So my dog had a seizure today..

[Rot Box]

My 5yr old male golden retriever had a massive seizure today. His limbs were locked up in weird positions, eyes rolled back and shaking uncontrollably. I tried to calm him down and that didn't work so I quickly carried him to the car and headed for the vet. The seizure lasted around two or three minutes.

The vet ran a blood test and that checked out good. He recommended a heart worm med which is would be about $100 a month for both my dogs. Not sure why he had a seizure or if he will have one again. I guess the vet can only do so much but I was hoping maybe someone here would have so advise. What I'm finding online is more reactive not proactive measures to take. Thoughts?

Andrew

 

[Jinx]

I had that happen every now and then with a Chesapeake/Lab mix I had growing up.

Never sure what caused it, but we didn't have money to do anything about it. It didn't effect anything long term, he lived a long full life and was a great dog...

I just figured I had an epileptic dog...

Maybe Houndoc can chime in...

 

[gijohn40]

My vet offered a service for older dogs.. it included a blood test, urine test, ekg, and one other I can't remember... it was a very informative batch of tests and only cost me $230.

 

[rholbrook]

That makes me sad. It's hard to watch something like that.

 

[MikeGyver]

I had an young epileptic malamute when I was a kid, we had to put him down.

 

[lenny]

Oddly, one of my wife's toy chihuahua's had a seizure on Saturday. First one I've seen her have. Scared the shit out of me. Headed straight to the vet, ran blood tests and was told everything was ok, negative for diabetes and cancer markers. Our vet said that he wouldn't be too worried at this time, but to watch her and let him know if it happened again and he would start a log of how frequently she has seizures.

He indicated that most medications have too many side affects and could end up causing more damage than an occasional seizure. I hope that your pup is ok.

 

[Herzog]

He indicated that most medications have too many side affects and could end up causing more damage than an occasional seizure.

Smart guy. This goes for humans too. I swear our medical platform is built on treating side effects of other drugs.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

I had an old cat that kept having seizures. Maybe a stoke. The first one took him a couple of days to recover, and about 2 weeks to act normal again. Then he was fine for a month, played like a kitten, ran around like a psycho. Then he had another one, and couldn't balance, or use one side of his body. It was a hard decision, but we had him put down.

 

[Jesser04]

What kind of heart worm medicine? If he recommended heart guard I'd look at other options there are some cheaper ones that kill more worms.

 

[Bart]

My daughter's Shih Tsu has been having seizures for about 3 years. First one happened when he was laying by on a lounger outside. He stiffened up, and fell sideways off the lounger. Everyone looked at me like I pushed him off. Anyway, he has them every one to two months. The vet says there's nothing that can be done. He recovers just fine so in car terms we just "run it and watch it".

 

[ID Bronco]

My hunting pal, chocolate lab had something like that a couple of months ago, not sure if it was a seizure or not, but his back end locked up, more like a stroke. By the time I drove 25 miles to the vet he was fine. A month and a half later he had a ruptured spleen, probably cancerous and passed away. Sucked bad. Every time I see a duck or goose, I think of him. I hope yours comes through ok.

I know how it is with the money and medicine. How much is too much? I spent a bunch trying to keep mine alive. Good luck.

 

[Kiel]

our heart worm meds are about 30 dollars a dog for 6 months

 

[Rot Box]

Thanks for the reply's everyone I appreciate the help. I re-read my post and realized I made a mistake it is ~$100 for six months for both dogs which is obviously much more reasonable. I've been reading up on the subject quite a bit and it seems to be more common in some breeds vs. others. Seems I have the two more likely breeds to have seizures... Huskies and Goldens go figure. Thanks again,

Andrew

 

[Marsh99]

I have a English Bulldog that I rescued who has had seizures. The first time was about a month after we got her and my wife was home alone and called me freaking out. Now it is still scary but after about 30 seconds she comes out of it.

 

[mombobuggy]

Our late Great dane got hold of a metal ant trap and chewed it up . he was never the same after . He had a seizure disorder from that day on.

 

[rockdog]

Our weimer had seizures. After we ended up putting him down because the vet figured he had a brain tumor. I figured out my neighbor was poisoning him trying to kill him. Couldn't prove it, but I know he did it because he told me if he ever threatened his kids he would kill him! He has killed five dogs of his own over the years since he's lived next door. Shot a couple in front of his kids. I told him if he killed my dog I'd do the same to him. Think he has a sycopathic personality.

 

[mombobuggy]

^^ That is so disgusting. People like that are to be dealt with in a very Cautious manner in my opinion. They start with Animals and then work up to People. What a Creep sorry about your Doggie.

 

[Houndoc]

Seizures in dogs are not uncommon. If they start in younger dogs more likely than not to be epilepsy, which is basically seizures with unknown cause/no other underlying diseases. Snail bait injestion causes severe neurologic problems including seizure, but they either recover or die in 1-2 days. Nasty stuff.

In older dogs tumors are a more common cause. I suspect it can be a factor occasionally in younger dogs as well, but most owners decline CT/MRI which is what it would take to prove if a tumor is there or not.

Most the time I recommend starting antiseizure drugs if they are having a seizure more than about once a month or are notably increasing in frequency or severity. I have seen a lot over the years that have one episode and no more.

Running the blood tests then waiting to see is my usual approach.

 

[bobdog]

Seizures in dogs are not uncommon. If they start in younger dogs more likely than not to be epilepsy, which is basically seizures with unknown cause/no other underlying diseases. Snail bait injestion causes severe neurologic problems including seizure, but they either recover or die in 1-2 days. Nasty stuff.

In older dogs tumors are a more common cause. I suspect it can be a factor occasionally in younger dogs as well, but most owners decline CT/MRI which is what it would take to prove if a tumor is there or not.

Most the time I recommend starting antiseizure drugs if they are having a seizure more than about once a month or are notably increasing in frequency or severity. I have seen a lot over the years that have one episode and no more.

Running the blood tests then waiting to see is my usual approach.

What seizure drugs do you recommend? Phenobarbitol or is there something better in your opinion? Are there any vets that specialize in this, or is treatment pretty standard? What would be the ball park price for a MRI be? I was quoted approximately 1700.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Seizures in dogs are not uncommon.

In older dogs tumors are a more common cause.

Our "son" Brandon recently started having small seizures. He'll suddenly start twitching (usually in his torso area, not a limb) and it will last for maybe 5 seconds or so and then stop. It has become common, happening multiple times each day.

Maybe I'll have to bring him in to see you.