Dog has started having seizures

[pyzik 597]

My little Puggle buddy had what we thought was just a weird muscle spasm earlier this spring.

Since then he's had three more, including one this morning.

We had just woken up and were headed down stairs to put them out and start the day and he had one at the top of the starts and fell all the way down before I could catch him.

 

We've tried to get him to the vet a couple times but it always stops before we even get out of the driveway. Vet recommended we video it and bring the video in with him so that they could see what is actually happening. However, watching other youtube videos I'm pretty sure he's having seizures.

 

He'll be three in December.

 

[jerry52 893]

How old is the dog? There is medication for this but it is hard on a active dog. Our last house dog had them, some people say it is in the breeding but who knows. We would take a bath towel and run hot water on it an the wrap it around the dog and rub its legs and back. That would bring them out of it in just a few minutes. The vet said it would be less frequent as the dog got older and he was right.

It one of those helpless things. Diet does not help as well .

Good luck and pet that pup for me.

[yakdung 2,926]

It is probably what is known as a "reverse sneeze":

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_sneezing

[pyzik 597]

Thanks for the tip, Jerry. He'll be three in December. I hope they get less frequent.

 

Yakdung, this is different. Though he does the "reverse sneeze" sometimes after drinking a lot of water. Never realized that's what it's called tough.

[David Mark 2,452]

I've got a six year old tom cat that has recently had a couple of seizures. Did some research and realized I could spend several hundred dollars trying to figure out what is causing it and then several hundred more on medication.

 

OR, treat him great like I always have and count on the research that says they are very rarely fatal and live with it.

 

Funny thing is he is unusually affectionate after he comes out of them. They only last 30 seconds or so but the rubbing and purring goes on for an hour or so.

[YOT 3,743]

Sorry, that sure does look like a seizure. We had a lab that started having them at 8 months. At 11 1/2 months the poor dog went into a Grand mal and never came out of it. even with emergency medication. We ended up having him put down.

 

Treatment for your dog is the same meds they give humans for seizures. Usually Diazepam, which is very inexpensive and worth it if that's the right drug. Most anti-seizure meds are cheap, though.

 

Good luck.

[David Mark 2,452]

Sorry to hear you lost your pup Yeoldetool. I think we were posting simultaneously when I mentioned they are rarely fatal.

 

Maybe it's different with cats.

[KTM 72]

my Siberians do the reverse sneezing when they drink too much water too fast. The first time I saw it I kinda freaked out a bit.I hope you're little guy is o.k.

[LuPiN8oR 333]

We had a husky shepherd mix who would have seizures and like you, it always stopped before we could get her to the vet/e.r. she would always be totally fine afterwards too. We took her for a hike one late saturday afternoon and she was acting a little odd but still ok. She remained a little off the rest of the night until about 3am then she had her final one. The animal e.r was closed at that point so we had planned to take her in the morning as she had come out of every other one fine. It truly is one of the oddest things ive ever dealt with, and especially frustrating because the vet couldnt diagnose anything unless it was literally happening right in front of her. We even tried the video approach but couldnt get anythung conclusive. Best of luck to you man, its one of the harder things to deal with in pets.

[MT Predator 2,294]

Can the Vet not board him for observation so they can figure out how to treat it?

[LuPiN8oR 333]

+1 to MT if its happening w any frequency. My pup would go months between with nothing seeming as a trigger.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Good luck man I hope it turns out ok. Three is young even in dog years.

[DogMan 2,343]

Let me just state the obvious here. Start with doing exactly what your vet says. Do your best to get the next seizure on video, even if it's only a few seconds worth. At the frequency these are happening it is not practical at all to have the vet try to observe and catch one happening. In the meantime if you are not feeding your dog the highest quality dog food, well, it's time to start now. Look closely at all the treats he is getting, too. I had a dog that had seizures almost weekly and switching to giving her the best diet possible was either just what she needed to lessen the frequency or it was one hell of a coincidence in timing. It was during my problems with her that I learned what utter crap that most dog food was. You hear about dog food recalls all the time but those are just the ones that have caused a big spike in sick or dead dogs. There are a lot of others out there that are just slowly poisoning dogs by a combination of barely nutritious ingredients along with very suspect fillers. Believe me, the extra cost of a four or five star dog food is well worth it. You'll actually need to feed them less of it, you will have fewer vet bills, and you will have a happier healthier dog. I can't guarantee you will have the same success as I did. You may need medication for it too, as my dog did later in her life, but you can't afford not to cover all the bases and it starts with the best nutrition.

[Odd Man Out 1,283]

Had a Shepherd that was diagnosed with epilepsy. Would do somewhat the same thing. I pray your dog does not have anything that can't be treated. My heart goes out to you and your buddy, Give him love for me.

[jerry52 893]

Let me just state the obvious here. Start with doing exactly what your vet says. Do your best to get the next seizure on video, even if it's only a few seconds worth. At the frequency these are happening it is not practical at all to have the vet try to observe and catch one happening. In the meantime if you are not feeding your dog the highest quality dog food, well, it's time to start now. Look closely at all the treats he is getting, too. I had a dog that had seizures almost weekly and switching to giving her the best diet possible was either just what she needed to lessen the frequency or it was one hell of a coincidence in timing. It was during my problems with her that I learned what utter crap that most dog food was. You hear about dog food recalls all the time but those are just the ones that have caused a big spike in sick or dead dogs. There are a lot of others out there that are just slowly poisoning dogs by a combination of barely nutritious ingredients along with very suspect fillers. Believe me, the extra cost of a four or five star dog food is well worth it. You'll actually need to feed them less of it, you will have fewer vet bills, and you will have a happier healthier dog. I can't guarantee you will have the same success as I did. You may need medication for it too, as my dog did later in her life, but you can't afford not to cover all the bases and it starts with the best nutrition.

Our dog was on the best Vet food money could buy from the time she was a pup. Diet i was told only works in a few cases.

I agree that most dog food is crap. I was told because of breeding that some high end dogs are born with it.

The vet told us because of the size of the dog medication might do worse. So we lived through15 years of attacks. Her last 3 years was free of them.

[pyzik 597]

Can the Vet not board him for observation so they can figure out how to treat it?

We have no idea when they're coming.

The first one was this spring then two this summer, now this one.

 

Luckily, so far they've all been mild. His first was the worst but I think it was because he had no idea what was going on and was trying to react to it..?

This one he laid down and didn't really try to move unless I asked him to.

Before he would try to "get away from it" if that makes sense.

 

I've got audits at work this week and haven't been able to make it to the vet yet. Probably Thursday I'll be able to.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Pyzik

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

We use to have a Chiwawa named Cheech that had seizures. (Yeah, I know we aren't politically correct at our house. We have on now named Salsa.) He had a soft spot on top of his skull where the bones did not fuse like they are supposed to. Our vet said this was likely the cause and not to let anything hit on top of the head if we could help it. As he got older they got worse and more frequent. We never had him treated for them becuase the vet said medication was likely not going to do much since he had the soft spot in his skull. He lioved to be 14 years old, and finally his little ticker gave out one night.

[magsite20 1,664]

After your family and maybe some friends your pets health and well being is something that hits you hard especially when you don’t have any way to understand whats wrong with them. That why the old bit about vets being the best doctors still holds true.

 

The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can't ask his patients what is the matter-he's got to just know.

Will Rogers

Edited September 10, 2013 by the 4th Doctor

[wasrNwarpaint 184]

Im certain thats a seizure, my dog had them, his was a brain tumor, the seizures pass and just scared him and me more

sadly I had to put the little guy down 6-8 weeks ago

as previously posted you maybe able to ignore the problem but not till after a vet see's the dog and makes a diagnosis

[pyzik 597]

WasrNwarpaint, sorry to hear that.

[DogMan 2,343]

 

Let me just state the obvious here. Start with doing exactly what your vet says. Do your best to get the next seizure on video, even if it's only a few seconds worth. At the frequency these are happening it is not practical at all to have the vet try to observe and catch one happening. In the meantime if you are not feeding your dog the highest quality dog food, well, it's time to start now. Look closely at all the treats he is getting, too. I had a dog that had seizures almost weekly and switching to giving her the best diet possible was either just what she needed to lessen the frequency or it was one hell of a coincidence in timing. It was during my problems with her that I learned what utter crap that most dog food was. You hear about dog food recalls all the time but those are just the ones that have caused a big spike in sick or dead dogs. There are a lot of others out there that are just slowly poisoning dogs by a combination of barely nutritious ingredients along with very suspect fillers. Believe me, the extra cost of a four or five star dog food is well worth it. You'll actually need to feed them less of it, you will have fewer vet bills, and you will have a happier healthier dog. I can't guarantee you will have the same success as I did. You may need medication for it too, as my dog did later in her life, but you can't afford not to cover all the bases and it starts with the best nutrition.

Our dog was on the best Vet food money could buy from the time she was a pup. Diet i was told only works in a few cases.

I agree that most dog food is crap. I was told because of breeding that some high end dogs are born with it.

The vet told us because of the size of the dog medication might do worse. So we lived through15 years of attacks. Her last 3 years was free of them.

 

Sorry you and your dog had to go through all that for so long. You're right, better food is not always the answer. It's just such a mysterious and fickle affliction that it makes sense to give the dog it's best chance for some recovery by being as otherwise healthy as possible, and it sounds like you did just that. Thankfully the last three years were better.

[magsite20 1,664]

Had a big beautiful female Doberman and she had small seizures that were for the most part were controlled by her diet. Meagan would come over put her head in my lap and shiver for a couple of minutes and then be fine, she lived to a ripe old age. Forget what the vet called it but it was mild and pretty well controlled just by what we fed her.