Question about seizures in dogs.

[stpalmer]

My pug had his first seizure at one year old. The vet gave him phenobarbital. I didn't continue it past the first 90 days, with the vet's okay. The seizures since have been infrequent and short duration. Usually, they happen when I am walking him. I thought the cold or overexertion might be the cause, but today he had one shortly into beginning the walk because he was barking at another dog behind a fence.

I want to hear from others about their dog's seizures: what kind of dog, what medical intervention, describe the seizure, does this get worse over time?

My pug is now four years old, and he recovers from the seizures faster than before. He used to really freak out afterwards and follow me closely, very scared. Now, he gets up and seems to go right on from where he was, albeit with a drooly, foamy mouth.

He had a birth defect that his tongue is unusually long and can't ever be retracted fully into his mouth, and he has difficulty eating. Can this cause his seizures?

[Holly_Hobby]

1. One of my Collies had seizures

Due to excitement and/or fear - especially when my neighbor started his Harley. My Collies don't like noise at all.

He was not on meds for it, I changed his diet to raw food (turkey necks, pork loin and chuck roast, with various organs), and hasn't had a seizure since. I believe grains have some connection to seizures. I belong to a canine seizure email list, and many many dogs have stopped seizing when the diet is changed to something more species appropriate. Grains are full of pesticides, and some grains are genetically modified, the safety has yet to be proven.

A dog that has seizures is considered unhealthy, so I've stopped vaccinating him, using the "unhealthy" excuse. I will titer him for rabies when he's due and use that to avoid any more jabs. He also has the genetic Collie defect that doesn't allow him to process certain drugs properly, like heartworm prevention. So he's truly unhealthy. BTW, our county hasn't seen a case of rabies in any species for over 50 years.

There are raw food mixes, where the bones are ground up with the meat and organs, since your pup has chewing problems.

As a side benefit of raw food, the mosquitoes don't hover around the dogs anymore either. I no longer give heartworm prevention because of the defect. I test every 6 months.

I suggest you join this Yahoo group: [e-mail]

On edit: They don't get fleas anymore, either, since switching to raw. I no longer have to treat with a preventive, which is a neurotoxin, the absolute wrong thing for a dog with seizures.

[stpalmer]

2. Thank you!

So much information to process, but it gives me a great starting place. My pug also has reactions to milk products and eggs....I wonder if grains also. I try not to give him any people food, but I suppose his dog food is "filled" with corn or grain. I'm going to give the raw food a try, and I'll talk to the vet about the vaccinations and heartworm treatment. I live in Colorado, so fleas and heartworm aren't much of a risk. He's leashed when outdoors, so rabies is probably remote also. He's always been an odd dog--he had surgery to remove wrinkles that had scratched his corneas before he was one, he goes into wheezing fits often, seizures, had an undecended testicle, the tongue deformity, etc. I think his mom may have been overbred. He was the last puppy to be adopted from his litter.

[Holly_Hobby]

4. May I contact you privately? n/t

[glinda]

3. My Wheaten used to have Petite' Mall Seizures

Seizures that are of short duration and infrequent may not need treatment but all seizures are horrifying for the owners and threaten the life of the pet. There are many things that can cause them: diet, neurological issue such as a head injury, genetics or another health issue.

Here is my recommendation. First, with the help of the Vet, get him off of the grain. If he can slowly change over to a no-grain holistic type food, he may improve. Many many seizures are cured this way with pets. This was the case for our Wheaten. When we took him off of Royal Canan, they ceased. Do this gradually though over 1.5-2 months. We feed Evo but this food may not be the best for your breed type but get off the grain and chems.

If he has no other health issue causing these, he may improve. Also, keep him calm and do not overwork him. I don't know about the tongue thing but they have such messed up breeding factors such as in the face, that he may be suffering from lack of breathing right that may push his condition forward. Your baby needs to be loved and maybe a back-rub occasionally will help him. Good luck.

[lukasahero]

5. My Lab had them

They started when he was about 2 1/2 and appeared to be stress related. He had about 1 every 3 months so, even though they were big seizures, we didn't put him on any meds for a long time and in fact, when I got divorced (and reduced MY stress), he went a few years without one. (I kid you not, he had one the day after one election night 2004 after having gone about 2 years without one!)

Finally, when he was about 12, he started having them more frequently (1 every couple of days) and we put him on phenobarb at that point. It worked mostly but we also had to keep valium on hand for times when it didn't work and we needed a back-up.

I didn't pursue the causes too seriously because the seizures were infrequent but if you can keep them off the meds, I'd highly recommend it. His personality changed on the phenobarb. Not drastically but enough to know I'd do everything I could to keep another dog off it if possible.

Good luck.

[InvisibleTouch]

6. My Pom had them.

Starting in young puppyhood. Infrequent, and over quickly, but still scary when he had them. He was about 10 years old before I finally made the connection: it was the soft-moist treats I was feeding him, that seemed to aggravate the condition. They are full of artificial colors and preservatives (why do you think they stay soft for years sitting on store shelves?). This is stuff like Jerky Treats, Beggin' Strips, etc. When I got rid of those, his seizures all but disappeared.

Then I switched him to a raw/homecooked diet, and he never had another one. He lived to be almost 16. So I definitely echo the poster above who recommended switching your dog to raw food.

But the first thing I always recommend to anyone whose dog is having seizures is, get rid of any soft-moist storebought treats you may be feeding. That stuff is poison.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Some resources

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Resources.html

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/site_map.htm

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/epilepsy.html

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/healthydiet.html

http://cybermesa.com/~dalcrazy/Emma.html