Fido has a seizure disorder

[Melanie White]

Fido is a two-year-old Labradoodle, and he has been diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy, manifested in grand mal seizures. Before the seizure, he runs around crazily and then falls over on his side and has uncontrollable muscle activity. With 3 grand mal seizures since January, 2011, each increasing in intensity and duration, Fido was placed on medication last Monday (150 mg Zonisamide 2x daily).

I hope Fido's seizures are an anomaly amongst our Doodle family members, but I thought it best to let the community know. Otherwise, he is a healthy, happy, adorable, sweet, and playful fellow, and the best friend I've ever had.

 

 

[Dixie Moore]

Hi Melanie, 

I'm so sorry to hear that Fido has had additional seizures and that he has been placed on medication. Fido is out of Kona and Peabo, and Peabo was retired some time ago. 

There are many things that cause seizures, and when they cannot figure out what is causing it, I believe they call it idiopathic epilepsy. I do believe there can be a genetic component to it, so I do cover it in your warranty. 

Seizures are very common in the dog population in general, and fortunately they are treatable. I have heard that acupuncture is a great treatment for seizures as well, and something you might want to consider.

I hope that otherwise he is doing well and has been a joyful addition to your lives.

Dixie

 

[Melanie White]

Thank you, Dixie. He is the joy of our lives.

[Beth Lord]

So sorry to hear that, Melanie.  I do hope the Rx does the job and is well tolerated.  I know it's so sad to know that something's wrong with your dear buddy.  :-(  If it is any comfort at all...I have a dear friend whose Springer had a similar situation, & with meds he lived a wonderful long, full life.  Best wishes (from me) & wags (from Alfie) to you both!

 

[Melanie White]

Thank you, Beth. Fido has tolerated the medicine well. They said it might make him sleepy, but Fido has been his usual buoyant/exuberant self since he started. Your comment about your friend's Springer does give me comfort. Thank you. 

[Carol McCasland]

My Cody also has idiopathic epilepsy, with grand mal seizures.  But his are only about every 3 months, and our vet and I agree that we won't treat until or if it gets more frequent.  Dixie has been a big help in supporting our decision.  And I agree with your sentiment.  Cody is otherwise healthy, happy, sweet, and playful!  and absolutely the best buddy I've ever had.  I will absolutely consider acupuncture if the time comes to treat him.  He's into his 4th month seizure free, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!  His first seizure was when he was 15 months old.  He's now almost 3 (next week!).   It is interesting that Cody and Fido share Peabo as a father.  His mom was Marlee.  But my vet says that there is just no way to know what causes the seizures, and that it's fairly common.  I wish you the best, and am glad that he is tolerating the meds well.

[Melanie White]

Thanks, Carol. I appreciate your input. Fido's first seizure occurred when he was 20 months old. Our vet told us to monitor the seizures, and if he had 4 in one year, we would want to consider medication. Because the next two seizures occurred within a few months, and because they increased in intensity and duration, we opted for the medicine. I have nothing against acupuncture but it wasn't the route my vet suggested, so we took his advice. The medicine he is on doesn't have the side effects that older generation anti-seizural meds used to have (i.e., Phenobarbital), and is usually well tolerated by dogs.

Again, thank you for your response and I wish you and Cody years of good health.

[Carol McCasland]

So happy to hear that there is medication that does not cause our pups to be zombies!  I'll definitely keep this in mind if Cody's seizures become more frequent.  (I have to say that there are days here in Colorado when the weather does not allow us to get out for walks and ball retrievals, that it would be nice to calm Cody down some!)  When he gets bored, he gets into trouble!  Broccoli stealing off the kitchen counter was the latest!

[Bonnie and Kona]

I'm so sorry to hear about Fido's condition. I also want to encourage you. My brother-in-law had two Irish setters with epilepsy and one lived to 12 and the other lived to 13 with no obvious effects of the condition. Wishing Fido great health and freedom of worry for you. 

[Robert Johnson & Joan Milligan]

Hope you and Fido are coping well with his seizures. Our sweet boy, Lucious - a registered chocolate Labradore - had seizures several times a year till he passed at age 15 - a ripe old age for a Lab. He was the joy of our lives and we did not medicate him. It took a while for him to get back to his self, but we let it go. If they had been more frequent, we would have medicated, but... Hey, it it a tough decision. Love our dogs...

[Carol McCasland]

Cody has resumed his seizures, having two in the last two weeks. I'm going to see how long we go this time, and then consult the vet. I am definitely interested in the acupuncture route, since I'm a fan/patient myself. Good news, is that Cody is his old self when the seizure passes.

[Dixie Moore]

I was so in hope that Cody had left his seizures behind since he had gone about 6 months without one. I'm very disappointed, as I'm sure you are, too.

I hope there are no more. I have heard that acupuncture can be very effective for canine seizures, though, and so will remain optimistic for improvement.

I know you switched him to a grain-free diet a while back. One of my favorite health food sites is www.dogaware.com. There I read something about seizures being triggered by grains and carbs in commercial diets. The grain-free kibbles, although lower in carbs than other kibble, still have what seems to be a significant amount, around 25%. That makes me wonder if there might be some benefit for dogs with seizure disorders to avoid the carbs as well as the grains.

The DogAware site has information on raw and homemade diets, everything from preparing it from scratch to buying pre-made complete raw diets.

Just a thought. It seemed like he improved after switching to grain-free, but maybe foregoing grains and carbs would be even more beneficial for Cody.

[Carol McCasland]

thanks, Dixie.  I'll definitely look into this route.  As of now, he's back to his old self: happy, retrieving, cuddling, loving his walks.  Oh, and yes, getting into stuff when I ignore him.