Our doggie had a seizure!

[Tinkermom]

Our little Minnie had what I think was a seizure this afternoon! Minnie is a 3 1/2 year old black and white cocker spaniel. MINNIE (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2220/2227603662_392543975a_b.jpg) She was barking at a squirrel at the window (one of her favorite things to do) as I was putting groceries away. All of a sudden I hear this banging sound. I go to the dining room to see her on her side and it appears she is trying to walk but her back legs were limp. She is sort of flopping around and is shaking like crazy. Her mouth also looked like she was snarling. It is difficult to describe. At first I thought she had gotten her little paw caught in part of a throw that I had over one of our chairs. I lifted her up to take her onto carpet (she was on the hardwood floor) and I called the vet who told me to bring her right in. By the time I got off of the phone Minnie was still shaking a bit but otherwise seemed fine. I rushed to the vet where they did a bunch of bloodwork most of which has come back normal. We are still waiting on some liver testing. The vet thinks perhaps her blood sugar was low. He said that her blood sugar was 106 but that coming into the vet and all of the commotion could have caused an adrenaline rush which might have superficially raised her blood sugar. Minnie had not eaten this morning.

So far Minnie seems fine. She ate all of her food that I gave her as soon as we got home and has been acting normally. Anyone else ever have this happen to their dog? We are leaving for our big WDW trip next week and we planned on having a friend take care of Minnie. The vet thinks we are still ok to do this. Any spare pixie dust appreciated!

[DisneyDudet]

Boy, do I have experience!

I have posts from this summer of my best friend's dog, Angie. Angie is a shizu/Poodle mix (wouldn't let me spell her breed the correct way!!), as cute as can be! Anyway, one night during July, Angie had what my friend, Michele, determined was a seizure. It was only once, so they didn't think anything of it, except they called the vet and all. Didn't happen again.

In August, Michele went out of town with her mother, and I watched Angie while they were gone. The first night was ok. She was confused as to where she was (my house) but slept like a log. The next evening, I couldn't sleep, so I watched TV for a while. A little after midnight, Angie looked at me, then looked up, then started violently shaking. Mouth open legs sprawled out, and foaming at the mouth. This was a seizure. I immediately called Michele, who called the vet. Angie walked around, smelling absolutely everything. She was what is known as post-ictal. Its a state of confusion or lower consciousness, causing the brain to sorta 'reset' itself after the seizure. I didn't want to sleep at all, but finally did. Then, around 5, Angie had another seizure, same way, except slightly losing control of her bladder. This time it was shorter, not nearly as long. The vet finally called Michele back, and he told me to bring her in. I did, and he decided to keep her. The only thing they could think of that caused the seizures was that Michele bathed her in puppy flea shampoo, which may have been too much for her. I gave her a bath that morning. She didn't have anymore seizures with the vet (he kept her at his house).

About a few weeks later, the seizures came back with avengence. She would have 2 or 3 a night, lasting longer and longer. Finally, they did blood work and all came back normal. The vet put her on phenobarbitol and so we tried that out. Well, it wasn't really working (takes a while to build up in her system), so she continued to have seizures at night, lasting way too long, and too close together (status epilepticus, which is a medical emergency). She took her to an emergency vet that gave her IV phenobarbitol to increase her barb level quickly. For about a week, Angie was seizure free, but would stagger everywhere (normal). That was sad to watch too.

Angie was seizure free for a very long time, until she started itching. The vet told Michele to give her some benadryl for it, but that must have decreased her seizure threshold, as she had a few. Michele increased her phenobarbitol dosages for a few days, and then brought it back down, and she was fine. She has been seizure free for several months.

To make this long story short, there are many reasons why seizures can come about. Your vet could be right, if Minnie was acting wild, and didn't eat, she very well could have had a drop in blood sugar, just like humans can get.

I would just continue to watch her, as it could be more, or it could be isolated.

When Angie was having seizures, I researched canine epilepsy quite a bit, and dogs can live a LONG time on the right medications.

I hope Minnie isn't like Angie, so I'm sending Pixie Dust your way. My little Chloe also sends Minnie some puppy kisses!

[SBETigg]

Our pug had seizures a few years ago that turned out to be due to a breathing problem. We had it corrected with surgery. It was really scary when he had them. All I could do was hold him and whisper soothing words until he came around.

I'm glad Minnie (what a cutie!) seems fine now and you have the reassurance of your vet and knowing she has been checked out. Best wishes.

[kakn7294]

No personal experience with our pets, but seizures can be pretty scary. Puppy :pixie: to Minnie - she's beautiful!

[laughingplace<3]

:tink::tink: sent your way! Also loads of bunny kisses from our Chewy :mickey:

[MsMin]

Awe! :heart: I love her. We had a black cocker (American Short nose) when the kids were little. She was beautiful. Our friends had a party like Minnie. Sending loads of :pixie: from the :paw: gang down here. Yorkies are prone to hypoglycemia and though we have never had an incident we have always been prepared for it. Our vet says it's b/c they have very little fat and their sugar levels can drop fast. We use nutra-cal to supplement if one is sick or misses a meal.
I hope it's something simple. Please let us know :pixie: :dog:

[vizsla]

One of my dogs has seizures every so often. They only last about 5-minutes. She just shakes and is totally disoriented. Ihad her checked by the vet several times and all the tests have came back normal. Now he is thinking that it may be caused by an allergic reaction from something she may have eaten. The dog food she eats is the same since she was a pup, but some of the treats I give the dogs when I train them have changed so I am only going to stick with one type of treat and see if anything else happens.

[disneydrmr]

My Rascal started having seizures a year and a half ago. He's on pheno now and doing well. Sending loads of puppy pixie :pixie: dust to Minnie! Hope this was just an isolated event!

[MNNHFLTX]

I hate to second-guess your vet, Lisa, but based on what your Minnie was doing right before she had her siezure, I have my doubts that it is related to low blood sugar. That it happened so suddenly while she was active and barking seems like it would be something related to the neurological system, like epilepsy. We have a diabetic dog and I have learned that the most common initial symptoms of low blood sugar in dogs are lethargy and weakness, which can eventually progress to a siezure if not treated. Not to mention that a dog's blood sugar can go quite low before any of these symptoms occur (our lab's blood sugar has dipped as low as 40 before without any apparent symptoms). Also the fact that Minnie recovered without any intervention makes it sound more like epilepsy.

I can understand your qualms about leaving Minnie while you go on your vacation. I would make sure your neighbor has the numbers to your regular vet and an emergency vet, in case something comes up. They can also keep some Karo syrup on hand. If it happens again, rub some of the syrup on the insides of Minnie's gums. If it is low blood sugar, this would bring it back up quickly and then she can eat her normal food.

[laprana]

I have a 9-year-old Shih Tzu named Sammy and he started having seizures every once in a while a few years ago. The first time, we had no idea what was going on and it was really, really scary. He was fine one minute, and then the next his eyes had kind of glazed over and he wasn't responding to us. His whole body stiffened up and he started trying to walk, but couldn't. It was like his legs wouldn't bend. He came out of it after a few minutes, but he was panting really hard and felt hot to the touch. This happened late at night, so we called our vet and he told us to take Sammy to a nearby animal hospital. They ran a bunch of tests on him and determined that it was a seizure caused by low blood sugar. Apparently small breed dogs, Shih Tzus especially, are prone to this.

Sammy is a really picky eater who doesn't like dog food all that much. I think he would starve himself before he would eat a plate of dog food willingly. Because he's prone to seizures, we do everything we can to get him to eat (we've resorted to feeding him small chunks of food off of a fork - plastic only, though! He won't touch metal utensils! :confused:). As long as he eats a good supper, he's fine. But if he doesn't, there's a good chance he'll have a seizure come on.

Luckily, over the years, we've learned to recognize the signs of a seizure about to happen. Sammy will stare off into space and his eyes will get that glazed over look. He usually doesn't respond when we call his name, or if he does, it's a slow response. Sometimes he kind of smacks his lips. The best advice I have is to keep a bottle of maple syrup or Karo syrup on hand at all times. The vet told us that if we see Sammy start to have a seizure, the best thing to do is to take some syrup and rub it on his gums. The sugar will soak into the blood system and the seizure will stop (or not happen at all, if you can catch it quick enough). Luckily, our Sammy LOVES maple syrup (dog food - no way; syrup - yes, please! Go figure!), so he usually happily laps it up when it's offered to him. And sure enough, as soon as he has a little bit of sugar in his tummy, he snaps right out of it!

Our vet also told us that if Sammy does go into a full-blown seizure again, it's best to keep the area around him quiet and dark because the more stimuli there are, the worse the seizure can be. Our vet also said that a seizure is very physically taxing, and when Sammy has them he'll be very tired, hot, and thirsty, so we have to cool him off, give him plenty of water, and help him relax when it's over.

I hope your Minnie doesn't have to go through that again, but if she does, hopefully some of these tips will help! Best wishes to you and your pup! :pixie:

[DisneyDudet]

That is true about the after effects of a seizure. The body temp will raise, and can cause hyperthermia, so its best to cool them off afterward. Also, since it is very taxing on the body, they will be quite thirsty and hungry (seizures can often lower blood sugar as well).

But like said above, if it is a diabetic seizure (not always because you are diabetic, just cause by low blood glucose), to fix it will require intervention.

It is very scary to watch a seizure. If she begins to have them more often or more than 2 in 6 hours, go to the vet immediately.

My poor Chloe started having diarrhea spells right before we left for the Intercot meet in October. We figured it was stress, but it didn't stop, so we took her in to be safe. This dog never gets sick! Anyway, the vet gave her some B12 and something else (too long ago!) plus some oral antibiotics, thinking it might be colitis. Well, her tummy didn't like that, so she threw that up. We called and they told us to hold off on the oral for a day, then start it. Well, she was better after a day!

Hope you don't have to worry about your Minnie while on your trip.

[Tinkermom]

Thanks for your stories everyone! Minnie is doing fine today, just her normal self. 2 of my friends that I work with also told me about how their dogs also have seizures. One is caused by the liver enzymes becoming "off" and they have put their dog on a special diet. The other friend's dog just has a seizure every now and then with no apparent cause. She says her doggie has them 1-2 times a year. We are still waiting on the liver tests to see if Minnie's issue could be the same as my friends dog.

Beth- I agree, I also doubt that it was low blood sugar. Minnie sometimes only eats once a day just because she chooses not to eat in the morning. Why would all of a sudden this cause low blood sugar?

It is strange to hear of all of these doggies with seizures. I never knew how common it was! My friend who is watching Minnie is fine with everything. She is a dog lover too! I know she will take good care of Minnie while we are gone.

Thanks again everyone!!

[Tink&Goofy]

Our "first born" was a cocker spaniel, who had seizures starting about age 5 or so. The vet said this is VERY common in purebreds - especially in Cocker Spaniels. Coco would stiffen and shake, and pant real hard. If I was there, I just held him as firmly, pet him and talked to him. He seemed to come out of them quicker and recover faster. We tried some meds for awhile (while we went on vacation), and they became less frequent, and eventually pretty much went away. It was REALLY scary the first time! But the vet assured me that they did not harm him, as long as they didn't last more than a minute or two. Just give them lots of water afterward, and keep them quiet to allow them to recover.