Posted on 10/12/2014 7:29:40 PM PDT by 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.
Thanks, fellow dog lovers, for any light you might be able to shed on this problem.
Can you ping the dog lovers to this thread, please. I need to tap into some dog-loving wisdom and experience. Thanks so much.
We had a beagle that had seizures. The vet told us it was akin to epilepsy.
There was no harm to the dog. He was just out of it.
We got some doggie barbiturates if we could catch the early warning signs. It happened every three or four months. Nothing linking the events together.
It’s more than likely your dog has developed epileptic seizures. My boxer developed them at about 4 yrs. vet prescribed Phenobarbital to keep her seizures in check mostly.
Are you feeding it anything made in China, including toys or chew bones?
Be careful with the flea stuff. One brand sold over the counter causes seizures in dogs. It is a cheap brand, can’t remember the name. If you can get away with not using it in the fall and winter, I would definitely try. Also, when we bathe our dogs, leaving the shampoo on them for 20 minutes kills the fleas and eggs. We didn’t use flea shampoo, just a dog shampoo that had oatmeal in it for dry skin.
good luck! My basset had diabetes and we gave him insulin twice a day.
Also, to all dog lovers, please check the ingredients in the dog food you buy. Look for ANIMAL FA TN AND avoid at all costs.
It is a substance made from euthanized animals, road kill, downed livestock, etc.,... the bodies are sold to rendering plants where they are boiled down and the fat that rises to the top is skimmed off. Animal fat. Yes, the euthanasia drug can be in the fat and it does cause cancer.
I “inherited” my dad’s little dog when she was 8 years old. She had a history of seizures that I somehow never knew about. She had a rash of seizures the year or two after Daddy died, which I later attributed to stress. We settled in together and she would still seize once or twice a year...in clusters for a week/two weeks, then maybe nothing for 18 months. I did not have her on heartworm or flea medicine. She was only 3 pounds and rarely went outside. I did have to treat a couple of times with Comfortis to get rid of fleas, but she wasn’t on anything she took regularly. Some dogs are just prone to seizures.
Animal fat is what you are trying to avoid.
Sorry for the typos. This tablet is annoying to try to type on.
You need to get to a facility that can perform an MRI upon your dog’s brain and run a myriad of tests to rule out other diseases that cause seizures. There is only so much a veterinarian can do in normal clinics and all diagnoses without the further tests are conjecture. It costs to identify the source correctly and methodically.
One of my dachshunds developed seizures at two yo, they were sporadic but as she aged, they became more frequent and longer duration, finally had to put her on phenobarbital at seven yo, we waited as long as we could. She had a great life and lived until she was fourteen. The 4:50 thing is very odd and I would be looking around for so something that is happening at that time in your home or neighborhood. Here are some things that I think triggered her seizures.
1). Sudden noise, and lights. (How about an alarm clock)
2) Food changes, although my vet said not possible, I think there was a big connection
3) colder weather
4) if you have an electrical fence, get rid of it.
Hope this helps.
As you probably know many people live fairly normal lives with “epilepsy” (known as “seizure disorder” to physicians).There are medications that humans can take which,as I said,allows them to live reasonably normal...if not entirely normal...lives.My guess is that a seizure disorder can be successfully addressed in dogs as well.
Got a bluetooth keyboard for my tablet. Mostly I use my regular computer to post on FR, but in those cases when I want to use the tablet, keyboard.
If you have any doubts, simply ask for another heartworm product. There are many.
But I do not see why you cannot bring it up with the vet. Tell him you read about it and wondered if there is a problem. Some doctors and vets don’t think about things unless the patient brings it up. Not necessarily “untrustworthy”, just not always thinking, or always aware of all possibilities.
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As for epilepsy, I would be surprised. At 10 your dogs are quite old, and usually epilepsy shows up in youth.
However, if it should be, don’t worry. Pheno as mentioned is very effective. Few cases are so bad they cannot be controlled well. Although, I say this from a human perspective, my dad having suffered for some 60 years now.
Also, listen to vetvetdoug. He actually is a vet.
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