Epilepsy.

Hi all,

10 months ago my beautiful Ozzie was diagnosed with epilepsy after having a massive seizure at home, at the time Ozzies 2 brothers that we keep in contact with had also been diagnosed and we were all told that it was most likely that all the pups from that litter (8 in total) would also suffer from epilepsy to some degree. Kane and Axle have had numerous seizures and both are now on oral phenobarbital to control the fitting. Since Ozzies massive seizure last July there had not been any further seizures until last night when he either suffered a very mild fit or I managed to halt it with distraction before it turned into something nasty like last time.

I've rang my vet this morning to ask if it's possible to stop a full blown seizure from happening with distraction as longterm medication on phenobarbital would be a last resort as I've already been told by the vet that the side effects can be worse than the seizures themselves in some cases, I'm still waiting for him to call back but it's surgical day today so he will be operating until at least dinnertime.

Sorry for rambling on but I am a very worried mum right now

My gorgeous boy.

It is unusual to be able to stop a seizure once one has started. What he likely suffered was a mild seizure or a focal seizure which you often here referred to as "brain storms" because they generally affect one specific part of the brain and you don't see all the grand mal fitting you do with a regular seizure. It is highly unlikely that you stopped his seizure from progressing any further with a distraction, it was likely just the aura phase of seizures, which can be accompanied by shaking, where it stopped. Seizures go thru different phases (explained in one of the links below ).

Info on focal seizures
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/partial_focal.htm

There's a lot to consider when talking about seizure activity in dogs. Seizures are more often a symptom moreso than the actual disease itself. There are many causes for seizures so having a vet jump right to saying they're all epileptic is kind of suspicious to me since epilepsy isn't a common genetic defect found in labs.

Had your vet done a blood panel to check kidney and liver function? Did he check for any toxins? If you use pine sol or those swiffer wet things to clean your floors your pet could be suffering from phenol poisoning. http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/caninebloodwork.htm

This link goes into good detail about the different phases of seizure/epileptic activity as well as giving some alternative causes why the dog is having seizures.
http://www.dogsymptomscure.com/dog-seizures-symptoms.php

A good link to all things canine epilepsy related.
http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/basics_index.html

I know things are likely different where you are from but here is a list of alternative medications you can try instead of long term phenobarbital to help control the seizures.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/190702.htm&word=seizures

Something else to consider is that they all have a systemic bacterial infection such as strep or tick feaver. Had your vet eliminated this as a possibility?
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171213.htm&word=seizures

Or even a common toxin such as strychnine or toxic plant or tree
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/213700.htm&word=seizures

Finally a good link on how to interpret blood test results so you kow what your vet is talking about
http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/caninebloodwork.htm

I'm just having a hard time believing a whole litter of pups could have it, at least 3 pups including ozzie has had seixures... it just doesn't add up. Epilepsy usually strikes about 4 in every hundred dogs and here you have a whole litter and ozzie diagnosed with it.... just odd. I really thnk your vet might be missing something.

Another great link about canine epilepsy and potential other causes for seizure activity.
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Graves.html

So that's a lot to absorb for now... please read thru all the links carefully, it will absolutely make you think there might be more to this than just simple epilepsy. If you don't have complete 100% faith in your vet you might want to consult with a neurologist to find out more. Finally nice to be able to help in a field of my profession... well sort of, Animal Behavior Specialists need to know a lot about canine physiology and disease to make sure the behavior isn't ailement related and is strictly behavioral.

Hope this helps

Thanks Kel, I spoke to the vet this afternoon and he said more or less the same thing and that by the time you see the first symptoms the fit has already started so it would be unlikely to be able to stop it. He also said that he is sure that Ozzie had a very mild fit unlike the last one which was massive. When the symptoms started last night I thought he was building up to another big one like before but this time the fit only lasted for less than a minute and although he was confused and clingy for a while he was back to his normal self in about 2 hours. I've been asked to keep a diary so that we can assess the situation on a regular basis, if the amount of fits increase or the severity increases then we will discuss whether or not medication would be beneficial to him, I'm hoping that it doesn't come to that but obviously if he needs it he shall have it.

Well that's good, but in the meanwhile I would insist on the vet checking his liver enzymes too just to be safe. We didn't know our Boston had liver failure until one saturday on January 7th he started having seizures out of nowhere. He died 4 hours later at the vet of massive liver failure. Granted he was almost 13 years old but usually seeing symptoms of liver failure aren't there until it's too late. Please have the blood panel done to rule liver involvement out if yuo haven't had one done yet.

The vet should be doing a few series of tests, those links I provided will tell you more about the testing your vet should be doing, to rule out anything else and to make sure he is actually treating eppilepsy and not some other underlying disease that the seizures are just a symptom of. I'm glad to hear his last seizure was so mild. I have had a few clients with seizuric dogs, but only 1 actually had epilepsy so this topic I know a little about hope I can help and all goes well with Ozzie

Hi Kel thank you for all the above info sights I shall look at those in detail, My vet did bloods last July when Ozzie had a massive fit and all came back clear, my niece also has Ozzies brother and in November he went to Newmarket the big vetinary hospital for brain scans and other tests as he had been fitting since last April but on a very regular basis and he was diagnosed as having epilepsy and they were advised to medicate with Phenobarbital and he is now on it twice daily.

Hi Kel sorry forgot to say the three of us all had pups from the same litter all have different vets at different practices and we have all been told the same thing that the whole litter will be affected to some degree, Ozzie was the last of our three to start fitting, Axle started first at a few months old then Kane last April and then Ozzie last July. I don't know what Axles fits are like as I don't see his owner but Kanes were very mild but very frequent and he's been on Pheno twice daily since November and hasn't fitted since.

Awww I hope you are okay *huggs*
You have a very gorgeous dog

Thanks Sarah he's laying here at the side of me snoring his head off.