# Possible Seizure Like Activity



## vizslanewbie123 (Jun 24, 2021)

Hi! I am reaching out for help on something unknown going on with our 9-month-old female. At only 10 weeks she started having strange incidents where she would suddenly act weird/ scared of us / unapproachable, etc, then get the zoomies, and finally end up in a weird head-bobbing phase. We had given her Simparica Trio, which I now know can cause some issues and have since discontinued. This happened a handful of times, and we took her to a neurologist who did all of the possible tests including an MRI all of which came back normal. She had a few months with no incidents, but it has been happening again as of recently. I know it could still be epilepsy, but it does not accurately line up with a seizure. There is no clear moment when the actual seizure is taking place and the "aftermath" of the head bobbling lasts much longer than what the vets say is normal for the after seizure response (usually multiple hours). Also, she sometimes acts strange but elements of her personality remain. For example, in a recent episode, she still got excited/tail wagging at the door when my husband came upstairs (how she always greets us) but was uncoordinated in the process. Sometimes I can snap her out of the zoomies by doing her normal tricks for treats (though she'll still be uncoordinated/head bobbing), and other times she can't even physically take or chew a treat. She always sleeps it off and is right back to her normal self after, but they are of course very scary. Any possible ideas or help would be so appreciated! Will try to add videos but can't figure that out at the moment.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

It's difficult to advise over the internet. There are so many more variables that could factor in.
If you can rule out plant/food based reaction. In other words, she's finding something toxic to eat that might be causing the issue. (We have a plant in CT that we call "drool weed". If the horses get into it, they bob and shake their heads and there is a non stop stream of saliva being flung everywhere.)
In absence of something like that, she needs a full work up. Your "regular vet" may not be able to do everything, but there should be some type of university vet within a few hours of driving distance that may be able to perform a more complete exam.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Have you ever been able to video her when this happens?


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

vizslanewbie123 said:


> [snip]
> Will try to add videos but can't figure that out at the moment.


You can't upload a video to the forum, as far as I know. The way to share one is to upload it to YouTube, Imgur, or whatever your favorite sharing site is. Then post a link to it. YouTube has a mechanism to embed a video.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I was mainly wondering if the vet has been able to view videos of her.


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## vizslanewbie123 (Jun 24, 2021)

Yes, I have a lot of videos the vet has seen. Just haven’t uploaded to a site to post a link but I’ll try that. The vets are stumped also. Other than the seizure theory, It resembles weed intoxication, but we can’t figure out how she’d be getting into that multiple times and no correlation between events. We do live in CA where it’s legal so it’s on the street sometimes, but it still seems weird.


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## Ansel&SierraMom (Sep 1, 2020)

It sounds a lot like epilepsy to me. We have a nearly 2-year old that has been having seizures since he was 5 months old. When he first started having them, his post ictal (post seizure) phase could sometimes last for a few hours. He even had two bad seizures in a row where he had side effects that lasted for a few days. Now that he has been on medication for the last year, things have evened out some. He still gets seizures pretty frequently, but his recovery time is much shorter (15-20 minutes). He always naps after his seizure events too. They can also get what is called a focal seizure - these don't look like the typical seizure that most people would think of and they can be difficult to recognize, but they can still leave them with noticeable side effects like tremors or stumbling. Maybe your dog is having focal seizures? Also, the period preceding the seizure can also leave a dog stumbling and uncoordinated, this may be why you notice symptoms that last for hours. Our dog's typical seizure cycle lasts about one hour now, but before we had his meds sorted out his cycles could last for several hours. This is generally what a cycle for us looks like now:

Aura phase: 20-40 minutes, begins pacing rapidly, acts restless, eventually some twitching begins and will stumble a little, generally getting more pronounced as time goes on
Seizure: 10-45 seconds (before meds, would sometimes last for minutes), he mostly has tonic-clonic seizures (formerly called grand mal) but sometimes will have a focal seizure. When he has a focal seizure, it sort of looks like he just goes from aura straight into post ictal - I still have trouble recognizing focals. 
Post ictal: 15-30 minutes, unable to walk, eat or drink during this phase, but he wants to walk so he will flail his legs and try to get up, lots of head bobbing and still some twitching, these symptoms get less pronounced over time until he eventually falls asleep
Nap: 10-20 minutes, sleeps off the seizure for a bit, when he finally wakes up he has generally gained 95% of his mobility and is hungry and thirsty, but otherwise back to normal and will start playing with his brother or doing other normal dog things within minutes.


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## vizslanewbie123 (Jun 24, 2021)

Thank you @Ansel&SierraMom ! It is comforting to hear from someone in a similar situation. They definitely could be focal seizures, and that makes sense with the pre/post-stage as sometimes the sequence of events varies from time to time. We have started her on Kepra so hopefully we see improvements if that is the case.


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## Ansel&SierraMom (Sep 1, 2020)

vizslanewbie123 said:


> Thank you @Ansel&SierraMom ! It is comforting to hear from someone in a similar situation. They definitely could be focal seizures, and that makes sense with the pre/post-stage as sometimes the sequence of events varies from time to time. We have started her on Kepra so hopefully we see improvements if that is the case.


You're welcome  I'm happy to share, its been a tough journey, especially in the beginning when we did not understand what was happening or why, and then all the different medications we had to try. Ansel is rare, in that he has not responded well to medication. But after dealing with this for the past 1.5 years, its starting to feel like a pretty normal part of our lives. And he still is a very active, happy young dog. He is a little less active than his brother because of all the medications, but he otherwise lives a very normal life. Good luck with the Keppra, but don't get too discouraged if you have to try something else.


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## Cuda-dog (11 mo ago)

Hi, we're experiencing very similar symptoms in our 10 month old male. We ended up at the emergency vet with an episode of wobbles that lasted 7 hours last week.
We had our first visit with a neurologist yesterday, and his blood work came back normal, so it's not likely a liver shunt or Addison's disease. We have the weekend to think about our next step, which is either:
A. Spinal tap and MRI which won't show epilepsy.
B. A trial with anti-seizure meds to see if that helps. (We're leaning towards this)
I may take a screenshot of this thread and send it to the neurologist, as she's never seen anything like this. It's a small comfort to see that I'm not alone in this, if only they could talk and tell us what's wrong.


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## Ansel&SierraMom (Sep 1, 2020)

I don't know if your neurologist feels this way for your dog, but ours advised us that the spinal tap and MRI may show us what the root cause of the seizures is, but that it would not change his course of treatment. But she also seems pretty confident that it is congenital given his age and presentation of symptoms. Just something to think about next time you discuss with your neurologist.


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## Cuda-dog (11 mo ago)

Has the medication made any difference for your dog so far?


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## Ansel&SierraMom (Sep 1, 2020)

Cuda-dog said:


> Has the medication made any difference for your dog so far?


Honestly, not as much as we had hoped. I guess there is a not insignificant percent of epileptic dogs that don't respond very well to the medication and he seems to be one of them. We know he is likely facing a shorter life as a result, but we're just taking it day by day for now. We think he still has a pretty great life.


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## vizslanewbie123 (Jun 24, 2021)

Hi Cuda-dog,

I'm so sorry you're also going through something similar with your pup  I know how scary it is and especially tough when it's hard to believe there is a seizure without the typical signs. We did go through with the MRI, but Ansel&Sierra is correct it didn't reveal anything or change the course of treatment, and it was of course very expensive. 

We have had some luck with the medication. Since she's been on them, we've only had 2 incidents, which seems less often than before (though it can be hard to tell). 

Also, it was helpful for me to read up on focal seizures (Ansel&Sierra mentioned above) because it helped me to understand what is happening. (Assuming yours is similar in the way that there isn't an obvious seizure moment). 

I would be happy to exchange videos if you're interested in connecting direclty. Perhaps our videos could help both of our individual vets to see additional examples of this. 

Otherwise, I am always here to help however I can!


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