Seizure help...

[remaxrealtor]

Jack had a pretty severe one over the weekend. It seemed to last longer than they used to, but it could have just seemed like forever. I held her and kept an alcohol soaked towel on the pads of her feet to bring her temp down....is there anything else I can do in the future to get her through them? TIA!

 

[cattitude]

How often does she have them. Did the vet give you any diagnosis? What food do you feed her?

 

[remaxrealtor]

How often does she have them. Did the vet give you any diagnosis? What food do you feed her?

Hi Catt!!!!!

She hasn't had one in a long time, maybe a year. She was on phenobarbitol (sp?) at one time, but since they were happening so seldom, we took her off of it, as we heard it does a lot of organ damage.

They ran tests a while ago, she did (or does, they never get rid of it) have lymes disease, the vet seemed to decide it was stress related, she's very anxious at times.

She eats Pedigree food (canned) and we make her food, veggies, rice, and homemade dog smoothies that she LOVES....strawberries, bananas, fat free plain yogurt and a little honey, pureed and frozen.

 

[Gtmustang88]

One of my dogs used to get them, and has almost grown out of them. He hasn't had one in a long time.

<--- knocks on wood

 

[clevalley]

How often does she have them. Did the vet give you any diagnosis? What food do you feed her?

This is interesting - my SIL had/has Golden Retrievers and Cocker Spaniels, she use to feed them Purina One... the ones that are no longer with us had all kinds of health problems; seizures, tumors, cancer, etc...

She has 2 new Golden Retrievers and she is not feeding Purina One (I think Science Diet) and she has not had one problem in 5 years.

 

[cattitude]

This is interesting - my SIL had/has Golden Retrievers and Cocker Spaniels, she use to feed them Purina One... the ones that are no longer with us had all kinds of health problems; seizures, tumors, cancer, etc...

She has 2 new Golden Retrievers and she is not feeding Purina One (I think Science Diet) and she has not had one problem in 5 years.

I've written about this on here before. Our Golden (RIP Boomer) had horrible seizures. Our Labby/Hound had them as well. I didn't like the effects of the drugs the vet prescribed so I started doing my own research. Foods can play a major part in epilepsy in dogs (as well as many other diseases). Vaccinations, flea/tick chemicals, etc. are also factors.

After changing foods and following a limited vaccination protocol and a few other changes, the Golden's seizures stopped. He lived to the ripe old age of 15...we lost him four years ago. We still have the Lab, he's 12 and going strong and seizure free.

There can be medical reasons for epilepsy but there's a vast amount of information regarding environmental reasons. It's totally worth checking out. While a good grade of food is initially expensive, it's cost effective in the long run because the animals are healthier.

 

[Cowgirl]

My sister's little terrier mix used to get seizures. They started out few and far between, but got so bad she was having one every few days. They kept upping the phenobarb, but it didn't seem to be helping. My sister decided to stop the phenobarb, and the dog stopped having seizures. The dog is doing fine now. I think she also switched food, but I'm not sure what she's feeding now.

 

[remaxrealtor]

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I'm doing some research on foods for her.

 

[cattitude]

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I'm doing some research on foods for her.

You can also call Kate at Clippers 410-326-9294. She knows her stuff when it comes to foods, etc. and can probably offer some assitance.

 

[teverheart2002]

Hey - Sorry you had to go through this. I know exactly how you feel. Not long after moving out here, Bandit went through a series of cluster seizures - lasted a good 4 hours. Longest night of my life.

Anyway - I love this site:
Canine Epilepsy and Dog Seizures Table of Contents - Canine Epilepsy Guardian Angels
If you look under disease/disorders that can cause seizures it does list tick borne diseases.

One thing to watch is change in weather. We have changed food, but I still notice that if the weather changes much - like when it storms we are probably 40% more likely to have a seizure. I noticed this when we left here (probably a year ago) - 60 degree weather and when we got to Iowa, it was 20 degree weather - sure enough that night Bandit had a seizure. So there is another thing to add.

One thing that helped me discover what might be causing them is to write in a journal the date, time, weather, activities of the day, how long the seizure lasted, and severity. You will begin to notice patterns. For example in Oklahoma, Bandit always consistently had seizures at 4 in the morning. Here they are more in the afternoon/early evenings. This also helped me realize the weather connection.

Okay - one last thing The site listed has a section for before/during/ and after a seizure. I cannot prove that the ice pack thing actually works, but we do it every time and it seems to help keep him a little bit cooler and he does seem to snap out of them a little quicker afterwards.
Using an ice pack to stop canine seizures
Like they state - all else fails, you feel like you are doing Something.

Oh - and something I have recently noticed - after a seizure make sure that he is completely out of the seizure. I let Bandit up once and let him outside too quick, and he came back in and went into another seizure. So now when he starts to come out of the seizure and wants to sit up, I make him lay there for a little bit longer, then let him sit up and stay there for a little while, then finally I will let him go outside. It actually took me a couple of times of cluster seizures to realize that I was too quick in letting him get up.

Anyway, hope that this helps - if you need more, let me know.

 

[remaxrealtor]

Hey - Sorry you had to go through this. I know exactly how you feel. Not long after moving out here, Bandit went through a series of cluster seizures - lasted a good 4 hours. Longest night of my life.

Anyway - I love this site:
Canine Epilepsy and Dog Seizures Table of Contents - Canine Epilepsy Guardian Angels
If you look under disease/disorders that can cause seizures it does list tick borne diseases.

One thing to watch is change in weather. We have changed food, but I still notice that if the weather changes much - like when it storms we are probably 40% more likely to have a seizure. I noticed this when we left here (probably a year ago) - 60 degree weather and when we got to Iowa, it was 20 degree weather - sure enough that night Bandit had a seizure. So there is another thing to add.

One thing that helped me discover what might be causing them is to write in a journal the date, time, weather, activities of the day, how long the seizure lasted, and severity. You will begin to notice patterns. For example in Oklahoma, Bandit always consistently had seizures at 4 in the morning. Here they are more in the afternoon/early evenings. This also helped me realize the weather connection.

Okay - one last thing The site listed has a section for before/during/ and after a seizure. I cannot prove that the ice pack thing actually works, but we do it every time and it seems to help keep him a little bit cooler and he does seem to snap out of them a little quicker afterwards.
Using an ice pack to stop canine seizures
Like they state - all else fails, you feel like you are doing Something.

Oh - and something I have recently noticed - after a seizure make sure that he is completely out of the seizure. I let Bandit up once and let him outside too quick, and he came back in and went into another seizure. So now when he starts to come out of the seizure and wants to sit up, I make him lay there for a little bit longer, then let him sit up and stay there for a little while, then finally I will let him go outside. It actually took me a couple of times of cluster seizures to realize that I was too quick in letting him get up.

Anyway, hope that this helps - if you need more, let me know.

Thanks again to all! The ice pack idea is a good one...Also, the weather info. makes sense to me. I never considered that. A couple years ago, my horse went through a string of colic that the vet felt had to do with severe drops in barometric pressure. The last seizure, we had gone out running that day and she got herself really worked up when we encountered another dog. This may have contributed with her kind of over-heating.

 

[SweetThang]

One of my hounds has an occasional seizure-he always lets me know when one is coming on. He does this "in your face, on your chest, heavy panting, scared look in the eyes thing." I give him 2 quick sprays of Bach's Rescue Remedy, and get him to the floor on his blanket. I have access to bottled O2 so I give him 10 liters "blow-by" and talk to him in a quiet tone. He doesn't have them often but when he does, they are scary and I feel bad for him-but like in most humans, he doesn't even know he has had one.