dog having seizures?

Question

my dog is a chihuahua mix and about once every few months or weeks, he has some kind of seizure. it seems as if he loses control of his legs and he starts shaking uncontrollably and dragging himself on the floor. he looks like he's dizzy cuz he limps and throws his head around bumping into the wall and stuff. he drools excessively and sometimes he barfs after. sometimes it lasts a few minutes and other times just about one minute. we treat my dog great. he gets proper food, treats, exercise, and we play with him all the time. he stays in the backyard, so could something have been exposed to him or something? could some kind of animal have given him a disease? or maybe he ate wood and grass and stuff in the yard. he eats human food too. is that a problem? what's wrong with my dog and what can we do to help him?

i took my dog to the vet just a few months ago and they checked his blood for any diseases like heartworms and stuff. he was all healthy

Answer 1

See the vet please. (If your in a situation where you can't afford a vet or something please see the vet anyways. You could always work something out, because most vets care a lot about animals.)

Answer 2

I see you did take your dog to the vet, so I won't keep going on about that. I do recommend keeping an accurate log of this possible seizure activity, including exact behavior, where he was and what he was doing before, during and after, and how long the episode lasts. Sometimes dogs have seizures for no known reason, just as people do. That is true epilepsy; without a physical abnormality such as disease. So, even normal blood work, x rays, etc, does not rule out a seizure disorder. I see in your follow up no mention of x rays. I think you should ask your vet about that, to rule out a brain tumor or other brain abnormality. In my opinion, it does sound like definite seizure activity. I doubt if it is any kind of acute exposure to chemicals or other substances, as this seems to be going on at fairly regular intervals. It could possible be a food allergy. It is never a good idea to feed your dog people food, especially pork products. They have a hard time digesting pork. Keep some tasty doggy treats on hand, and if he begs, or you feel the need to give him something when you are eating, give him a treat. Phenobarbital is usually the drug of choice in dogs for control of seizure activity. It does have potential side effects, especially making your dog lethargic, sleep more than usual, decreased coordination, and possible effects on liver. But that doesn't mean your dog will experience these side effects, and even if he does, it is a matter of weighing the benefits of the medication against the effects of the seizures. I am a nurse, and taking care of a dog is a lot like taking care of a person. Many of the same medications and diseases. Taking care of a sick dog is expensive, the vet visits, testing, medications- it all really adds up. Though, if they do put him on Phenobarbital, it is inexpensive. There are worse things than seizures, and him having an occasional seizure, and/or giving him daily medications does not mean he can't continue to have a happy and comfortable life!

Answer 3

I would put him on the med for now and then you can get a second opinion. The blood tests done should help solve the issue of any side effects. My mom has seizures and unfortunately medicine is the only thing that helps her and many others with epilepsy. Fortunately, your dog is being prescribed one cheap and readily available drug and not half a dozen. Not to say that there are not alternative treatments that work or at least help in some cases. But, the majority of the time, you are going to need medication to control seizures. It sounds like you may be in doubt he is having seizures. If that's the case, have another conversation with the vet about what they look like to be sure you aren't needlessly medicating.

Answer 4

I had a dog, my one and only, he started having seizures as he got older so I would wrap him in blankets. Don't let him wonder around or he could get injured, just hold him and keep him warm. You should also consult your vet, it could be serious, but with my dog it was a heart problem. Then he got blind in one of his eyes, and later develooped a tumor... Remember not to give him chocolate, too much can kill a dog or make him very ill. By the way, my dog died at the age of 14. That's very old for a dog. He has fluid in his lungs, he was suffering, so was put him down. He lived a great life and he was happy. I hope this helps you.

Good Luck! : )

Answer 5

I've had that happen with two different dogs. The first was diagnosed with multiple popcorn tumors on his chest/lungs. The second went into kidney failure. Some breeds have epileptic seizures, for others it's a sign something else is wrong. Take the dog to the vet and they can usually do a simple blood test to reveal the cause.

Answer 6

You said you took your dog to the vet and you got no results or medication from him. I suggest you go to another vet who will treat your dog. Seizures are common among dogs and the first vet should have taken more care in your dogs health issue. Often a dog can injure their head in someway and it can cause a seizure later on. There could be several factors that has caused the seizure but none the less he has them and needs medication. I suggest you monitor all that goes on with you dog and keep a record of his activities and food and take your finding to a new vet. wish you well

Answer 7

Did the vet check for diabetes? How about epilepsy? and what about allergies? Wood and grass will not make the dog have siezures, but if the dog got into antifreeze, or any kind of toxin, it would cause those kinds of reactions, so would a heart condition. I recommend you take your dog to a different vet, and stress what has been going on. I wouldn't feed him any more people food until you know for sure that people food is what is making him sick, or something else. Good Luck

Answer 8

some chihuahuas are known for having low sugar causing seizures but your dog sounds like it could have something more serious there is several reasons why your dog could have this problem .It could have a liver shunt problem.It could have valley fever, tick fever,epilepsy,or diabetes all these things could cause seizures.A simple blood test will answere your question.the blood will tell all.Treatment can give your dog a better quality of life.Please go to the vet and you will have more answeres .My parents had a seizor dog there was no reall reason they just did and the vet put him on phenobabratal I cant spell it right but my point is that it controlled the seizures and the dog had a good life.Good luck

Answer 9

You need to take him to another vet - have a T4 test conducted, if you already haven't. My dog was ruled to have a brain tumor, epilepsy and everything else under the planet - what really happened was that her thyroid levels were completely depleted; although there is no connection between seizures and hypo - or hyper -thyroidism, my dog has so far been okay. You need to ask your vet about the possible administration of Phenobarbitol - a medication that controls seizures.

Answer 10

Our standard poodle has had several of them. We took the dog to the vet and she suggested that we document the frequency and symptoms, and she ran some blood tests too. The tests were negative.

In addition to that, she suggested that we rub some maple syrup on the dogs' gums in order to absorb sugar quickly into his system. This is particularly important if the seizure lasts more that a few minutes.

Of course, see your vet! The dog may be just fine, but your vet is the only person who can give your dog the correct care.

I hope you take your chihuahua to its doc.

Answer 11

I am sorry, I bred Collies for years and three of our Dogs that we bred had seizures. I took them to Tuffs Veterinary School of Medicine here in Massachusetts. We were able to relieve the symptoms for a couple of years with acupuncture and medicine, but there was no cure.
Now I have a Border collie cross...If she gets heat stressed she will seizure! I keep a clean child's swimming pool in the back yard for her, and all the ice cubes and water she wants. Also No rough and tumble play when it is really hot!
All her blood work comes back fine so we don't know the answer to these seizures, except heat stress.
It sounds to me as though your dog is having epileptic seizures, there is no cure for that only Meds, and love until the seizures become too frequent.
Please go to the Doctor and find out, for your dogs sake!