Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep I have to admit Pippa that I agree with you wholeheartedly but didn't like to say. If Snowie does have epilepsy, they it is important that the drugs specifically for epilepsy are used.
Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep [quote author=Lochan link=topic=7524.msg105085#msg105085 date=1409136381] Hi there, sorry to hear of the problems you have with your boy. Apart from the seizures, it sounds very like your boy has allergic skin disease. These dogs feel hot to the touch (when the skin is inflamed it feels hot), itch and scratch, get recurrent ear disease, rub their skin around the anus often causing a secondary blockage of the anal glands, frequently chew their paws and may get blackened, thickened skin especially in the groin. Around 10% of allergic dogs will sweat too. Treating his skin problems and resolving the itch/scratch will almost certainly stop him feeling hot to the touch. However, this is unlikely to affect his seizures. However, certain wormers will trigger seizure episodes in dogs prone to seizures. My last lab was epileptic and I treated her with phenobarbitone all her life, and certain wormers would trigger seizures in her. Current thought is that if your dog has seizures more often than every 3-4 months it is worth investigating and treating them, as every time they have a seizure episode they are then more likely to have another one. Many seizures occur in clusters, and vary in severity from mild to severe. Dogs often have several episodes of seizures over a period of days and then none for months. Because many dogs urinate during a seizure, it would be possible that he had a very mild seizure overnight causing him to wee in his sleep. Again, it is very common for seizure-prone dogs to fit overnight when asleep. Stacia's link to PCFCE is great, and I hope this all helps. [/quote] Thanks, Lochan, for your reply. And apologies for the delay in responding but I've not had time lately to get online to read this interesting forum. So interesting that allergic skin is hot -- so obvious! Makes so much sense. We do know our dog is allergic but we are managing it really well with a raw diet and omega 3 (salmon oil) supplements. I'd be interested to know which dewormers are known to trigger seizures -- do you have a list? From now on, however, I will be having faecal tests done to find out if our boy has worms before automatically deworming. Regarding urinating his sleep and based on what you suggest about seizures happening in clusters, this does sound logical. I have consulted three different vets and each vet says that if the seizures occur more than once a month, then to investigate and treat. Otherwise just "wait and see". Are there articles that are suggesting treating if seizures occur every 3-4 months? I'd be interested in reading those, and if you have any links I'd appreciate those very much. I took a look at the PCFCE website and it was most reassuring and of course very interesting and useful. Thanks again for your reply.
Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep [quote author=Edp link=topic=7524.msg105089#msg105089 date=1409139764] Hi there, I am really sorry to hear about your dog. Fits are really scary. I have a Malmute who had 2 massive fits in front of me age about 6 months and 8 months. The second one I never thought he would never come out of he seemed to be fitting for ages. He really really scared me. He is now 9 and not had a fit since. My vet took the wait and watch approach and with no treatment he is a fit fine dog. I do think one day it may happen again but we just plod on. I hope your dog remains happy and fit free/ or well managed for as long as possible. Best wishes Emma and my old Mally Jasper [/quote] Hi Emma, thanks so much for your reply. And I'm so pleased your Mally Jasper has been free of fits for so long. I have consulted three vets and all three also say to "wait and see". Thankfully a full month has passed and Snowie has not had another seizure. I am SO thankful!
Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep [quote author=kateincornwall link=topic=7524.msg105096#msg105096 date=1409140560] Very sorry to hear of your dogs seizures . Like Lochan , I also had a seizure dog who , after a short watch and wait policy was put onto phenobarbiol , she coped very well indeed with her twice daily doseage . We had blood works done every six months, just to ensure that a theraputic dose was being given and also to check on her liver , she went on to live a happy life for some time , I hope you are lucky too [/quote] Thanks, Kate, for your reply. It is very reassuring to hear of dogs on the treatment who went on to live happy lives. I must say, the effect on the liver is one thing that does cause me great concern. Right now Snowie has been seizure free and I am hoping this will continue!
Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep [quote author=editor link=topic=7524.msg105130#msg105130 date=1409148229] Hi there, I am so sorry to hear of your poor dog’s health problems. You must be so worried. I am not going to comment on the treatment programme for your dog's epilepsy itself because I think that is really something you need to decide in conjunction with your vet. But I am going to comment on your choice of vet, and why I believe very strongly you should seek another veterinary opinion. I do hope you won’t be offended by this, but I personally feel it is very important. When interest in homeopathy was revived a few decades ago, there was a great deal of hope that it would be a less invasive way of treating a whole range of ailments. A number of vets and doctors began offering homeopathic remedies in response to public interest and demand. Many scientists were concerned about the plausibility of homeopathic remedies and the principles behind them. In recent years a good deal of study has put most of the debate to bed. Homeopathy simply does not work - a vast amount of literature confirms this. There are no remaining molecules of the original substance contained in homeopathic remedies, they are simply common liquids like water, or pills made entirely from sugar. Of course, this information has left vets and doctors still practicing these remedies in a very difficult position. Most vets have abandoned homeopathy altogether. But this is very difficult for those that have built their entire career around homeopathy. I do hope you will read this article should our government be funding homeopathy before making up your mind. It is about why I believe we should no longer fund homeopathy in this country, but it also contains a lot of information that you should be aware of. This is not just my personal opinion, it contains links to the evidence that has built up against homeopathy over the last few years. I am so sorry to be negative about this, and if it were not such an important topic I would probably not comment at all. Whatever you decided, I do wish you all the best in finding the right treatment to keep your dog's seizures under control. [/quote] Hi Pippa, thank you taking the time to respond to me and for the information on homeopathy. I have consulted three different vets and all suggest "wait and see" before treating for epilepsy. They also all said that they only investigate and treat for epilepsy if seizures start to occur more than once a month over an ongoing period. Thankfully a full month has passed and Snowie has been seizure free. The reason for consulting three different vets was by chance really: After the first seizure my regular vet was away so I consulted another vet close to home. She had a locum in on that day, a specialist vet cardiologist, who did a thorough check up and blood tests and said "nothing to do but wait and see". I then went for a follow-up visit the next week to discuss the blood work and the usual vet was in, and she also did some further examining and said all was normal, "nothing to do but wait and see". When my boy had the next seizure my regular vet was in, and again, he said all was normal -- in fact his first comment was that my boy was in such good condition -- and said "nothing to do but wait and see". He did think, then, that it had been the dewormer that had caused that seizure. When my boy had his last seizure, I decided to consult the holistic vet (I mistakenly called him a homeopathic vet -- he practices various modalities: homeopathy, herbs, acupuncture, as well as regular vet medicine) as he'd had helped us 10 months earlier with Snowie's scratching due to allergies. And none of the other vets suggested any other treatment or looked into any other factors regarding my dog's health. I hear what you're saying about treating epilepsy with homeopathy, and obviously I'd want to make sure our boy gets the correct treatment for epilepsy. The holistic vet did mention the epilepsy treatment drugs if the seizures became frequent. But his preference was to find ways to avoid the seizures by observing patterns that lead up to a seizure and intervening before the seizure happened. Thankfully we've not seen the usual patterns leading up to a seizure this past month so I've had no reason to consult him further. Admittedly I did not enquire at our appointment what his interventions would be for warding off a seizure. Thanks again for your reply.
Re: Hot dog gets seizures, wee'd in his sleep [quote author=lablover link=topic=7524.msg105133#msg105133 date=1409148664] Hi MF, I have no experience of epilepsy personally but we meet a friend and her dog down the park who suffers from it. He's a border collie/lurcher cross. Lovely dog. The way Lochan described the pattern of fits is Sam down to the ground. He can have a cluster of them and then be ok for a few months. And he tends to have them at night. He's also on phenobarbitone twice a day and he's now 10 years old. I hope everything works out ok for you and Snowie. Lovely name by the way. [/quote] Thanks for letting me know about your friend and her dog -- very reassuring to hear he has reached ten years and with seizures. My husband is a Tin Tin fan, hence the name! We got a lot of flak in the beginning for calling a Labrador by a fluffy dog's name! But I am really happy with the name because the kids in the park instantly feel safe around a dog with a cute name. Not our original intention, but really useful because we spend a lot of time in the park and some of the kids are frightened of dogs but then hear "Snowie" and forget their fear. Thankfully he's also the friendliest dog in the park.
