Seizures

U

unimog

Forums Regular
Cody has had several seizures over a 3 year time span. Very scary experience when he flops down and can not get up. Had his heart scanned and all is fine there. Some kind of brain disfunction we believe. Anyone had similar experiences?
 
Yes, unfortunately. My Meadow suddenly started having frequent seizures last August at age 3. She is now finally seizure free for 3 months. Had to try multiple combos of drugs and dosages. My 11 year old Faith also had a sudden seizure; in her case we had a neurologist examine her and do an MRI. She has two brain tumors and that's the cause. 8 months later, she is doing pretty well on her meds and loving life still.

It is VERY scary to watch them go through that. It's definitely a brain issue unless it's a bad thyroid.
 
Yes very scary for sure. Cody had 4 episodes so far about once per year. We took him off Nexgard medication for flees and tick that the vet recommended to stop because of the episodes.
Started to use Seresto Flee Collar instead and he is already vaccinated for Lyme. The farm has a lot wildlife that can cause more ticks to be around
If the episodes become more frequent we will of course get the vets recommendation for what to do next
Cody loves Green Cabbage and Green Beans so he gets that for snacks as supplement trying to keep him healthy
 
One of my Shelties suffered from seizures from the time she was 9 months old, caused by a combination of vaccines and flea/tick meds. I worked with a holistic vet using diet and homeopathic supplements and by 4, her seizures stopped until she was 10, when they returned. At that point my vet thought a brain tumor was causing them, and we treated her with gabapentin which helped some. We lost her at 11.

I think you're on track eliminating the Nexguard. Recent research has shown that using it over time can cause neurological damage. There's a thread here I recently posted about new FDA warnings about that and other flea/tick meds. Some people have also had problems with the collars, so I'd be cautious about using those too. Maybe try something like Wondercide, which is all natural and comes in a spray and a spot on. I use it for one of my dogs who has had reactions to meds.

Unfortunately, there's no definitive diagnosis for epilepsy, and various things can cause it so it's basically a medical guessing game. I would definitely consult your vet...perhaps a preventative medication for Cody would be appropriate. Good luck, and please let us know how he does.
 
Just one question that may seem odd has the dog eaten anything it shouldn't?

I have a background with human seizures so when our previous dog Katy started having them in her senior years I was accepting it was likely a nuero issue. However, our vet asked us about wild mushrooms/fungi growing in the area. Our lawn has a tendency to go nuts after it rains and we'd been patrolling her more for poop eating than fungi. We started making sure the lawn was clear of mushrooms and her seizures stopped. Even now that she is no longer with us we clear the lawn of mushrooms to make sure none of the current dogs develop a taste for them.

It is a rare issue but one worth noting as I had accepted she would be headed down a path of seizure treatment.
 
Yes, what Bailey's mom said. Della has had a couple of seizures, last one was quite a bad grand mal. The cause of those seizures - getting into things, or what her specialist likes to say, "garbage eating". The last time was after eating dry pasta! So it doesn't even need to be something outdoors. Because they have been grand mal (tonic clonic) she stays on meds for a while to give her brain a rest in case she has further ones and then we wean off and she's fine until the next garbage eating episode. Not sure if it's related but Della has MDR! +/+ gene
 
Just a word of warning unimog…any med that has a risk of causing seizures should never be used in a dog that’s had a seizure. Our previous holistic vet told me the seizure risk in a dog that’s already had a seizure in considerably higher than a dog that’s never had a seizure.
This is what the EPA says about the Seresto collar….Less common, but more serious reported adverse events, include neurological symptoms, such as convulsions or ataxia.
I would seriously consider a flea/tick medicine that has zero risk of seizure…any risk of seizure is too much if your dog is at risk of them.
 
Bonnie was diagnosed with canine epilepsy last month. Her neurologist prescribed Kepra. She had to up the dose because Bonnie had breakthrough seizures. Just started the increased dose, so we'll see.
 
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