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My scottie had another seizure today!!

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  luvmyscotties 
#1 ·
I hate this. This is his 2nd seizure in less than a year. I feel so helpless. He is only 4 1/2. I have no idea what the deal is or why this is happening. I am sssooo glad we were home for this one too. The first one was in the middle of the night. He was on the bed and started...I of course freaked and was hysterical. The vet said since it was his first they could not do anything. Today was weird. My husband and I went swimming and when we got back in the house I went into the bedroom and noticed Jack was not his normal self. I could just see it in his eyes something was wrong. I immediately sat down next to him and called him into my lap. He did not fuss he just sat right in my lap. Upon doing this I could feel his body shaking a tiny tiny bit. And was somewhat rigid. I told my husband this was it..and as Jack moved from my lap he was walking a bit goofy. And sure enough within seconds it started. I immediately took my towel and wrapped him in it and held his head and put my arm around his body. That is when it really started. He started yelping and making weird noises. This DID NOT happen in the first seizure he had. I moved my hand to the back of his leg/groin area and held him and kept my face against the back of his neck and held his head. The whole time saying "its ok...." and so on. My husband sat with me petting him and saying his name very softly. After a couple seconds went by the huge amount of saliva started and it just kept dripping from his mouth. After about 2 1/2 minutes went by it started lessening up I handed him off to my husband who held him for the rest of the time in a blanket. I called the vet and they said not to worry and bring him in tomorrow.

I feel so bad.....anyone else go through this??????????
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I have a boy who has had epilepsy for about 3 years now.... i put a link above about epilepsy in dogs and tehre is an excellent email list and website in that post above..... Cuinn lives a normal albeit expensive life.... the only thing that has changed is he swims with a life jacket always..... I know a dog who drowned due to seizing in the water.... he takes potassium bromide and phenobarb twice a day......he has grand mal cluster seizures and there are tricks to stopping them and preventing them.... the post above and teh email list contained within has been a godsend.....







good luck
I will be happy to help in any way I can....
s

let me just add that you should have a full blood panel done within 12 hours of the seizure just to see how the blood work looks and I would have a FULL thyroid panel done as well.... once a pup has seizures the odds are that they will continue to have them.... the likelihood of it being a one time thing is low..... and if nothing shows up on the bloodwork or thyroid you have to ask yourself how much you are willing to do to find out why?? that bugged me for a long time.... the wanting to know why??? but I wasn't goign to do an MRI ($$$$) because my feeling was that it wasn't going to show me anything that I would do anything about anyway.... so it could tell me if Cuinn had a brain tumour... but what would I do if he did??? I wasn't going to do brain surgery.... I would have treated the seizures exactly as I was and cared for him exactly as I was..... now 3 years later.... I know he doesn't have a brain tumour.....

I have read an increasing amount of information on dogs between 2 and 5 who develop seizures may be having a vaccine reaction.... Dr. Jean Dodds is an excellent resource and has checked blood work for many a person with an epileptic dog.... she is a great resource and incredibly knowledgeable.....

if you are just having periodic seizures I would get some diazepan as emergency medicine in case a seizure doesnt stop within a minute or two.... you can give it either intra-nasally (what I do) or rectally.... it will stop a seizure.... althouhg your pup will be dopey and may have an exaggerated flight response....

be VERY VERY CAREFUL during a seizure as your dog is unable to control themselves and may not recognize you for a few minutes.... it is easy to get bit....

if your pup is having more than one seizure in 24 hours that is considered a cluster and that is the most dangerous for the dog as those seizures can get closer and closer together and cause status epilepticus (mind my spelling) which are continuous seizures one right after another in succession......

Generally if your dog is having more than a seizure a week or so, you want to put them on medication... however phenobarbital has some nasty side effects (liver problems ) so most vets like to wait.... potassium bromide is also an excellent drug and does not appear to have the side effects as the phenobarb as it is metabolized differently... however it takes several months to build up in the bloodstream so for a dog that is having many seizures it is not the first line of drug..... some will add it in after the Phenobarb PB and then wean the PB once the KBr (potassium bromide) is up to blood level......

don't freak out... but do go and buy some breyers vanilla ice cream or another type of natural brand vanilla ice cream as that will help your pup to come around after the seizure....

don't put anything in the mouth.... just comfort your pup and if you have any other dogs get them out of the house or into another room... as they can and may attack your seizing dog.... that is very important.... they may get used to it as my dogs have.... but they may not ....

I hope this helps
S
 
#3 ·
I know several dogs who live happy normal lives on medication for seizures. Two in one year, although understandably very scary for you, really isn't that many and your vet may recommend a wait and see approach rather than start medication.

What do you feed? Try to avoid foods high in fat or salt, for example, no Beggin Strips or Pupperoni or most other soft treats, or french fries or bits of hot dog.
 
#4 ·
Thanks!!! I appreciate both of you writing on here.
Yeah I know that 2 in a year is not that bad....but still worried. I am going to take him into the vet today...however it will be almost 24 hours since his seizure. I normally do not feed them fatty foods. I did buy a bag of beggin strips but I think we have given them 3 out of the bag in a week and a half or so. And right now they are both on the Banfield medicated food for cystals in their urine. Normally I feed them nutro. I am not sure what is going on but I am glad we were there for him. The sounds he made this time were so heart wrenching. The first seizure he was very shaky and clumsy. This one he was almost hard to control.
 
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