Seizure Info

[Jackie]

On 7/7/09 at 6:00 a.m. my 2 1/2 yr old male F2 Golden Doodle had a seizure. We heard him convulsing and ran out to the living room where he was on his left side, foaming at the mouth and had lost all control of his bowls. He was flailing terrible and it was the worse thing I had ever seen. Thankfully I was refered to this website by Sharon and Andy. I have gotten a lot of information from many Doodle owners and it is great, the only thing I have not found is anyone who was bitten by their dog afterwards. Bailey is the sweetest boy in the world and we are crazy about him. He has never shown one ounce of aggression to anyone and we are definitely going to keep him, but he did bite me coming out of his seizure. We have told our kids, ages 7, 11 and 15, to stay away from him if this were to happen again. He is a very big dog and the bite I received was very bad, he hit tendons and ligaments, three of the puncture wounds bled for 6 days.
I am looking for all info anyone can give me and I would really like to see if anyone else has had their dogs come out of it mean. My husband put him in the kitchen after he bit me and he was barking and snarling for about 15 minutes. I have to admit, his personality seems a bit milder now since he had the seizure. He was very clingy to my Brother, who came down to help us since I had to go to the Hospital and we did not want to leave Bailey alone. I was thinking of changing his food as well, he has been eating Alpo dry. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

[Jackie]

Wow, thank you sooo much to everyone who has responded. I can not believe the number of people who have been touched by seizures! Not just here on this website, but people I am talking to in my community and all over! The hospital had to report my bite and Animal Control called me that night. When I told him what happened he told me about his dog that has seizures and what meds they had him on. I have to admit all the support is really helping us and I know I made the right decision in keeping him. Our kids are becoming well educated on what to do thanks to so many of you! Once again, I can't thank everyone enough!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Heather is a member of Andy's "Special Needs" Group that I mentioned, Jackie.

[Sessa]

In the moments after a seizure, a dog is unbalanced and feeling VERY insecure...it was UNABLE to control what just happened and in most cases, is feeling VERY scared and reactive.
I would not jump to conclusions about your dog becoming permanently aggressive or that it was done maliciously against you.

There are support groups for owners with dogs that have similar medical issues---I am sure they can offer further insight from experience.

Here on DK, try searching for member Heather with her doodle Maya...hopefully, she'll see this and post...she went through a period of seizures with Maya, thankfully everything is better now, BUT--she came away with a wealth of knowledge...I am sure she'd be happy to share some of it.

ALL THE BEST to you, your family, and your doodle!
May everyone heal! ;)

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Just to clarify - Jackie has had Bailey to the vet for a full work up and nothing was found.

[Kathy Spyker]

I work at a kennel and any breed of dog can get seizures. Your first reaction is to try to help them,but the owner of the kennel told us never to get near a dog that is having one. He knows someone who got his finger bitten off trying to help. They can not control themselves or what they are doing.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Canine Genetic Database does not have a separate category for "seizure disorders", but epilepsy is common in all sizes of poodles, Labrador retrievers and Golden retrievers. A good number of us here on DK have doodles who have experienced seizures from various causes, and this is a relatively young group of dogs.

[Tammy & Gracie]

I don't think siezures are a doodle trait. But I did have a cockapoo years ago that had seizures but his were triggered by advanced heart disease. I have known people with toy poodles that had them. Maybe common to poodles???

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't know specifically about dogs but in people there is what is called a post ictal state after seizures which an result in strange behaviors. So I don't think that the dog was consciously being aggressive but that he probably did not know what he was doing or he could not control his behavior. Seizures result from aberrant electrical currents in the brain so things may be a little "haywire" before, during or after them. I do think you need to have him evaluated by your vet and hope that medication can prevent or minimize future seizures.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

All dogs and any dog can suffer a seizure, it's like people some do..and some people don't. I think it is more with a chemical imbalance with the brain or something along the lines as why do some people suffer storkes and others don't. It's all body chemistry.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Most dogs that I have heard of having seizures only bite when they are actually having the seizure and people usually wind up thinking the dog will swallow its tongue so they try and hold onto the dogs tongue, which is a miss interputation, you should never stick your hand into a dogs mouth when having a seizure. I think the best thing for you to do if your dog is acting this way after a seizure is to consult with your Vet, let them diagnoise what is going on with Bailey after the seizures. Post-seizure, the dog may pace endlessly or appear blind and deaf or eat or drink excessively. My brothers Shepherd with the last seizure she had, he had to have her put down, she would not stop walking around it was like she was in a fog, walked a hole day Sunday into Monday morning, nothing they did helped, we were up with her round the clock. Maybe Bailey experienced a loss of sight or hearing and it scared him into being defensive, I would speak with my Vet.