Seizures?

[ivon]

If those of you have experience with seizures could chime in, something weird is going on with Spud. He is 11, and gotten a bit frail, he sometimes gets small injuries outside from running into sticks, etc, but the last two days something happened inside. Yesterday he was limping, and had one toe at a weird angle, however, after 15 minutes he was walking normally and looked fine. Then I noticed a large bruise on his side, with a few scratches, this was before he ever went outside. today another foot injury I can't figure out, and tonight when he rushed into his crate for dinner, he had all 4 legs stretched to the sides and screamed, trembled for a minute like he could not move, and then was back to normal. Just a moment ago, he was laying in a soft travel crate, I could hear his legs kicking, like they sometimes do when dreaming, but he screamed again. By the time I got to him he was ok again....Could it be he is having very short seizures? Is there a blood test the vet can do to find out? I will take him in tomorrow of course, but was wondering if any of you could help me shed some light on this....

[KF_in_Georgia]

I don't think it's common for dogs to scream during seizures, but experience has told me that they'll scream for muscle cramps. Your vet might want to do some bloodwork to check blood chemistry levels (I'm thinking of potassium).

 

And four legs stretched to the sides sounds as if he lost his footing and did a Bambi on the floor. (And my boy has done this even on carpeting--not just a slick floor.) The problem when their legs get spread like that is that they can't get upright unless they can shift their weight far enough to one side or the other to be stable while they try to pull their other legs back under them. My Sam generally just screams until I get to him, get my hands under his belly and chest, and lift him enough so he can pull his legs back under him.

 

Watch for places in your house where Spud needs to stop or change direction abruptly. Those are the places he's most likely to encounter problems with his footing. For instance, try keeping him at your side when you take his food to his crate, so he's not rushing to get there. You might need to consider area mats (rubber-backed bathmats are useful), or just changing where some events happen in your house.

 

P.S. These split/falls can be dangerous--causing broken bones--as well as painful for him.

 

P.P.S. The kicking legs in his soft crate might have been him having more footing problems.

Edited February 13, 2013 by KF_in_Georgia

[ivon]

He did a bit of a Bambi in his crate, but it's carpeted, and the second time he was actually lying on his side....but you might be right, I give him bananas quite a bit because he gets leg cramps, but haven't in about a week.....

[KF_in_Georgia]

My old boy has had at least two incidents of his feet sliding on carpet. One time (he was much younger then), his foot slid on carpeted steps and he jammed his foot under the riser. (Cut his leg to the bone and needed stitches.) Another time, he was playing and slid with his front legs on the bed and his back legs sliding apart on the carpet. He screamed until I got him back on his feet, and he was sore afterwards.

 

The scary ones have been when he's hit the ground. That's happened a couple of times on hard tile.

[ivon]

I am scared.....he may be old, but he is my buddy, and my first Greyhound....he is freaked out, I can tell, I crated the girls, just in case. They are none too impressed, but they can take it.....I will leave him at my vets tomorrow for the day, hopefully they can figure it out. I know I will have to let him go eventually, but having had him around for nearly 10 years, I grew so attached.....

[hikinghounds]

Yes, they can scream/cry out during a seizure. My Zephyr did in every one he had. Especially right when it would start he would let out a very loud cry. I think you are right and Spud is having seizures. The legs sticking out and shaking sound just like it. Zephyr also walked funny with his legs and head turned during partial seizures that he had. And being shaken up, nervous, pacing, etc. is very common after seizures. Has he eaten since the last episode? Zephyr was usually hungry after a seizure and I heard, and found, that eating helped him feel a little better while recovering from the seizure. I'm so sorry you're Spud is going through this, it's very scary. Glad you're able to get him to the vet.

[a_daerr]

Sorry you are going through this. Seizures are scary. My Henry is a seizure-dog, so I unfortunately know more about seizures than I would like to. Seizures fall within two categories- partial (absent) and grand mal. Seizures can also vary a lot from dog to dog. During a partial, Henry will stand frozen in one spot, his eyes will go unfocused, and one part of his body starts shaking or twitching (usually his head or back legs). He will often pee or throw up afterwards. During a grand mal, he is completely down on his side. His entire body shakes and his mouth foams. After the seizure is over, it's a very quick transition. He "snaps out of it," movement stops, then he'll be confused and disoriented for about 10-15 minutes afterwards. Henry is five years old with no other health problems, so his condition is textbook idiopathic epilepsy. However, seizures can be caused by any number of things ranging from low thyroid to brain tumor.

 

To answer you're question, I'm not sure if Spud's behavior sounds like seizures or not. During these episodes, did you look in his eyes or observe his facial expression? If he was wincing or yelping in pain, or making eye contact with you, then I would venture to guess it wasn't a seizure. I can tell when Henry's having a seizure just by his gaze alone. To my knowledge, a partial seizure only affects one part of the body, so it would be odd if all four legs were affected but he otherwise still seemed coherent. It sounds more characteristic of muscle cramps and loss of footing, or possibly a mini stroke. Then again, I only know what my dog looks like during a seizure- yours may have symptoms that manifest in a totally different way. Unfortunately, if it was a seizure, you are most likely not going to see anything unusual in the bloodwork. The exceptions are thyroid, Tick-Borne Disease, or cancer. If something neurological is going on, which is more likely the case with an 11-year-old, the only way to know for sure is an MRI, which is usually quite expensive and done under anesthesia. One thing I've learned is that vets are really quick to diagnose a dog epileptic and prescribe Phenobarbital. A lot of the times, the side effects of the seizure meds can be worse than the seizures themselves. Before putting your dog on any seizure medication, I recommend consulting with a canine neurologist.

 

Sending good thoughts and crossing my fingers it's muscle cramps.

[ivon]

Thanks for your input, the vet doesn't seem to think it's seizures, she recently did a complete senior panel on him, and everything looked good. I am hoping it's just muscle cramps, I didn't get to him before it was over, the episode lasted only seconds, but he looked at me right after. He seemed confused, but calmed down pretty quick, at this point I decided to keep giving him his bananas and vow to not let him go a week without them. My vet is the best, they had him all day, checked him all over, did a CBC and didn't charge me anything when I picked him up.

[Batmom]

Could he be having small strokes (TIAs)? If so, might want to start low-dose aspirin therapy.

 

Hugs and hopes he is just fine!

[ivon]

I don't think it's strokes, but 3 more unexplained bruises today, all on the inside of his legs. None as big or with scratches as the first one, and I did not too long ago have him checked for that weird disease (forgot the name) where they get bruises....and bleed out internally. Ugh....

[Batmom]

That sounds like he is falling.

 

Only reason I asked about strokes is, our elderly whippet had a few probable TIAs in his last year or two. He too would turn up in the a.m. with unexplained bruises ... unexplained until we saw some furnishings rearranged and until we saw an incident. Incident = fell, couldn't control his legs, was very frightened and frantic for several seconds. We did not give aspirin at that time, perhaps should have. He lived on till 15 1/2 and passed of something unrelated.