I think my dog had a seizure, any experience?

Charlie Bucket

Charlie Bucket

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Yesterday my dog (2/12 year old Border Collie) was quite subdued. We put this down to a bird scarer going off intermittently throughout the day, as he doesn't like banging noises, and thought no more of it.

This morning my Mum woke me first thing and said he wasn't looking at all well. He was drooling excessively, kept licking his lips, panting, his breathing was slightly laboured and he seemed disorientated, dizzy even. He kept tilting his head and closing his eyes.

We took him to the on-call vet about 8am and he gave him a thorough examination. While he was there he wet himself the poor little thing. :(
Anyway, everything seemed normal except he was quite sensitive around his throat, yelping when the vet touched it.

He has prescribed him painkillers, and antibiotics as he said it could be a throat infection and to be on the safe side. He did say though that it looked a lot like the post-fit stage of canine epilepsy (minus a few symptoms, ie trembling).

I've done some research online and this does seem the most likely diagnosis. :(

Just wondering if anybody else has had experience of this? Any would be gratefully received as I am so worried about him. If he is no better my Tuesday morning I will take him back and they will run tests.

Thanks

ETA- Think the seizure must have been overnight as we never actually saw him fitting. No evidence of poo/wee/vomit anywhere. He is very tired today and has mainly slept since returning from the vet. He has eaten this afternoon.
 
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Sorry to hear this CB. I had a Greyhound who out of the blue had a seizure/stroke. She was totally paralysed for a good few hours, and continuously fitted. She made a full recovery. But having had older dogs with strokes, I know seizures/strokes can be extremely wide ranging. From just very unsteady on their feet, with mouth paralysis, to full blown paralysis, to one who just fell over while drinking from the water bowl.

If he has eaten then thats a good sign, and hopefully he'll be back to normal in a few days, and fingers crossed it doesn't happen again. Like I said these types of thing are vast in their range of how they affect the dog. Try and keep him as quiet as possible and let him rest.
 
Hi, thank you for your reply.

I'm sorry you've had similar experiences - very scary! :(

He has been sleeping mostly today, only waking to go for a wee, have a drink and then eat this afternoon. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again.
 
My friends BC started fitting but she was able to control them long term with drugs. My Lab had Vestibular syndrome, and at first I thought she had suffered a stroke or a fit. Her head was tilted, her eyes were darting back and forth and she had urinated and pooed, and was extremely distressed. The vet prescribed Vivitonin and she recovered well after about 3 or 4 days. I'm only telling you about this in case your poor dog had something other than a fit. It's a good sign that he's eating.
 
I have quite a bit of experience with canine idiopathic epilepsy. I owned several Norwich Terriers which I imported from the UK to Hawaii. Most of them were epileptic. None of them had the symptoms you describe. Generally, when they had a seizure (anything from mild to violent) they would bounce right back to being normal anywhere from a few minutes to some fifteen minutes post episode. Two of my Norwich were on phenobarbitone for most of their lives. They both had occasional break-through seizures which were less violent than if they had not been on medication. Neither of those boys urinated or defecated, but both vomited post seizure. I had another boy who would vomit before he had a seizure, although his episodes were fewer and farther between. I also had a Golden Retriever who had the most violent, debilitating seizure when she was 9 years old. She urinated, defecated, vomited, and was completely disoriented for hours after the incident. She had one more seizure about 9 months later, at which time we found out she had a brain tumour.

BTW, none of my dogs trembled post seizure. But they did during the fit.

What worries me about your dog is the excessive drooling, the laboured breathing, and, particularly, the sensitivity around his throat. I would be inclined to think he might have a small foreign body lodged in his throat. Having said that, you did mention that he ate after you returned from the vet. Did the vet X-ray your dog? Did the vet take blood for analysis? I think your dog needs a more extensive work-up if he continues to show the symptoms that you first described.

I hope everything settles down and it is just a throat infection.
 
We have a JRT who had a stroke around 5 years ago, he is now on Vivitonin but the stroke has left him with seizures around once per month. He goes rigid, drools and is out of it for around 10 mins until he is sick. Then he seems to come round. We sit with him in a darkened room while he works through it, he's on his bed and we just talk to him. It doesn't worry us any more and he's well managed by our vets and is otherwise as fit as a fiddle.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies, very much appreciated.

He is much brighter now, the major symptoms wore off early afternoon now I would say he is mostly just down in the dumps and feeling a bit sensitive.

The vet thought maybe he had something lodged also, but he was not retching or appearing as though he was choked on something. No x-rays were taking but he took his temperature, felt his abdomonem for swelling/discomfort, monitored his breathing, took his heart rate and examined inside his mouth/ visible throat with a torch. He said that if symptoms persisted to bring him back in Tuesday morning for X-rays/ blood tests. And obviously if he got any worse to come back immediately.

I have spent the afternoon researching different variations of seizures in dogs, and from what i found, although his symptoms aren't all stereotypical, they aren't unheard of completely. It's just the obvious disorientation and eye closing that make me think it's something other than a throat problem. It was like he was drunk almost.

Anyway thanks again for all your replies, sorry for babbling just thinking through the keyboard!

It may sound silly but this little dog is my best friend, I would be devastated if anything happened to him and I hadn't done all I could.
 
Hi, they are such a worry arent they. I had a collie x GSD who at the age of 11 had a fit. It was the first time and we didnt see anything but he came into the house panting and drooling . he was breathing very fast and we took him straight to the vets. The tests were all inconclusive but over the following months we saw him start to have fits now and then. he had drugs from the vet which did help and we got used to it. He didnt fit that often but it was awful for us. He used to be really quiet after and seem exhausted . We had him for another 4 years so you can deal with it and help them if that is what it is.
I really hope that you get it sorted
 
My lurcher, whom I've had for about 10years now, has had two seizures. Both times he was disoriented, panting, lost his balance, and seemed very confused. They lasted maybe 10mins max. We just kept him quiet and safe until they passed. Vet said it can happen from time to time, and generally if they don't have more than a certain number in a year (I think it's two) they'll tend not to even medicate.
 
Hi everyone, thank you all again for your replies.

I'm absolutely devastated to let you know my beautiful boy passed away this morning at the vets.

He was no better by Tues morning, still subdued and not interested in drinking, so we took him back to the vet and he was put on a drip to keep him hydrated. They monitored him all day, and they rang and said he was a lot brighter, had eaten, been for a little wander around the car park etc and that he could go home as there wasn't much else they could do for him. We picked him up about 5.30pm and he was looking positive. He pootled about at home, even climbed up onto the sofa to sit with me, which he had been too weak to do previously.

I was awoken about 1.30am this morning by him heavily panting on my bed, I soon realised he had urinated. Soon after he had an extrememly violent seizure which lasted about 2 minutes and he seemed to come round. We rang the vet and she said to keep him quiet, but if he had another to bring him in immediately. About 20 minutes later he started fitting again, and it just went on and on and on. We took him straight to the vets and she injected him with Diazipam and he calmed down, although still not fully concious he had stopped fitting. We left him and went home while they monitored him.

Anyway vet rang about 8.30am to say that he had passed away in his little cage and that it was most likely his heart couldn't cope with the amount of seizure activity.

We brought him home and have just buried him in the garden. I am absolutely devastated. My best friend.

Thank you again for your kind wishes and advice, it is really appreciated. x
 
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