"Epileptic" dog help

[catfish hunter]

for near on 20 years we been getting our hounds from a bigger breeder in the mid west ,well over the past 2 years I went through hell w/ this man and decided to end it w/ him and found a new kennel to buy from .2 months ago I spoke to the old timmer and he agreed to replace a gun shy dog w/ a new one so I thought it was my last dealing w/ him but just the other day I was working out back and got to watch a my dog go into a epileptic seizur and flop around on the ground like it was gonna die ,it lasted less than 5 minutes so there was no brain damage .I rushed the dog to the vet not knowing that it was gonna cost me a weeks pay to tell me this dog is epileptic and will be like this the rest of his life ,I contacted the breeder and he said he didnt have any idea about this and that it might be suger cuz some of his dogs have it and he treats the problem w/ candy .He said to put the dog down and he would replace it ,well this isnt an option for me ,My wife has grown very attached to this dog .the vet says medicine will help but destroy his insides in a couple years ,my question is what are my options for this hound ,He runs an ok rabbit and is getting better every time out in the field .thank you for any help

[BCBeagles]

Catfish hunter

I had a male for 9 years that had seizures due to low sugar. Did the vet mention this or straight up epilepsy?
My male would started getting wobbly and kinda actin' crazy he then would go into a seizure. We combatted
this by feeding him some before we would hunt. I also would take cheese or something high in protein. This
actually works better than candy or other sweets. It creates a steady rise in the sugar and lasts much longer.
Just some thoughts. Good luck.

Jim

[catfish hunter]

it is in no way suger .I just spoke to the vet again and he said it is epilecy

[BCBeagles]

Catfish hunter,

That is a tough one. I would think this is pretty rare in beagles. They are a very tough and resilient breed overall.
I would seroiusly consider this dog be handled carefully. This guy maybe a house dog. Did the vet think the stress
of running and hunting would add to the problem? Best of luck.

Jim

[catfish hunter]

vet said it could be a one time thing or a everyday thing only time will tell ,the breeder said to kill him but I cant do that .I got a feeling this breeder is putting alot of dogs down .I am giving him a couple days then gonna run him and see how he handles .he is normal in the yard and in the kennel like nothing ever happened

[Joeyman]

what kind of food are you feeding him. Name Brand and Protien/Fat %

[Beagled1]

This probably won't go over too well, but if a dog has chronic seizures over the course of several years, it is NOT a hypoglycemic seizure, it's epilepsy. Dogs will come out of an epileptic seizure naturally, so feeding them sugar will just be coincidental. Hypo fits are normally one time deals, a combination of heavy activity with spiking/crashing blood glucose levels. The only way to diagnose hypo is to get the dog to the Vet & have a blood test done after the seizure to determine if blood sugar is in normal range. Epileptic seizures do not affect blood sugar. Personally speaking I have seen two dogs have hypoglycemic fits and have one 9yo with epilepsy - the epileptic is one of the two that had a low blood sugar seizure. The hypo fits are different and also will not occur unless there are other symptoms present. Hypoglycemia occurs in stages. There will be lethargy, confusion, and/or walking around as though disoriented. If sugar is not given during these stages, then the dog goes into a hypoglycemic fit. The best thing to do to prevent them is to stay away from grains altogether or feed ones that promote even blood sugar levels. White starches are the worst causes of blood sugar spikes (i.e. white rice, potatoes)

Epilepsy is inherited. It is generally a recessive trait, meaning both parents must carry the defective gene. If this is the case, then 25% of the litter will be affected with epilepsy. However, if an affected parent was bred, at least 50% will be affected, 25% will be carriers, 25% normal. So it's a very difficult problem to breed out once it's there. But if this breeder has been in the line for 5 years or more, it's likely he's seen this before. I'm not buying the candy excuse. If he has dogs having seizures and is breeding them, he is someone to stay far away from, and this dog can still make a good rabbit dog but should really be neutered. We have one who still can run a rabbit from time to time and is probably my best hound but had to be neutered because of his epilepsy & other health issues. Believe me, it's not worth the aggrivation to try and breed that problem out. Especially when there are so many healthy bloodlines available.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Bc beagles commented that he thought this"would be pretty rare in beagles".In fact just the opposite is true.If you go on the A.K.C. website they list every breed of dog that they register.They will give you profiles of how the dog should look such as sizes,weights,coloring, carriage, personality traits,whether they are for sporting,herding,guard dog use,etc.They ALSO will tell you about any health issues that are common to the breed and epilepsy/seisure disorder is a known common problem within the beagle breed.
I've owned two hunting dogs that had epilepsy.One a beagle that became a Rabbit Champion and had a bunch of rabbits killed in front of her and a Golden Retriever that retrieved a boatload of ducks and geese we killed.Both dogs were on daily medicine to control their seisures[which it did ] and both of them led fairly long pruductive lives.
They need to be neautured though as epilepsy definetly can have a genetic/inherited linkage.

[catfish hunter]

thanks you for all the coments ,I am feeding purina pro .the part that sickens me is this guy knew his dogs were sick and sold them he claims they just needed a little candy to snap out of it .I am done w/ big kennels that dont care

[Alabama John]

Go pick out your replacement dog with the sick dog in the box. When he tells you again that you must put your dog down to get the replacement, drag it out and say OK, here goes. More than likely he won't want it eliminated at his place and may even want to sell it to someone else more big hearted. Most folks cannot put one down nor afford the vet cost to have it done. Dog trasders know that and count on your big heart to have you keep a sick dog they sold you.
Terrible situation~ Good luck.

[warddog]

Actually I have seen several hounds with Epilepsy both beagles and coon hounds. It may not be common but it sure isn't rare either. There is medicine that can be given to them but this is a daily thing and probably a pretty good expense. My Vet stated that the cost of daily treatment would probably outweigh the value of the dog over time. He stated that if I could live with an occasional siezure that they themselkves would not harm the dog and they would recover on their own in a few short minutes. I had a Bluetick coon hound that would have one every so often while treeing and she would fall over in a siezure, come through and when she got her sense about her go right back to treeing.