Dog has started Fitting (13 week old German Shepherd Dog)

Hi there I got a german shepherd puppy 3 weeks ago which was going fine until friday when he started running about barking and acting strange for no reason.Yesterday he started having several fits so I phoned the emergency vet who told me to watch him and to call back if he has several in 30 mins or fits lasting longer than 3minutes.
Today he got worse he was fitting,not eating or drinking and would not move so we took him to the vets he had a real bad fit on the vets table so they rushed him off to a padded cell to sedate him.
Obviously he's been admitted and they vet is talking about it could be fluid on the brain or something hes been born with.
has anyone heard of anything like this before and what the outcome can be?

After 3 weeks he's like my little baby and im so worried about him hes now 13 weeks and is hate to lose him.

Awww I'm so sorry to hear this - it must be heartbreaking for you I haven't really any advice on fitting although I am sure someone will be along soon who can give you some good advice. I will cross everything that your beautiful gsd pup will be okay and that it is only a one off type of thing. Have you tried phoning the breeder to see if she knows anything that might help or if all her other pups are okay?

Hi Sabs - sorry to hear about your dog fitting, I can imagine how worried you are.

If it is epilepsy then you have a good chance controlling it with medication - take a look at this article written by Snorri: http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=14937 once the drugs take effect the dogs can lead a fairly normal life

If it's not epilepsy the vets will try to find out what is causing it and will hopefully update you as soon as they know.

In the meantime try not to worry and try to read up about the topic as much as possible as (there are loads of threads on the topic in this section) that way you'll be in a better position to ask your vet questions and they'll also get the impression you know about the condition too.

I hope you get news soon and please keep us updated too. *hug*

i have been through it before with my old boy a boxer of 10 years.
he was fine in the am by dinner he started drooling for no reason just not him normal self but you could tell some thing wasn't right.
like yourself rushed him to the vets with no idea what was going on they kept him in put him in a quite place run blood tests etc, nothing shown up.
i left him at 2 by 4 he had his 1st fit......so the part i saw was pre siezure they put him on drugs only to call me to tell me they thought he had fluid on the brain.
they was trying to rule out the usual things though test.
all they came up with is inflammation of the brain poss in the cellebrum part of the brain.
he had another fit at 9pm which was life threatening due to the time he was in it.
he lost use of his legs although he still had all the nerves etc but couldn't stand.
they did what they could to treat him but he didn't improve by the morning he was in a world of his own he didn't know us or respond to us in any way.
the vet ssaid all the drugs where doing was stopping him from entering another fit but without them he was on the verge of another.
plus there could have been some type of brian damage from the big fit the night before.
the only thing they said was to have an cat scan done of his brain to see what was going off but it would have been a huge risk and the treatment wouldn't have changed.
so we said our goodbyes even though he didn't know us he was in a world of his own.
the only conclustion that had a logical explaination of what happened and why in the 24 hours was a blood clot that had burst and then shown itself because of how it affected his brain fuctions.
there was no warning and he never had any nurological issues all his life but what ever it was he wasn't going to improve. i hope your little one gets better they did say it could have been some type of infection so i hope this is the case for your little one and it can be treated.

How awful for you and your poor dog - I'm so sorry for you and know how you must feel. If it helps you to not feel so alone - my dog started fitting back in February but he was over a year old (have a search for posts by me about seizures and epilepsy). He underwent all the tests (including a spinal tap and MRI scan for tumours), other than thyroid, and was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy - which means they don't know what's causing it. We are currently treating with potassium bromide (KBr) and trying to get the right dose for him. His fits have gone from every 10 days to almost 5 weeks (expecting another batch any day now ). He suffers clusters too, which sounds like your dog (more than onein 24 hours). The standard treatment is phenobarbital but my dog had an adverse reaction to this, which is why, after reading really positive reports of KBr alone on the Guardian Angels website (links below) I pushed for him to be on this drug. I did try dietary changes and natural remedies but his clusters only worsened and so we had to go down the drug route.

Obviously nobody on here can give a diagnoses - your little chap will need to have blood tests and perhaps other tests in order for them to determine what the cause might be, but don't despair - there is information out there and drugs that can help if necessary, as can dietary changes (certain preservatives in commercial dog food can bring on seizures (eg BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin).

Your dog is very young and I have posted a link to a Guardian Angels Canine Seizure website which gives possible causes of seizures by age - I hope this is helpful and gives you some info to discuss with the vet.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-...s_seizures.htm

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

Have you considered hypoglycemia? This is low blood sugar and many cases of puppy seizures have been linked to this. In this case you would need to feed little and often in order to maintain blood sugar levels. Organic ice-cream at night (about a tablespoonful) has been shown to help with this overnight.

After a fit it is really important to offer water and food as it really takes it out of them, eg a salt-free rice cake with honey on, ice-cream is good.

Have you thought about possible toxins, eg something he might have ingested or been exposed to that could have brought this on?

Here is the contents page of the Guardian Angels website for you to have a browse through:

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-...m/site_map.htm

I am really sorry for your poor pup and hope you get this sorted out.

Sadly some bloodlines in GSDs are prone to epilepsy & it is quite common in these bloodlines

The National GSD Helpline has a lot of information about epilepsy & siezures in GSDs

Edited to add this link as it actually mentions siezures under 6 months of age

Research has shown that many GSDs have actually been line bred to known epileptic dogs unfortunately these dogs are now well off the pedigree, but their legacy lives on

Paws crossed for your little one & a speedy recovery

As has been said it can be in some GSD lines, have you spoken to the pups breeder they should be able to throw some light on the pups background, if they are honest that is. Otherwise it is a case of finding the level of medication to control the fitting. However he is very young and it could be something else like a high temperature or infection. Would get the pup to the vet sooner than later.

The poor little pup is already with the vet Pita, just hope he is okay

I wish your pup all the very very best - keep us updated. xx

i hope all goes well, please keep us posted

Best wishes
Alex
xx