Hi everyone I haven't been on the forum for a while, but I do recognise many of you from when I was a regular when we first got littermates Jack & Barney just over 3 years ago. The boys are just adorable, such loving and generally well behaved dogs. We still have some issues with letting them off-lead, it's a no-no if there are just the two of them, but we go on labrador group walks where they are fine cos they don't want to run off from the other dogs they also go to doggie daycare 3 days a week with a lady who runs a dog-walking/dog-boarding business and they go off lead with her as there are other dogs there again, they absolutely adore her and her dogs. It is a much better outcome than we anticipated when they were younger. Anyway, the reason for my visit today is that yesterday Jack had a seizure. It was the most scary thing I have ever seen and I felt so helpless. I didn't realise what was happening at the time and was worried that he couldn't breathe. Initially the vet said he was a prime candidate for epilepsy due to his age, sex and breed - which really surprised us as we have never heard of any labs with epilepsy before. However, he has had blood tests and one of his white blood cell counts is up, which the vet said is normally caused by a worm infestation or a severe allergic reaction. He had been wormed just over 2 weeks ago so the vet ruled that out. He has advised that we just do nothing and keep an eye on him for now (we are still waiting for some other test results). I just wondered if anyone has had any similar experience, and also, anyone who's dog does have seizures who has other dogs, what do you do? Barney was very concerned about Jack and I felt guilty having to push him away while I comforted Jack, in the end he just laid next to us. The vet said it's normal for the other dog to attack the dog having a seizure! We are understandably really worried about all this, I'm just glad that it's the school holidays so I was here when it happened and can be at home with him for the next two weeks, but we will have to leave them again once we are both back at work in September. Many thanks, Louise
Hi there, Just to say welcome back to the forum, I came back after a long break too. Sorry to hear about our boy's seizure, hopefully you'll get some good advice on here Natalie & Monty
Hello Louise , nice to see you back again , but am sorry to hear about the seizure . I`ve had two dogs who had seizures , and with both of them, the policy was to watch and wait before medicating them . Many dogs can have an isolated seizure , so try not to panic too much at the moment . I would advise you to keep a diary , where you can record any odd behaviour as some seizures can be so slight that they can be missed , just a sort of blank look, out of the frame for a moment or two . I wish you much luck that this is just a one off x
Hi there Louise, welcome back! Yes, Poppy has had several seizures. The first couple were in January of last year, then two again at the end of October last year. Touch wood she has not had any more since then. We had all the tests done, and (as is so often the case) there was nothing medical to explain why she would be having these seizures. We had her spayed early this year, as the seizures seemed to have a correlation with her seasons, and I no longer use Bravecto as a flea/tick repellent, as each time she had the seizures a few weeks after being given the tablet. Since then, touch wood, she has not had any more seizures and is not on medication. We do have diazepam to use in case she has another fit, and we take that with us wherever we go. We do realize that she may well fit again at some time. The main thing is to watch and wait. If you can work out what the triggers are for a seizure, then you can take steps (as we did). However, in most cases it really isn't possible to say what causes a seizure. I know how scary and horrible it is. Hopefully it will just be a one-off for Jack.
Hi Lou. Welcome back. Nothing to add to Kate and Karen right now just wanted to say Hi really, and sorry you have had this scare with Jack. Hoping it's a one off, but you are bound to be worried. Fingers crossed for you. Jac
Hey @Looby Lou - I am so sorry your boy has had a seizure. Its very scary to watch and knowing you can't do anything is horrendous. I have had two epileptic dogs, one mixed-breed bitch and a Lab, but only one of my other dogs wanted to attack the dog who was seizing, so if I could I would get all the other dogs out of the room during a seizure. If I could I would pull my seizing dog away from any walls or furniture and hold their heads off the floor - don't try to put anything in their mouth. I stroked them and talked to them, even though I was pretty sure they weren't aware of anything I said or did. As @kateincornwall said, keep a diary of your dog's fits - date, time, if there was something going on like a park trip or a house full of people. Note his behaviour before, during, and after the fit. Was he restless and pacing, nauseous, or "spaced out" before the fit. Note how long the fit lasts and how long it takes him to recover afterwards - is he disoriented, clumsy, aggressive, "blind", hyper. Note if he urinates or defecates during the fit. I found that paying close attention so I could make notes and records was a help for me to keep calm during a fit, and keeping detailed records will help you and your vet determine whether meds is necessary and whether or not the seizures have a trend or are becoming more frequent. And keeping careful notes helped me notice the little signs before a fit, also known as the "aura", so I could sometimes prepare. I do hope for you and your boy that it was a once-off.
I'm sorry to hear about this happening to Jack. As the others have said, it may not happen again and the fact that he has raised blood count implies there could be a reason other than epilepsy for the seizure. My previous black lab BJ developed what was eventually diagnosed as idiopathic epilepsy (no obvious cause) at the age of 3. As you say, very scary the 1st time it happened, we thought he was having a stroke. Kateincornwall's advice about keeping a diary is good, we did that and became part of a study a vet was doing into canine epilepsy. The diary was invaluable. Other than that, if Jack is in fact developing epilepsy - don't panic. It can often be controlled and your dog can live an almost normal life. BJ died just short of his 14th birthday and was a happy easy going boy all his life, despite the epilepsy. We got it well under control and he didn't have a single seizure in his final 2 years. As I always say, I'd have him back tomorrow, epilepsy and all. As far as other dogs in the household - we had a daffy springer spaniel at the same time and he would look at BJ when he was fitting, give him a sniff or 2, then just wander off and leave him alone. He NEVER showed the slightest inclination to be aggressive. I wonder sometimes, if how us humans react affects the other dogs. Fingers crossed this was a one off for Jack, my very best wishes to you and both dogs.
Thanks everyone, some really good advice here. I spoke to the vet again today, the final blood test which was for liver disease has come back clear. The vet says he is leaning towards idiopathic epilepsy, but still niggled by the blood count and thinking it may be something parasitic. He has advised that we have the bloods done again next week, directly before we have their immunisation boosters, and if it has gone down or back to normal, he thinks it will have been that. So fingers crossed for that! I am keeping an eye on him (aka watching him like a hawk ) and he is getting lots of extra cuddles I feel better equipped to deal with it if it were to happen again, as FayRose said, I thought he was having a stroke, or even dying as it was that bad, I think I stopped breathing myself! I will keep you updated, and will try to check in on the forums more often, I almost lived on here a few years ago! Thank you, from Louise Jack and Barney
Hi Louise, welcome back. What a scare you must if had. I'm glad it wasn't stroke and that he's recovered well. I can't offer any advice as Harley is my first dog, but after going through a big scare with her recently I just wanted to say that I am thinking of you all and hoping it was a one off x
So sorry to hear. My dog is epileptic and his seizures are scary. He seems to react badly to flea and worm meds - had two grand mal seizures after taking Bravecto and one immediately after taking Milbemax. We do deworm him every 3-4 months using Mediworm, seems not affect him thankfully. But we don't use flea and tick meds on him at all now and thankfully he doesn't have fleas and the ticks in our area don't carry diseases. He had a tapeworm infestation when he had his first seizure at 1.5 yo and I often wonder if that caused the first seizure. If your boy has a high white blood cell count, does your vet think it's wise to vaccinate? The advice is not to vaccinate a sick dog.
