Seizures

[Abby and Raya]

Hi Everyone. I just joined doodle kisses and currently have a healthy doodle (fingers crossed). I did lose my first doodle to severe epilepsy. If anyone is dealing with seizures in their doodles and looking for support and someone to talk to, please email. I have been there and understand what you are going through!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/basics_main.html

Our newest member, Heather, is very concerned about her doodle Maya, who was just diagnosed with epilepsy. I posted the link above for general information. In an update on my Jackdoodle, whose 4th birthday is today, we have determined that his jaw spasms are a type of seizure called "focal seizures." We are awaiting the results of his thyroid panel blood work.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Focal seizures are more comon then petite seizures. In truth Mariner's petite seizure are probably focal seizures. From your post it appears that the cause not been determned. Remember they may not find a cause. You may only have to treat the symptoms.

[Nicole Helmantoler]

My Brody was just diagnosed with epilepsy. He's had only two seizures so far but the vet did a whole host of blood tests to rule everything else out. Brody is almost two years old and the two seizures he's had were about 2 1/2 months apart. The vet doesn't want to prescribe meds unless they become more frequent. Does anyone know if epilepsy is common in goldendoodles? I've read that goldens are prone to them. Brody's breeder hasn't had any reports of epilepsy so this is quite a shock to us.

[Abby and Raya]

Nicole, Welcome to the group, although I am sorry to hear about Brody. I know what you are going through! The biggest piece of advice I can give you first is to start a log of his seizures. Record everything you can remember about what the seizure looked like, what he was doing before and afterwards and anything that was going on in your home. Many people often find triggers for their dog's seizures. I never did for Lila, but I kept a journal of every time it happened. It also helped when I went to the vet or neurologist to remember to tell them everything. Let us know if you need anything! We're here to listen! I hope Brody has a quiet night :)

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Nicole -

You probably have read through this whole discussion. The term epilepsy is just another way of saying that he has a seizure disorder. It doesn't appear that seizures are common among GD's. There are many reasons for seizures and alot of times the cause is not known.

In this group you will find the people who have expereince with seizures. My expereince is with Mariner a 1+ year F1B GD. He had an accident at 7-8 weeks old - fractured skull. So we know that his seizures are caused by a brain injury.

Sometimes the seizures are only foaming of the mouth. At first we did not recognize this as a seizure. The advice of keeping a log is excellant. Please discuss with your vet on what actions you are to take if Brody has another seizure. I am also of the opinion that you should have medication on hand in case of prolonged or multiple seizures, as these can cause long term damage.

Find out all you can about seizures. There are links to different articles in some of the above posts. Please keep us informed. By the way what do the seizures look like?

Also his two seizures may be his only seizures. Sometimes it happens that way.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's true...my miniature poodle had a mild seizure when she was about thirteen years old, followed by a major one a few months later. She never had another, and lived to be 16 years old. We hope Brody will do well from here out.

[Nicole Helmantoler]

Thanks to everyone for their replies - it's nice to know we are not alone :) Both of Brody's seizures have been typical grand mal - his body gets rigid, then he goes through a full convulsion period of less than a minute and then a couple minutes of recovery. He seems to recover fast - within 2 or 3 minutes he is wagging his tail and ready to play. One common factor we have noticed is that both seizures occurred while he was asleep - one in the middle of the night and one during an afternoon nap. The only "theory" my husband and I have is that maybe they were triggered by chemicals . . . the first one was right after my daughter had a bad cold and I have sprayed the house religiously with Lysol and the second one was the day after we had our carpets professionally cleaned. So we will be a green household from this point forward and Brody is already on all-natural dog food and treats.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Nicole-
Hopefully you found the trigger. It is interesting that the seizures happened during sleep. Mariner used to have the foaming of his mouth during sleep (at that time we did not realize that these were petit seizures.) You may want to keep an eye on Brody while he sleeps to see if there are any unusual movements such as the foaming of the mouth. I am not talking about "animated" dreams, they gave us a scare but they turned out to be just that - dreams.

And yes you are not alone!!!

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Mariner had 2 seizures today. The first was about 8:30 am and the second around 10:30. As his last seizure was about 2 weeks ago we are upping his medication from 32.4 mg to 48.6 mg of phenobarb twice daily. Hopefully we will resolve this quickly. Yes the seizures are scarey but we have learned how to deal with it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hoping Mariner and your whole family have a peaceful holiday, and that the increased meds will do the trick. Hugs to you all.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

So far so good. We will test his phenobarb levels in about a month. Time will tell if the increase helps. It does not appear to have any negative effects. Although he has been eating more.

He has been very clingy to Sharon since the double seizure. He follows her no matter where she goes. Happy Healthy Holidays.

[Nicole Helmantoler]

Brody had two seizures yesterday. This was the first time he had more than one in a day. He spent the night being monitored at the emergency vet since they gave him phenobarb for the first time. He is doing well - we are about to go pick him up. He is being put on phenobarb daily from now on so hopefully that will get things under control. I was wondering about the side effects - what have you seen with Mariner and others?