Dogs with Seizures and Vaccinations

[TheSitcomGirls]

Bummer...my vet told me I should vaccinate against Lepto because my dogs run free on a farm and in the woods. They constantly drink out of muddy puddles and eat anything they find. He felt that the risk of Lepto was there. I wish I knew the risk of the vaccine before she had it! I have had Lyme, my husband has had it, my neighbors and one of my horses. That is a bad one in this area. It's really hard to decide which it worse...the vaccine or the disease.

 

[Debs55]

Hello
I am sorry about your dog but I know how you feel. Our pomeranian Ben used to have seizures as well and also had 2 strokes.. he went through a period where he couldnt walk or eat but my mom could not let him go. we fed him by hand and stretched his legs and looked on every website for information. We discovered vitamin B-12 shots. They helped him so much! He can now walk, run, go up and down the steps, and follow my mom around the house. He eats and even growls at the younger dogs who aggrevate him. Some times we will notice his energy getting low and we will give him another but he seems to be perfectly happy. If your pup's symptoms ever get worse this may be something to consider.

 

[purplequeenvt]

A few years ago we took our four dogs (2 young Border Collies, 1 young Corgi, and an older mutt) to the vet for their rabies shots. All three of the young dogs had reactions.

Emma, the corgi, was in extreme pain (she would scream if you touched her) for several days after. A couple years later she passed away from bladder cancer which our vet feels certain was a result of the vaccine.

Millie's brain stem became swollen and she was very uncoordinated for a long time. She ultimately recovered.

Meg started suffering from seizures shortly after her shot and, although she hasn't had one in years, the reaction and/or the seizures messed with her head.

We got a letter from our vet to exempt the pups from future vaccines.

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Thank you, I will check out the Thuja for Lyla. I will rethink the Lyme vaccine. It's just hard because we live in eastern ct and on my road in every house there is either a pet or a person who has had Lyme. I have had it twice. The first time I was undiagnosed for two years and it almost destroyed one of knees. I wish there was a vaccine for me!

I give Lyla something homeopathic called Rescue Remedy right after a seizure, just as soon as she stands up. It's makes out of a bunch of different types of flowers and has made a huge difference. Just a squirt on her tongue and it has taken the amount of time for her to recover from a seizure from hours to 10 minutes. She used to wander and pace for an hour after the seizure. It was so sad. Now she just looks around for a bit and then goes to sleep. It amazing! I keep a bottle everywhere now.

 

[sourland]

Thesitcomgirls, you don't want the Lyme vaccine. I was part of the vaccine development program. The vaccine was worse and gave more side effects than when I had Lyme disease. One of the things that I wish I had never participated in.

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Thanks to all who wrote about their experiences with vaccinations. Lyla will always be a water dog!

 

[Squawkbox]

.

 

[True Grit]

I'm sorry about your dog's experience. You mention that she was put on Pb and Thyroxine so they must have tested her thyroid. That was a very sensible thing to do as keeping the thyroid hormone levels steady can be key in preventing seizures. This website was big help to me and my epileptic dog. http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ He had other issues; dermatomyositis and canine discoid lupus so he was on antibiotics and niacinamide as well as pb. Even though he had been on Phenobarb for seizures for a few years he had never had his thyroid tested but after a friend gave me the website I had my vet test his thyroid and it was low. Once he got on the levothyroxine he had no more seizures. I was about to try to wean him off the pb and onto another med when he developed severe liver damage, I assume from all the drugs he was on, phenobarb being especially damaging. The vets tried but could not save him. He seemed to deal with the vaccines quite well but now I do titre checks on my other dogs and I am going to test for heartworm again in a month or so. i will only give heartworm preventative (heartworm preventative is not really preventative-it just kills the worms they have developed since their last pill) if they have them so I'm not poisoning them every month.
Since your dog is on phenobarb I would talk to you vet about checking her liver enzymes on a regular basis. Good luck, she looks like a sweetie-pie.

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Thank you! I'm so sorry, True Grit.

I was worried about Lyla's liver...she seems to be fine so far and has had her enzymes tested. I insisted...that website is great. That's why I got the Thyroid test done as well..

Hopefully if she does well on the Potassium bromide then maybe we can wean her off the Pheno and then I will not have to worry about the Liver damage. I do feel bad for her though. She is so hungry all the time. I am hoping that side effect will go away!!

 

[TannersMom]

My precious chocolate labrador has also been diagnosed as epileptic. He was completely healthy and seizure-free until he was seven years old. He had a round of vaccines and four weeks later began his first set of seizures. They were horrid, grand-mal and cluster seizures where he lost full control for 3 to 4 minutes, regained, then had secondary seizures for 3 to 4 minutes. Because he had been so healthy all of his life and I am quite a naturalist, I promptly concluded the vaccines were the cause. He had three sets of seizures, all about 2 to 3 months apart, then nothing. I was apprehensive about having him vaccinated again, but 18 months later asked the vet to only give him "absolutely necessary" vaccines. We avoided the bordatella and since he had a two year rabies, we did all other recommended vaccines. Four weeks later, another horrendous seizure. The vet cannot verify the vaccines are the cause, but he admits my baby boy should avoid vaccines for the rest of his life. I watch and wait everyday for additional seizures I know are sure to come. It breaks my heart to know I have introduced something to his system that is life-threatening and causes him so much trauma