# Old Dog + Seizures



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Back in October, my dog had a pretty intense seizure a grand mal or whatever. I ran her to the vet, but the vet said it could've been an anomaly and to be aware and not concerned unless the seizures start happening again and more often. 

This month, my dog has had two focal seizures three weeks apart. They are quite, not very intense, and she is fully conscious. The first one I though she'd hurt her leg but then she recovered. Today, it was a different leg. She looked down at it horrified then up at me then began to scream. She calms down quickly, and seems to mostly be frightened. I usually pick her up and bundle her in a blanket and rock and pet her until it passes.

She has a vet appointment on the 3rd to look into this. She is about eight years old, which isn't terribly old for a small-breed. She's a teddy Roosevelt terrier, but she was the runt of the litter.
I'm really concerned. Her blood work was clear and she never went into shock or had a fever. It seems to me that she is likely going to have a brain tumor...is there anything else? Has anyone else had this happened? Will she be okay?
She is my only friend and has been since I moved eight years ago. I live alone because of her (she hates people). She was there for me when i was suicidal, when first diagnosed with depression. I don't want her put down. 


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

I dont have any experience with seizures in dogs unfortunately  Has she been checked for epilepsy maybe? I'm pretty sure things like that are just genetic. I really hope shes okay. -hugs-


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

They only checked her for toxins and infections when the vet saw her last time (to be fair, I called five minutes before closing and drove there after they were closed. They stayed an hour late for me and my dog). I'm so concerned because everything says to test her they'll need to do a spinal tap and a ct scan. My poor baby is so afraid of strangers and in humans they can't sedate for spinal taps 


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## Lesti (Jun 25, 2013)

My chi/dachshund mix is 6-7 yrs and she does basically the same thing. We think it's caused by one of the sedatives used for teeth cleaning at the vet or our toothpaste (for dogs) at home. Her bloodwork is always clear, but we still don't know what's wrong with her... The vet has given us epilepsy pills to give her, but once she starts them we can't take her off, so we don't want to give her any unless she has some more issues. My dog hates other people as well. When she has seizures we wrap her up in a towel and hold her until she's ok. She does sometimes have a fever when she seizes... We give her rectal or oral valume(sp?) as well when they last too long. Keep us posted, maybe our babies have the same problem. Good luck!


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

She thankfully never has had a fever, so hopefully they don't put her on valium. They told me that she'd only be put on seizure meds if hers started occuring more frequently, but the seizure meds they discussed are really expensive. Not that I won't pay for them and drag her through as many more years as she can give me, just another concern. They also are really sedative, which I've had Serenity suffer through and hated it. We're off to the vet Friday, but I just joined a dog forum to see if there were any more anecdotes to be found. I'll share whatever I find.

Serenity doesn't have anything that sets her off, but I'd look at flea meds as that was the first question the vets asked. Have you tried not brushing her teeth? Serenity hasn't needed her teeth cleaned her entire life so the vet lets me slide by haha.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

It looks like dachshunds often are epileptic.

I would start the antiseizure medication, just because the fever she gets can shut down her organs or permanently damage her brain.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I found some good diets for dogs with seizures, recommended by some vets online. There is one which is a homemade diet, which if you are interested in I can send you (made in crockpot)

The other is by Precise Hollistic Complete, called Wild @ Heart River Line - Salmon


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

One of my dogs is epileptic (he's had some very scary seizures) and I'll definitely be looking into the diets you recommended.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/fromm-four-star-nutritionals-grain-free/

and

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/precise-naturals-grain-free/

The latter being touted as better.


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

While I like Dog Food Advisor for the evaluation of ingredients, sometimes I find it a little confusing. It ranks it on ingredients and some people interpret the star rating as how their dog will do on it. However, I've heard some good things about the food you listed above and would love to give it a try.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I just didn't want you to have to trust the word of an internet stranger


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

You seem very reliable, also considering that fact that you have 4,000+ .. 

What food do you feed your dog at the moment, if you don't mind me asking?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Oh, an awful food and I never knew. Purina ONE small bites. She is a runt of a small-breed, so often has trouble chewing and the dang pet store said this would be perfect and two dog owners agreed... the vet never even told me it was bad for her!
I had her on BlueBuffalo for the longest time, but there weren't pieces that were soft enough to chew :/


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

Now I feel inclined to share the current food I'm feeding...
Recently, I asked a friend if they could pick up some dog food. They came home with a relatively small bag, and in it was Puppy Chow. I was flat out of food at this point so my dogs have been eating puppy chow until I can get something better. Funny thing is, they're 5 years +! Don't even look like puppies at this point.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I've had people purchase puppy chow because "they just mean small dogs and she's small". 

My gram had her on moist food and in a month she gained five pounds!


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

I tried wet food with my dogs...took at least a month to work off their extra weight that I had already worked so hard to maintain at a healthy point.


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## zombiesrkewl (Nov 28, 2013)

What kind of medication did the vet suggest for your dog? One of my dogs is epileptic and he needs a phenobarbital pill once every 12 hours. Relatively speaking, it's pretty cheap (one bottle is $60 and it usually lasts about 2 months). It also has very little effect on him. When he first started on them, he drank a lot more water than normal, but that went away after 2-3 weeks. Other than that, there have been no negative side effects. Actually, he probably has more energy now than he did before! The pills have worked really well for him. Actually, Jan 6 will be a whole year without a seizure. He also loves 'pill time' because we stuff the pill inside a piece of bread with peanut butter. XD He gets so excited when the alarm on my phone goes off!


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## RexRat (Nov 29, 2013)

At the moment my dog has no medication as the trigger for his seizures is over heating, but in the Summer it's a different story and we have to be very cautious, and thats usually when we have to monitor him a lot. Teaching him how to swim though to beat the heat, or at least try to.


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## Lesti (Jun 25, 2013)

We can't not brush her teeth because she seems to have really bad mouth issues. She recently had to get four top teeth pulled because they were rotting out and making her grumpier than usual. The Valium makes her act like a puppy again and it's sooo cute haha. Oh and she was on iams (ugh) but is now eating Taste of the Wild in buffalo flavor.


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