~

 

The body overheats during Grand-Mal, so that's why they pant and pace after. The pacing is like cool down exercise. I never try to stop Henry from post-ictal pacing. Make sure you turn the heat down a bit when he seizes, and offer water. I believe room temperature water absorbs fastest, and I give smaller amounts of water after, as I am afraid of Henry inhaling the water. Also, extra meal afterwards, again, in small divided amounts so they don't inhale it.

 

Take heart, if he has anymore, meds can give fantastic control. Henry used to have a Grand-Mal every 8 days. Since he started meds 110 days ago, he has not had a single Grand-Mal. Do you know about the ice pack? You can read about it here~ http://healthyhoundz.blogspot.com/2008/08/...-grand-mal.html The ice pack is not fool proof though, sometimes it does not work. Read bottom of that blog entry for how well it worked for Henry. Ice pack des not replace meds.

 

ETA~ I thought in first poll question you were asking how old they were at time of first seizure, but actually you are asking how long after adopting before first seizure. So I voted.

 

My votes were:

 

0-6 months for first question,

 

"They had another one and were given medicine to help control it." for second one,

 

2-6 months later for last question.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2009 by EmilyAnne

[Guest sandlot13433]

Thank you so much for the advice and information! I am hoping he never has another one, but will be better prepared if one occurs again. It's funny because occasionally (maybe two or three times a year) Tucker would go through this thing where he would loose his balance, then stand rigid, swaying and staring straight ahead, completely unresponsive and hunched over with his tail tucked. I filmed it on my cell phone, but the vet wasn't sure what was going on without any other symptoms and since it happened for no reason. I was reading about focal seizures, but it didn't mention this. Could this be a different type of seizure?

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Thank you so much for the advice and information! I am hoping he never has another one, but will be better prepared if one occurs again. It's funny because occasionally (maybe two or three times a year) Tucker would go through this thing where he would loose his balance, then stand rigid, swaying and staring straight ahead, completely unresponsive and hunched over with his tail tucked. I filmed it on my cell phone, but the vet wasn't sure what was going on without any other symptoms and since it happened for no reason. I was reading about focal seizures, but it didn't mention this. Could this be a different type of seizure?

Since Tucker has officially had a definate seizure, I'm thinking those other episodes may have very well been seizures too. There's several different kinds of seizures. Psychomotor seizures is one kind I am not familiar with. Also, Focal seizures do not present the same way in all dogs, though the flycatcher type is very common. Some dogs do a rythmic lick, chomp, lick, chomp, lick, chomp and so on and have that glazed over look on their face and poor response to their surroundings. There's other variations too, such as half the face twitching and etc.

 

I reccomend you join this list I posted about on my blog~ http://healthyhoundz.blogspot.com/search/l.../EPIL-K9%20List and describe to them the episodes you described above. There's so many posters on that list, and it's good to hear experiences of many, many people. There may be someone on that list whose epi-pup went through very similar episodes as your Tucker.

[Guest sandlot13433]

Thank you so much EmilyAnne! I will definitely join that list. I don't know how you do it with Henry! He's so lucky to have you!

[Guest lynne893]

we fostered Picasso last fall, he was age 4.5 and had been "bounced" recently from another home where he was for about a year and half.

 

within a couple of days of having him in our household, he had a gigantic grand mal seizure (scared the living daylights out of us!!!). we took him to the vet for panels- nothing really explained it-- then he had another one about 4 weeks later. then he had another within a week. the next step was definitely medicate, but DH and i don't have the lifestyle to support an epi pet. we returned him to the greyhound rescue and he's on meds, apparently doing great, in a new foster home with a "stay at home" dad.

 

seizures are simply terrifying, and i wish you the best of luck getting poor tucker's under control!!

[Guest snakes]

FedX started having seizures back in august. He is four and i have had him since he was jsut under 3yo. I didn't kow they were seizures until a couple months later, i thought they were muscle cramps (they aren't the grand mal type). He generally had one a month, but would have two in one week. then back in december they came a bit more frequently. He is now on medication and hasn't had a seizure in over a month.

The best advice i had was to document the when, where, and how long of the seizure and if at all possibel get video ro pics for the vet to see as well.

 

I posted in H&M back then and you may still find my posts. Antoher dog Phaelinw as going through new grand mals then too and you'll see his owners posts.

Good luck!

 

These sites helped me a bit at the start of it all.

www.canine-epilepsy.com

and http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/

 

[Guest EmilyAnne]

OK, all these epi-hounds, are they all males???? Is that just coincidence?

[GreyWrangler]

Red has grand mals. He is on Phenobarb. Hasn't had one since august 2008.

 

His seem to be food related, his being seafood/shrimp/food cooked with shrimp.

As EmilyAnne wrote Henry also has food triggers.

 

Did Tucker get anything different to eat or as a snack the day of the GrandMal?

 

I too can attest that the ice pack on the lower back does shorten the length of the seizing.

 

And the other could be something like absent seizures.

 

 

[greypuppyluv]

Thank you so much for the advice and information! I am hoping he never has another one, but will be better prepared if one occurs again. It's funny because occasionally (maybe two or three times a year) Tucker would go through this thing where he would loose his balance, then stand rigid, swaying and staring straight ahead, completely unresponsive and hunched over with his tail tucked. I filmed it on my cell phone, but the vet wasn't sure what was going on without any other symptoms and since it happened for no reason. I was reading about focal seizures, but it didn't mention this. Could this be a different type of seizure?

This sounds like what Lynnet's (tricolorhounds) greyhound, Copper, just had this past week. The vet said it was a seizure. If you search the threads for the past week in H & M, you should be able to find her post about it.

 

eta: here's the thread I was referring to

 

Antoher dog Phaelinw as going through new grand mals then too and you'll see his owners posts.

Yup, that was us. Phaelin is 6 1/2 years old and his started 6 years after we adopted him (he came to us as a 6 month old puppy). He started having grand mal seizures mid November and they occured every 14-16 days after that. He had a total of 4 seizures, although we only witnessed 3 (we found remnants from the first one we didn't witness). We've put him on sodium bromide and he hasn't had a seizure since December 14th. We've had to adjust the dosage because it's made Phaelin sort of dopey (sodium bromide has a sedating effect).

 

OK, all these epi-hounds, are they all males???? Is that just coincidence?

Jenny (sweetgsmom) has a female greyhound, Aidan, who has seizures, so it's not just a male thing.

 

I sure hope Tucker doesn't have any more seizures.....they are really scary to witness, especially the grand mals.

Edited January 26, 2009 by greypuppyluv

[Guest greyscot]

My first grey Charlie had his first seizure aged 2 and he was in the unfortunate minority who did not respond to treatment. He has a grand mal seizure every 2 weeks for six months and no medication would stop them. We had to put him down when his last seizure would not stop. The vet worked with him for 18 hours but when one stopped another began and he was brain damaged. I know we were in the minority and most dogs do well on meds. to you and Tucker at this time.

[TheFullHouse]

Saint was 3 when he started having his seizures, in the racing kennel. We adopted him knowing he had seizures. He would have 2 or 3 a week in the beginning and that progressed to almost 1 every day. He clustered on his first day home and had 5 in 2 hours. He was immediately started on meds and we worked with the vet until we reached a dose where he could be controlled. We were working to getting him to just having 1 or 2 a month but the meds worked so well for him he's been controlled for over 4 years now.

[LBass]

Piper began having seizures at about 2 years of age. He had a huge and terrifying grand mal about 9 weeks after coming to me. That weekend he had 11 more seizures. His initial pattern was to have 3-4 seizures within about 2 hours once a week. With Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide we've managed to get him to the point of having single seizures (usually) every 6+ weeks.

 

Should you need them, here are the web sites that I found very helpful in getting a handle on helping Piper:

 

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com

 

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com

 

http://www.canine-epilepsy.net

 

--Lucy and Piper (9 days seizure free)

Edited January 26, 2009 by LBass

[Guest sweetgsmom]

Aidan had her first seizure right after her 3rd birthday shes almost 5 now, they are Grand Mal and she has had clusters. At first they were very close together a day or a week apart. We took her to a nuerologist DR Hanson and he started her on medication, it took a while to get the right combination of meds, she is on 4ml of potassium Bromide and 64 ml of Phenobarbital twice a day. She still has them occasionally but usually they are about 2 to three months apart.

 

I have looked for triggers and have never been able to pin point any, Im convinced with her its just random. I do keep a detailed log, time, duration, etc.

 

We have had Aidan since she was 8 weeks old i"m pretty sure it wasn't any kind of trauma.

 

EmilyI hope your pupper just has the one and thats all. But there is lots of great information about siezures I think we have tried them all some work and some don't, or they will work one time and not the next.

[scullysmum]

My boy Scully (now at the bridge) had his first seizure at 2 years old then the next one a year later...after that he had six more in six months at intervals of between six days and six weeks...he was then put on a combination of Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide and never had another seizure, he lived to be 9 and a half.

 

Here's hoping that Tucker's was a "one off" (and I have met a dog , a Golden Retreiver that only had one seizure and then never had another)

Edited January 26, 2009 by scullysmum

[Guest sandlot13433]

That's what I was wondering...if anyone had met a dog that only had one grand mal and no others. I'll pray that this will be his only seizure!

[Guest RooCroo]

OK, all these epi-hounds, are they all males???? Is that just coincidence?

 

Unfortunately we have a LOT of experience with this problem, and I hope sharing this info will help.

 

Our vet says that it is more common in males, but by no means a "male" condition.

 

It is very scary at first, but it is usually very treatable and rarely life-threatening. And believe it or not, it gets less scary after a while.

 

Hoover's epilepsy is very severe. He has had clusters of up to nine seizures in a day. He had his first seizure at 2 years old, and has been on meds (phenobarbital, potassium bromide, and gabapentin) for 4 years with very few side effects. He has excellent quality of life, and has gone up to 8 months with no seizures. Hoovie's seizures follow little or no pattern. They happen when they happen and we deal with it. They do seem to be triggered by environmental factors and stress.

 

Diet can be important. Many dogs are sensitive to corn, wheat, potato, tomato and rosemary. Check your food and treats to see if these are present. You may want to find a grain-free food, or feed raw. Hoovie does well on Nutro Sensitive Stomach, which has no corn or wheat. We supplement with B Complex vitamins, ground flaxseed, and Coenzyme Q10 as well, to support and protect neural tissues. Chocolate is a big no-no.

 

Some seizures are triggered by things in the environment. Try to keep exposure to household chemicals and molds to a minimum. We only use baking soda, peroxide, and white vinegar to clean our house. We buy the giant sizes of these at Costco, and they last for a whole year. (And it has the benefit of being really cheap, too!)

 

The good news is the vast majority of dogs have mild to moderate seizure disorders, and some even "grow out of it" with time. Most idiopathic (no apparent cause) epilepsy starts in dogs from 2 to 5 years old. After age 7, most seizures are caused by other things such as neurological diseases or tumors.

 

We always keep Rescue Remedy spray on hand. It is a homeopathic remedy that can shorten seizures and reduce the stress associated with them. You can give three sprays on the gums or nose. (Keep hands clear of the mouth during a seizure -- you can get bitten badly.)

 

We've been down the road with this illness, so feel free to message me if you need some support. The Guardian Angels website has been a Godsend for us as well.

 

Hoping and praying this seizure was an isolated incident.

Edited January 27, 2009 by RooCroo

[Guest RooCroo]

Thank you so much for the advice and information! I am hoping he never has another one, but will be better prepared if one occurs again. It's funny because occasionally (maybe two or three times a year) Tucker would go through this thing where he would loose his balance, then stand rigid, swaying and staring straight ahead, completely unresponsive and hunched over with his tail tucked. I filmed it on my cell phone, but the vet wasn't sure what was going on without any other symptoms and since it happened for no reason. I was reading about focal seizures, but it didn't mention this. Could this be a different type of seizure?

 

This sounds like a partial seizure. Hoover has had the same type of rigidity and lack of response, only he would drool and look around as if he was having hallucinations.

[Guest MZH]

Cullen had his first seizure 2 weeks before his eighth birthday. He was very low thyroid but treating that didn't control them much. He died from retroperitoneal hemangiosarcoma the next year. I have a strong feeling the cancer may have caused his seizures. He was on two seizures meds three weeks after his first one. They were violent GMs.

 

It is a waiting game, that's for sure. Keeping a diary (I made up a chart) of seizures and time of day, length, severity, meds and dosage, foods, activities, etc will be very helpful over the long term. In time you'll see a pattern, but let's hope this was a one time affair.

 

Marcia

[Guest sandlot13433]

My worst fears were confirmed...I was so hoping Tucker would not have another seizure, but this morning he had two more =O( So we'll be off to the vet tomorrow morning to try to get this figured out. Poor thing...I worry about him so. Thank you so much everyone for your input and for being so open and sharing your stories. It has been a huge encouragement to me! I will keep you all updated.

[Saffron]

I just read your last post, so sorry about the other recent episodes.

 

I have to say from my gut: Please, if you have other dogs in the house, keep the seizing dog safe when you are not there. There is something about a grand mal that makes other dogs attack! This info was gleaned from having a non-grey with late life seizures. The other pup just freaked at the sight. We had to separate them when we could not supervise.

 

Having said that I'm not much use on the poll. I clicked on this thread because I have a grey on low level pheno. Murphy's petit mal seizures are well controlled. I've never even seen him seize, because his diagnosis came before I adopted him at age 9. So far so so good.

 

Hope all turns out well for you.

[Guest sandlot13433]

Saffron, thank you for the advice. My other four boys must be crated when I am gone, so Tucker is safe. I have one who is extremely insecure and freaks out if he's alone out of his crate, two who eat everything and anything, so they can't be loose when I'm gone, and one who loves his crate, so I never tried leaving him uncrated. Is it ok for Tucker to be in the same room as the crated dogs if he were to have a seizure? Or should I block him into a different room entirely? I made sure the room Tucker is gated in when I'm gone has nothing he could hurt himself on if he were to have a seizure while I was gone. There are two couches and nothing else other than the four crates which are lining the wall.

[Guest RooCroo]

Saffron, thank you for the advice. My other four boys must be crated when I am gone, so Tucker is safe. I have one who is extremely insecure and freaks out if he's alone out of his crate, two who eat everything and anything, so they can't be loose when I'm gone, and one who loves his crate, so I never tried leaving him uncrated. Is it ok for Tucker to be in the same room as the crated dogs if he were to have a seizure? Or should I block him into a different room entirely? I made sure the room Tucker is gated in when I'm gone has nothing he could hurt himself on if he were to have a seizure while I was gone. There are two couches and nothing else other than the four crates which are lining the wall.

 

 

Dogs in crates are OK. It might freak them out a little, but as long as no one can freak out and bite Tucker, they'll be fine. We got some pipe insulation (round tubes of foam rubber) at the hardware store and put them on the edges/corners of our furniture so Hoovie can't hurt himself on them if he should have a seizure when we aren't around.

 

Good luck at the vet's. Most seizures can be well controlled with medication, so don't lose hope! No medicine can stop all of them, but you can greatly reduce the frequency and severity so your boy can have a great long life.