Seizure? Not Quite Sure What Happened.

[Guest katethegreyt]

So our new lady had a weird episode on Saturday night, but I'm not quite sure what it was.

 

I had her in bed with me, and she tends to be a very twitchy sleeper, so I wasn't alarmed at first. Then I noticed it seemed to be a consistent pattern of twitching, which was different than usual, and her eyes didn't look like she was dreaming/sleeping (though she does sometimes sleep with her eyes open). It wasn't extremely violent by any means, and it looked very much like when she dreams except the full body twitch was twitching in a very consistent pattern for a decent amount of time (strange I thought). Plus, when I tried to "wake" her or talk her out of it/stroke her and try to soothe her, she didn't stop. She was breathing steadily the entire episode, and she looked at me when I spoke to her and tried to snap her out of it, but she didn't stop.

 

I've read about seizure symptoms, and this didn't quite fit, but it really didn't seem like normal sleep/dreams either. I was able to get her off the bed and walking around (which made me think it probably wasn't a seizure, since I hear those need to play themselves out and often cause disorientation afterwards), but she still had smaller muscle twitchy-ness just standing there - you could feel it more than see it. It was like her muscles were just quickly vibrating all over, but she could still walk and stand at that point, so you couldn't really see it, just feel it. She didn't seem all that disoriented once I got her off the bed, but she was still "vibrating."

 

Anyway, we've only had her for 2 weeks, so I don't have a great baseline to compare it to. She did just go to the vet Saturday morning, so could it have been a reaction to some of the shots? She got Bordetella and one other (not Rabies, I'll have to check what it was), and we also started her on cephalexin for a tummy rash and pyoben gel (she'd only had one dose of each as of this episode). She also started getting PlaqueOff last week, and I brushed her teeth with PetzLife on Friday (too much new stuff?)

 

She seems fine now and slept the rest of the night without incident, I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this before... It was kind of nerve wracking, and there wasn't really much I could do to snap her out of it, which makes me think it wasn't just dreaming, plus the twitching was happening in such a regular rhythm - kind of odd.

[NeylasMom]

There are others on here who know a lot more about seizures than I do, but I have been reading up on them today for my own reasons. In one of the links that Lucy posted in my thread, which you might find helpful, I did read that vaccinations can trigger seizures:

Vaccinations can lower a dog's seizure threshold and trigger a seizure. If you feel that this is the case for your dog, ask the vet to split the shots and give them separately. Also ask for the rabies vaccine to be given 2 weeks later. Ask your vet if he/she knows about the new three-year protocol being used now by many vets.

 

Don't know how immediate you would expect the reaction to be though.

 

To me, that sounds like a seizure, just a relatively mild one. I would start keeping a journal of any seizure like activity - time, duration, behavior, length of post-ictal stage and behavior then, etc. - if they continue so you can work with the vet. I would also recommend getting some rectal valium to have on hand if you see the vet in case the seizures increase in frequency. It can be used to stop cluster seizures so you can get her into the vet.

 

I hope that helps a little.

Edited January 24, 2011 by NeylasMom

[Guest Energy11]

Well, congrats on the new houndie! Sorry to hear about this, but it does sound like a mild seizure(s).

 

Given the fact that she had all the shots prior, I'd say, it could be a reaction to them.

 

I'd watch her closely, and if this happens again, then, best to see the vet for a FULL blood panel, urinanalysis, and THYRIOD check. I have a ten yr oid girl here, who had two focal (milder type) of seizures, and she was severaly low thyroid. So far, so good with her :-))

 

Sending lots of good thoughts your way!

 

Dee and The Five

[Guest sheila]

One thing you could take note of if this happens again is your pups eyes. Are they extremely dilated or do they appear to be looking in different directions? Also might check and see if the dogs temp is elevated at all.

[TheFullHouse]

It's not the classic seizure symptoms for sure. Your pup may have just had a bad reaction to the shots. Typically if she had had a grand mal seizure, the "twitching" would have left your pup tired, hot, and panting. She also would have been confused after coming out of it and talking to her would not get her attention during the seizure. There are several different kinds of seizures though.

 

Right now, there's nothing you can do but wait and see if it happens again. Keep a journal of date, time, duration and symptoms. Since she had just been to the vet I'm sure nothing would show up if they did blood work.

 

The other thing, if she twitches a lot during her sleep, more pronounced twitching could just be her running in her sleep. A lot of hounds do that when they are deeply asleep. I have a couple that you really have to call out loudly to them to wake them up when they are in that state.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Henry is my second dog with epilepsy. My first dog with epilepsy would hardly experience any disorientation after a seizure, while Henry is the total opposite. They also had different types of seizures. Henry has Grand-Mal and mild Focals, while Alfalfa had not so mild Focal seizures. So there can be a variation in the kinds of seizures and how they respond afterwards.

 

I don't know if you have learned yet about Grey's sleeping patterns, but from what I have read on GT, and from my own experience with Henry, it seems that Grey's have a sleeping pattern that is different from most canines. Henry is my first grey, (he's a grey mix actually) and he will do like half barks and quite a bit of twitching in his sleep and Im pretty sure it isnt seizure activity. I think sometimes our canines can be like us when they first wake up, if they were in a very deep sleep, then they can feel a little shaky when they first wake up. let's hope that is all it was with your Grey.

 

I want to add, about the Cephalexin, Cephalexin is actually my choice of antibiotic for my very sensitive Henry. Another kind of antibiotic was a definate seizure trigger for him. More research has been done recently that confirmed what I suspected all along, which is that flagyl (another kind of antibiotic) can trigger neurological symptoms. But, not all Grey's are cookie cutter in how they react to different meds. Just sharing my experience in hopes it sheds some light for you.

Edited January 24, 2011 by EmilyAnne

[Guest mbfilby]

Mickey is a twitchy, barky, growly sleeper. She has full on body twitches and also runs.. all four paws moving in a constant regular motion. Also, she is so very comfortable sleeping with us that she is difficult to waken at times. Calling and stroking her won't do it, she needs to be nudged or shaken.

[Guest katethegreyt]

To clarify some more, I definitely nudged and shook her, and she just sort of looked at me (seemed like she saw me) but didn't stop. However, as soon as I got up and went to the other side of the bed (which was after awhile) and tried to get her to stand up and hop down, she could. So that makes me think maybe it was just weird sleep (fingers crossed!), though I had waited a bit before I tried to get her to move, so maybe it had just played itself out. The weird vibrations in her muscles (all over) afterwards were a bit disconcerting though, and the pattern of the twitching didn't seem like her usual dreaming.

 

As far as how she sleeps normally, she is definitely VERY twitchy (crazy faces and limbs) and the only time she ever makes yips, growls or barks is in her sleep, so I know she has some crazy sleeps, haha = ) This just didn't seem the same though. Granted, I've only had her for 2 weeks, so we are still getting to know one another.

 

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely keep an eye on her and write this down in case it happens again and we need to start trying to figure out a trigger. Hopefully it was just a very weird dream.

[KF_in_Georgia]

In your notes, include how long it's been since food. You can watch for low blood sugar or something similar, so note what she ate, when, and how long before she had her "episode." If you think she was sleeping when the whole thing began, note that. (Sometimes, seizures start while the dog is sleeping.)

 

There's some silly corollary to Murphy's Law that says the minute you set up to monitor a certain behavior, the behavior stops. I can attest to that, since my Jacey had some sort of "absence seizure" behavior back in the fall. I let the vet run some tests, brought home an emergency supply of valium (to break up any cluster seizures), and got set to record all the details of Jacey's next event.

 

The valium is sitting--unused--on a shelf in the kitchen, and I'm still waiting for the next event.

[TwiggysMom]

I've never had a seizure dog, so my advice is extremely limited. I've read in other threads (and other forums), that it can be helpful in diagnosis to be able to record any episodes. So, if you have a cell phone, video cam, camera around if this happens again,it might be a good idea to try to get video, even if the quality isn't that great. (I'm only posting this b/c no one else has mentioned this thus far). Even if your vet doesn't need/want to see it, you could post it here so that those who do have seizure dog experience can help even more. There is an amazing knowledge base here!

 

Hopefully, there won't be any more suspicious episodes, tho!

Edited January 25, 2011 by TwiggysMom

[Hawthorn]

One of mine does something similar, in that now and then she kicks out rhythmically with one of her hind legs. It's definitely not dreaming because she is clearly wide awake at the time, although these episodes always start whilst she is sleeping. Her eyes at these times are wider than usual and she looks slightly anxious. In Sophie's case these episodes last about 20 seconds if I don't intervene but I can snap her out of it by getting her up and walking her around. Once the episode has stopped she is completely normal again.

 

Sophie's done this ever since I got her at the age of two. I've mentioned it to several vets, none of whom has been too concerned, and have just advised me to keep an eye on it. In four years it hasn't got any better or worse. I don't know if they are seizures or not, although my feeling is that they are. The vets I've spoken to don't know either and said that even neurologists have trouble deciding what is and isn't seizure activity. I do keep valium in the house at all times but in four years have not had to use it for these episodes.

 

I agree with keeping a log, noting down all vaccines, medications she receives etc. By doing this, I was able to see that spot-on flea treatments tended to trigger these episodes in Sophie. In your case I would be strongly suspicious that it was the vaccines or one of the medications that triggered the whatever-it-was.

 

Hope all goes well - I know how worrying it can be.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

It doesn't sound like a seizure to me. Focal seizures don't usually involve the whole body like that and and she would have been unresponsive (not able to look at you or respond to your voice) during a grand mal. My cocker spaniel scared me once when he did the same thing. He was twitching and vocalizing in his sleep so I tried to wake him up with no luck, I shook him quite hard and it still took at least a minute for him to wake up. I talked to the vet about it and they said he was probably just in a very deep sleep. Since then I've noticed he is a very sound sleeper and will sleep through me picking him up and moving him or even flipping him over in bed.

 

Like everyone else said, just keep an eye on it. Write down if she has any more episodes and note if anything unusual happened recently like vaccines. Do you have a video camera or a phone with video? If you catch her doing it again and can get a little on camera it should help your vet decide if it's really a seizure.