Seizures?

J.C. Blair · Post by **J.C. Blair** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:55 pm

Heres what happened. This evening I was feeding dogs and one of my males has been healthy his whole life and a strange thing happened. After he ate and drank a couple drinks of water, he dropped hard to the ground on his side and stretched out stiff as a 2X4 and jerked uncontrollably. Did this for about 10 seconds and then got up and looked a little un-steady on his feet and then returned to seem normal as usual. He is up on all shots, worming, ivomec, etc.

Was this an epileptic seizure? Was it a sugar fit? His gums were normal in color and his stool was normal as well, no worms, blood, etc. Have been checkin in on him routinely. Have heard of dogs doing this, but this was a first for me in 20 yrs of owning beagles and caught me a little off guard. Gonna see if it returns, but may go to the Vet on Monday to have blood work done.

Thanks in advance.

bill (flint river ) · Post by **bill (flint river )** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 6:31 am

sounds like one. i had a lab years ago that would do that. but it seems a bite odd that he is older having them. he may have a sugar promblem. i would have the vet check his sugar. my lab started at 6 months old having them.

Beagled1 · Post by **Beagled1** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 11:56 am

I'd have to say this sounds like a classic epileptic grand mal seizure. Sugar fits are very uncommon, and would only occur after hours of hard hunting - they would never occur after feeding, as the blood sugar level would be at a higher level. He should have bloodwork and a full thyroid panel done to determine if ther is an underlying problem.
You may also want to consider that even true, inherited epileptic seizures have triggers ... food was a trigger 95% of the time for my epileptic. There are certain ingredients that should be avoided in there diet of an epileptic dog, such as wheat, soy, or artificial coloring. A food change might help, but will not be a cure, though.

J.C. Blair · Post by **J.C. Blair** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:40 pm

I was feeding him Purina Pro Plan Chicken/Rice 26/18. He has acted normal since the episode. Going to take him to the vet Monday for bloodwork. Thanks guys.

tiffinis · Post by **tiffinis** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:04 pm

Does sound like the seizures our old Golden retriever used to get. but he started getting them at about 2 and they worsened through his life. we could keep them somewhat under control with meds. but if he over heated... would go right into one.

Beagled1 · Post by **Beagled1** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:48 pm

J.C. Blair wrote:I was feeding him Purina Pro Plan Chicken/Rice 26/18. He has acted normal since the episode. Going to take him to the vet Monday for bloodwork. Thanks guys.

How old is this dog?
Pro Plan does contain wheat, which is a major food allergen, and exposure to those allergens can sometimes trigger seizures. Also, it may have nothing to do with this, but I know two other breeders (one Beagle & one breeding Cavaliers) who are having a $***load of trouble w/ Pro Plan lately ...

J.C. Blair · Post by **J.C. Blair** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:57 pm

He is 5 yrs old, I have fed this food for about 3 yrs now, so it wasnt just an over-night change in feeds. Not seen any problems since friday evening when this happened. Taking him to my vet in the morning for bloodwork and a check up.

BJK · Post by **BJK** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:35 pm

What was the verdict from the Vet?

J.C. Blair · Post by **J.C. Blair** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:50 pm

He has not had another one since. The vet said that he had one for sure. He said that he could go and not ever have another one or have another one soon. Did bloodwork and everything came back perfect. We are going to monitor him closely. If he starts having them more often and more violent, then we will look into putting him on medication.

Bunny Runner · Post by **Bunny Runner** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:04 pm

JC,

There are alot of studies that link nutrition to seizure activity. Some grains can trigger them and some recommend grain-free foods to prevent or lessen the chances of others.

There is also some information on seizure activity with hormone imbalance, but I'm still researching this one. There's a great book that I am reading about this at the time. It's called Pets at Risk and it covers all types of "illnesses" that are seemingly idiopathic (without plausable cause) that through over 30 years of study and research, have shown hormone imbalances are causing most of the problems in our dogs today.

http://www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/Research/hormone.htm