Santos Had A Seizure.

[greydogs]

This morning, just as I was putting down the food bowls, Santos, trotting happily around the kitchen, suddenly collapsed, went stiff and showed all the classic signs of a seizure. Poor guy couldn't move, or get up, as hard as he tried. I carried him outside and he was able to stand with some help. He made his way to a dog bed in the yard and lay there drooling, and stressed for about 20 minutes. A little while later, he hopped up, went over to the corner, peed, as if nothing had happened and went into the house through the dog door. He then laid down in his bed while I fed the rest of the pack.

 

An hour or so later, Santos came up to me and play bowed, as he always does when it's time to eat, or go for a walk. He ate well, and is now bugging me for his after breakfast walk.

 

In all these years with greyhounds, I've never had a seizure dog, thank God. I'll be calling my vet later, but in the meantime, any words of wisdom?

Edited May 27, 2010 by greydogs

[Guest MyCody]

I lost our first grey, Snowie to a seizure at the age of 8. She had been showing mild signs of stiffness in her legs and her vet said to just monitor her and keep a record which I shared with him but then at 4 one morning she went into a sudden and severe seizure and we rushed her in but they couldn't do anything for her so seizures scare the heck out of me, glad you are seeing the vet. I'm sorry Snowie's vet didn't put her on meds.

 

Good luck with Santos.

[beledi]

Please keep us updated. Praying for the best news.

[Guest Energy11]

Sorry to hear about Santos!

 

The vets think that is what my Curfew has, when he has "his episodes." I am still thinking mini strokes.

 

Anyway, this might be a one time thing for Santos, hard to say. I would mention it to the vet, and obviously keep a close eye on him. There are many good anti seizure meds out there.

 

Hugs coming your way!

[Guest Fasave]

Take him to Dr. Sisson at Angell. Best neurologist around for the sight hounds. Terrible bed side manner but worth the trip. He's helped pups for Praveen and Jurishound. I took my Safari (not for seizures) and he spent 2 hours with me on a one hour appointment. Did the same recently for Edward (Raymond's owners new pup) who just starting having seizures a couple months ago. For something like this, it's worth the money and time to go directly to a specialist.

[phall]

Michael,

 

No advice as I haven't had experience with seizures, but I'm thinking of you and Santos and hoping it's a one time thing. Keep us posted on what's happening. I'm so glad he's with you.

 

Pat

[TheFullHouse]

First rule of thumb, don't panic. There's nothing you can do to stop the seizure, just keep the pup safe, other pups in the house may try and attack a seizure dog. You can shorten the post ictal phase by giving a little vanilla ice cream, it will bring the sugar levels back up because they drop dramatically during the seizure. Next, the panting and pacing are their way of cooling off, their temperature rises sharply and they need to cool down. You can keep a diary of the seizures when, where, what time and how long they lasted because seizure pups will develop a pattern to their seizures, such as having them at the same time of day.

 

A vet check is good, if everything comes back good you may be dealing with epilepsy. There are so many drugs now that can be used to control seizures. Most vets however won't treat unless they're having more than 1 seizure a month, unless you want your pup treated. I wasn't happy with Saint controlled to 1 a month so I worked with my vet to get him totally controlled and he has been for 5 years now.

 

Because we have so much seizure experience I can tell you, that during a seizure (especially a grand mal, which is what this seizure sounds like) the dog isn't feeling any pain, you lose all your senses, you can't taste, see, hear, smell or feel anything so as bad as they look, they're not painful.

 

Here is a good site to learn everything you need to know and if I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me.

 

LINK

[kikibean]

I don't have any experience, but I was just at a talk by one of the leading holistic / western med vets here in town and she was saying that they've found there can be a relationship between seizures and food allergies. Said she recommends a grain free food to seizure dogs and they have had some success in reducing / stopping seizures by changing food.

Like I said, no personal experience but maybe another thing to consider / try?

[Guest LindsaySF]

Sorry to hear that. My foster Sophie has seizures also and I've learned more about them in the past few months than I ever thought I'd know.

 

It could be a one time thing, I hope so. How old is Santos? Call your vet and see what they say. Some vets will want to do some tests and bloodwork now, others will say to just watch him and they'll start investigating if he has another one.

 

Make sure Santos is separated from the other dogs when no one is home. A lot of dogs will attack a dog having a seizure.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[MaryJane]

As some already mentioned, care needs to be taken with the other dogs as they are likely to "want to know" what's going on and they may attack the dog having a seizure.

 

I might also want to mention that years ago I had a doberman that had taken some "diarrhea" meds and a few weeks later presented with what seemed to be a seizure but, it turned out to be an inner ear problem (side effect of the diarrhea medicine which I didn't know at that time).

 

You might also want to think back and see if there were any neighbors spraying or putting pesticides out on their lawns. I mention this because I just recently applied some "poison ivy" spray on some bushes and this is the time of year that the Northeast area would be doing this and this might cause "similar" symptoms if the products are toxic as they would affect the nervous system.

 

Good Luck

[greydogs]

He had bloodwork done today, and his blood glucose was pretty low, which could be a sign of a pancreatic tumor. We're going to be checking his blood sugar again in the morning.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Sorry to hear that. When was his blood drawn? It's weird because I've read that low blood sugar can cause seizures, but on the other hand their blood sugar often drops after a seizure because of all the activity. Hard to tell which came first you know? for tomorrow's blood sugar check.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[TheFullHouse]

I'm sorry to hear that. Low blood sugar can cause seizures. Glad you're having it rechecked.

[greydogs]

His blood glucose reading this morning was 57. Normal would be 90-100.

 

I gave him a bowl of vanilla ice cream to boost him up. He liked it.

[TheFullHouse]

Who wouldn't like ice cream for breakfast. You may find that once his blood sugars are stabalized he won't have any more seizures. Prayers that that is all it is.

[greydogs]

Who wouldn't like ice cream for breakfast. You may find that once his blood sugars are stabalized he won't have any more seizures. Prayers that that is all it is.

 

If it's a tumor on his pancreas, it's probaly an insolinoma. They usually metastasize to the lungs or liver.

 

Looks like we'll have an ultrasound done, and if he only has one tumor, have it operated on. If more, well.........

 

Poor Santos, he really doesn't deserve this.

[TheFullHouse]

Praying the ultrasound goes well.

[Guest PhillyPups]

Many prayers from Philly for Santos

[CaliforniaGreys]

Many prayers from us to Michael

[nyGreys]

Sending many prayers for Santos.

[dbullwinkel]

Sending my thoughts to you and Santos...hope he is doing ok!

 

My Ig had a partial seizure last week...very scary. He had a couple 5 years ago shortly after receiving a full set of shots. He has since been dx with auto-immune "issue"... along with many other ailments. They drew blood...all ok. Now I am just watching him for any more....and worrying.

 

Hope all turns out well you for

Edited May 28, 2010 by dbullwinkel