Canine Epilepsy - Please help a very worried owner!

[Denyce]

Hi I am so sorry you are having to watch your baby go through this.

Our husky Sequoia started having seizures shortly after we rescued her 5 years ago. We first thought it might have been the whip worms she also had but the seizures continued. They were not as bad as your dogs. She would have one about every 2-3 months and they would last anywhere from 2 minutes to almost 45. That last was one of the last seizures she had. We didn't put her on any meds except we kept Phenobarb and valium to help keep them from continuing. She would alert us each time she started to seize and we could get a Phenobarb pill in her before her jaws would clench. This went on for a couple of years.

Then the horrible pet food recalls happened. We had been feeding her Nutros Natural Max since we had rescued her. While that formula wasn't on the list I just hated seeing new foods being added daily it seemed and I thought..."That is it. I have had it with grains and glutens!"

We switched her to Innova Red Meat small bites formula in April of 2007. She hasn't had a seizure since. The one in March of 2007 had lasted 45 minutes of her whole body clenched and foaming/drooling. I thought we were going to lose her. It was terrifying but we live so far from the vets and the stress of moving her during a seizure meant we just had to try and be calm during it and pray a lot.

I know Innova is expensive and I don't have any "proof" that the grains and glutens caused her seizures. But I will not switch her off that food unless I can no longer get it because they quit making it. It has been 16 months she has had a seizure. She is 7 and a half years old now and looks incredible. I will try and post a recent pic soon.

I don't know what you are feeding but I would talk to your vet about switching. Our vet also feeds Innova and is convinced that the food change is what made a difference with her.

Denyce

[dreamparkingspace]

That's cool that a change to healthier dog food may have in some way reduced seizures in your dog. That 45 minute seizure must have been hard to watch. I'm glad your dog seems to be doing much better Denyce.

Also, I noticed a lot of you mentioned "Valium" as a way of treating seizures. I've never heard of such a treatment. In fact I've heard the opposite...that coming off tranquilizers increases the seizure risk. So how does Valium fit in to reducing seizure risk?...It seems like it's just a tranquilizer that would get a dog drunk...

[Denyce]

it is a liquied valium that is given in the anus during a seizure in order to try and relax the dog and stop the seizue I beleive. If anyone else knows better please correct me. We never used it although the last one we wished we had it then. We didn't get it until the next day in preparation for the next one. Which never happened.

Of course you all realize I am knocking on wood like mad. My desk, my head...whatever else seems wooden like.

[shepgirl]

You're right about the liquid valium. The reason for that is that in animals you insert rectally and it has almost immediate benefits. For humans who are convulsing they will inject the valium intravenously to abort the seizure immediately. For animals, not everyone would be able find the vein and inject and it would take too long to get to a clinic , thus the liquid to insert rectally.

[Falconara]

Our Mutt Jay started having seizures around June of last summer (1yr old).

The first several seizures where Grand Mal Seizures and usually ended with a fair amount of disorientation and aggression...the very first one he ended up biting Dad afterward.

We took him to the vet and our vets started him on Potassium Bromide -- which is a liquid substance...they frontloaded him on it (he was mouth shy from that for months...so we ended up squirting the medication on bread and putting a wee bit of parmesian on top for him to munch down), and now we give it to him every night.

We started him on about 2.5 mL, then 3.5mL, and now we're at 4.5mL and steady....he kept having seizures every once and a while for the first few months -- which is why we updated the dosage...but at the time they were petit mal...which was definetley an improvment...we also didnt have the aggressiveness after those either.

So far we havent had a seizure in a few months -- the last one started with an eye twitch (which is how it always starts) and I put my hands on his head and rubbed and soothed and that seemed to break it. The medication made him gain alot of weight...and we dont feed him much...mostly caloric filler like green beans so he doesnt scavenge...and we run together....but he's mostly in shape now despite the weight.

Another thing we noticed was the first time we had a seizure came right around the time I went to get Ruby...and since Ruby was a rabid catfood eater we moved the catfood -- for most animals Taurine is a non-essential Amino Acid...meaning they can produce it on their own...for cats however it is not....so there is a great deal of it in their food.

There was a study done in 2003 by Torres et all looking at Newfies and their Taurine levels. What they found was that some large breed dogs do in fact have a Taurine Deficiency, which can lead to Cardio Mylepothy and Seizing. As a result we have been supplementing Taurine (along with the KBr) just in case....methionine can also be used....or, if you dont want to purchase the goey stuff, Beef heart is a great source....there hasnt been alot of research on it...but enough to make me worry about Jay which is why he is on it.

Hope that helps

~Cate

[Medusa]

My RB Charmin had epilepsy; it began after the birth of her only litter of pups. (She had 2.) She was a peke-a-poo and she was put on phenolbarbitol at one year of age. She lived to 18 1/2 and the phenolbarbitol gave her no problems whatsoever and no side effects. It started working for her almost immediately but she did have one grand mal. I stroked her and softly called her name and that brought her out of it. As I said, she lived to a ripe old age and finally died of a heart attack. I'm sorry that you're experiencing this; it's kinda scary when it first happens but I myself had seizures as a child, so I could relate perfectly to what Charmin was going through. Take heart; I hope the meds start working right away and that you have Cody w/you for a long time. Don't be scared. Keep the faythe. (Glad I ventured over into the dog section for a change. )

[pomtzu]

Don't rule out diabetes as a cause for the seizures. I had 2 Lhasa Apsos that were diabetic and one of them was very difficult to regulate even on insulin. She would have a seizure if her blood sugar dropped very low.