Small dog who gets seizures. Anybody out there with experience dealing with this?

Question

Our Havenese cross Yorky, is the most wonderful dog. Good temprement, healthy all round, has good exercise in large garden. He is eight years of age and this morning was the third time in his lifetime, that he has had seizures. His eyes remain open, but staring, his legs twitch violently, and this lasts for about 1 minute. Then he comes out of it, with me stroking him and his eyes scared and open, and lies there for about 5 mintues. Then it starts again for another minute.

Causes? How to deal with it? Any cure?

Thank you/

thank you all for your advice. I have taken him to the vet and was told that this happens "all the time" with many dogs and to just watch him. When I asked about medication they said that the side affects of any medication for him would eventually shorten his life.
However, I will take him to another vet and see if he tells me the same thing.

Answer 1

If a dog has only had 3 seizures in 8 years, you're doing well. It's when a dog has seizures less than a month apart that you need to consider medicating him.

Seizures are one of the least understood medical conditions out there (according to my vets). Sometimes they happen once and never happen again. Sometimes they happen regularly. Some are caused by toxins, low blood sugar, overstimulation, etc. Some have no known cause.

The medication of choice for seizures is phenobarbital. Long term use of the drug can often damage the dog's liver. There are other drugs that are easier on the liver but may not control the seizures as well.

Given the infrequency of your dog's seizures, your vet made a good call.

There are a few things you can do for a dog during a seizure:

1. put an icepack on the dog's neck/shoulder area. Seizures raise body temperature, the ice pack will help lower body temperature.

2. when the dog has a seizure, press on the back of the neck where the skull meets the neck. There are pressure points there that can help control a seizure.

3. add some aloe to the dog's diet. Ask a vet (ideally a holistic vet) for the correct dosage. My 65 pound dog gets 1/4 leaf every day.

4. don't panic during the seizure. Talk softly to your dog just in case he can hear you.

5. be sure to keep the dog safe. Make sure he can't fall onto the floor or down stairs during the seizure. Move any sharp items that could hurt him if he hits them.

6. if you have other dogs, remove them from the area. It's instinct for some dogs to attack a seizing dog.

You can learn more about canine epilepsy here:

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

Good luck.

Answer 2

my beagle has seizures too. Take him to the vet to rule out a brain tumor. According to my vet, a dog over 7-years old that starts to have seizures at that age, is probably developing a brain tumor or neurological infection. My dog is 6 so they think he just has epilepsy, but we are waiting to see how he does. ( I just adopted him from a shelter and they didn't have a good history on him.)

If it starts to happen frequently or for long periods of time you will want to definitely get an MRI to rule this out.

You did the right thing by not panicing and just staying by him. There is really nothing we can do but wait it out and make sure there is nothing that could hurt him in the surroundings.

If you choose not to take him to the vet, definitely document each seizure:

How long? Symptoms? Did he defecate or pee? Were his eyes focused?

This will help you when you speak to a vet.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Small dogs are prone to seizures, since yours had had it only 3 times in 8 years, doesn't sound very serious -but I would have the vet check him out and, if it happens more frequently, there are meds to prevent it. I would hate to have your dog on a daily medicine for something as infrequent as this, but talk to your vet.

Next time he has a seizure, give a teaspoon of honey, seizures take a lot out of the dog and honey very quickly gives him a needed lift.

Just hold him during the seizure and calm him until he comes out of it. I have a dachshund who has had seizures, recently, but it is very infrequent
also.

Answer 4

I have a yorkie/poodle cross. She has had seisures since she was 6 months old. She was having several to many a day and it got so bad we thought we would have to put her down. The vet tried her on phenylbarbatol which helped with the seisures some but made my sweet little girl aggressive. We then switched her to Primidone and after adjusting the dosage a few times settled on 1 Primidone 250 mg tablet per day split in 1/2 morning and night. She is now almost 11 years old and hasn't had any severe seisures for many years. She occasionally gets mild seisures where she just stares off to the side and licks out with her tongue. These only last for a few minutes and she comes out of them fine. Not with that scared staring look she had before. The Primidone is available by prescription from Walmart - 100 pills cost around $40.00 so this comes out to about 12 or 13 dollars per month and is well worth it.

The doctor never could give me an explanation for the cause. But the seizures started immediately after she was spayed. Hmmmm? Also, I think she is the product of a puppy mill environment.

Coincidentally? she started with a cataract in her eye about the same time. I think that seisures were so severe that they caused the presure in her eyes to increase so much that it caused the cataracts. Remember she was only 6 months old at the time. She is now nearly blind especially in her left eye.

Answer 5

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RE:
Small dog who gets seizures. Anybody out there with experience dealing with this?
Our Havenese cross Yorky, is the most wonderful dog. Good temprement, healthy all round, has good exercise in large garden. He is eight years of age and this morning was the third time in his lifetime, that he has had seizures. His eyes remain open, but staring, his legs twitch violently, and...

Answer 6

My pug, my cocker, and my dad's doxie all had seizures - since it's a seizure they diagnose it as epilepsy. They were all on phenylbarbitol and they were all over 12 when we had them put down for other reasons.....

My friend's dog had 1 - 2 seizures a year and when it hit more than that her vet put it on phenylbarbitol as well. It may well be if they're not gran mal seizures that they're less harmful than meds. I'd say get a second opinion.

Answer 7

Get your dog to the vet and have them look at putting him on meds for seizure disorders.
They can most times be controled with a not expensive med. Just a pill given once per day or once every other day.
It may take some time to get the med doseage set right but once you do your dog can be seizure free most of the time
For his health have your vet work on this issue.
Many tiny breeds have seizure issues. Rat terrier, Chis, Yorkies and others.

Answer 8

The vet can give you meds to help prevent the seizures. One that has a limited history of having seizures will usually start having them more frequently as they get older. Sounds like epilepsy. We had a chihuahua that had seizures but hers were due to hydrocephalus(water on the brain). She was on meds her whole life. We lost her 2 yr ago at almost 4 yr old.

Answer 9

There are two sources of seizures in dogs: causes below the neck, and causes above the neck.

1) Below the neck: your vet will want to do some blood tests and urinalysis. Hypothyroid conditions, certain metabolic conditions, and certain cancers are common causes of seizures.

2) Above the neck: most epileptic seizures are caused by small, slow-growing tumors in the brain. Often treatment with phenobarbital or potassium bromide can counteract the effects of these tumors and greatly reduce or eliminate the incidence of seizure. In rare cases, the seizures are difficult to remedy, which most vets recommend a CAT scan or MRI to determine the nature and severity of the tumor. Corrective surgery or euthanasia are the most common actions with such severe epilepsy, but as I said, this is the most rare presentation of the disease.

Diagnosing and treating your dog's seizures will greatly improve his quality of life, I encourage you to consult with your vet and pursue a treatment.

Answer 10

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A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.