Leo had 2 more grand mal seizures

[horsejody]

Leo (Lhasa Apso dog) had a seizure yesterday morning at about 3:00AM. Despite having valium to prevent having another too soon, he spent yesterday acting wired and a bit confused and crazy. He didn't sleep all day, and that isn't normal for him. I stayed home with him because I was worried. The vet told me to increase his steroid medicine for 2 weeks. He also said that spring and fall were more difficult for hydrocephalus sufferers because of changes in the barometric pressure. This morning at about 5:00AM Leo had another seizure. By the time I had to leave for work, he seemed tired but appeared to have all of his mental faculties. I wish I could have stayed home with him today, but I have to work. Please pray for Leo. The seizures are very hard on the poor baby.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

I hope everything goes well for Leo, I will keep him my thoughts and prayers.

 

[cluckychick]

I have a chihuahua that has seizures and boy it's hard to watch. Hope Leo gets better soon. How old is he? My dad has a Lasa, he's like 14 yrs old. He's been having alot of issues lately with his health as well.

Will keep your Leo in my thoughts.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Leo is 5 1/2 years old. He has adult onset hydrocephalus. I hope for the best for your chihuahua and your Dad's Lhasa too.

 

[bestponymilo]

Awwh the poor little guy--good thoughts for Leo and for you!

 

[thebritt]

We have a border collie that also has grand mal seizures. I got my info on this by Googling "Seizures in dogs" and found a lot of good info. Basically boils down to "not much you can do". I tried selenium+vit E and Ginko biloba supplements (promotes healthy brain function), but after 8 mos of giving these daily, the seizures still came in clusters. Sometimes 2 mos would pass, then she'd have 3 in 1 1/2 weeks. Don't know if any of this helps - I could probably use some input as well! Good luck.

 

[Hens_And_Chicks]

Hugs to your puppy - so sorry to hear that he's having problems with the seizures. I had a dog many many years ago that had seizures - of course that was when I was a kid and didn't understand or know you could medicate them.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
We actually know what causes the seizures. Leo sees a doggie neurologist and has had his brain thoroughly scanned and an eeg done (thank God for doggie health insurance). He has 2 small pockets of fluid in his brain that shouldn't be there. There is no way to know for sure, but it could be genetic, caused by an unknown injury or a reaction to a live virus distemper shot (BTW always ask for the killed virus distemper shot). Changes in the barometric pressure or stress cause his brain swelling and seizures. Damage from previous seizures also can cause unexpected seizures.

Leo takes dexamethazone. It is the same steroid given to people with hydrocephalus. He also takes a thyroid supplement. Dogs with seizures have an unusually high incidence of low thyroid function. You may want to have the vet check for that. They have to run the full panel though, not just the small test. Seizure dogs even on the low side of normal usually get some relief from thyroid supplement. Leo also takes a vitamin supplement called Dynalode and a liquid taurine supplement. Studies have shown the Dynalode tablets help quite a bit and so does the taurine. Most vets don't have the diagnostic equipment necessary to diagnose the cause in dogs that have seizures. We were very fortunate that there was an a vet in the area that is an animal neurologist. If you can, it would probably help your dog to find one or go to a university animal hospital. Most vets just diagnose seizuring animals as idiopathic epileptics. Idiopathic just means they don't know the cause. Those dogs just get anti-seizure meds and the underlying cause can continue to worsen. You may want to look at this website:

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Resources.html

The neurologist has told us that Leo would have definitely died if he didn't have the steroid treatment because the brain damage would have been too severe if the hydrocephalus wasn't treated. It is just very hard to watch such a little angel go through that. BTW the next time your dog is having a grand mal take one of those flexible ice packs and hold it on his back right in front of the tail. It won't shorten the seizure, but the cooling effect greatly shortens the recovery time. They spend less time confused and are a lot less likely to suffer from the temporary blindness. We keep one of those ice packs frozen at all times.