Quote:
Originally Posted by Islandgirl
Hello! One week ago today, my previously healthy 7 year old German Shepherd had two seizures (approx 5-7 min each, involving his whole body) within a 12 hr period. We took him to the vet immediately, where they did bloodwork, urinalysis and a full physical checkup. The vet said that all his results looked fine- no sign of illness, stroke, epilepsy, etc.- and no follow up, other than to return if he continued to have seizures, was recommended.
Since that time, he's been eating and drinking well, but seems somewhat subdued. Additionally, although he used to always bark when someone came to the door or another dog came by the yard, he has stopped barking almost entirely, and when he does bark, it comes out as a high pitched "yip," not his usual deep bark.
He doesn't seem to have any trouble swallowing, breathing or eating, and is not panting or drooling abnormally, so I'm really not sure what could be going on...does anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any advice!
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Hi Islandgirl
Welcome to the board. So sorry it's under these circumstances. If the seizure lasted 5-7 minutes, there's a possibility of brain and organ damage. You said the vet checked him and ruled out epilepsy? Unless there was an MRI done, that isn't possible. "Idiopathic Epilepsy" can be caused by many things. The term "Idiopathic" just means the origin is unknown, but suspected to be genetic. The thing I would be concerned about is the dogs age. Idiopathic epilepsy usually has a much earlier onset, though it isn't impossible at age 7.
Our baby started having seizures at 2.5 months old. After a lot of testing, it was discovered that had meningoencephalitis which was causing the seizures. We did get him over the meningo, but they suspect he now has brain damage which has caused Epilepsy.
There are several medical issues which can also cause seizures. A common one is a liver shunt. Being that your dog has never had any issues until now, I would hope that your vet is looking at all the possibilities. A Bile Acid test is a pretty easy one. That's one of the first things that should be ruled out. A lot of vets will look at the liver enzymes and if they aren't elevated, they will not look into it any further. But what our vet had said is the enzymes won't always be elevated and will look quite normal as the shunt inhibits the function, so, in turn, will not show elevated enzymes because the liver isn't working. If your vet hasn't reccomended any additional testing, I think I'd be looking for another vet.
Good luck and please let us know how your boy is doing! Pictures would be nice