Help: Seizure Behavior?

[Dogmama]

My Golden Retriever has a 2 year history of seizures; we just adopted him from a rescue group in April, and he has gone from April until this week with no seizures. He has had 2 grand mals this week; the most recent one was 3 AM on Friday. I took him to the vet Friday and he was doing fairly well; wagging his tail, greeting everyone, but was kind of leaning to one side when he stood. By 9 PM Friday, he seemed a bit subdued, and was have issues with his hind legs giving out. He couldn't get up from laying on the kitchen floor and had to be helped up; today he is having huge issues getting up and down our stairs (we live in a 2nd floor apartment with no elevator), and he has fallen down at least 4 or 5 times today inside and outside.

To be honest, he looks very sad. I do not know what to do. He has a great appetite and is drinking, but right now he looks so old and worn out that my heart is breaking. Could all of this be part of the post-seizure phase? He was doing much better yesterday than he is now, and to see the light gone from his eyes and see him stumbling around like he is today is gut wrenching.

[Rgeurts]

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Our youngest has Grand Mals as well. It's horrifying to watch, not to mention heart breaking

The post ictal phase can last anywhere from minutes to days. I would give it a at least another day or 2. One thing to consider is a stroke. Although it is rare in dogs, as we have recently learned, it does happen. There is a test you can do to see if it is neurological. Take his hind leg, flip the foot under and see how long it takes him to flip it back. Do it with both feet. If there is a delay, or he isn't back to himself (or if his issues worsen, he stops eating or drinking), you may want to consider a vet visit asap. Our old boy has recently had surgery. He had the bottom 3rd lung lobe on the left side removed. He has Malignant Histiocytic Sarcoma and is now just about to finish the last of his chemo treatments. He had what appeared to be a seizure a little while back, but they also believe now that it was a small stroke. He is displaying a lot of the symptoms you have described such as weakness in the hind quarters, falling etc. I wish you both the best and hope your boy is ok

[Dogmama]

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I am so sorry to hear of what you and your dog are going through right now. It is so incredibly hard to see our furry family members so ill.

Actually, one of the tests that we did with our Golden was the foot test, and he will stand there oblivious to the fact that his foot is not flat on the floor, and then will eventually put his foot flat on the ground.

Today he is much better, and hasn't fallen; in fact, he managed the stairs without stumbling at all, so it would appear he was still in the post-seizure phase yesterday. We will get his bloodwork results on Monday, and the vet can then determine if his medication will need to be adjusted to ward off those wretched breakthrough seizures.

I wish you and your doggie the best, and I thank you again for your encouragement.

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by Dogmama

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I am so sorry to hear of what you and your dog are going through right now. It is so incredibly hard to see our furry family members so ill.

Actually, one of the tests that we did with our Golden was the foot test, and he will stand there oblivious to the fact that his foot is not flat on the floor, and then will eventually put his foot flat on the ground.

Today he is much better, and hasn't fallen; in fact, he managed the stairs without stumbling at all, so it would appear he was still in the post-seizure phase yesterday. We will get his bloodwork results on Monday, and the vet can then determine if his medication will need to be adjusted to ward off those wretched breakthrough seizures.

I wish you and your doggie the best, and I thank you again for your encouragement.

I'm glad to hear he is doing better
Do you have him on pheno? If so, that can cause a lot of other medical issues as well. I don't know if you have a holistic vet where you live, but we have a wonderful man here who has saved our babies life. He was on phenobarbital, Azathioprine and Prednisone for months, it almost killed him. His growth was stunted between 5-6 months old, he had severe joint deformities (was basically walking on his "wrists") and was constantly spitting up and having tummy troubles. He ended up with internal bleeding and had to have a blood transfusion and we were told not to expect him to make it much longer. That was almost a year ago. The holistic vet was our last hope. He said his goal was to introduce us to our puppy (he was on heavy medications since 3.5 months old) He took him off all the medications, put him on Chinese herbs and a few different homeopathic remedies, and gave us our boy back. He has been such a puppy ever since
He still has issues, and always will, but the holistic vet thinks it will all be manageable, and the only thing he's on to control seizures is the herbal combinations.

Both of our boys have issues. The one with the possible seizure/stroke and cancer, colitis and prone to pancreatitis, then our baby who is just 1.5 yrs old now. He is the one with the grand mal seizures. He also has an immune-mediated disease, hypothyroidism, pica and numerous other issues. It's been so many years since I have had a "normal" dog that I don't even remember what it's like
And yes, it is incredibly hard to watch them go through everything they do. But I think we love them all the more because of it
I wouldn't give either of them up for the world!

[MaxaLisa]

If it hasn't been ruled out, I would check the thyroid, and also for tick disease in any seizure dog.

My dog didn't have seizures, but she had a lot of other symptoms mentioned in this thread. In her last year, I managed her with chiropractic care and the antibiotic doxycyline, which also does other things, like act as an aniti-inflammatory.