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Seizures

1113 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  pupresq
I tried going to another breed board with this but for some reason it won't let me post.
This is a 4 year old border collie; I've had her since she was 2. Never a health issue except for when I was gone in Feb my other half said she'd had a seizure. When I got home (was gone several days) she was ok.

Last night I brought her in - still battling this flea problem so I poured a bathtub full of water with a little Dawn in it - she laid down in it for a few minutes, I was holding her muzzle, laying on her side, up to her ears. I pulled her out of the tub, put her on the deck, she shook herself off several times, came in and watched out the front door (the cats) and after 20-30 minutes came in the office here and laid down. Color of gums was good (have been watching that 'cause of the fleas). About 11 last night with no warning she had a seizure. Tense, her nose was against the wall but somewhat snapping. I just touched her hip and as she came out of it she looked around, eyes dilated (she's also got blue eyes so how much is 'normal' sensitivity and not is sometimes hard to tell) like she was lost. I called her name 3-4 times then she focused, wagged her tail, all was fine.

I watched her closely the next couple hours - but very shortly you'd never know anything happened. She was running around today the picture of health running the fenceline by the ducks, bouncing in the air, totally normal. Because of her preferences most of her time is in the yard by the duck pen or the front door watching the cats or sometimes in here with me.

I've little to no confidence in any vet here within an hour. This is with cause, but even the closest vet by the time I'd get her there she'd be normal acting. There is nothing toxic she can get in to. I've used no Ivomec products on her nor anything else. She *was* one of the 3 to get the flea pill in March - which worked for about 3 weeks; she got Safeguard with the others the beginning of March. Since then nothing; she's been on a raw diet.

Although she quickly gets over this it hit so fast I'm wondering if I'm missing something. The whole thing - normal to seizure to recovered - was about 5 minutes. 15 minutes later she was acting pretty much normal except not tracking real well. By that I mean usually I can toss a treat in the air and it doesn't hit the ground - she couldn't grab it. She's had no head injury that I'm aware of and I know nothing hit her last night.

Other ideas? I'm aware of epilepsy and blood sugar issues but am not sure either of these quite fit. Or am I missing something else?
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I also thought epilepsy but I think it would have become more frequent between the first episode and this one. I know of other dogs with seizures that have had toxicity or tumour problems but I can't tell if that is an issue here. Anyway, just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you and hoping this is just an infrequent event.
The first time she was in 'the dog room' - an extension of the deck that is enclosed. And being as I wasn't here to see it I don't know for sure what happened with that.
It was the one the other night that really puzzled me...I thought maybe stress induced from the dip but did her again last night and she was fine. I, too, thought epilepsy was more frequent. I'll continue to monitor her. Thanks.
It could be epilepsy. My dog D has it and the first time he had seizures it was very minor and it did not happen again for a couple of months. I think in the first year he only had 4 episodes of seizures but they did get progressivly worse. I took him to the vet after the first one but there is not much they can do other then keep watching them.

Wish I could offer more insight but you are doing the right thing. Just keep watching to see if it happens again.

Hope she feels better.
Has she had any vaccines lately?
One of our previous fosters has epilepsy. We'd had him for over 2 months and never seen a seizure, then one day he had one and over the next week had 2 more. We took him to the vet after the second one and they said that seizures were usually caused by either epilepsy or something to do with the liver. In his case, the liver profile was normal so they decided it was epilepsy and started him on a low dose of phenobarbital. That seemed to work and he didn't have any more seizures except once when we missed a dose. His new owners also report that they're pretty much under control although I think he's had one.

I'm not sure what they were looking for with the liver business but that might be an avenue to explore - perhaps start with a routine CBC?
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