Dog seizures?

[CovenBuster]

My dog Jazz recently had 3 seizures. They were about 1 to 2 weeks apart, and each time they occurred at the same time each morning (4:50 a.m.). They were brief in duration, lasting only about a minute or two (although it seemed like an eternity). Each time she lost control of her bladder. Afterward, she seemed dazed and bewildered for a few minutes, then she bounced back as if nothing had happened.

She's diabetic, but any connection with the diabetes has been ruled out by the vet.

I know there are dogs who live with seizures, and this may end up being the case with my dog. However, I want to try to keep them at bay as much as is humanly possible.

The other day I was at the vet inquiring about a particular flea control product. The vet tech named a product but said that it couldn't be given to dogs who were prone to seizures. That got me to thinking that maybe their HeartGard (ivermectin) could be the culprit. (We don't usually have to fight fleas, but there have been a jillion #$@& feral cats hanging around my property recently. One by one, they're being trapped and taken away.) After the vet tech mentioned the seizure side effect of the flea treatment, I got to thinking that it might be possible that the heartworm meds could be suspect. Sure enough, I'm seeing warnings to that effect online.

My dogs are 10-year-old poodles. They're half sisters, so they do share some genes. However, the other one doesn't seem to have a problem with the ivermectin products. Still, I can't help wondering if it's just a matter of time after reading some of the online accounts. Now I'm scared to give Jazz her heartworm meds this month, and because we've had the worst summer for mosquitoes in recent memory, I'm scared not to.

I can't say that I totally trust the vet to be square with me seeing as how they never mentioned anything about the possibility of HeartGard as the culprit.

I was hoping to tap into the experiences and thoughts of some of my FRiends on the doggie ping list. Has anyone gone through this or known anyone who has? Can you add any information, recommendations, etc? Thanks to the Obama economy, I'm on a very, very tight budget, so I can't be testing her for every possibility. I'm very scared and don't know what to do as it will be time for her HeartGard in a week or so.

[Roos_Girl]

There are a lot of possible reasons for the seizures. A lot of times a “cause” is never really found (usually results in a diagnosis of epilepsy), but causes can be ruled out. Some of the tests are very expensive. Did your vet ask you questions about what your dog’s eyes are doing during one of her episodes? They should have talked with you about this and the variety of tests available to help diagnose. If you don’t trust your vet, find another one!

[Abby4116]

I just did a quick search of causes of seizures in dogs and came up with a few that may be pertinent.

The most common extracranial causes of canine seizures are:

hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level)

Since you said she has diabetes, is it possible that her sugar level dropped sharply those three times? You did say they were the same time of day.

Another cause - fleas and internal parasites (hookworm mostly).

Heartgard is one of the more tried and trusted heartworm preventatives. I had to use it in a slow-kill heartworm treatment of a senior rescue lab. I would never skip heartworm medications for either of my dogs after adopting a heartworm positive dog.

For flea control I use K9 Advantix - monthly during heavy tick season, less often in the fall. No reactions and no fleas or ticks.

My mother had a dachshund who had seizures, was on phenobarbital for years and one day she watched him pass a worm - not tapeworm but she didn't know what kind. He never had another seizure and never needed phenobarbital again.

[Secret Agent Man]

i was thinking the same thing, get her checked for cancer. get a blood cbc and serum panel done, so they can look at her blood as well as various enzyme levels, do it all in one blood draw. getting both done will ive them a lot better picture what’s going on. with her being diabetic it’s better to get it all looked at now. might be good to get a chest xray and abdominal xray too to see anything unusual right away, that would confirm the bloodwork results.

[RegulatorCountry]

If low blood sugar is the problem, keep some Karo syrup in the cabinet and rub it on their gums when a seizure starts or seems imminent. That’s what the veterinary oncologist had me do for my Lab. It works.

[mia]

My son’s bulldog has seizures. The dog had them regularly each month. He’s now on phenobarbital and that seems to have broken the cycle. A holistic food source they are using said that Rosemary in dog food can trigger the seizures. They have the dog on pure meats and vegetables and this has helped. They are also working with a holistic vet. No flea meds and they also have other methods of treating him during a seizure. The dog also is on a valium suppository. Not sure this helps because of the breeds.

[The Antiyuppie]

Dogs, like people, can have epilepsy, and there is some apparent relationship with the “smarter” breeds having a greater incidence of it. I have personal experience with a Sheltie and I know of several Border Collies (the smartest dog by most accounts). As you know, poodles are also very smart.

In my Sheltie’s case, it was controlled by medicine that had no apparent side effects, he was eventually weaned off of them, but this was after he had the equivalent of a “grand mal” that affected him badly for monthsi.

[libertarian27]

Our 4 year old Border Collie began having seizures about 6 months ago - first starting after a Hearguard dose...we stopped those and bought an automatic feeder that we set feedings for three times a day (instead of once) with the same amount of food.
He will have seizures still, but not as often and usually when he’s too over-active.
A cold pack on his spine will calm him down quicker and stop reoccurring episodes, which he had at first.

[Red_Devil 232]

I had two Irish Setters, litter mates, male and female. The male developed seizures at about two years old. The female never developed them. The male lived under medication (Phenobarbital) until he was about 12. It was scary when he had seizures, not dangerous to me or my wife, but he couldn’t see where he was going and a 130 lb. dog wandering around and running into things was dangerous for him.

Here is a web site that I found very helpful in understanding what was going on.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/

I wish you good luck with you dog.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

My cousin on Long Island had a problem with her dog about ten years ago.

The dog was having seizures and no longer recognized members of the family.

It took a while, but the cause was traced to the chemicals used in the manufacture of the doggie bed. The seizures stopped when the doggie bed was thrown away.

[goat granny]

I had a snoodle, part poodle, part schnauzer. The vet told me both breeds are prone to seizures In the beginning they only lasted no longer than 20 seconds, I got valium from my dad and would give her a 5 mg after the seizures, because they can have sore muscles after having one. But the vet told me as she got older, they would become longer..For about 5 years they remained small. When she got about 8 they became longer with some lasting over 2 minutes. Then she started to have ones that caused her to lose both bladder and bowel control...so I had to keep her in the kitchen at night. We finally had to put her down...she had a personality change (like the vet warned me) but she lived many years with mild seizures, there is medication for such seizures if they are frequent...Her later seizures lasted up to 1/2 hour...thats when she lost bowel and bladder control....good luck with your 4 legged family member..

[B4Ranch]

I have heard of people curing seizures in animals with you guessed it, yup hydrogen peroxide. How old is the dog and what does it weigh?

[Yosemitest]

Short answer: get another vet.
Diabetic can cause problems, alright, and 10 years old, ain't no "spring chicken".
How will you feel at 70 years old?
Depending on the finances, it might be better to get another much younger dog.
But I'd try Dinovite for Dogs first.

[Jemian]

I had a collie who had seizures. We gave him meds regularly from the vet to keep them at bay. Even with the meds he had about two a month.

I’m sorry.

[Salamander]

Ivermectin can cause seizures.

Also, have you had her SNAP 4D tested for ALL tick born diseases?

Two of my dogs who were Lyme-positive initially presented with “seizures” which were not true seizures, at all.

Doxy stopped them in their tracks.

^That is the avenue I would explore, first.

I would also cease all flea treatments.

They’re a lot more toxic than people think.

Best of luck with your pup.

It grieves me to hear of FReeper-dogs not feeling well.

[tumblindice]

Are you in the southern hemisphere? I’ve been giving my hounds Heartguard since warm weather, after a vet’s OK, so for six months. If you have also been giving it to them monthly and they haven’t keeled over, then that’s what HG is supposed to prevent, right? Heartworm. I’m not sure what concerns you about their next dosing if they are protected, but a simple blood test should confirm if it’s safe or not.

[Salamander]

As an aside from, it’s better to have your dog SNAP tested for heartworms and treat them *only* if they become positive.

Heartgard is not a very good wormer as it totally misses whipworms, which are just as deadly as hookworms and has too many side effects for my comfort.

Better to dose everybody with Panacur every month or two to knock out intestinal parasites and check for heart worm a couple times a year.

[oh, yeah, *this* heretical post is gonna get me some blow back, I bet]

:)

[Salamander]

Get a bunch of these and set them around your house.

http://www.victorpest.com/store/insect-control/bsm230?gclid=COLFqpjoqMECFYMF7Aodu3oALg

The fleas joyously jump in and suffer horribly.

Much fun.

Spot treat the dogs with Vet’s Best non-toxic flea spray available at PetCo or PetSmart.

Give them weekly baths with Dawn original style [blue] dish detergent.

Buy some ‘Skin So Soft’ from Avon.

Seriously.

[Salamander]

There’s none Ivermectin based that get whipworms and almost all of the others now contain flea poison in the formula.

I used Sentinel religiously until they added the flea poison.

[Salamander]

Hey, Daf.

Is he still eating boulders?

;D

[Salamander]

Needs to be mentioned that sight hounds can not tolerate any barbiturate.