Bathing A Dog That Has Seizures

[brindlebaby]

Ava has seizures - last episode was 10/24 where she was hospitalized and now I think we are one day past the time between seizure episodes (which had been getting shorter and shorter with each episode). So, *knock on wood!*

 

Today we took Pixie and Sam to "Four Muddy Paws" for baths, but I was leary of taking Ava. She has fleas (and I won't/can't use any flea product on her) so I wanted to bathe her here at home.

 

My question... Is Buddy Wash (Rosemary & Mint) Shampoo and Buddy Rinse (Lavender & Mint) safe to use on a dog with seizures? If not, what can I use?

[greysmom]

Is she on medication yet?

 

I bathed our seizure dog just regularly without any adverse effects, both before and after she began medication. I used puppy shampoo. I also made sure the water wasn't too warm so it wouldn't trigger the fainting effect.

 

If you need a flea treatment you might consider using something like diatomatious (sp?) earth as a dust. If she's very sensitive, you should ask about using flea treatments for puppies.

[brindlebaby]

Hi Chris!

 

Yes, she had been on only Phenobarbital, but since the 10/24 seizures, they've added in Keppra and Potassium Bromide.

 

Thanks for the tip on the puppy shampoo!

 

Ava goes to the vet this Wednesday 11/21 to get her Potassium Bromide levels checked, so I will ask about the diatomatious (sp?) earth as a dust or puppy flea treatment.

 

Hope you're all doing well! xo

 

Is she on medication yet?

 

I bathed our seizure dog just regularly without any adverse effects, both before and after she began medication. I used puppy shampoo. I also made sure the water wasn't too warm so it wouldn't trigger the fainting effect.

 

If you need a flea treatment you might consider using something like diatomatious (sp?) earth as a dust. If she's very sensitive, you should ask about using flea treatments for puppies.

[tbhounds]

Ask your vet about using frontline plus--I completely understand your fear of triggering a seizure but, FL stays in the subcutis layer-never absorbed or metabolized. I hate the thought that she has fleas--she could become run down from them-anemia, tapeworms...

Ditto not using not using too warm water--avoid the faints :-)

[TheFullHouse]

I used Frontline Plus on Saint with no problems what so ever. Now that she's got 3 meds on board it may be safe to treat her for the reasons tbhounds stated.

[a_daerr]

Henry's seizures are sporadic and he isn't on medication, but we give Frontline Plus. No problems here.

[LBass]

There is some evidence that Rosemary can be a seizure trigger for some dogs. I suspect it is more likely to be an issue from eating it than the bit of exposure from a shampoo. Still, if you are anxious, look for a dog shampoo without rosemary and without tea tree oil, which is another thing I know that some dogs with seizures seem to have problems with.

 

I bathed Piper at home and usually used one of the oatmeal based shampoos with no problems. He generally did not have flea problems, so I didn't regularly use Frontline Plus but I did use it on him annually when we went to Sandy Paws and I knoew he was going to be out and about in flea and tick areas. He never had any problems with Frontline Plus.

[Tallgreydogmom]

We have used Frontline Plus on all our seizure greyhounds.We used it on Ava when we fostered her also. Dr Couto said it was OK to use. Having the fleas can cause all sorts of problems for them.

 

We use Oatmeal Shampoo for bathing. Also keeping them clean with hanidwipes.

Edited November 18, 2012 by Tallgreydogmom

[brindlebaby]

Thanks everyone!

 

Hi Cora, good to know about the Frontline Plus! We had used it last year (before having Ava) and it didn't seem to help. Our vet doesn't carry it anymore - they have Vectra (I think?). I used that on Sam, but was leary to use on Pixie and Callie (greyhounds) because it was new.

 

Do you remember the brand of Oatmeal shampoo that you used?

 

We have used Frontline Plus on all our seizure greyhounds.We used it on Ava when we fostered her also. Dr Couto said it was OK to use. Having the fleas can cause all sorts of problems for them.

 

We use Oatmeal Shampoo for bathing. Also keeping them clean with hanidwipes.

[brindlebaby]

Deleted because it was duplicate post - the first one took a long time to post to the thread.

Edited November 18, 2012 by brindlebaby

[brindlebaby]

Do you think I could use Dawn dish soap in a pinch?

[Guest newgreymama]

Dawn has detergents in it for grease removal, so unless he has been swimming in an oil slick, it probably isn't ideal. But if it is all you have at the moment, maybe just a tad won't hurt. I know they use it on animals who have gotten stuck in oil spills, so I don't think it is downright dangerous.

 

I wanted to thank you for starting this topic--we just adopted a seizure patient, and I had no idea water temp could trigger one. Very good to know!

[greysmom]

Dawn has detergents in it for grease removal, so unless he has been swimming in an oil slick, it probably isn't ideal. But if it is all you have at the moment, maybe just a tad won't hurt. I know they use it on animals who have gotten stuck in oil spills, so I don't think it is downright dangerous.

 

I wanted to thank you for starting this topic--we just adopted a seizure patient, and I had no idea water temp could trigger one. Very good to know!

 

Not that warm water can trigger a seizure, but many greyhounds will simply faint if they are bathed in warm water. I've had two dogs that were very sensitive this way, and we had to bath them in nearly cold water so they wouldn't fall over!

[KF_in_Georgia]

Greyhounds--and other large-chested dogs--often swoon in warm water. If you tether your dog to something while you bathe it, be sure you leave enough slack in the tether that the dog won't be choked if it goes all the way to the ground, and be prepared to support your dog if it gets weak-kneed.

 

When you wash--and rinse--don't keep the warm water on the chest for very long. Wash/rinse a bit of the chest, then move to another part of the body, then back to the chest, and just move back and forth. And the water shouldn't feel much warmer than skin temperature on your hands.

[Tallgreydogmom]

We used the Top Paw Natural Oatmeal Shampoo. It is not a flea shampoo so does not have any of the flea chemicals in it. We would also use shots of the Adams Flea and Tick Mist to kill the fleas already there. Just a short direct spray right on the fleas. Then we would take a flea comb and comb them out. The flea comb also combs out the flea dirt. We would also lightly spray her bed, rugs and furniture.

 

I would think any Natural oatmeal shampoo would be fine.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Tallgreydogmom

[Guest jetska]

what about just bathing in plain ol water?? I find that you are really drowning the fleas anyway in a bath situation so I would bath in plain water and then after the dog is dry go over with a comb to make sure you got rid of everything!

 

I didn't know about the swooning effect either, my foster dog kinda flopped down on her belly when I bathed her, the water wasn't that warm though and was only really around her wrist height as we didn't want to fill the tub all the way up (water restrictions here). I thought it was cos it was hard for her to stand up on the slippery bottom of the bath and was planning to put some rubber matting down next time.