# Seizures



## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Our puppy is now 9 month old. He had three seizures so far. Each was over a month apart and lasted about a minute. The recovery period seems to get longer though. Our vet wants us to observe more incidents before we commit to a lifetime of medications. We are still hoping it is some temporary thing and eventually will stop.

His pedigree goes back over 6 generations. We talked to a breeder. None of his parents/grandparents/etc had this happen. Also, no other puppies in a litter seem to have this. He did run into the corner of the door when he was a puppy, trying to run away with a stolen socks. We think that this might have caused it. Also our vet says that seizures are common in vizsla breed and can skip generations.

So the question is, how many incidents did your pup have before they started medication for seizures?

Also, it always starts with him vomiting. We don't know if the seizure is caused by vomiting, or he is vomiting before seizure starts. Any thoughts?


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

Very tough nut to crack

but if there coming I would add a very low dose of Valium before he eats

if they stop

stop the meds

These can be tough
I have fought them as well from serve brain trama repeated events

The Punisher will become the punished and diet choices could help as well

God bless this doggy


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Poor pup. But it's normally not the end of the world and once managed they can live a fulfilling life like any other Vizsla. 

I can't remember who it is, maybe Dozer, but there is a pup in here who has them as well. Do a search on Seizures and you'll find it and most likely some other information on how they handled it too.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Yes Ozkar is right -SteelCityDozer has a pup with seizures. He is usually very good at chiming in with excellent advise and support for members who are just coming to terms with this problem.

Use the search box as suggested and see if you can find his posts and perhaps PM him, he maybe having a break from the forum at the moment but I am sure he would be helpful.

As Ozkar says Dozers lives a full and happy life now they have got his medication is sorted. Good Luck.


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## AugieDay (Jan 25, 2013)

I haven't yet posted to the forum yet, but have read a lot on here to help with our now 7 month old pup, Augie. Abatt- I'm so sorry to hear that your puppy suffers from seizures. Our Augie started having them at around 4 months and it's been an up and down battle. We done many tests short of a pricey MRI and spinal tap and found nothing. At this point he has epilepsy (although the onset of when his seizures started is rare for epilepsy or he was born with something or like you, we sometimes think he suffered some sort of head trauma when he was young that is manifesting now in seizures). We recently went 2 months seizure free, but just experienced a cluster of them that we hope is only due to his weight changes since he is a growing up.

To answer your question- Augie was started on meds pretty immediately, but we did a period of trying to wean him off the phenobarbital hoping it was a fluke thing. For us, it turned out it wasn't and he is still on pheno and probably will be for life. The other do have it right- vizslas can live long and happy lives once you get the seizures under control, but it can take some time (especially for growing puppies like ours!). My advice is to be patient, find a vet you trust and who is knowledgeable on this subject (we also have a neurologist for Augie), and make sure you fight for what you want to be done for your puppy.

I'm here if you have any questions- just let me know!


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi AugieDay,

Thank you. Sorry to hear about Augie. It is so hard to watch when that happens and not being able to do anything.

We have not started the medication yet. Only went through various tests, except the MRI. No problems were found so far.
Isaac went for 4 weeks between the first and the second episode, 6 weeks between the second and the third, and it's been almost 7 weeks since his last seizure. We changed his food to a premium grain free kibble. He also only drinks bottled or filtered water now. We still hope that his seizures stopped completely, but obviously will need more time to be sure.

If we do have to get him on medication, I will try to get in touch with you and maybe get more information, if that is ok. Thank you again for your response.


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## AugieDay (Jan 25, 2013)

Abatt-
You are so welcome! The seizures are painful to watch, but knowing they are not causing the dogs any pain (as long as they don't last minutes) always helps me deal with them better. We've gotten to the point where once we hear Augie having a seizure we know exactly what to do (by the way- placing a cool ice pack on their spine as they are seizing can sometimes lessen the length and make the recovery period shorter) and I truly believe that knowledge is power so we've done a ton of research on the topic. I'm here to answer as many questions as I can if you get to the point when you might need to medicate (hopefully you won't!).

That's great you haven't had to go straight to meds yet. The period in between the seizures is great- they always say with seizure dogs if you can get it down to once a month, that is good. I'll be crossing my fingers and Augie's toes for you that this was just a fluke thing and your pup will grow out of it! 

Please don't hesitate to contact me at ALL. I'm here for you and your pup!


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## Magnet73 (Sep 10, 2013)

Would love to hear some success stories, now that you guys have been down this road for over a year. I know how tough, hopeless and scary it is for all of you and I hope for the sake of our V's, that the meds/adjustments allow them to live that Vizsla life as long as possible. Our boy Magnet suffered his first on 3/18/15 and has had several (approx 8 total) in a 20 day span. Vet prescribed zonisamide and we increased the dose from 100 to 150 after just a week because of a cluster of 5 grand mal seizures in 24 hours. Week later Magnet had another after a long day of play, followed by 3 almost episodes in the next 2 days. We apply ocular compression before, during and after his seizures to help minimize the duration and intensity and in some cases prevent the Aura phase into escalating into the Ictal phase. It works for Magnet. Maybe it does nothing but make us FEEL like we are helping. We can't say for sure but comparing our approach the first time it happened when we were blindsided and the rest of the occurrences, completely different. We reacted in hysteria, Begging, pleading for him to snap out of it, tapping him, trying to open his mouth, shouting his name (pretty much everything you aren't to do) which could have contributed to the longest 90 seconds of our life with magnet. He also defecated, urinated during his first seizure, and then went into a very defensive, frightened, uncordinated Post-Ictal phase. Since that first episode we are now calm and reassuring during the convulsing, give him cues like heel or stay with mommy/daddy which we commonly use, turn off most the lights, turn off TVs or Radio, apply compression to his closed eyes for about 15-30 seconds and rest for about 5-10. Have a bowl of water, some HagganDas Vanilla Ice Cream and even some kibble out because of the potential drop in sugar and dehydration from seizure. He doesn't get aggressive, defensive, urinate, defecate at all afterwards anymore. He may go on a pace back an forth, for a couple of minutes but that has been cutting down. We keep a journal of his occurrences and we read up on forums, studies and everything else. Hoping we can pinpoint what will work best for Magnet. Over-stimulation seems to be the culprit so far and it seems to happen when he's in a safe place like the couch, or bed at home and just before taking a nap or coming out of a nap. When he is in play mode or at the dog park, you would never know but those **** monsters visit him when his guard is down so we are now up to 200mg 2x a day (4.7.15). 

To all of you who are going through this, I wish you and your V a lot of strength because we know the stress and anxiety that comes with. I would love to hear what has helped you, what you have avoided, included to your daily life. Also just to hear journey that most people dont understand. 

Thanks For Listening
Magnet
Brooklyn, NY


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## organicthoughts (Oct 9, 2012)

Magnet73 I don't have any experience with seizures but just want to commend you on your efforts and love for your boy.

Keep up the persistence, it'll pay off.

All the best.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Bless your hearts, Magnet 73 (you and yours) for all you are doing to help your boy, Magnet. So sorry you are all having to go through this. Wish I could offer some advice, but I have had no experience with this. Keep trying and don't give up.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I know very little about seizures in dogs, but will send good thoughts your way.

If you use facebook, there is a Vizsla Health information group, and it does have a couple of vets on it. Its a closed group, so you would have to join.


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## PaavoNRick (May 5, 2015)

My Paavo just turned 3 years old 2 weeks ago. Friday marked his first ever seizure, this was easily the scariest situation I have ever been involved with (as far as my pet). I hoped it was a one time deal, unfortunately that day he had 4 more, full on Grand Mal Seizures. He spent the night in the Emergency Room, where they monitored him and did a full work up on his blood, everything came back normal. They ultimately diagnosed him with Idiopathic Epilepsy, generic for they don't know what is causing them. He is currently on 2 meds (Kepra and Zonisamide). He will be coming off the Kepra in 1 days time, and will hopefully only have to be on the Zonisamide. We chose to go with Zonisamide because of his age, and the fact that this medication is not processed through the liver, and has very little side affects. Zonisamide is a little bit more expensive ($60/month), and newer medicine. 

We are hoping for a full recovery, but to date he is still very shy and sluggish. He will not sleep in the bed where the first seizure took place. 

Even though it is hard, you must remain calm and soothe your pup if he does go through it, especially during the Post Ictal stage (when he/she is recovering).

To date, he has been seizure free for 4 days. 

Please give your V a hug for me, I know it is not easy.


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## Magnet73 (Sep 10, 2013)

Sorry to hear that the 'monsters' got your V. Over a month in, we have no choice but to adapt. Although we were hopeful for a short ordeal, we are in fact in for the long haul. Pet360.com has zonisamide for $40 (100ct of 100mg). 250mg twice a day and it seems like Keppra is the next option if we can't make it to a month 'seizure free'. Im wishing Paavo the best, and even yourself because of the impact it has on everyone else. 

Sounds like you have also dug deep into researching the matter so good luck and if there is anything you'd like to share or ask, we'd love to help.


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## PaavoNRick (May 5, 2015)

We are due to take him off the Kepra tonight, and he will be getting 200g of Zonisamide twice per day. I wish nothing but the best for you and yours.


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