MrSnappy Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 I believe Woo had one, or two, last night. I think they are complex partial seizures or what they call "fly-snapping" seizures. He started obsessively licking the air and then obsessively looking for something to lick - my bed, my leg, my pillow - and when I gave him my hand, he started licking that and then biting at it. Not hard, just repeatedly licking and snapping lightly at it. I rolled him on his back and held onto him (I was laying down in bed) and the air obsessive licking gradually subsided. He was conscious during this episode and responsive, but couldn't stop licking. He started up again about 5 minutes later and we repeated the whole thing, and then he went to sleep. During this he was pacing unless I held him and he was completely responsive - even when a firecracker went off he responded to the noise by listening and looking, but he still couldn't stop the licking and snapping. It last for about 45 seconds each time. When the licking subsided he was still gulping obsessively for another minute or so. Tweed has partial focal seizures where he stares into space and trembles but is not responsive for up to 10 seconds at a time. He has actually not had such a seizure that I am aware of (you need to be present and looking for them to see them) for about 5 years now. But Woo has never done this. I understand seizures frequently start to manifest between 18-24 months - Woo is about 23 months old. Does anyone have any experience with this? Interestingly - or not - both my dogs who now appear to have some sort of seizures disorder are my sound sensitive dogs, who are basket cases during fireworks. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 RDM I don't know anything about this, but I hope Woo is feeling better. Poor guy Edit** I found this web site http://www.bcrescue.org/epilepsy.html and your description sounds exactly like what the site outlines about Complex Partial Seizures. Now, I don't know the person or the credibility of the Dr they mention personally, nor do I know if any of this info would be helpful to you, but so far this is the best I have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Gosh, I hope Woo is okay- that truly sucks. Let me just mention one thing- one of my Kelpies occasionally gets really bad gastritis- she presents with hyperactivity- looking to get outside and eat grass, and licking ANYTHING. Licking the floor, over and over. I have to give her a pepcid, and she is then, in an hour okay. She also during all of this licks the air, and gulps. She is very upset. If she doesn't get a pepcid, she follows with the most God awful wretching sounds- not unlike a kettle drum. I am sure it is not what you are dealing with, but it is another reason for dogs to suddenly lick everything in front of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thanks! That is not something I was aware of, so I will watch for gastrointestinal issues as well. That didn't seem to be the problem last night, but I will definitely watch for it. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 One of my dogs also did something similar on several occasions, except in her case she would frantically try to gulp down anything she could get her mouth on, and she would swallow hard repeatedly and seem rather distressed. The incidents always seemed to correlate with working in high grass and benadryl always (it happened only maybe three times) set her right. I just assumed she was having an allergic reaction to something in the grass or had gotten a bit of grass or seed "stuck" in her throat. My vet never mentioned the possibility of seizures, and she hasn't done it since we moved from the northeastern part of the state (there's no tall grass to work in around here!). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Was there any air snapping involved? Woo had not been outside for about 5 hours at this point and had been napping on the sofa prior to the episode. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 No air snapping. Just gulping and picking up and swallowing anything she could get her mouth on. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moo Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Hi, i'm fairly new to the boards and hope you don't mind my chiming in on this topic. Sammy, our beagle mix (4.5 yrs old) also has episodes very much like you describe, except that he does not air-snap or fly-snap - his tongue flicks in and out of his closed mouth like an anteater and he also must lick up/eat anything in sight (grass, dust bunnies, carpet), pacing/restless. it starts out as tongue flicks, then gets 'deeper' via 'gulping' air through his nostrils (DEEP inhalations, mouth is closed the whole time). the licking/gulping is semi-controllable, where he will stop if we ask him to, but it will come back few minutes/seconds later. the times i can remember, they also started from napping (vs. running or after drinking water, etc). i can't remember when he first started getting them, but they occur maybe 3 - 4 times a year. in fact his last one occurred last week and put him in the hospital from eating carpet, where the carpet unraveled like spaghetti and got all caught up in the intestines. previous vets have looked at us like we had 3 heads. this last one also suggested gastrointestinal discomfort, though i'd feel much more reassured if i could get a video of it to show them for sure. sorry i can't be more (definitively) helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy in AZ Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 I was able to capture Minnie's focal seizure activity on videotape, thank goodness, because the veterinary neurologist was able to see it. I rushed her to my regular vet while she was in the midst of her fourth (and last) episode so he could see for himself what was going on. (He had received the test results and clinical report from the vet I rushed her to during the first episode) She presented with involuntary repetitive head turning movements. They continued for hours! Poor thing--I felt so helpless. He said it may have been brought on by a brain trauma that would likely have happened years previous, and that commonly the motions begin on one side and switch to the other (he was spot on about that too) then may or may not ever appear again. During her initial and most serious episode she was so obviously distraught, I thought she might be having a stroke so I rushed her to the nearest vet. In addition to the focal seizure she also had a very strong pain response to spinal palpation (a symptom which was never really accounted for) and when I picked her up later in the afternoon she was heavily dosed on morphine. The next day she started seizing on the other side, again for hours. She was always fully cognizant during her episodes. I just tried to keep her quiet and comfortable. She appeared physically spent when they finally stopped. The vet/neuro did a spinal tap after a clean MRI. Her best guess was that the seizures could have been the result of a vascular event in the brain. She sent me home with a vial of valium to keep on hand for administering rectally at the very first sign of any seizure activity. Fortunately, that was the last time she's had one, and that was over three years ago. Still, the vet/neuro recommended avoiding anything that could stress her immune system. No vaccines, other than rabies. I don't know that any of this is relateable to Woo's situation (I hope not!), but at least it provides you with another perspective and experience. Thankfully, after four episodes in 3 1/2 months she's been seizure free for three years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy V Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 I've heard of air-snapping seizures. A site and group that I have found extremely helpful for dealing with my epileptic dog is www.canine-epilepsy.com. They have a ton of information resources and the people were amazingly generous in their responses to any questioned that I had. Good luck to you, Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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