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.

 

 

[Beth Lord]

That is interesting.  I have read of human epilepsy patients with dramatic improvement on a high protein, high fat diet, and never thought that the same could be true of dogs (although it sounds like the fat content isn't increased in the dog version).  Nutrition can have such profound effects!

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Hi Melanie,

Just wanted to let you know that my French Bulldog Bruno also has idiopathic epilepsy - had 3 grand mal seizures in 6 months during his 3rd year of life. He has been phenobarb for almost 4 years now, seizure free and doing great. Has not slowed him down a bit, just as creative, cute, sneaky and lovable as always. I do a lot of things to try to keep his health optimal such as raw feeding and careful use of vaccinations, but I have chosen to keep him on his medications as I believe that it presents less of a risk than the risk of ongoing seizures.

Good luck with Fido - dogs can live a very long happy life with epilepsy.

[Carol McCasland]

good info, all!   A recent visit to my vet:  she is definitely in favor of acupuncture and has a colleague that will come to the house for treatment.  Also, she says that the 2nd generation of seizure meds are about to go generic, which means they are more affordable and thus available for veterinary use.  For now, we are still in the 'wait and see' mode.  If Cody can keep his seizures to no more than once every 3 months or so, we won't treat him.  But it's good know that options are available, and that the 'old' meds (phenobarb) can be tolerated well.  The jury is still out on raw diet for Cody.  I'm trying it right now.  He loves it, but it's icky for me, as I don't like raw meat in general around my kitchen.  Next up will be Evo, which is low carb kibble, and he likes it.

[Jacquelyn Huffman]

 

Melanie,

I just saw your posting about Fido.  I'm so sorry to hear that he has seizures.  Jett has had 2 seizers with in 6 weeks.  You just feel so helpless and afraid.  We had so test ran and everything else was normal.  We haven't decided to medicate him, we are in a hold and wait and see mode.  Jett is from Kona and Shadow.  Shadow is the son of Peabo I believe.  These guys are such a huge part of our lifes and I'm so sorry you are having the same experience.  Thank you for sharing.  Jacque

 

[Melanie White]

I'm sorry to hear that you have also had this experience with Jett. I hope he has had his last for a while. Like you, we have had lots of testing and have yet to determine the cause or how to prevent it. My vet put Fido on the anti-seizural, Zonisamide, because it's much easier on the dog's system and has little to no effect on behavior, activity level, etc. After Fido met my vet's criteria for medication (3 seizures in a year; Fido had 3 within a few months), we've been gradually increasing his doses as the breakthrough seizures have occurred. Also, a Valium suppository has been prescribed to be administered during the seizure, but we have not yet had to do this. Apparently it will stop the seizure immediately. I have trouble visualizing myself doing it while Fido seizes but I hope I'll be able to take action and the courage will follow.

I'm so sorry that Jett has had the two seizures and I'll hold him in my thoughts and prayers that these will be his last. 

Melanie

[Carol McCasland]

I am with you on the courage needed to administer a suppository during a seizure!  When Cody has a seizure, it passes within a minute or 2 and then he recovers his wits within 30 minutes or so.  He usually staggers around for about 10 minutes, then gradually gets back to his usual self.  I frankly don't see the need for a suppository unless the seizure goes on for many minutes (not sure how many 'many' is).  Just interested in how long Fido's seizures are...

[Melanie White]

I keep a diary to document Fido's seizures.

 

Jan. 14, 2011

Around 7 am, Fido had what appeared to be a grand mal seizure. Mark was there and observed the entire event. Fido lost consciousness and had contractions of all of the muscles in his body. He may have had involuntary urination and/or defecation, but I don't know if that was the case. He did have involuntary salivation. Before the seizure occurred, Fido sort of went crazy running on the deck, and then he fell on his side and seemed paralyzed while he was shaking. After this stage, he was aggressive toward Mark and seemed disoriented. Mark put Fido in the truck and took him to the vet, Dr. Brandt, who ran a blood profile to rule out several factors. These factors, as Dr. Brandt explained, can be extracranial, or outside of the brain, and include toxins and metabolic factors. Intracranial seizures can be caused by (1) inflammatory factors (infectious or non-infectious); (2) tumors; (3) hydrocephalic; (4) ?, or (5) Epilepsy (idiopathic), which is the most likely problem in Fido's case. The blood profile came back normal.

 

Dr. Brandt told us to observe Fido, record any subsequent seizures, and that an anticonvulsant medication may be in order if there are 4 seizures in a year's time.

 

March 3, 2011

Around 7am, Fido had his second grand mal seizure. Both Mark and I witnessed the event. Similar to the first seizure in that there was a period before the seizure in which Fido ran on the upper deck in a frenzied manner, then down the stairs to the lower deck, then fell on his side and began to convulse. The convulsions lasted for about 2 minutes, during which he experienced involuntary urination, defecation, and salivation while shaking uncontrollably. We followed the doctor's instructions while he convulsed and then gave him some space while he regained control and oriented himself.

 

Fido was very hungry and thirsty afterwards, and he smelled everything in his environment while reorienting himself.

 

May 8, 2011

The third seizure was similar to the first two, only the duration was longer and the disorientation period shorter. This time he convulsed on the upper deck as opposed to the lower deck by the pool. Otherwise, everything was pretty much the same.

 

I was a wreck, however, and Mark and I decided to make an appointment to talk to the vet about starting an anti-convulsant.

 

May 10. 2011

Fido was examined and the pattern of seizural activity led Dr. Brandt to the decision to prescribe an anticonvulsant. He said we could assume that Fido has epilepsy, that this is the most reasonable diagnosis at this point.  The standard, frontline treatment is Phenobarbital, a barbiturate that lowers the seizure threshold, and that reduces the frequency, duration, and intensity of the seizures (this applies to any epileptic medicine). The down side of Phenobarbital is that it can be harmful to the liver and thus requires periodic testing of liver function.

 

A safer alternative, and what Dr. Brandt prescribed, is 150mg Zonisamide 2X daily.

 

At first, we might notice a decrease in Fido's activity level, but then when he acclimates to the drug, he should behave as usual.

 

June 7, 2011

Fido was on the sofa when Mark and I were going outside for our morning coffee. Both of us saw the seizure. Fido was immobilized with his head between the sofa cushions and was unable to respond to our voices when we called him. He shook mildly (with no involuntary salivation, urination, defecation), and then he sort of came out of it, with some disorientation and a lot of need for reassurance. We called the vet, and Robin, the tech, called back with this message from Dr. Brandt: "Continue the Zonisamide at the regular dose, and continue to watch for breakthrough seizures. We're not going to completely eliminate the seizures, but we will decrease the frequency and severity of the seizures. If the breakthroughs become more common, we may need to bring him in and change the meds (either the type of med or the amount prescribed).

 

June 13, 2011

When I returned home from a meeting, Fido was not very responsive, taking a while to get up and greet me, and then needing a lot of reassurance throughout the afternoon, putting his head on my lap or draping his body over my lap and being somewhat limp with his tail down. I did not observe the seizure, but wanted to note that it seemed like he may have had one in our absence. Finally, around 6pm, he perked up to bark at a passing dog, and then by the time Mark got home, he was fine.

 

August 22, 2011

Mark and I were sitting on the back porch when Fido started running with a stiff and arythmic gait, and then began seizing, which lasted a long time. I ran in to get a blanket, Mark stayed with him through the seizure, and halfway through he got to his feet,  growled fiercely, ran into the wall of windows on our patio, then bulleted down the stairs only to get frozen in a standing position with his head turned sideways,  a posture which lasted more than a minute. He took a while to recooperate, and as usual, was very thirsty, and a little bit hungry after the seizure. The entire seizure, from the aura through the end of the grand mal and the subsequent statue position, lasted at least 8 minutes. It was terrifying.

 

Sept 8, 2011

Possible seizure occurred while I was at work. Came home to find Fido in a room filled with diarrhea, and possible urine but I wasn’t sure. Fido has not had a poop accident in the house ever, from the time we got him at 9-weeks old until today. He seemed out of it, and I rushed him to the vet. We were worked in for an exam and a liver test was conducted. Liver enzymes came back fine.

 

 

 

 

[Carol McCasland]

an update on Cody and his seizures.  They are about once a month now, same intensity (about a minute, and then he's fine within 30 minutes).  I started acupuncture and Chinese herbs in January.  So far, no improvement, but the acu vet is trying different points, different herbs.  I'm willing to keep trying for now.  In the meantime, Cody is his same old happy self.  Just a great dog that everyone who meets him loves!  I wouldn't trade him for anything!

[Melanie White]

I'm glad to hear that Cody is doing OK and that he's so happy. Fido has had marked improvement and has been seizure free since September. We went to see Dr. Daigle of Austin Veterinary Allergy and Dermatology, who described him as "intensely itchy" and put him on a prescription diet of rabbit and potato kibble and canned food. The itchiness went away immediately. He also hasn't had any seizures since he's been on the diet, which doesn't mean there's causation, but there certainly seems to be a correlation.

All my best to you and Cody. I'm glad you keep in touch.

[Jacquelyn Huffman]

Our Jett also has seizers, his parents are Kona & Peaboo...he has had several seizers and our vet had attended a seminar that taked about hypoallergenic one source protein food. He has been seizer free since May, I pray this will continue. I know you said Fido has the same parents as Jett. Jett will be 3 years old in Nov. He was the only cream boy in his litter. I would like to stay in touch with you, I'm not on this site very often but my emai is [e-mail]. We live in Carlsbad, California, north of San Diego. Our son and his family live in Cedar Park and we visit with Jett about once a year, we would love to get a romp together of the Dixie's Doodles it would be great to meet some of you all and your best doodle friends. We love our Jett and I know you love Fido, I wish you the best. Jacque

[Carol McCasland]

An update on Cody.  His seizures were coming every week and after  a few weeks of that, his acupuncture vet, his regular vet and I all agreed it was time to try western medicine.  He's been on Gabapentin and Potassium Bromide for about 8 weeks, wtth only one seizure the week after he started.  Then no more.  He was a bit goofy at first, but has returned to being the same old boy he's always been:  fun loving, if a bit crazy!  In another month, the regular vet and I will re-evaluate the dosage and see if we can back him off a bit.  He continues the accupuncture.  I'm pleased with the treatment plan so far!

[Michelle Michel]

Hi all--I haven't visited the forum in a while, but have been watching the posts about our doodles with epilepsy; Fozzy, I believe is from Fido's litter--born in April 2009 by Kona and Peabo.  Fozzy doesn't have epilepsy, though he has had some sleep tremors that I would almost describe as petit mal's--but I know it 's common for dogs to shake like that when they are dreaming--I still have kept my eye on him.  But I also wanted to share that Fozzy has always been on a high protein diet because that is what Dixie feeds her dogs.  We don't feed Fozzy an all meat diet, but we give him Taste of the Wild, Pacific Stream, which is a mixture of salmon, sweet potatoes, potato fiber and tomato.  25% minimum protein, 15% fat minimum.  No grain, soy, or corn.  So now I wonder if that has helped to keep any epilepsy from manifesting itself?  Is that even possible?  I wish those of you here who are working to control epilepsy in your animals the best and am so glad that this group is here for encouragement & support should I ever need that myself!