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Living with an Epileptic dog? Advice?
Chases Street Demons
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In December '09 my wife and I adopted two Cane Corso puppies that were rescued from a backyard breeder. Brother and sister, same litter. They're everything you would expect giant slobbery mastiff puppies to be - Chunks is about 100 lbs and Blueberry is 80ish or so. They're fun, friendly, et cetera.
Unfortunately it appears that Blueberry (the girl) has some sort of epilepsy or other neurological disprder. It first started to manifest as a slight head tic when she was a little puppy - the vet told us that it was only a cause for concern if she seizured. Fast forward to a month ago, Blueberry has a seizure.
She's on Phenobarbitol 2x day, but it seems like it's just getting worse. The seizures themselves do not appear to be more violent or longer duration, simply more frequent. We've got an appointment to take her to a neurologist on Tuesday, we're just contining the medication and hoping for the best until we can get a diagnosis.
Seizure itself lasts for about a minute, locked muscles, clamped jaw, excessive drooling. After the seizure itelf I'm pretty sure she's temporarily blind and/or deaf because it takes about a minute for her to respond to any sort of petting, name stuff. Then she's quiet for about 5 minutes but with full motor control. At that point it's like she just doesn't want to move, not that she's incapable. Within 5 minutes or so she's up and to the water dish, drinks a lot, and then lays down quietly, usually for a couple of hours.
Has anyone lived with an epileptic dog? Got any advice? Are these seizures the kind of thing that could lead to degenerating health in other areas? She hasn't harmed herself during a seizure but I could use any PAer experience on what to expect. Treatment and medication is not an issue assuming it's epilepsy, but if the diagnosis is a brain tumor or something then we're in a whole new ballpark.
Unfortunately it appears that Blueberry (the girl) has some sort of epilepsy or other neurological disprder. It first started to manifest as a slight head tic when she was a little puppy - the vet told us that it was only a cause for concern if she seizured. Fast forward to a month ago, Blueberry has a seizure.
She's on Phenobarbitol 2x day, but it seems like it's just getting worse. The seizures themselves do not appear to be more violent or longer duration, simply more frequent. We've got an appointment to take her to a neurologist on Tuesday, we're just contining the medication and hoping for the best until we can get a diagnosis.
Seizure itself lasts for about a minute, locked muscles, clamped jaw, excessive drooling. After the seizure itelf I'm pretty sure she's temporarily blind and/or deaf because it takes about a minute for her to respond to any sort of petting, name stuff. Then she's quiet for about 5 minutes but with full motor control. At that point it's like she just doesn't want to move, not that she's incapable. Within 5 minutes or so she's up and to the water dish, drinks a lot, and then lays down quietly, usually for a couple of hours.
Has anyone lived with an epileptic dog? Got any advice? Are these seizures the kind of thing that could lead to degenerating health in other areas? She hasn't harmed herself during a seizure but I could use any PAer experience on what to expect. Treatment and medication is not an issue assuming it's epilepsy, but if the diagnosis is a brain tumor or something then we're in a whole new ballpark.
"Sometimes things aren't complicated," I said. "You just have to be willing to accept the absolute corruption of everybody involved."
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He was normally a sweetheart, he'd actually cry if you didn't touch him for a minute or so, but he started to become very jumpy during and after seizures and bit a vet and assistant who tried to calm him down just after one. He never did that with immediate family, though he did snap at me and he knew me well.
This dog was a mastiff/boxer mix, absolutely massive dog, around 150 pounds, in the upper range of what mastiffs get, and as the seizures got worse he actually posed a hazard - he broke cheap furniture and overturned tables a couple times. The seizures weren't particularly violent, he was just goddamn huge. He also hurt himself by freaking out right after seizures.
Other than the epilepsy and occasional injuries from bad seizures, his health didn't suffer. He did start going downhill around 8, the seizures became more frequent and he started developing some bad joint problems. They eventually had him put to sleep when he could barely get around anymore (Late edit: The joint problems, not epilepsy, though the severity of his seizures did contribute to the decision not to try surgery on his hips), but he did live a pretty full life for a mastiff, most of them are short lived breeds.
All I can say is keep an eye on her. I don't have much experience with the seizures as I was away at school when they started, and was only home for a bit until we had to put her down (unrelated to the seizures. She was old, and couldn't move.)
My parents, when they started, apparently didn't do much to help my dog. Never took her to the vet no matter how much I pleaded for them to while I was away at college.
Just...if you think something is wrong, take her to the vet, and do whatever you can to help her.
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