Anyone have a dog with Epilepsy?

[mike the snake]

I'm bummed. My little miniature Schnauzer "Maggie", who sleeps under my arm at night, woke me up the other night because she was shaking.

She was having a full-on grandmal seizure that lasted about 4 minutes. This was the first seizure that I know of.

After it stopped, she was out of it, and drooling. As i tried to wipe her mouth clean, she bit the shit out of my finger, bit right through the top of my fingernail. She was scared and probably temporarily blind as I've read they can be after seizures.

After about 20-30 minutes, she was fine, hungry and thirsty, and has been fine since.

My vet said she probably just has "doggy epilepsy", which is progressive, so it's going to get worse as time goes on. He suggested we hold off on medication until things get worse, because the medications (valium or phenobarbital) have their own issues.

Anyone else have a pet doggy with epilepsy? It sure freaked me out.

[onefitz]

Had one a long time ago, a chocolate lab. It is a progressive disorder, but rate of progression varies from what I was told. Spend the time you can with her bud.

[eddieEndo]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

I'm bummed. My little miniature Schnauzer "Maggie", who sleeps under my arm at night, woke me up the other night because she was shaking.

She was having a full-on grandmal seizure that lasted about 4 minutes. This was the first seizure that I know of.

After it stopped, she was out of it, and drooling. As i tried to wipe her mouth clean, she bit the shit out of my finger, bit right through the top of my fingernail. She was scared and probably temporarily blind as I've read they can be after seizures.

After about 20-30 minutes, she was fine, hungry and thirsty, and has been fine since.

My vet said she probably just has "doggy epilepsy", which is progressive, so it's going to get worse as time goes on. He suggested we hold off on medication until things get worse, because the medications (valium or phenobarbital) have their own issues.

Anyone else have a pet doggy with epilepsy? It sure freaked me out.

I do! My vet put her on phenobarbitol right away and siezures have been non existant

[n2oinferno]

Sorry to hear that. My cat has had one seizure and it freaked us out. I'd never seen it before, so I called the vet and they said monitor her, bring her in the next day. They confirmed from what I told them that she did have a seizure, and just to monitor her. If they got worse they'd look into treatment.

Thankfully that's the only time it's ever happened.

[M-17]

My dog had one this year. No one was around when it happened and now she has a lot of trouble keeping her head straight and as time went by she starting to have trouble walking in the direct path she desires. As old as she is, she's still eating and functioning at a decent capacity. And now that summer is over, my dog is now using medication to help her walk and live her life with some peace.


And an old friend of mine had a dog (golden retriever) that would go into random seizures of the day and all he had to do was pet her during her seizure to calm her down, which surprisingly worked.

[mike the snake]

Thanks for the replies.

Maggie is 1.5 years old. I got her for my Ex for our anniversary. Told myself I wasn't going to get attached, but towards the end, I was only going over to her house to see the dog! lol.

My ex treated me like crap, and I spoiled her to no end, her and her kids. I'm talking (in 2.5 years) she got probably 10-15 grand in jewelery, paid her bills, laptop for her son, gaming systems, TV's, weekly fine dining, and lots more. I liked to spoil her. Problem was, she wasn't gracious, and came to expect these things.
She was a shitty girlfriend, and finally, when she asked for her keys back, and told me she'd prefer if I used the guest bathroom, that was the final straw.

I took the dog and haven't been back in over 2 months, and I'm happier for it.

Her kids stomped and dropped Maggie multiple times just while I was there, so it must have happened many more times, she is better off with me for sure.

Maggie sleeps under my arm at night, and never is more than a few feet from me wherever i go, she's daddy's little girl.

I really hope this epilepsy doesn't affect her too much, and of course I will do whatever it takes to keep her happy and healthy.

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

Thanks for the replies.

Maggie is 1.5 years old. I got her for my Ex for our anniversary. Told myself I wasn't going to get attached, but towards the end, I was only going over to her house to see the dog! lol.

My ex treated me like crap, and I spoiled her to no end, her and her kids. I'm talking (in 2.5 years) she got probably 10-15 grand in jewelery, paid her bills, laptop for her son, gaming systems, TV's, weekly fine dining, and lots more. I liked to spoil her. Problem was, she wasn't gracious, and came to expect these things.
She was a shitty girlfriend, and finally, when she asked for her keys back, and told me she'd prefer if I used the guest bathroom, that was the final straw.

I took the dog and haven't been back in over 2 months, and I'm happier for it.

Her kids stomped and dropped Maggie multiple times just while I was there, so it must have happened many more times, she is better off with me for sure.

Maggie sleeps under my arm at night, and never is more than a few feet from me wherever i go, she's daddy's little girl.

I really hope this epilepsy doesn't affect her too much, and of course I will do whatever it takes to keep her happy and healthy.

I wish the best to your dog. I miss my dog too... Also with an ex...

[Kelbyat07]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

Thanks for the replies.

Maggie is 1.5 years old. I got her for my Ex for our anniversary. Told myself I wasn't going to get attached, but towards the end, I was only going over to her house to see the dog! lol.

My ex treated me like crap, and I spoiled her to no end, her and her kids. I'm talking (in 2.5 years) she got probably 10-15 grand in jewelery, paid her bills, laptop for her son, gaming systems, TV's, weekly fine dining, and lots more. I liked to spoil her. Problem was, she wasn't gracious, and came to expect these things.
She was a shitty girlfriend, and finally, when she asked for her keys back, and told me she'd prefer if I used the guest bathroom, that was the final straw.

I took the dog and haven't been back in over 2 months, and I'm happier for it.

Her kids stomped and dropped Maggie multiple times just while I was there, so it must have happened many more times, she is better off with me for sure.

Maggie sleeps under my arm at night, and never is more than a few feet from me wherever i go, she's daddy's little girl.

I really hope this epilepsy doesn't affect her too much, and of course I will do whatever it takes to keep her happy and healthy.

Yeah you deserve better. All that money could of went towards your car. Joke aside, I hope everything goes well for your dog and for you.

[SamS]

My parents' goldendoodle started having seizures a few years ago, and the vet put him on phenobarb. The drugs stopped the seizures but he was extremely lethargic and had ravenous hunger. (stealing food off of counters constantly, which was never a problem before) My mom then took him to a holistic vet and started getting acupuncture, first with needles, then switched to lasers. They were able to slowly ween him off of the drugs, and now he only gets acupuncture once a month. He went from several seizures per week to currently over a year without a seizure.

[ZionsWrath]

Read up on seizures so you can understand what is going on.

Basically after the seizure they will have a postictal phase where they may be lethargic and have an altered mental status (hence biting your finger). Let them seize and remove anything they may hit from the immediate environment. Once they stop make sure to keep the airway clear. Get the dog on some anti seizure medication as soon as you can see a vet.

[Trashed675]

I had a yellow lab, shes my parents dog now, that has had a few seizures, her name is also Maggie.

The most notable time she was walking up the stairs in front of me, and suddenly became uncoordinated(she had walked/ran up those stairs hundreds of times just fine), think of drunk dog. She managed to get to the top of the staircase with my help where she kinda flopped down on her side and twitched and flailed for a few minutes drooling and peeing.

Later the doctor advised not to try and restrain her because that could injure her or me, just keep her clear of anything so she doesn't hit anything, pet her if you can to try and calm her down.

That was around 2010, she has had a couple more since then that we've seen, but not quite as bad. About a year or so ago they switched her to a gluten free(i know, i know) all natural dog food. We have no idea if that has made any affect, but she hasn't had any seizures in that time. Might be worth a shot.

[Missy]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

Thanks for the replies.

Maggie is 1.5 years old. I got her for my Ex for our anniversary. Told myself I wasn't going to get attached, but towards the end, I was only going over to her house to see the dog! lol.

My ex treated me like crap, and I spoiled her to no end, her and her kids. I'm talking (in 2.5 years) she got probably 10-15 grand in jewelery, paid her bills, laptop for her son, gaming systems, TV's, weekly fine dining, and lots more. I liked to spoil her. Problem was, she wasn't gracious, and came to expect these things.
She was a shitty girlfriend, and finally, when she asked for her keys back, and told me she'd prefer if I used the guest bathroom, that was the final straw.

I took the dog and haven't been back in over 2 months, and I'm happier for it.

Her kids stomped and dropped Maggie multiple times just while I was there, so it must have happened many more times, she is better off with me for sure.

Maggie sleeps under my arm at night, and never is more than a few feet from me wherever i go, she's daddy's little girl.

I really hope this epilepsy doesn't affect her too much, and of course I will do whatever it takes to keep her happy and healthy.

I was in a similar situation minus spending tons of money and there being children involved, dude ruined a 4 year relationship that "he wanted" but insisted on hitting up every slut he knew and cheating on me. Yay, at least I got to keep my little man. Lol

Just sayin, I would've drop kicked the children...
I'm so very happy you're a good human being I'm sure you'll be the best support little Maggie could ever need or want, thanks for not being a shitty person and leaving her there or handing her off when you found out she has something wrong, some people even go as far as putting animals down just because it's an inconvenience to them.. Assholes.

[mike the snake]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Maggie is doing great, and hasn't had any more seizures since that first one (that I know of).

My vet said to wait on the meds until things progress, basically put off giving the meds until they're really needed, because the meds have their own side effects and problems. Luckily Maggie hasn't had any seizures since, and hopefully won't have any more, but I'm ready and prepared to care for her no matter what she needs. She's my little snuggle buddy.

I went and got them a new puppy so the kids wouldn't think of me as the guy who took their doggy.

[FRSPirate]

If it progresses see if you can get some *** tincture from a friend who has a "club" card. You're in NorCal, you probably know a few. Barbiturates are not the way to go. I used to take barbiturates and dependance on those drugs SUX. Worst case you can die if you stop taking them all of a sudden. Best part about the tinctures is that they impair you very little to none at all so your puppy wont be lethargic or get munchies (she wont get stoned.)