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fuglawhita

seizures in old dog

fuglawhita
19 years ago

My 12 year old dog has begun having seizures. He will have 2 or 3 in the space of a day or so and then go a month or more with none. Blood tests were non conclusive. Medication is not recommended for intermittent seizures as they have side effects. He currently take 500 mG of glucosamine for arthritis. Does anyone have experience in treating this type of ailment with herbs that they could share with me? He gets very frightened when he has a seizure and also usually urinates. I would like to control them in a natural way, if possible.

Comments (13)

  • rusty_blackhaw
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    There are numerous causes for seizures in dogs, as this site discusses.
    I doubt the glucosamine has anything to do with causing seizures, but you could stop it for awhile to see if that makes a difference.

    The idea of neck manipulation concerns me, apart from the fact that vertebral "alignment" has nothing to do with seizures. More on the risks of neck manipulation in people here.

  • fuglawhita
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just an update. Last week my dog had 6 seizures in the space of 24 hours after none in over a month. After the last one he bacame very distressed and started pacing around and whining. I gave him some liquid valarian but he did not calm. I left work at noon to take him to the vet, but my boyfriend had let him out in the morning and he disappeared. I called the pound and they had picked him up. He had no collar(he never normally left the property) and because of his eratic behaviour, they euthanized him. They say they were justified because he was exhibiting signs of rabies.

  • marieginette7_gmail_com
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My 10 yr. old shitz tzu male dog has been on 2 different types of medication for seizures and still has 2 to 3 seizures monthly. This worries me and I want to know if he should be put down so he doesnt suffer anymore.

  • Ginette7
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My 10 yr. old shitz tzu male dog has been on 2 different types of medication for seizures for the past 3 years but yet he still has 2 to 3 seizures monthly. He had one yesterday and 2 this morning which really worries me and I want to know if she should be put down so that he doesnt suffer anymore.

  • rusty_blackhaw
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is something no one can really advise you about except a qualified vet. Maybe there's a new problem affecting seizure frequency, or another med that could help.

  • kfgesq
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am incensed at Eric's comments about spinal manipulation, about which he apparently knows nothing. As I have said earlier I have had good success with a veterinary chiropractor and you should consult one about the dog. Google the american veterinary chiropractic association and locate a qualified professional. Eric obviously knows nothing about this subject and shouldn't be pontificating about it. I am sure he is aware that the american chiropractic association sued the ama back in the 70's for slander for referring to chiropractors as "quacks". They won

  • kenpjoaniep_bresnan_net
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Our male Schnauzer is 11.5 years old. This morning I was awakened by him having a seizure. He has had 4 seizures in the last 2 hours. He has never had anything like this before. He has uncontrolable shaking and has vomited once. While having the seizure he is salivating. How can I help him?

  • fairyaudrey_gmail_com
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, obviously no one is reading these posts. To the original poster, I am so sorry for your loss.
    As for the chiropractic posts, chiro has been proven to work when it is done prorperly. I have been to several in the past few years. Some are very rough in adjusting and I dod agree they can do more harm than good. BUT when adjustments are gentle and not forced they can be extremely helpful. I am going to talk to my Dr about my dog. Thanks for the suggestion.

  • cjswift_centurylink_net
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    On July 22, 2011 we put our little Cocoa of 15 years to sleep. We should have done it sooner. I am hoping that someone can learn from this story.

    In March of 2011 our little toy poodle who we found wondering the streets 15 years ago, had his first
    seizure. He had always been an active , healthy little guy, never ill. He continued to have seizures for the next week. I took him to the vets office. They ran blood tests which came back normal. They were checking for
    organ failure. Their belief was that organ failure could cause seizures in older dogs. Since the blood test came back normal, his diagnosis was "Epilepsy".

    They prescribed Phenobarbital for the seizures. Over the next month the seizures had subsided, however his
    co-ordination was getting worse. He was starting to run into walls, and fall over. He would pace excessively , just walking and walking, until he was so exhausted that he would just drop. At this point my vet didn?t have any answers other than he was old and it was time to put him down. But since he was still having good days, I couldn?t do it.

    Looking for answers, I researched the side effects of Phenobarbital and the drug alone could cause confusion and unsteadiness. I was relieved when I read this, thinking that could be the problem, I reduced his dosage in half.

    Another month went by, he had days where he was doing good, almost back to normal. His walking was steady, he would go outside to do his duty, and he always had a good appetite. His bad days would consist of: walking into furniture and walls, getting lost and tangled in the legs of tables and chairs, getting behind doors, not being able to get out, pacing and walking, never relaxing, relieving himself on the floor ( something he never did before), staring at the ceiling, falling of the couch?. but through this he always had a good appetite.

    Another couple of months passed and his bad days became more frequent. Added to the list was a slight panting and moaning . My husband and I contemplated having him put to sleep almost every day. As soon as we decided it was time, he would seem to come out of it, and have a good day. Then on Friday, July 22 at around 4:30 pm everything changed.

    His day started off as usual in the morning. Excessive walking and pacing, walking into walls and furniture, but then he followed me in my office and laid under my desk for hours sleeping peacefully. Later in the afternoon he started panting and moaning excessively. He seemed more out of it, not really knowing where he was at all. His breathing became labored, he was dripping saliva from his mouth, and when I held him his head would drop. I knew it was time. It was already 5:00 and our vets office was closed. I called a different vet that I knew might be open, that Cocoa had never been to. This vet, came highly recommended to us by our neighbors. We took Cocoa in to be put to sleep. When we walked in the door, this new vet did an examination of him and saw his symptoms. He said he believed it was a Brain Tumor. This is the first time we had ever heard this diagnosis. Never even thought of it as a possibility, but it seemed to make sense. We proceeded to put our little Cocoa to sleep as the vet indicated it would be the best thing to do.

    After coming home from the Vet, I started to research on the internet his suggestion of a Brain Tumor. I have come to the conclusion that Cocoa did have a Brain Tumor. My problem is, I believe he did suffer at the end. I have tremendous guilt for not realizing that he had a brain tumor at the beginning. If we had known , we would have put him to sleep earlier. Knowing that a time would come when he would have pain.

    It is websites like this that help to educate all of us to make the right decisions for our pets, even when they are seeing a vet, our own research is still a must.

  • steveball267_gmail_com
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a black lab she is 9 years old. she is a diabetic she has to take 2 shots of insulin a day she has never had seizure here before .she has had two this week it is very hard to_ stay calm. not real sure what has brought this on.

  • Karen Corson
    8 years ago

    If anyone could help me figure out my dog is 9yrs old the other day he had a sezuire,which he never had one before and today when he sits up he has little ones but snaps himself out of it.But he only seems to do that when he sits up and then a couple hrs ago when he walks he falls over .We took him for a walk everything was fine then he just fell to the side got back up and sat there the vet is comin tomorrow

  • Adry
    6 years ago

    Seizures in a dog of this age can be concerning as it can be a sign of brain cancer, especially if the dog hasn't ever had seizures before. There are other possibilities but this one unfortunately often tops the list. Source: onset of seizures in old dogs

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