Hudson's First Seizure

[Teresa]

Today, Monday, August 3rd is a holiday in Canada. Here in Toronto area, we had our first good weekend of the summer and I spent it working in my yard, BBQing with some friends and each morning started at the Dog Park for about 1.5 to 2 hours - Hudson playing with his usual weekend friends. I got home at about 9:45 a.m. - made breakfast for Hudson and then myself. Hudson didn't eat - but that isn't unusual when he has had a big play time at the park. He usually nibbles and then sleeps and eats a little later. I was outside doing some work in my yard and came in the house at about 12:30 - Hudson asleep on the hardwood floor with his head on the carpet. I poured myself some coffee and I heard him trying to throw up. I went into the living room and pushed him onto the floor area to let him throw up - which he did, but it was maybe a tablespoon on bile and then he did it again. All of a sudden he went into a panic mode and started running around but not in typical doodle play mode - he was clearly terrified. I thought he was going to have diarhea so ran with him to the patio doors and let him out. He was tearing around the back yard and then all of sudden stood still and started shaking. It was then I knew he was having a seizure - I've never seen this in a dog before but I have seen it in people. I just grabbed the phone and then ran to be beside him as he lay down to complete his seizure. My thought was poison of some kind but then all of a sudden it stopped and he stood up - foam coming down his mouth. I went to get a wet towel to wipe him down and he stood there in the middle of my yard barking - this was really odd behavior because he isn't a barker. I took the towel outside and he seemed afraid of it, so I put it down and just put cold water on my hands and wiped down his mouth and neck. The whole thing took maybe a minute. I went to ER and they did a quick vitals and ISTAT for blood gases - everything was completely normal. I am going to my vet in the morning to get a full blood workup done. Thankfully, I have been able to read through this whole discussion and also jumped into the Epi Angels site that a few of you supplied, so I feel like I have a lot of info to discuss with my vet.

I'm of course, absolutely devistated and scared as to what this means. He is not quite 14 months old and I am so worried about him. He is obviously exhausted tonite although he has eaten food since we came home - I gave him small batches over the last several hours and now he is sleeping. I doubt I will sleep tonite because I will be concerned about him having another one right away. That seems to be the more dangerous signal with seizures - the clusters.

This little soul is known as Mr Happy by everyone that meets him. He brought such happiness back to my life last year and I am so worried about him. I live alone so I have to leave him during the day. I do have a dog walker that comes in but I keep worrying about him being alone. Thankfully I have tomorrow off work so I will be able to monitor for the next 36 hours very carefully.

I'm just looking for support from all of you right now - and also, I do have a couple of questions. No one really talks about life expectancy - I know it will depend on how bad this turns out to be but can they live a regular length life if controlled and monitored? or does it mean his life is drastically reduced? Also, can I continue to let him run and play as he wants? or do I have to restrict his exertion?

There haven't been many posts on this for a while - I hope everyone is doing well.

Teresa and Hudson

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

Sorry to hear Hudson is having seizures. I think discussing these issues with your Vet is always your best option, but from my point of view knowing some dogs who have had seizures in our family, they all lived normal lives and they lived out their normal life expectacies. My brother (German Shepherd lived to 13 - 14 years) and sister (Pit Bull was around 10years) did nothing different for their dogs except the medications they needed to be on for the seizures and that was also recommended by their Vets. Prayers for you and Hudson and hope all goes well for you both.

[Teresa]

Thank you - this alone makes me feel much better. I can deal with just about anything when I have all the details in front of me so I will be better after I see my vet tomorrow and get the bloodwork done - then plan out next steps.

Thanks again for the support.

T and H

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Sorry to hear about the seizure. You are doing all the right things. Hopefully this will be a one time event. Make sure to have plain vanilla ice cream and a large ice bag in the freezer. The ice bag should be put on the hind quarter during the seizure - it helps reduce the length and severity of the seizure. The ice cream is for after the seizure - a tablespoon or so, as dogs blood sugar drops during the seizure.

There is no reason to change anythng - excersize should have no effect on him. Sometimes triggers for seizures are stress. As for life expectancy I have not read anything to suggest that it will be affected. I have read of some dogs that have been 15 or so and had seizures for most of their life.

I do hope that this was just one time thing and he is better.

[Teresa]

Thank you for your quick reply. I already have the bag of ice ready in my freezer - Ice cream I will pick up tomorrow - hope I don't eat it :-)

The information from all of you has been extremely helpful and I am fortunate that I have a wonderful vet that not only is as up to date as she can be, she has fantastic connections with specialists that she confers with and have been extraordinary support in the past.

I am glad to hear I can just continue with regular exercise and play - although I think I'll cancel doggy daycare this Wednesday so that I can get the bloodwork back before he goes back.

I'll let you know what comes out of the results and how he is doing.

Thanks again - just hearing some of this information makes me feel a little better.

[2hpulka53c8pt]

I am sorry to hear about the seizures. I hope everything goes well at the vet today. Please try and think of anything that may have been done differently in the last few weeks. Has the Hudson had any new food, treats, vitamins, flea/tick treatments, heartworm treatments, vaccinations etc? Have you started using any new cleaning or gardening products? Anything at all change in your household?

Maya had 2 seizures last Nov. Those were the only 2 she has had. I decided not to put her on seizure meds right away as the meds have some pretty bad side effects and I wanted to make sure that Maya needed the meds. Turns out that so far she doesn't need the meds and we expect an environmental trigger for her seizures (vitamins that I was giving). I am saying this so you don't feel like you have to put Hudson on meds right away for one seizure. My vet went along with my decision and said that if My starting having more than 4 seizures a month then medication would be necessary. The only treatment we did immediately after the seizure was accupuncture.

Good luck and the vets today. Let us know how it goes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No advice, Teresa, just hugs to you and Hudson. Sounds like you are doing everything right, and as everyone said, this may turn out to be just an isolated incident. Please keep us posted.

[Teresa]

Heather - thanks for you input. As an FYI - my Vet is absolutely saying "no" to meds until we understand if this is going to be on-going or not. However, she did send me home with valium in case he has a a series of seizures that need to be attended to quickly. We are doing a full workup on him - I even insisted on Thyroid as that was a separate test but one I read can be connected and is important to understand. Vet said to me that she would do basic Thyroid - feels he is too young for those issues but respects my requests. She did mention to me that thyroid can really cause problems with seizures if it develops later on - I think because the medications can really screw things up. I took in urine, stool first thing this morning and she took his blood - I'll hear in the morning what comes from that. She said it will likely all come back normal and that he will fall into the group of dogs that we just don't know what causes them. She is also reaching out to her very good friend who is a vet neurologist to get the most updated info on seizures so that we can be prepared. I stayed home today until 1:00 p.m. which was exactly 24 hours after the first seizure - now I'm at work and I'm trying to concentrate but it is very hard to do.

BUT, when you mention what is new or what has changed in his diet, the only thing is he had his heartguard medication. This will be the second one he has taken - no reaction first time - but I'd like to ask why you mention heartguard. Is there something you have read that you could share with me?

Thanks again for the information. It is extremely helpful.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

If I'm not mistaken Frontline (and similar products) are thought to cause seizures in some dogs, but I do not see seizures as a side effect for heartguard.

I am glad your vet did give you the valium. Remember that you may think the dosage you were told to give him sounds like alot, dogs metabolize (sp?) it quicker than we do.

If he does have another seizure an important issue is for you to keep your hands away from his mouth - he could bite you - not his fault. Keep yourself safe and then make sure he is safe.

[Teresa]

Well, unless I forget where to stick the valium, my hands shouldn't be close to his mouth :-)

Sorry, dry sense of humor but I needed it - its been a very stressful 36 hours! Actually, my Vet also added to the hands away from mouth by telling me not to be offended if he is barking at me or running away from me as he is coming out of the seizure - she said don't take it personal, they aren't aware of what is going on and are just very confused. It all makes sense.

My biggest fear is not being home if another one happens. But there isn't much I can do about that. I just need to figure out how to keep him safest in the house. Right now he stays in a very large wire crate and that is going to be the safest for now. My house is open concept so I can't close him away in the kitchen or anything like that. Guess I'll just have to win the lottery so that I can either hire a house sitter or quit working!

[Deb McD]

Teresa - I was just reading your blog about your dog Hudson and his seizure this past summer. My doodle had a grand mal seizure tonight - first time ever - I took Sophie to the vets and we will see what the bloodwork shows tomorrow. Has he had any subsequent seizures and did the bloodwork show anything out of the ordinary. I will be home for the next 5 days with Sophie (timing is everything, as I have a cold myself and need time to recuperate). Don't think I could go to work tomorrow and leave her alone anyways.

[Teresa]

Hi Deb. Well first of all, let me send you and Sophie a GREAT BIG HUGE HUG, because I still feel the terror and sadness that I felt when it happened. How old is Sophie? With regards to Hudson, he had his first one at the beginning of August and then almost exactly 1 month later, he had another one - that was September 9th. Everything came back completely normal - his thyroid was "off", but that is normal after a Grand Mal. As a matter of fact, I have since learned that you should not even look at the thyroid unless at least 1 month has past with no seizures. After the second seizure, we immediately put him on Phenobarb. We just tested his blood and phenobarb levels - they are a little low so we have adjusted his medication and will retest in 1 month. So it will be a period of testing and adjusting until we get it right. In the meantime, he is fine and no more seizures.

On a personal level, I want to share some of the emotions and feelings I went through after the 1st seizure and then after the 2nd seizure. I'm hoping it will help you. That first seizure is absolutely terrifying and it sent me to research/read anything and everything about seizures. Lots of stuff out there - don't let it scare you - digest the information and talk to your vet and as you are currently doing, reach out to people that have experienced it. From your personal comfort standpoint remember the following: the dog doesn't know that it has happened; so don't spend time after the seizure babying her. Clean her up if she needs it and move on. They feed off of our emotions and she won't know why you are all upset. The next thing to remember, dogs don't have stigmas about other dogs that have seizures. I know this may sound silly, but my vet said this to me and I realized that I was emoting this sad feeling about how would Hudson deal with his seizures! Well, he will deal with them just fine if I do!! And it makes sense because with humans, much of the stigma around seizures is how other kids will treat you etc. Lastly, don't change the things you do with her. She can still do absolutely everything she has always done - as a matter of fact, they usually have seizures when coming out of a period of down time or waking from a sleep. The other thing I want to share with you is that if Sophie has another seizure, it is no where near as scarey. I recognized the starting phase of the seizure - for Hudson, he starts by trying to throw up - but it is a dry heave. Both times he did this. When it started happening the 2nd time, I moved him to an area where he would be safe and then just talked to him as he had the seizure. After a couple of minutes he was back to normal - I washed his face with a nice cold cloth to get rid of the "foam" around his mouth. Gave him an icecube and a bit of icecream and then we carried on with the day. The only other thing I have changed is that I keep him in a crate when I'm not home. I feel he is safer in a crate than loose in the house if he had a seizure.

Please let me know how things go and if you want someone to hold hands with - I am offering.

Good Luck to you and Sophie.

[Debbie and Toby]

So sorry to hear about Hudson having seizures. We also are going through this. Toby just recently started having seizures. So we are trying to get as much info as possible. He had a couple of mild ones, no convulsions in October, then started having the grand mals. Very scary, I was terrifed watching him go through it, as I had never seen this before. He has not had any since being on the phenobarbital, although I want to get him off the phenobarbital asap. We are looking into food issues, topical flea treatment (Frontline), etc. We were also advised to keep ice cream and ice bags available, haven't had to use them yet, but we now keep them available. You will be in our thoughts and prayers. Big doodle hugs and kisses to Hudson!