Siena & Kathleen Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 Last night at around 4:30 am, Siena had a grand mal seizure. It was her first. It was terrifying. It lasted about 3 minutes, then she just laid in my husband's arms limp & panting for about 5 minutes before she snapped out of it. (Our new rescue, Rolly, woke us up with barking.) The afternoon before, she had peed in her crate while I was gone for only 4 hours. Siena has a super bladder, so this was really unusual. I thought that maybe she was just sick or something. It must have been a pre-cursor of the seizure to come. I know that others here have posted this same news. Could some of you who've had seizures let me know how your dogs are now? Did more seizures follow, or was it a single incident? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. There's a really sad book that I read about a year ago called "For the love of a dog" or something like that. The woman's BC had terrible seizures. Read it for a good cry. Kathleen, Siena & Rolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn Bailey Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 Hi Kathleen, check out http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/ there is resourse pages, and a great list the best you can find on K9 Epilepsy. And don't take the book to heart, that book was down right weird. you can email me privately if you have anymore questions Dawn Bailey dawnsdog@msn.com Eatonville, WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyDoc Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 It may be that the urine found in the crate indicates another seizure. Incontinence of urine and/or stool sometimes occurs with "grand mal" (generalized tonic-clonic) seizures in humans. I sure hope this turns out ok. kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siena & Kathleen Posted June 13, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2002 What a great website. Thanks for that. We get our bloodwork back today. I hope that gives us a clue. Siena seems to be back to normal now, except that she seems to have forgotton some things. We went to play tennis ball yesterday and she kind of forgot what she was supposed to do. She remembered quickly, but it was weird. Siena, Rolly & Kathleen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol Harper Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 I am living with a 6 month old puppy that has had seizures now for about 6 weeks. Her seizures last about a hour. My vet can not tell me what is going on with her. We are having blood work done now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rtphokie Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Sorry to hear about Siena's seizures. Please don't presume epilepsy quite yet....and don't let your vet either. There are many other things that can cause seizures and those need to be ruled out first before assuming it's epilepsy. My BC started having seizures and the vet school presumed epilepsy, even sent me home with phenobarb. Turned out my dog had Erlichia (a tick-borne disease), not epilepsy....$14 worth of antibiotics and she was fine. Hasn't had a seizure since. Hope your story has as happy ending!! Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workindogs Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 An hour long seizure is a LONG seizure. Please go see a vet neurologist for a second opinion ASAP....is there a vet teaching hospital nearby? Ask you general vet for a referral. My own border collie began having seizures at 2 yrs....I was so afraid for her and so concerned about my vet's recommended treatment that I consulted a specialist. I am so glad I did, because it was a 180 degree change in approach to the condition. Since then I always recommend getting a second opinion (preferrably from a specialist) when considered a major medical issue....for both veterinary and human medical concerns. You can spend alot of time and unnecessary treatment when not fully informed and educated about the issue. Best of luck for your pup....I hope you see a quick recovery. Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted August 25, 2002 Report Share Posted August 25, 2002 I have a female BC who turned 9 yrs old in April. She has been seizuring since she was 9 months old. First we put her on phenobarb, varying doses, she still cluster seizured like clock work, without fail, every three weeks, no matter what the dose she was on. Amazingly, when she was about 4 yrs old, she went for 14 months seizure-free. Then it came back with a vengeance, grand mal seizures every 20 minutes. She was put on IV's for the better part of a week (very costly), & when she came out, she still cluster seizured 1 x a month. The following year, again, she went into round the clock seizures & was put on IV's. This time I had a more knowledgable vet & we put her on a combination of Phenobarb & potassium bromide. We eventually weaned her off the phenobarb, & she is only on 300 mg. potassium bromide 2x a day & her seizures now are anyway from 1 month to four months apart. (I'll take that over every 3 weeks). She still cluster seizures, but it's not nearly as bad. Point of all this is, don't give up. I was ready to, until we hit the right combination of meds. There's an awful lot of information out there, resources to help you. Seizures, while at least I never got used to them, you can live with & the dog isn't in pain. Most seizures can be controlled. It's nice to have the resources like the K-9 epilepsy list to go to. The more you know, the better for your dog, for you. Good luck. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philologus Posted August 25, 2002 Report Share Posted August 25, 2002 A friend of mine (human) has epilepsy and his dog "knows" in advance when he is going to have a seizure. I am telling you this because you have two dogs and you might get a signal from the one without epilepsy (if that's what it turns out to be). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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