Intermittent Seizures

[a_daerr]

We are coming up on Henry's second Gotcha Day next month. In the time we've owned him, he's had three seizures (that we know of). The most recent one happened at the lake last week. We were on a normal walk, everything seemed fine. At first I thought he got tangled up in his leash, then I realized he was going down with a seizure. It happened right in the middle of the sidewalk, so people walking by were panicking. The vet told me to never try to move him, so I had to explain that he has occasional seizures and it was best to wait it out. It lasted about 45 seconds total. Then I saw his eyes goes back into focus, he stood up, and walked back to the car like nothing happened. Our vet said that his seizures are not severe enough to medicate him. I can see no discernible pattern that would explain the cause. His bloodwork was all normal the last time we had tests done. I'm just wondering why an otherwise healthy 4-year-old would have these occasional seizures. I read that ivermectin (ingredient in Heartguard) can sometimes trigger seizures. We do use Heartguard with both dogs. Anyone have experience with this type of thing?

[MaryJane]

Has he ever been evaluated by a neurologist .. if not, then I would take him. It can take a month or more to find a neurologist and to get an appointment.

 

Dogs can have one seizure and never have another but, if Henry has already had three then he is not in that group. Seizures can be triggered by many things - do you use pinesol in the house or Lysol - sometimes that strong cleaning smell can trigger a seizure. Have you had work done in the house and did any paint get disturbed -- lead poisoning can cause seizures. Sometimes fear/anxiety can act as a trigger.

 

My Lucy started her seizures last March of 2011 and her next one was in August of 2011 and then in September and then in October .. usually seizures start to get closer and closer so, you need to be keeping track of when the seizures are occurring, how long it lasted, and the dog's state before and after the seizure. Lucy started seizure medicine in October of 2011.

 

Each neurologist has their own procedures but, most appear to look at drug therapy once the seizures are occurring around once a month.

[greypuppyluv]

I'm just wondering why an otherwise healthy 4-year-old would have these occasional seizures.

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of us wondering why a perfectly healthy dog would have seizures......me included. Phaelin was 6 years old when his started. There can be an identified reason and there can be no identified reason. Vaccines, heat, chemicals ......any of those can be a trigger. The problem is, sometimes the only way you know what the trigger is is through trial and error. But, you also may never know. Welcome to the nasty world of seizures. There are a few websites you can check out that may help answer some questions for you:

 

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

 

http://www.canine-ep...ian-angels.com/

 

http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/

 

 

I read that ivermectin (ingredient in Heartguard) can sometimes trigger seizures. We do use Heartguard with both dogs. Anyone have experience with this type of thing?

 

 

It can sometimes trigger them and you can try not giving it to them to see if that stops the seizures. In my experience, though, from reading the EPIL-K9 list, most people will never know what causes their dog to seize. It's a truly frustrating experience to go through but I'm glad I've joined the list (you'll find it on the first website listed above) because I've learned a lot of information I would have never learned if I hadn't. There are other lists/message boards you can join or post on that will also give you good information.

[a_daerr]

The first one was in December 2010, the next one was about six months later. Then the last one was a week ago. No cleaning products, paint, or stress/anxiety that would've served as an immediate trigger. Each of them occurred with varying lengths of time and side effects. After the first one (about a minute long), Henry was very disoriented for several hours afterwards. He was panting a lot and had an unfocused look in his eyes. Afterwards, he slept like he'd just run a marathon. Then, after this last one, he got up and walked away like nothing happened. It's been very sporadic and unpredictable. The vet advised us to see a neurologist if they start recurring more frequently or if he has one after another.

[MaryJane]

Just wanted to add that you might want to ask the vet for "rectal Valium" so you would have it in an emergency. Sometimes dogs will have very long seizures and after a certain point, they will need Valium (or something similar) to break it otherwise, you run the risk of brain damage. There is also a chance that your dog could start to cluster -- have multiple seizures over a 24 hour period and again, Valium would be used to break the the occurrences.

 

Chances are you would never need it but, after Lucy's second seizure I got enough Valium for one event and once I got to the neurologist he prescribed enough Valium for about 15 events.

[JJNg]

The most common diagnosis for seizures in dogs is "idiopathic epilepsy" - meaning we really don't know what causes it. There are some individuals where certain chemicals or drugs can trigger seizures, and stress also seems to predispose to seizures. But I feel that in many cases, the underlying cause is probably genetic, just like some people have epilepsy and occasionally have seizures.

 

As MaryJane mentioned, seizures tend to increase in frequency over time, so I always recommend keeping a log of each seizure. In addition to noting the date, include information like how long it lasted, what the seizure looked like, what he was doing immediately before the seizure, any new food or treats in the preceding 1-2 days, anything out of the ordinary in terms of routine or major events. These details can sometimes help you figure out a pattern as well as monitoring frequency.

 

I believe most vets use the general rule of thumb of 1 seizure/month as the criteria for when meds are necessary. I typically also start meds if the dog has cluster seizures (multiple seizures within a relatively short period of time), or sometimes with prolonged seizures lasting more than 5-10 min.

 

I don't believe Heartgard is any more likely to trigger seizures than any other chemical or drug our dogs are exposed to. Ivermectin overdose can cause seizures and neurologic signs, but for the average dog, an overdose of ivermectin is more than 100 times the dose used in Heartgard. If Heartgard was a trigger for your dog's seizures, I'd expect it to happen every month, and the seizure should occur within 1-2 days of getting the dose.

[Guest Gemma]

Lots of good advice here.

 

I just wanted to chime in to say that Peyton has seizures on occasion. He's had 4 (that we know of) in the almost-4 years we have had him. All were triggered by pain. We are lucky in that pain is something we can manage effectively for him. I do worry, though, that he might have more as he ages. He will be 10 in Sept.

 

Good luck with your boy!

[KF_in_Georgia]

If he has a seizure that seems different from earlier ones, try to video his behavior so you have something to show your vet. Basically try to video anything that seems "off"--you can always delete the video if it's not relevant to his health.

 

It's just that in the midst of dealing with scary medical stuff, most of us don't think to video the event until it's too late to film anything useful...