My sheltie has had a couple of strange turns (4 to 6 months apart). All of a sudden his back legs will stiffen and he acts like there is no feeling in them , he can't stand. He gets very nervous and drools a lot for about an hour. During that time all four of his legs stiffen about four times. I had a Scottie years ago and when she had seizures she paddled and was out of it , this didn't seem like a seizure. Does anyone have and ideas???I took him to the vet and she recommended 100mgs zonisamide. That seemed to be a lot of medication and it is the weekend and I can't ask the vet. Any help will be appreciated.
zonisamide??
- Thread starter Rena
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trini
Forums Sage
Sorry your sheltie is going through this. Your Scottie's seizures sound like they were grand mals. The symptoms your sheltie is showing can also be seizures...focal or partial...which present differently from grand mals. The following vet site gives info on all the different drugs used for seizure control and if you scroll down the page you will find a discussion on Zonisamide. I have had 4 seizure dogs over the years but have never used Zonisamide so can't give you any first hand experience with this particular drug. My current seizure doggie, Mickey, is on Gabapentin with good results.
Maintenance Anticonvulsant Therapy: Systemic Pharmacotherapeutics of the Nervo
Trini
Maintenance Anticonvulsant Therapy: Systemic Pharmacotherapeutics of the Nervo
Trini
trini
Forums Sage
To Trini Gilmore, thank you for answering my question. It is so good to talk to someone about my Rascal. He is my pride and joy
We had a Rascal too...lost him 4 years ago at 14 to congestive heart failure. So...knowing your boy is Rascal makes him seem extra special to me. These shelties do steal our hearts.
Trini
That innocent look!
Is my boy spoiled !! Well maybe a teeny bit
He follows me everywhere and I swear he reads my mind.
Trini, I gave him one of those Zonisamide capsules this morning and he seemed fine. I spoke to the vet yesterday and told her I was uncomfortable with the dose . She suggested I try one a day instead of two. Hope I am not being a pest with all this, thanks for listening. R
Is my boy spoiled !! Well maybe a teeny bit
He follows me everywhere and I swear he reads my mind.Trini, I gave him one of those Zonisamide capsules this morning and he seemed fine. I spoke to the vet yesterday and told her I was uncomfortable with the dose . She suggested I try one a day instead of two. Hope I am not being a pest with all this, thanks for listening. R
trini
Forums Sage
Is my boy spoiled !! Well maybe a teeny bit
Trini, I gave him one of those Zonisamide capsules this morning and he seemed fine. I spoke to the vet yesterday and told her I was uncomfortable with the dose . She suggested I try one a day instead of two. Hope I am not being a pest with all this, thanks for listening. R
Let us know how the reduced dose works...you are not being a pest for posting about a little beloved doggie. We all can learn from the experiences that others go through and in a way every little dog who becomes part of SN is part of our "family"...so please never hesitate to post!
BTW Did your vet suggest keeping a journal of any incidents with your sheltie...recording date, time of day, length of seizure, intensity? It can be a big help when looking back and trying to determine if the meds are controlling the seizures or if they are slowly escalating. You may have done this with your Scottie. I know keeping a journal has been really helpful for me and for our vet as we determine what meds, how much, etc.
And, yes, I swear shelties can read us like a book!
Trini
Rascal
Here I am back again! Yesterday I gave Rascal one of those capsules, he seemed fine in the morning then later in the evening and all night he paced and panted, so I didn't give him a capsule today. He still paces a lot but he has stopped the panting. I told a friend of mine how he seemed to loose feeling in his back and started shaking and for the next hour he kept pushing all four legs while I held him. She said it might be constipation! Is that far fetched???? Bye the way I do keep track of what he does. Thanks again for answering , its a great help.
Here I am back again! Yesterday I gave Rascal one of those capsules, he seemed fine in the morning then later in the evening and all night he paced and panted, so I didn't give him a capsule today. He still paces a lot but he has stopped the panting. I told a friend of mine how he seemed to loose feeling in his back and started shaking and for the next hour he kept pushing all four legs while I held him. She said it might be constipation! Is that far fetched???? Bye the way I do keep track of what he does. Thanks again for answering , its a great help.
trini
Forums Sage
Here I am back again! Yesterday I gave Rascal one of those capsules, he seemed fine in the morning then later in the evening and all night he paced and panted, so I didn't give him a capsule today. He still paces a lot but he has stopped the panting. I told a friend of mine how he seemed to loose feeling in his back and started shaking and for the next hour he kept pushing all four legs while I held him. She said it might be constipation! Is that far fetched???? Bye the way I do keep track of what he does. Thanks again for answering , its a great help.
Without seeing one of these episodes it is really hard to say...but I would honestly be very surprised if constipation caused him to go through the physical issues you described in your first post...including not being able to stand. I really think it would be best to talk with your vet and openly discuss all of your concerns and also the possibility that the med he/she put Rascal on seems to make him pant and pace and ask if maybe another med could be tried. Some dogs don't tolerate one med well but can tolerate a different med just fine.
Also, the next time Rascal has one of these episodes it would really help your vet if you took a video of it. A verbal description of an episode can leave out something that might be a big clue ...a video contains so much more info that we might not even pick up on but a trained medical person can id. It was through a video of my Mickey during one of his episodes that positively id'd them as seizures.
Trini
Caro
Moderator
Just wanted to answer a couple of things in your last post. I doubt the rear end weakness is due to constipation - you are more likely to see booty scooting or trying to poop with nothing coming out.
I take an anticonvulsant (for migraine). It is really important not to just stop treatment suddenly, they are usually tapered off to prevent withdrawal seizures. It will also take time to work out the best medication and dosage rates, so don't give up. It may also take a little time for the drug to build up in his system enough to stop the problems. Anticonvulsants are given at high rates - although from my experience you start at a lower dose and build up.
There are many different types of seizures and he could be experiencing a partial seizure - which generally shows up as strange behaviours/movements without a loss of consciousness. A friend's mini schnauzer was recently diagnosed with involuntary tremors that were originally thought of as epilepsy. I know another dog diagnosed with canine stress syndrome. In these situations it really helped for the specialist vet to see a video of the dog going through the episodes.
I take an anticonvulsant (for migraine). It is really important not to just stop treatment suddenly, they are usually tapered off to prevent withdrawal seizures. It will also take time to work out the best medication and dosage rates, so don't give up. It may also take a little time for the drug to build up in his system enough to stop the problems. Anticonvulsants are given at high rates - although from my experience you start at a lower dose and build up.
There are many different types of seizures and he could be experiencing a partial seizure - which generally shows up as strange behaviours/movements without a loss of consciousness. A friend's mini schnauzer was recently diagnosed with involuntary tremors that were originally thought of as epilepsy. I know another dog diagnosed with canine stress syndrome. In these situations it really helped for the specialist vet to see a video of the dog going through the episodes.
SheltieAgility
Forums Regular
Here I am back again! Yesterday I gave Rascal one of those capsules, he seemed fine in the morning then later in the evening and all night he paced and panted, so I didn't give him a capsule today. He still paces a lot but he has stopped the panting. I told a friend of mine how he seemed to loose feeling in his back and started shaking and for the next hour he kept pushing all four legs while I held him. She said it might be constipation! Is that far fetched???? Bye the way I do keep track of what he does. Thanks again for answering , its a great help.
I have an Aussie who has seizures and is on zonisamide. As a previous poster said, you can't start/stop these medications. They need to build up in the blood stream to be effective, and suddenly withdrawing is bad for the patient.
That said, my 55lb Aussie currently gets 100mg twice a day. At one point, he was on 300mgs twice a day. When he was on a higher dose, he was more lethargic and ataxic. I don't know if a side effect could be restlessness/excitability, which we did deal with when introducing phenobarb. I'd speak with your vet about a treatment protocol and also any side effects you may see. Most do wear off as the dog gets used to the new meds. But really, don't start/stop without your vet's approval!