My dog has started having fits

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mymare

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Hello!

I have to firstly admit to being more of a lurker on here since I registered (after Ravenwood declared herself an addict!), but was after some advice please.

My 4 year old Border Collie has started to have fits. The first one was the week before Christmas. It scared the living daylights out of me as I had never seen anyone or anything having one before. I took him to the vet who took a blood sample to check liver and kidney function. This all came back clear. I've been watching him carefully, but it's not easy to know what's going on with him 24/7 as he is kennelled along with the working dogs. I can usually tell that he has had a fit that day by the way he comes out of his kennel. Instead of shooting out like a bullet he just walks out quietly and stays by my heel until I get to the stable, where he lies at the door and waits for me instead of running around like a loony. I sat with him last week while he had a fit, which lasted a couple of minutes and then he was sick.

The vet isn't keen to put him on any medication yet as it is still "early days".

I was wondering if any dog owners on here had experienced this with their dogs, and how they and their dogs cope, whether they are on medication, kept outside etc. Would be nice to know my dog and I aren't alone!!
 
Dogs with epilepsy can live perfectly normal, healthy lives on the right medication with no fits.
My friend's dog is epileptic and you would never know.

You are the second person on here recently who has a vet not that bothered about fitting?!

Is there any way you could spend a day monitoring him to see how far apart they come or how he acts before and after they happen?

Do any of his siblings/sire/dam have epilepsy? Could he have suffered a head trauma at some stage?
 
My much loved Boxer started fitting out of the blue and totally unexpected, very upsetting to witness, vet put her on medication which seemed to help for the first 2 weeks, but then started to fit more, 6/8 times day and night, and was very out of sorts when she wasn't, sorry to say it wasnt a good outcome, but this is not to say it will be the same for your dog, some dogs seem to do very well on meds and lead a normal life, I do hope your dog makes a recovery, good vibes to your poor dog x and you.
 
could you not take him into the house so that you can monitor him? fits are so horrible to watch (and hear if they scream) lost my old jack russell. she fitted intermitently for a year and then they became more and more frequent! i had her put down as she became disorientated and not herself. but she was nearly 19 and had her from 6 week old puppy. she was the most fantastic dog and can never be replaced!
 
We had a labrador who started having fits at the age of 2yrs.
They lasted a good 5 minutes, and it took him about 15 minutes to lose his wobbliness - he had 2 or 3 very long fits in his whole life - he always remained conscious.
He was put on medication initially but they drugged him up so my mum took him off them (long time ago)
He was also castrated which helped a great deal.
He went from weekly to once or twice a year as he got older.
He stayed off medication his whole life and was PTS at the age of 14yrs of age due to a Tumour.
 
My dad's settercross had fits, many years ago. She was put on medication and they stopped. After a few years he weaned her off the medication and she remained ft free for many years. She eventually started with them again just before she died at the age of 15.
Our new dog who we got when she was 4 1/2 about 6 months ago, had a fit a few weeks after we got her. She has fitted approx once every 2 months. They last about 5 minutes and she's disorientated for about 15 mins afterwards, doesn't seem to be any other effects (fingers crossed). The vet took blood tests, no liver or kidney problems. they don't seem to be worried and say she doesn't need medication until they become more frequent or affect her life.
 
Thanks so much for all your replies.

Quickfire and Ofcourseyoucan - I'm so sorry about your dogs, how heartbreaking!
Cavecanem - yes I'm going to spend a day with him and monitor him, plus I've started keeping a diary of when he's not right. I think my vet wants to wait and see how regular they are going to be before he prescribes him anything, rather than not being bothered, sorry I should have elaborated more in my post. He thinks they could be "cluster fits" that may eventually go, but time will tell. I know as far back as his grandparents, and we had his mother and still have his brother. None of them has a history of epilepsy. He only head trauma I could think of was when he ran into a metal 5 bar gate that he thought was open (!). He knows the gate opens inwards and if it is not shut properly will open if he pushes it. But he just shook his head and ran off as normal, and showed no signs of anything untoward afterwards as I kept a close eye on him.
Milliemoo - I'm SO glad you mentioned your dog remained conscious throughout the fit - Ike does too. I had been warned not to touch him in case he bit me without meaning too but he was staring at me and I couldn't NOT comfort him! Each time I took my hand away he tried to "paw" me, even though his poor legs were rigid. He was DEFINITEY conscious. It's heartbreaking to watch, I adore my dog.
Reddie - yes, that's what my vet said too.

Sorry, haven't worked out how to multi quote yet!!! (or how to add the smilies properly LOL)
blush.gif
Ooh think I just did it!
 
If it's any consolation, we used to stroke our lab too.....
He would fight the fit less, and come out of it quicker if we were by him and stroking him - he couldn't bite us as his mouth was rigid, and he would try and lift his head if we weren't stroking him - basically the quieter we could keep him the better he was.
It is horrible to see, but you kind of get used to it, and like I said before as he got older they became very infrequent - he had a very bad fit when he was about 9yrs old that lasted 30 minutes, but otherwise they were usually over very quickly.
I can't comment on the medication as our lab was put down 15 yrs ago and medical science has come on since then. I just know that at the time my mum didn't like the effect it had on him, and castration (and keeping him calmer, which also comes with age) were the way we dealt with it.
 
My yorkie has had fits since he was 5 or 6yrs old (he's nearly 11 now) and as they're fairly infrequent he's not on any medication. Like you said I can tell when I get home if he's had a fit as he's a bit quieter than usual but I do suspect he has more fits than we realise. I can also tell when he's going to fit later in the day; he lurks in corners in the house, pants and clings to the labrador. He is always conscious when he fits, his eyes roll, he foams from the mouth, his body goes rigid and his legs can't weight bear.

If I'm with him whe he fits then I hold him on my lap until the worst is over, and then pop him on the dog bed next to the labrador. About 30mins later he suddenly gets up, shakes and then continues as if nothing happened. I'd say we actually see him fitting 3 or 4 times a year, but he could well be fitting more in the daytime when we're not there.

There was one time when it was much more severe than normal and he was still fitting after 15mins. I scooped him up and carried him along to the vets (5 mins walk) to ask them to put him down. Typically by the time we got there he was recovering so I took him back home, but I'm fully prepared to take him if it happens again.
 
God, how awful. Well I'll just have to see how things go. Poor little man, I feel so sorry for him. He's a bit quiet this afternoon, and I've been out all morning, so he's been with me since I got back at lunchtime and he seems a bit brighter now.

Milliemoo, he's already been castrated as he used to be aggressive towards his brother.

Thanks again for all your advice and just for chatting with me about it, it's nice to know you are there!
 
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