Seizures in dogs

Hi ,

I haven't been on the forum for a while but thought it was worth posting my recent experience with my lurcher.

Apologies for the long post and thank you if you take the time to read

Tom is an 8 year old lurcher who has been very healthy , I adopted him when he was 2 and he will be 8 this year.

He had a seizure a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share what happened and what I have learned in case its of any use to other forum users

Tom had a seizure out of the blue early one Saturday morning , he vomited some yellow bile which was not the first time this had happened first thing in the morning but straight after he was wobbly on his back legs and ran off down the stairs to the kitchen as though he as very scared of something and collapsed in the kitchen with a grand mal seizure.

He was unconscious and emptied his bladder ad his anal glands during the fit which lasted around 2 mins. When he came to he jumped up wagging his tail looking at us wondering what had happened.

We took him straight to the vets who carried out a full blood screen to include full blood count , urea and electrolytes and blood sugar. All came back normal.

Tom is 8 so the chances of Idiopathic epilepsy were slim as this occurs in dogs normally of between one and five year. The chances of a brain tumour were 50/50.

The options were an MRI scan and spinal tap to rule out a brain tumour and as my insurance covered this we agreed as I wanted to know what we were dealing with so I could do the best I possibly could for Tom.

This went ahead on the Tuesday following a thorough examination by a Neurology Specialist vet who thought he showed some ataxia in the way he was walking.

After a really stressful day we picked Tom up having had the great news that there was no brain tumour and to await the spinal tap results. These too were negative.

The outcome is Tom has Cryptogenic Epilepsy potentially which means Epilepsy from an unknown secondary cause. He may have eaten something on a walk that caused it and a multitude of other reasons.

I have had a really quick increase in knowledge on dog seizures and have lots of really good resources I am happy to share.

Tom is back to his lovely normal self and we have medication to administer that if he does have another seizure at least we can stop it.

Its been a stressful time but I am so grateful my lovely boy is ok.

Sorry for the long thread but again happy to share any of the really useful resources we have found during this time

Awww sorry to hear about Tom, glad the results were negative and you found the possible source.
Fingers crossed you will not need the meds again.

I am sure your information will be very useful.

Hi Lynn , thank you

I don't think you realise until you go through something like this how useful information is , hope all is well with you and yours

Hello Maureen what a scary experience you had with Tom, I am pleased to hear he is back to his usual self now.

Fingers crossed for Tom,bless him.He is so lucky to have found such a loving home,is in the very best hands,that's for sure (( hugs))

Sorry to hear of Tom's seizure - you must have been so worried about him. Good to hear that the tests were negative and that you have meds ready in case they are needed.
Hope he continues to be well xx

I'm sorry to hear of the fit but glad that the MRI and spinal tap were negative.

Thank you , it sure was but he is doing fine now apart frm his itchy baldy head !

Thank you , he is really good now and hope it continues

Hi Meg , thank you he is well thank goodness