Our dog had a seizure

Last night, our 4 yr old cocker spaniel had a seizure that came on suddenly. He started trembling and his back legs gave out and his jaw was clenched shut. I called our vet's emergency line and they said it sounded like a seizure. I am taking him in today to get blood work done. Does anybody have a pet that this has happened to? How do the vets treat this? It was such an awful night....both kids were scared and crying. And no, he has not been exposed to any toxins and I give him his flea and tick medicine monthy and have not seen any ticks on him at all.:cry:

 

So sad. Our dog used to have seizures as well, and it was scary and sad when it happened. I can't remember how many she had, but it was a few. She would also drool this foamy drool and I think she would also pee at the same time, and it was a very foul odor. Our vet gave her a prescription for it, can't remember exactly what else was done, this was about 10 years ago. But we would feel so sad and helpless when it happened. :cry:

 

My SIL had a Cocker that would have siezures. But I don't know how it was treated medically. Sorry your pup is having problems.

 

I'm so sorry. I know how scary that must have been for you and your family. Hopefully the vet can give you some answers and it can be treated. :grouphug:

 

:iagree: :grouphug:

 

There are certain breeds that are prone to epilepsy and I think it often begins around the age you mentioned. That might be a place to start looking for info. IF this is what it is determined to be they can give meds to regulate the seizures but probably won't until the dog starts to have seizures more frequently than just say once a year or a couple times a year because the medication can cause liver damage. You try to find a balance between quality of life and length of life and potential heart failure from seizures etc., vs damage to liver shortening life. Epilepsy is fairly common in dogs, esp certain purebreds. The dogs often have an aura before the seizure--they can sense it coming on and will often act differently--they may seek you out or nudge you and be a pest more than normal for example.

 

Now that you mention that, I do remember the dr mentioning liver damage through meds. It does seem that you could also treat it through some sort of surgery, although I can't remember much about that. Our dog was probably 6 or so when hers started. She was a beagle. We still miss her, she didn't die from any of this, she was hit by a car. She was our baby for 9 years, our first "baby". :cry:

 

I used to know someone that had a Yorkie and they said they had to stop feeding him table food because it would make him have seizures.

 

One of our dogs had his first seizure when he was about 8. It was a grand mal seizure ... he was thrashing around so much it woke us up. He's only had two others like that, that we know of. Because he was going about 6 months or more between seizures, the vet did not put him on meds. He's now 12 and we've not seen a seizue in at least a year.

Your vet may opt to wait and see if your dog has any more seizures before trying medication.

 

Sorry to hear that! A friend of mine has a dog that gets them every once in a while,I believe he is on medication.
I wonder if there might be a homeopathic way to treat this if regular meds are a concern?

I just found this link as well:
http://www.holisticpetinfo.com/proddetail.asp?prod=EaseSure

 

Here is a link
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/ahealth2.htm#seizure
to some info.

Our dog has been on the so called raw food diet for some years now.

this link is also very informative about canine epilepsy:
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/

 

Thanks everybody for all of your advice. I went to the vet and they did bloodwork, which I will get results tomorrow. They told me they do not want to put him on anti seizure meds yet until he's had at least 3 seizures. The reason being is because a dog could go years without another seizure. They gave me 10mg diazepam (valium) to give to him if I see another seizure coming on so that it may relax him. If I am unable to give it to him orally, they gave me a syringe that I would have to put the valium in and dilute it with water and give it rectally (yikes). My poor doggy!! Today he is acting really good though. Just kind of sleepy. I'll keep ya'll updated on him.

 

If someone was going to shoot valium up my *** I'd be acting good too, in hopes that it would never happen! :jester: I hope things turn out well.

 

I recently tried out something called pill pockets,it's a soft treat with a small opening into which you put the medication/pill than squeeze to close it up,with my dog they are going down like candy

 

Thanks for the laugh....I definitely needed it.:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

Hey browns, please let us know the outcome of this. My chihuahua that passed away in June (not from seizures) would have seizures every once in a while. It was really scarey. Our vet said there was nothing they could do because it was only about once every 6 months or so. Now our new chihuahua (who just turned 6 years old) has had one. The people I got her from said she has never had one with them. I wonder if there is something in our house that's making it happen??

 

My dog loves those too, right after she digs the pill out!! The little devil!!:banghead:

 

Bren- When I was at the vet, she asked me if a horn was honking when it happened or if there was another loud noise occuring at the time. I told her no there were no loud noises, it was just regular household activity and he was just walking around when it hit him. She told me sometimes loud noises can trigger a seizure and that lots of times dogs can have a seizure when they are sleeping also. Lots of dogs also experience their first seizure in the fall also. I asked why and she just said she couldn't answer why, it's just seems to be the trend among dogs. Are you giving your dog their monthly tick medicine? And your dog isn't around any toxins,right? I know it's scary, my kids were crying like crazy for up to an hour after it happened. One more thing, while your dog is having the seizure and after it happens.....it is very important to be calm and quiet (we weren't though) because the vet said it helps them come out of the seizure easier and reassures them after it's over because, trust me, the dog is just as scared as you are. Let me know if you find out a definite trigger as to why your dog is having them.

 

browns, when Angel (one I have now) had hers it was kind of noisy. It was my DS's birthday. We were all laughing and joking around prior to it happening. She was actually sitting on the arm of the recliner when she started looking strange. I got up and went to the kitchen...she followed. Her eyes started shutting...she was just squinting...her legs started stiffening up on her. I picked her up and held her close, then took her and laid her beside me on the bed in my bedroom. That's what I used to do to my first chihuahua. They usually only lasted about a minute but it seems like 10 minutes!! And yes she gets her monthly flea/heartworm meds. No toxins that I know of. We do have monthly pest control at our house but I was assured that nothing they use is harmful to dogs or humans.