Seizure Disorders and Epilepsy

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Comment by Kristi Trimble on February 2, 2014 at 11:54am

I I ran out of room. Good luck Rebecca. It does make me sad for these dogs because I do feel they are scared and dont know what is happening. Makes me very sad for them. Kristi

Comment by Kristi Trimble on February 2, 2014 at 11:50am

Hi Rebecca,
I have an almost 5 year old doodle, Cooper. Cooper started habing seizures pretty much exactly a year ago. The first one was in late January. Pretty severe grand Mal seizure with what appears temporary blindness immediately following and a fairly long postictal phase with wondering around constantly for a number of hours. We did not treat until the second seizure which then occurred in a March of last year. At that time he was started on phenobarb. Cooper is a big miniature doodle. 57 pounds. At that time we had him on about 75mg of phenobarb twice daily. He went until October when he had another. Then 4 weeks Later, 2 weeks and then 1 week. Once he was on the phenobarb even though his seizures have all been grand mals he hasn't been incontinent again and they only last about a minute. In December he was upped to the max dose of phenobarb for him, which is now about 145 mg twice daily. He was also started on potassium bromide 500mg daily in late December. Luckily so far Cooper's liver enzymes are still normal. All of his valley fever, (we live in Arizona) and tick fever were negative. Around the 8th of Jsnuary he clustered for the first time. He one at midnight, one at 10:00 am and one at 3:00 pm. After that I took him to see a neurologist. He upped the bromide to 1000mg daily. We gave not gone any major testing, i.e. MRI or spinal tap. I do know that a Cooper was the last puppy born to his litter and the largest. I do not know of any of his litter mates having seizures. I do know a puppy from the year before same parents has had them since he was little over a year. I do wonder if Cooper had decreased oxygen sometime during the birth. That could cause them. More than likely this is just idiopathic epilepsy. The neurologist had lots of info. One thing he did mention though is absolutely no swimming because of the risk is not only drowning but he has had dogs die from aspirating. The water with the chlorine. Cooper loves to swim so this is sad. Also when the dogs are on the bromide you have to be very consistent with diet send treats because if salt. The more sslt in their filet they will wash out the potassium. This also causes increased thirst. Cooper is constantly drinking and going potty. The most difficult thing with him is that he already had done separation anxiety but it us now much worse. He slso wants to eat everything, which he tries to do. Including a shark vacuum filter and lint roller handle. Crazy! The bromide initially makes them pretty lethargic and clumsy. We kennel him when we are gone and put a camera on him. Most of the time he sleeps but does have periods where he barks till we get home. This is the mist frustrating part of all of this. Otherwise he is no different. He loves people and other dogs still. He is slso very good with our year old grandson. Most of Cooper's seizures happen when he is asleep but he did have one once when we were walking. That one and another I saw him do a couple things that I knew he was going to have one. It tried talking to him and petting him but it made no difference. He still lives to go in the car where he lays quietly. He lives going shopping in Crate and Barrel etc. he's very good as long as mainly I am around. He's kind of a mamas boy. I get my bromide from the vet bug u egg the phenobarb from a Target. Much cheaper that way.
One of the dogs I had before Coopet was a black lab and she'd slso had seizures. Hers started at roughly 3 years of age and she lived to be 14. Hers were never as severe as Coopers and she appeared to not gave any the last few years of her life or they were unwitnessed. Knowing how he acts after I believe all of his have been witness. Again most have been while sleeping whether at night ir during the day. I hope some of this is helpful. I apologize for some of the typos. Am typing this on my iPad and it at times changes words. Crazy thing. Good luck.

Comment by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on February 2, 2014 at 7:24am

Rebecca, in addition to this group, there is a wonderful resource for owners of dogs with epilepsy and seizure disorders, The EPI Guardian Angels website. 

Comment by Rebecca Orum on February 2, 2014 at 6:49am

Thanks so much for the encouraging words. I have been spending a lot of time reading about seizures. I have started a log on all the things we do so we can keep track what might set her off. I'm also considering cutting her beard. She was always a sloppy drinker. Now with the meds her head is in the water bowl constantly. Our vet said this would happen. I have water trails all over my kitchen. I also put the baby gate up around the pool. Her favorite thing to do is lay by the pool and watch her yard. So we are changing some things, but still trying to be normal. Yesterday was flea market day, we went and she did great. By the time we got home she was pretty tired.

Comment by John Scipione on February 1, 2014 at 5:19pm

Hi Rebecca,

Sorry to hear about your puppy.  It is indeed scary to watch our puppies have a seizure.  But things can get better and return to normal! 

Though you may find varying opinions here, it is a very supportive group.  From our families experience, our Dooley was started on meds (phenobarb) after his third seizure, and the second in less than a month.  The meds have been working well, and up until about one month ago, he was seizure free.  His latest one was much smaller than the others, and after taking him to the vet, his level was low and his dose was then increased.

The meds do have there side effects, but most do.  Other treatments have been discussed in these forums too.  To me, the benefits of the meds far outweigh the risks.  We do have other lab work done periodically to check for liver function etc.  All in all though, our boy is happy, playful and active and is a healthy 8 year old.

Comment by Rebecca Orum on February 1, 2014 at 12:40pm

Well like I said, Love is 2 1/2, female F1B Doodle. Early in December she woke us up in the middle of the night, she was just acting odd and swaying. We thought blood sugar, so we took her to the vet and her sugar was fine. Then early Wednesday morning as we were dressing for work she had a seizure in front of us. It was just horrible to see our girl like that. It only lasted a minute or so, and then it took her a little while to pull it together. Off to the vets where all kinds of tests were done, I'm sure you have been through it all. By the end of the second day they told us epilepsy. By that time I was an emotional wreck. So after much research we decided to medicate. Even though she had only one seizure, it was very strong. Now I'm afraid to leave her alone at home. I googled to what triggers I should avoid, and basically, it is everything. So what do you do? How do things become normal again?

Comment by AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner on February 1, 2014 at 8:04am

@Rebecca - please post more info.  We are here to help.

Comment by Rebecca Orum on January 31, 2014 at 5:52pm

Our beautiful doodle, Love, has started having seizures. We are confused and scared for her. She is only 2 1/2. What can we expect?

Comment by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on October 31, 2013 at 1:15pm

Rae, I am so terribly sorry for your loss. I know she will live in your heart forever. 

Rest in peace, sweet Bella. 

Comment by Rae on October 31, 2013 at 1:04pm

It is with a broken heart that I am leaving this group. We lost our wonderful, sweet, funny Bella Pearl to complication from Addison's Disease on 9/11. I want to thank everyone for all the support and help you gave us while we were working so hard to deal with Bella's seizures. Our darling is now at peace.

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