Seizures

[Ken King]

This weekend I had the misfortune of watching my Chow Chow, Taz, suffer with a seizure. After getting him to the emergency vet in Waldorf for them to try to figure out what was up he had another one. They currently have him taking Phenobarbital which as I understand it is a very good preventative medication to prevent canine seizures. The initial diagnosis was that he was suffering from idiopathic epilepsy. These are just fancy words meaning that yes he is having seizures but we don’t know why.

Needless to say I have been researching the cause myself after poisoning was ruled out and stumbled on something I would like to share with others. Based on what I was reading and other “symptoms” Taz displays I find it likely that he is suffering from hypothyroidism. After sharing my suspicion with the vet, and the symptoms, I requested a full panel thyroid test to find out for sure. I also referenced some papers that a Dr. Dodd had written on the topic and during a follow up telephonic conversation with the vet treating Taz he thinks I might be right.

I bring this up here because there are many breeds predisposed to thyroid conditions which could result in anything from unexpected aggression to seizures. Three articles I found interesting and worthy of sharing are listed below. The third link contains a list of the breeds with the predisposition.

http://myweb.cableone.net/jasonthompson/AishaStory.htm
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian...randthyroid.htm
http://www.allbreed.net/chows/hypothyroidism.htm

 

[RoseRed]

How scary for you all Ken. My hopes for a speedy recovery.

 

[Kizzy]

 

[Ken King]

How scary for you all Ken. My hopes for a speedy recovery.

Thanks, we should have the lab work back on Tuesday. I'm praying that it is the thyroid condition which is easily treated. If it isn't we are back to square one.

 

[sunflower]

When I was younger I had 2 dogs that started having seizures. The time in between each dogs was a few years. We thought it was something in the woods, where the dog pin was!! This was in Compton as well. So now I know what it might have been. My parents never said what caused it. Dogs were: german shepard and golden retreiver (sp)?

 

[Ken King]

When I was younger I had 2 dogs that started having seizures. The time in between each dogs was a few years. We thought it was something in the woods, where the dog pin was!! This was in Compton as well. So now I know what it might have been. My parents never said what caused it. Dogs were: german shepard and golden retreiver (sp)?

Your folks might not never have known what was causing it. And without reading the articles I would still have no clue. It's another to the power of the Internet.

 

[RoseRed]

Thanks, we should have the lab work back on Tuesday. I'm praying that it is the thyroid condition which is easily treated. If it isn't we are back to square one.

How old is he? Sounds like you have also done your homework, good for you!

 

[sunflower]

Your folks might not never have known what was causing it. And without reading the articles I would still have no clue. It's another to the power of the Internet.

Im sure your right!! My dogs were older when it started happening to them...

 

[Shutterbug]

I hope everything turns out ok with your dog. I have a chocolate lab and I've had several friends of mine who have labs that have had seizures. This is good info for everyone. Thanks, Ken.

 

[Ken King]

How old is he? Sounds like you have also done your homework, good for you!

Just turned 3 at the end of January.

 

[FancyBelle]

My little Pom started having seizures when she was about 3. Very scary for them and you. She's been on phenobarbital and does very well unless I forget and skip a dose. The research I have done says they can live a long normal life with meds so I am optimistic. You need to be too. Hang in there, our babies need us.

 

[Suz]

This weekend I had the misfortune of watching my Chow Chow, Taz, suffer with a seizure. After getting him to the emergency vet in Waldorf for them to try to figure out what was up he had another one. They currently have him taking Phenobarbital which as I understand it is a very good preventative medication to prevent canine seizures. The initial diagnosis was that he was suffering from idiopathic epilepsy. These are just fancy words meaning that yes he is having seizures but we don’t know why.

Needless to say I have been researching the cause myself after poisoning was ruled out and stumbled on something I would like to share with others. Based on what I was reading and other “symptoms” Taz displays I find it likely that he is suffering from hypothyroidism. After sharing my suspicion with the vet, and the symptoms, I requested a full panel thyroid test to find out for sure. I also referenced some papers that a Dr. Dodd had written on the topic and during a follow up telephonic conversation with the vet treating Taz he thinks I might be right.

I bring this up here because there are many breeds predisposed to thyroid conditions which could result in anything from unexpected aggression to seizures. Three articles I found interesting and worthy of sharing are listed below. The third link contains a list of the breeds with the predisposition.

http://myweb.cableone.net/jasonthompson/AishaStory.htm
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian...randthyroid.htm
http://www.allbreed.net/chows/hypothyroidism.htm[/QUOTE]


Unreal. So far the month of March has totally sucked...... I hope your Taz is up, around and back to norm soon Ken..... I miss mine so bad.....

 

[Ken King]

My little Pom started having seizures when she was about 3. Very scary for them and you. She's been on phenobarbital and does very well unless I forget and skip a dose. The research I have done says they can live a long normal life with meds so I am optimistic. You need to be too. Hang in there, our babies need us.

I want to find and try to correct the cause of the seizures and hopefully get him off the Phenobarbitol, that nasty side affect of liver damage scares the heck out of me. Have you had your Pom checked for hypothyroidism, as they are on the list too?

 

[FancyBelle]

yes, and the same as what your vet said, epilepsy. I get her blood checked every so often and they check on her liver when they do that.

 

[Ken King]

yes, and the same as what your vet said, epilepsy. I get her blood checked every so often and they check on her liver when they do that.

Have you had the full 6-panel thyroid test done? Most only check the T4 values and they can be in the normal range while the T3, Free T3, Free T4, T3 auto antibodies and T4 auto antibodies are at abnormal ranges. This site, http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/causes_seizures.htm , gives a breakdown of possible causes by dog age.

 

[Cletus_Vandam]

Alternative to Pheno

If they are looking to put your Chow on pheno for long term, ask first about potasium bromide.

I had a Dalmatian that started having seizureas when she was about three or four. My vet at the time (lived in Waldorf) put her on pheno to stablize the seizures. But don't miss a dose, or they'll go into seizure. Also, the pheno doesn't prevent, it only helps in controlling them and reducing their duration. The worst thing that can happen is that they sieze for long durations (minutes).

There were also some other ill side effects of the pheno. If I recall correctly it impacts the liver function in long term use.

I heard of potasium bromide on the television and asked the vet if it might work. It was in liquid form and easliy administered daily and seemed to work better for her. I'm guessing that after a while on the pheno, she built up a tolerance to it, thus having more seizures.

My dalmatian lived a long life, although we occasionally had to comfort her through her occasional siezure. I had to finally put her down in 2001 after she lost motor skill in her hind legs. I don't know if that was related to the seizures or not, but she was 11.

 

[teverheart2002]

I know what you are going through. My hubby and I adopted a rottie mix from our local pound, he was 6 months old, found out that he has hip dysplaysia when he was only 8 months old. Then he started having seizures when he was around a year old vet said that it was epilepsy and to give him phenobarb when he gets overexcited and when we think that he might have a seizure, but I am afraid to give them to him too often because of the liver thing. Luckly the phenobarb is not a daily thing right now (knock on wood). Best of luck with the thyroid test (I had a dobe that had 0 thyroid level but no seizures-guess we were lucky)

 

[flashyfawn]

I had a Boxer that had seizures and also had hypothyroidism. The thyroid issue was discovered about a year after the seizures started (which was just before he turned 2.) He had very bad clusters of seizures and even after he started medicine for his thyroid, the phenobarb could never be cut back, it actually had to be increased. He was also on potassium bromide because the phenobarb alone wasn't enough. He did have liver problems but considering how bad his seizures were even with the medicine, there's no way in the world he could have been taken off it. He also had arthritis so it was a balancing act, keeping him pain free but not damage his liver even more by using anti inflammitories too much. He ended up being on, I think, 16 pills a day plus the potassium bromide liquid twice a day. He was on all that medicine for over 9 years and had a fabulous, fun, active life. Literally, he was racing across the backyard the day before we had to put him down.

The medicine is very weight sensitive, or at least it was with my guy, so at any time if he gained weight he would have a seizure. We had to do blood tests and ended up increasing the meds until he was full grown and then it mostly leveled off.

The potassium bromide is a liquid but not very tasty. My dog got his medicine 4 times a day so he was pretty used to it, but at first he hated the liquid and would put up a fight. We used a syringe and squirted it down his throat. My vet seems to start dogs on the phenobarb first and if that doesn't keep things under control, then add the liquid.

Like everyone else said, do not miss a dose. We actually planned things, like going out to dinner, etc. around being home to give the boy his meds. Sounds extreme but it became such a habit that we didn't even notice. The only real problem was finding a kennel that would do the medicine without charging per pill, which obviously would have killed us since he got so much. He was less active at the kennel so we were able to modify his med schedule to three times a day and as far as we know, he never had a seizure there. His tended to be more at night though, so it is possible that it may have been missed.

Good Luck with your dog!

 

[hollywoman]

Our beloved yellow lab AJ, we lost him on Saturday. He seizures starting last Nov only had one, then in January he had a cluster of seizures 5 of them in last than a 8 hr period. The vet put him on Pheno and then we had him test every 2 weeks to check this therpuric level and liver test, finally 3 weeks ago it leveled off and the vet said he should have anymore seizures and said that dogs that have epliesy live a long life on these meds. Well our dear AJ turn on us after his 2 seizures Friday night, our 100lb dog had turn on us. The vet said it was the meds that caused this, not the pet. It has been a really rough three days.

 

[PrepH4U]

Our beloved yellow lab AJ, we lost him on Saturday. He seizures starting last Nov only had one, then in January he had a cluster of seizures 5 of them in last than a 8 hr period. The vet put him on Pheno and then we had him test every 2 weeks to check this therpuric level and liver test, finally 3 weeks ago it leveled off and the vet said he should have anymore seizures and said that dogs that have epliesy live a long life on these meds. Well our dear AJ turn on us after his 2 seizures Friday night, our 100lb dog had turn on us. The vet said it was the meds that caused this, not the pet. It has been a really rough three days.

I am so sorry for your loss, I know it is very hard to loose a pet.