dog having seizures?

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Last night I was awaken by my 3 year old dog. He was trying to get up on the bed and was really scared. When I got up, I noticed he was shaking and couldn't hardly stand up. It lasted just a minute or so and then he seemed fine. Does this sound like a seizure? Or could it be a deficiency in a mineral or something? He seems otherwise healthy, although I've never been able to get him to gain as much weight as the female and they eat the same amount of food. Any ideas? Thanks.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), June 08, 2002

Answers

Well, it doesn't sound good. The first thing I would do is take his vitals...temp, resp. Check the reactiveness of pupils, and look at mucous membranes for enemia...inner eyelids etc, will be very pale.

But you can't do a blood test and that's probably one of the best diagnostic tools in this case. I would probably have him looked at. The weekend thing is emergency and way more expensive, if he seems ok for now, I'd watch em like a hawk and make an appointment for next week. I would be concerned, though.

It could be any number of things. Sure a siezure. Something nuerological caused by a many different things. Or enemia, again, even worms could cause enemia, dizziness...but I'd think that sort of thing would worsten. Or poisoning? See, it could be anything! :(

Good luck!

*Interesting sidenote. We have a dog that woke up one morning last year, stumbling and disoriented! She was probably 8 mths to a year old. Frightened badly!! I checked her over, and her eyes were fully dilated and unreactive. She was blind, completely blind. Fine when she went to bed, blind in the morning. We had her tested....and basically they said she was blind. They had a fancy term, but it meant, ubrupt, unexplained, total blindness. Duh. It wasn't poisoning, it wasn't....anything they knew of. We brought her home, poor baby. She got her sight back over a few days, it came back bit by bit. Weird, huh?

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), June 08, 2002.


Thanks Patty. I think I will take him for a check up, just in case. He's been acting normal today, eating good and wanting to play. He's my baby and it scared the heck out of me last night. He was scared too. I'll be sure and check his eyes if it happens again soon. That is so weird about your dog! I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing. Glad to hear the sight cleared up. :)

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), June 08, 2002.

Annie, sounds like your dog is afraid of ghosts ! ! You need to burn a red candle and a white candle.

( Just kidding ! ! ! Just kidding ! ! !)

-- Granny Hen (cluckin along@cs.com), June 08, 2002.


Hee hee....Granny, when I reread my post, it did sound funny, like the dog did see a ghost!!! I hope he doesn't wake me up again tonight, or he might see one! :)

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), June 08, 2002.

Annie, Our male dalmation did the same thing at 2 years old.Very scared coming to me shaking til it passed. Took him to the vet and they ran all kinds of tests.She said she could only rule out other stuff and make a guess of epilepsy. She was right. He continued to have seizures twice a year for several minutes. He would Always seek me out before hand.She wanted to medicate him,but that would have been daily.Not only was money a concern ,but they put them on barbituates.His weren't severe,so I just kept an eye on him.The vet said it is most common in male dogs 2 to 5 years old.Good luck.

-- Cheri (cmv@netnitco.net), June 09, 2002.


We had a dog that had seizures for years. He had his first one at about 3 years old and had them until he died at 13. Some were pretty bad and some were mild. We just let him ride them out, he usually tried to find somewhere to hide like under a table, his coat got dull and funny feeling and he would be very sleepy afterwards. He lived a very happy life though.

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), June 10, 2002.

Thanks Cheri and Joanie. He's been acting normal ever since that night. He eats well and is very active, so I think I'll just keep an eye on him. Thanks again!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), June 11, 2002.

I have a 10 year old shih tszu who has had 'seizures' most of her life. She starts rocking,staring blankly,and becomes stiff and unresponsive-first time Irushed her to the vet and he said low blood sugar. He told me to rub syrup on her gums when I see one starting and after 10 minutes she comes back to normal. Five minutes after that you would never know anything had happened except she is very,very hungry so I hand feed her some peanut butter or baby food. She has had them for so long now she seems to be able to somewhat control them. Try to remember if your dog ever looks like he is watching an imaginary flying bug -that is often the first sign and it's usually missed.

-- doglover (bridgetsmom@wmconnect.com), June 15, 2002.

I really appreciated finding these postings. My pug just had his first seizure (1/2 hour ago). It scared the crud out of me. It's after vet hours and I didn't want an unnecessary huge bill. After reading all of these posts, I'm going to just have him sleep with me tonight and watch him. I'm positive it was a seizure though. His symptoms fit all of your descriptions to the letter. The "watching an imaginary bug" and "staring blankly" are what convinced me. He seems totally fine now. Just stood impatiently waiting for me to change my bed (he peed on it) so he could hop up and go to sleep.

-- Tay (taymansonhere@aol.com), December 06, 2002.

Be certain to take your dog to the vet, even if the seizure passes and doesn't seem to have lasting affects. The vets now days have medications to help control the seizures. Not having your dog seen by the vet is dangerous. Just as if you son or daughter had a seizure, you would want to know why and what to expect in the future. Responsible pet owners, please take your dog for regular check ups at the vet, and if you notice anything abnormal, such as a seizure, take them in and have them tested. We owe it to our animals to care for them, and get them proper medical attention. They can't do it for themselves.

-- Grace (graceaweaver@attbi.com), December 17, 2002.


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