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My 6 yr old beagle ate chocolate a day ago, which we just figured out, and starting having seizures and posturing. He is also very lethargic. Can I still give him activated charcoal to absorb whatever toxins are still in his system and how much? Any help is appreciated.
Our dog has been having seizure episodes, is there anything we can do to help her?
She is a two year old border collie mix. They have been recurring late at night since mid October about every other month. When they happen she loses her balance and can’t walk, she has heavy drool, and she vomits and loses control of her bowels.
These symptoms last around twenty minutes. She has the shakes for about an hour after she regains her balance and the other symptoms pass. After about two hours she is back to acting like herself.
She’s very scared while these are happening, we’ve been comforting her until they pass. Is there anything we can do? What could be causing these?
Hello,
Please (please) see your veterinarian about these. There is much to discuss and perhaps some options to help treat them. Here is some information. I have a few blogs on seizures. Find them all here. http://kmdvm.blogspot.com/2013/05/seizures-what-i-tell-parents.html?m=1
This is something that your veterinarian needs to deal with. I would urge you to get your dog to your vet right away and explain, in detail, everything that has been happening and how long this has been going on. Good luck.
I have a 5 year young border collie lab and she has these episodes where she starts licking/salivating, sometimes lip smacking occurs. Episodes last about 1-2 hours. Her heart rateia normal 69-80 bpm. Her breath doesn’t stink. I brush her teeth daily. Pupils are responsive (no epilepsy or seizures, she doesn’t lick the air just her mouth) She has had a general blood test done. Her kidney/liver function, electrolytes, thyroid, hormones, and her Red and White blood cell count were all normal. Test results were all normal.
I would discuss conditions like megaesophagus, reflux, seizures, and neurological issues. This is a condition that very likely needs a vets assistance to diagnose.
My friend just decided not to euthanize her cat of 18 years old today. The cat is blind and suffering from seizures, as well as dementia. She seems alert and ok, today, though. Do you think that this was the right decision?
PS- the seizures are causing the cat to fall down stairs and other accidents.
I’m sure everyone has different thoughts on this, but my heart tells me it’s a quality of life question. If pets primarily live in the moment, it’s a shame for the last moments to involve suffering. It’s so hard for us to say good-bye because we still love and enjoy our pets even if they are no longer enjoying life.
Thanks, Laurie- yea, it’s just a tough call. Today was a good day, but no idea if or for how long that will continue.
It’s a tough call, your friend knows the cat better and will have a better idea of if she’s really suffering.
Oh
My dog had puppies at 3:30a.m.and have not had any more seizures and it’s 12:44 AM is this normal I can feel it she has and have not had any more seizures and it’s 12:44 AM is this normal I can feel that she has another popular
I don’t consider it normal for a dog to have seizures while whelping…and I’m not sure why you bred a dog prone to seizures? Any questions about the dam or the whelping itself should be directed to your reproductive vet.
How know if your boxer dog is dream or have seizures when my dog sleeping he run in his sleep
Most dogs are dreaming when things like running and twitching happens. It’s a normal part of their sleep pattern. What makes you believe this might be seizures?
Seizures are very different, even scary. Normally they happen when the dog is initially awake and the dog can not be aroused from a seizure but can be from a dream.
If you think it may be a seizure, try to wake the dog (call by name,not by touch so you don’t get bitten). Try getting a video to show to your vet.
Three weeks ago he ate some play sand and then yesterday he ate some aquarium rocks(the real tiny ones). Since he has eaten the sand he has started having seizures off and on. He has been to his vet but I have not gotten any answers to my questions. Im trying to get advice and help, I am truly worried about my boy.
HI THERE, MY DOG HAS EPILEPSY. HE IS ON POTASSIUM BROMIDE AND PHENOBARBITAL. GERMAN SHEPHERD. SINCE STARTING MEDS HE HAS GAINED 45 POUNDS. HE HAS ATAXIA, WHICH IS GETTING PRETTY BAD. WE DECIDED TO SWITCH HIM TO A DIET DOG FOOD TO HELP HIM LOSE WEIGHT, SO THAT WE COULD ULTIMATELY LOWER HIS MEDICATION DOSAGE. OUR VET CONCURRED. SHE DID NOT MENTION THAT CHANGING HIS DIET WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE SALT LEVELS BECAUSE OF THE BROMIDE HE WAS TAKING. AS SOON AS WE SWITCHED HIS FOOD HE STARTED SEIZING. HE HAS HAD ABOUT 7 OVER THE LAST 2 DAYS (HE WAS SEIZURE FREE FOR ALMOST 3 MONTHS). WE LIKE THE NEW FOOD WE PICKED BECAUSE IT IS BETTER QUALITY (FROMM) AND DOES NOT HAVE ROSEMARY EXTRACT, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO SEIZURES. BUT WE DON’T KNOW IF WE SHOULD STOP IT AND GO BACK TO HIS OLD FOOD, OR HOW TO TRANSITION BACK/FORWARD. HE WAS PREVIOUSLY ON NUTRO LARGE BREED ADULT FOOD. I CANNOT FIND THE CHLORINE CONTENT FOR NUTRO, BUT THE CHOLINE CHLORIDE CONTENT FOR FROMM IS 2887.63 IU/KG (71.47 IU/100 CAL). I DON’T TRUST MY VET ANYMORE TO ASK HER, AS THEY HAVE NOT TOLD US ANYTHING ABOUT BROMIDE AND SALT LEVELS. I HAVE HAD TO RESEARCH ALL OF THIS ON MY OWN, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO VETERINARY TRAINING. APPARENTLY, GOOGLE IS MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN MY DOG’S VET. IF SOMEONE COULD ADVISE US ON NEXT STEPS WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT. WE WANT A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OUR DOG, ONE WHERE HE DOESN’T SLIDE HIS BACK LEGS DOWN THE STAIRS AND FALL DOWN BECAUSE HIS BACK LEGS ARE TOO WEAK. SO WE KNOW THAT A DIET AND LIFESTYLE CHANGE IS IMPORTANT. BUT WE NEED SOME ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE CHANGES, AND HOW FAST/ HOW TO TRANSITION, BECAUSE EVERY TIME WE CHANGE HIS DIET IT APPEARS TO TRIGGER SEIZURES (WE SWITCHED HIM TO LIQUID BROMIDE BACK IN MARCH AND RIGHT AWAY HE GOT CLUSTERS AND ENDED UP IN EMERGE AND SEVERELY MEDICATED FOR A FEW DAYS). WE DON’T WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN, SO WOULD PREFER TO FIX THIS ON OUR OWN. BASICALLY, I’M ASKING, SHOULD I GO OUT TOMORROW MORNING AND PICK UP HIS OLD DOG FOOD AND SWITCH HIM BACK COLD TURKEY? OR SHOULD WE STICK WITH THE NEW BETTER FOOD AND SEE IF HE GETS USED TO IT AND THE SEIZURES STOP? OR SHOULD I BUY HIS OLD FOOD AND MIX IT WITH THE NEW FOOD FOR A WHILE, AND WILL THIS EVEN HELP? IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN DO? THANK YOU KINDLY FOR YOUR TIME. “
My question would be whether it’s the change in itself or something else present in the food triggering the seizures. I do agree that rosemary extract seems to be suspect in contributing to seizures. I also agree that putting on weight isn’t good for anything. My best recommendation would be to work with an integrative vet at this point. I know a number of people who used this modality for managing seizures with great success. An integrative veterinarian can also be of great assistance with diet and actually food therapy, as well as acupuncture and herbal therapy, all of which can be quite helpful. If it was my dog this is the direction I’d go in from here.
Hi, I have a 16 year-old female Chihuahua/Lhasa-Apso who has been prone to seizures for several months and has been taking medication to prevent this. However; several days ago she had a convulsion – and since then, she has had an increase in jitters, seems mostly unresponsive to petting, has lost appetite, her tail is nearly always limp, and she appears lethargic.
On top of this, she also sounds as though she has fluid/mucus in her lungs, as she takes raspy deep-breaths every now and then. Since this morning, she has begun coughing up clear/bubbly + thick fluid every so-often, is refusing to drink/eat/ take seizure medication.
Her last check-in with the vet indicated that cancer was not present (At least, in her organs) and her blood did not indicate high cholesterol or diabetes.
Given the symptoms listed, what do you believe my dog is suffering from, and is there any medication/preventative measures I can treat my dog with to combat this illness?
Thanks 🙂
Dog has almost made a full recovery over the last few day. After discussing with my vet, this can occur if she doesn’t take her medication or vomits it up, as well as if she had eaten food that is high in protein. I think that she must have vomited her pill up, and as such we’ve been increasing her dosage until we’re certain she’s completely well again. On top of that, we’ve changed her diet slightly by removing kangaroo meat from her food and only using white meat. The food we give her is always home-made and has been approved by the vet. Sadly, due to my dog’s conditions and already prescribed medication, if this were to occur again, the best they could prescribe is either antibiotics or, if it gets very bad, we may have to have her put down.
However, like I said earlier, she is back to her normal and happy self, demanding food and is playing madly with our other dog. Thanks for your comment 🙂
This morning I got up, and as normal my 2.5 y/o Lab mix (95lbs) jumped up from where he was sleeping on the floor beside me, and followed me into the bathroom.
As we were leaving the bathroom, I noticed he was having trouble walking. His front legs were straight, but his back end was in a squat position (almost like he was going to take a poop) and shaking very hard.
He was trying to walk back towards the bed, but was having a lot of trouble. I panicked thinking he was about to poop, and tryed to drag him back onto the tiled bathroom floor. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped, and he seems normal again. I assumed it was maybe a muscle cramp or hip spasm.
My husband had told me a few months ago that he’d seen the dog have “seizure-like” shaking and today said it looked exactly the same. Could this actually be a seizure? Duke seems fine now, he ate his breakfast no problem, and is acting like his normal self.
Should I be taking him to the vet this week? Would they be able to do much with only knowing of two episodes?
i would absolutely notify them of the incidents, with dates, times, and durations if you’re able to give that information. they may want to see video of future episodes, as well as immediately bringing him in the next time this occurs.
If I’d had my phone on me I would definitely have videoed it. But I’m not even sure I would have had time. The whole thing lasted maybe 10-15 seconds. I can’t remember when my husband noticed the first one – he told me about it at the time but I brushed it off thinking he was over-reacting
understood – just trying to help you think of things the vet will probably want to know, especially going forward. they may also want to know about potential triggers…so, what the dog was doing just before the incident, whether they were calm or excited, etc. context clues can be a huge help with things like this.
I agree. Seizures always warrant help from a vet. Please go immediately.
I’m not a vet, but once a dog has started having seizures, you should skip giving him activated charcoal and take him to the vet. If he ate it that long ago, he’s already absorbed most of the toxins. Activated charcoal is only effective before he’s absorbed toxins, not after. It may be a costly visit, but seizures are never a good sign.