Dog seizures

Seizures are horrible, I have never felt so helpless than when one has a seizure. I just put the dog featured to the left down, he started having seizures, he had brain cancer. He was also 10 years old. I have seen several pure breed dogs have seizures, usually it is from an head injury as a pup, or epilepsy. The meds will make the dog lethargic until he get adjusted to them, but anything is better than having to deal with the seizures. Dr. Barr in Freeport, will work to get the dosage right, but other than phenabarbital, I don't know any other treatment. Usually they get more frequent and more severe without the meds. Hope the baby does well on the meds. Keep us posted, on how he is doing.

Are there any tests they can do to figure out the cause? That is the biggest part of Scooterbro's frustration - they can't tell him anything about the cause or how to prevent it, just want to medicate him.

Our dog has seizures when she is stressed or overheated. She is on phenobarb and this helps tremendously. We have blood work done to check the drug level every couple of months to make sure she is getting enough meds, or not too much. She is very active for a dog her age, even with the meds. We don't know what causes her seizures, only what triggers them. Hope this helps.

Additional meds

Our dog has seizures when she is stressed or overheated. She is on phenobarb and this helps tremendously. We have blood work done to check the drug level every couple of months to make sure she is getting enough meds, or not too much. She is very active for a dog her age, even with the meds. We don't know what causes her seizures, only what triggers them. Hope this helps.

My dogs that had seizures were helped by the addition of potassium bromide liquid. Doug's pharmacy in Niceville will make it for you, with presciption, of course.

Go for the meds

Are there any tests they can do to figure out the cause? That is the biggest part of Scooterbro's frustration - they can't tell him anything about the cause or how to prevent it, just want to medicate him.

In this case, the phenobarb is really the best answer. Very little is known about the cause of this pretty common ailment.

In this case, the phenobarb is really the best answer. Very little is known about the cause of this pretty common ailment.

You beat me to the punch. My bro-in-law's beagle suffers from them, too. He's been on Phenobarb for as long as I can remember with no ill effects.

Some dogs just have them. They need to make sure he doesn't have something in his noggin like a cyst or tumor, first, to be sure...

Where is Crazy K?? Her Chocolate Lab had the same thing, but lived a good life until cancer took him. She can tell you all about it.

Could be canine diabetes and that can be regulated with diet, insulin or a combination of both. Have a vet check the dog's blood sugar. May take an overnight stay but worth it.

In this case, the phenobarb is really the best answer. Very little is known about the cause of this pretty common ailment.

They did blood tests on him last friday, then he had another bad seizure wednesday, so he is on phenobarb now.

Hopefully that will do the trick, as Scooterbro really gets upset by the seizures - the dog is his best friend and constant companion - they are only apart when he is at work or my parents visit and take the dog on an early walk.

Our Weim had seizures. Turns out that due to poor dental health she had bacterial endocarditis which threw off clots to her brain. This got diagnosed properly at Auburn Vet College. Even if this is not the reason for the seizures, I would strongly recommend taking the dog to Auburn if it's within a reasonable distance.

Because of what happened to our Weim, we are very vigilant about our Pepper's dental health. We have her teeth cleaned by the vet twice a year, with brushing at home, teeth scraping at home with dental tools from Doctor Foster's catalogue, and Hexident chews.

Hope scooterbro's doggie's problem gets diagnosed and treated soon!

So sorry...Unfortunately this happens for some unknown reason. I had a retired greyhound that was prone to violent seizures. I think the larger the dog the scarier it is for the owner. I too used phenobarb (wrapped in chicken so it was a "treat".) She lived a long and wonderful life. Eventually she would come and find me when she knew a "spell" was coming on and I could comfort her and sweet talk her and it would go away. My clue was she would come and stare at me and her eyes would be dialated and spinning a bit. Best of luck to your bro and his buddy.

Is your brother in CO? I know someone whose dog had seizures and it turned out to be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. To boot, the dog contracted it in the NE. 😱

The usual signs for dogs with tick borne diseases is arthritis and lethargy, which is why it got missed the first time, but neurological issues have been seen in dogs.

I just lost my dog to seizures @ a month ago. He developed them at the age of three and passed at age 5. We started him on phenobarbital but eventually the seizures got worse(more frequent and in clusters) and the levels of the medicine were harming Jeremiah! We did a blood work up to determine this. The signs were excessive urinating, lethargy, and overall malaise.

The next step was potassium bromide. This changed his overall condition and stopped the excessive urinating. However, the seizures had taken a toll on Jeremiah and he never came out of the last cluster. He had heart failure.

My suggestion would be to take it seriously and take him to the closest veterinary university for a brain scan. Get the diagnosis and treat him quickly. The more seizures he has the harder it is on him.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

My Mom used to give me and my siblings phenobarbital when we got unruly.😱

I remember how stressed we were when our Weim was sick. Scooty, you bro's dog will be in my prayers.

I know someone whose dog had seizures and it turned out to be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. To boot, the dog contracted it in the NE. 😱

The usual signs for dogs with tick borne diseases is arthritis and lethargy, which is why it got missed the first time, but neurological issues have been seen in dogs.

I think this is one of the things they were looking for in the blood tests they did the other week, but didn't find anything.

He certainly does not have arthritis or lethargy.

Thank you guys for all the advice!