[Jennah]

Hi all,


My dog is having seizure like episodes and I'm wondering if anyone has ever experienced something similar. We are working with our vet but so far haven't found any answers.


My black lab, Ellie, has had 3 episodes in the last 1.5 months that have a had a seizure like appearance in that her head is bobbing. The first occasion she reared up onto her hind legs and looked as though she was going to fall over backwards/her head was bobbing back. This lasted just a couple of seconds and then she was normal again. The second and third occasions, she suddenly fell over onto her side, got back up quickly, and then had head bobs for a few seconds. Again she went right back to her normal self. All three times she was on leash, in an exciting place or situation so it's possible her excitement level is the trigger.


Since there doesn't seem to be any pre or post seizure type of behaviour, our vet doesn't believe it is actually a seizure. We have had blood work, ekg and chest x ray all come back normal. The vet also mentioned exercise induced collapse however from everything I can find online the episodes really don't look the same as what is happening to Ellie.


Anyone out there have any similar experiences?


Thanks,
A worried dog mama

 

[buttoni]

Well, I'm sure no vet, but I did have a mini dachshund that had seizures from the age of about 5 years. She had them about once a month. Like you, my vet just refused to believe it was seizures and kept telling me the dog was likely "asleep and just dreaming". No, I think I know the difference. When a dog is playing and stops dead in their tracks and all 4 legs start jerking along with the head occasionally, she is NOT asleep! Sometimes her seizures would occur when she was at rest on the sofa beside me, doing nothing.



Most often, hers seemed to be triggered off by excitement. We could see that pattern..........but not always was it excitement. Hers started out lasting 2-3 minutes and when she would come out of it, she would seem a bit disoriented for a few minutes. But eventually they got to lasting 4-6 minutes, with more intense disorientation (not wanting us to pet her, even snapping at us one time) upon coming out of it, followed by total exhaustion and sound sleep for a couple hours. So I think they were taking a toll on her and definitely getting worse over time. Despite my describing them carefully again and agin to the vet, saying they were longer in duration and more intense jerking/twitching of her legs, along with longer revival times, he for years said I was overreacting or it was mere dog "dreaming". Don't ya love when a profession talks to you like you're stupid? The dog lived to be 10 and died of a totally unrelated condition.



I had a sister-in-law in Dallas that had a small poodle years ago that suffered horrible, daily seizures. Her dog was given anti-convulsent medication daily. It reduced her dogs seizures from MANY per day to about one a month. If your vet doesn't come around to the notion your dog is in fact having real seizures (or some other confirmed diagnosis he determines) and is unwilling to trial anti-seizure meds to see if the episodes stop, in other words, if it appears he has run the gambit of testing he thinks appropriate for your dog's condition per your description, I would be vet shopping if it were me. Just my opinion, mind you.

 

[CamaroLegend]

Out of curiosity do you give your dog oral flea/tick medicine?

 

[Kyllobernese]

My Shih Tzu x Maltese started having seizures at four years old and had them till he was about six, then they just stopped. He would just get up after them and be perfectly normal. The Vet never put him on any medication. He is 10 years old now and no after effects. The greyhound we had that had epilepsy would be very scary after a seizure, would growl and seem very disoriented for several minutes. They are all different and sometimes they never can really find out what is causing them.