<p>Back in August 2008, we adopted an adorable “schnoodle” - a poodle/schnauzer mix. Otto is now 4 years old and an important family member. The first year that we had him was fine. But in August 2009, he had his first seizure. Initially, after consulting with our vet, we decided to just wait and see. In December 2009, he had a second seizure and we spent several hundred dollars on blood tests and such to arrive at a diagnosis of “ideopathic epilepsy” - which basically means we have no idea why your dog is having seizures. The vet told us that chances were the seizures would continue and would become more frequent. His options were to do thousands of dollars worth of tests, including a CAT scan, to try and arrive at the cause, but he also said we could spend all of that money and still not have a solution, or start Otto on phenobarbitol. We decided to wait and see.</p>
<p>Since then, Otto had a seizure in February, March and today. So, clearly, they are becoming more frequent. They are not severe - he does not lose consciousness. He loses control of his legs and shakes violently for about 2 minutes. Sometimes he drools a lot during a seizure - sometimes he pees. Afterwards, he is a little disoriented for about 5 minutes. Playing and back to normal after 10 minutes.</p>
<p>So, what do I do? I hate to medicate him - I keep reading about side effects such as lethargy and depression. He is a wonderful, playful dog - I don’t want medication to ruin his personality. But I also understand that having seizures is harmful to his brain and to his heart, etc. </p>
<p>I would like to hear from anyone who has had a dog with seizures. Did you medicate? How was that? How were the side effects? Was that the right thing to do? Or if you chose not to medicate - what happened? My vet clearly thinks we should try the PB, but I am so afraid of what that will do - would like to hear stories from other people first. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry to hear your dog is having seizures. Poodles have a genetic predisposition to seizures, which I learned firsthand when my poodle mix had three seizures a couple of years ago. At the time, however, my vet told me that spot on flea and tick treatments had been indicated in canine seizures so she wanted to stop them before trying anything else. I immediately discontinued the spot on treatments and my dog has been seizure-free since. It may be a coincidence, but I’m not taking any chances.</p>
<p>A related news release from the EPA a few weeks ago:</p>
<p>Our dog had a seizure once, after I gave him a new oral flea/tick medication. At least, I suspected that was what caused it. I’m curious as to what causes seizures, too. I hope you can figure out.</p>
<p>I know several poodles competing successfully in agility despite having seizures with some regularity. All of them are on extremely low doses of seizure medication to prevent their seizures. None of them experience particularly onerous side effects. I do know that their people give them their once-daily seizure medication at bedtime, so that the sleepy/tired stage is appropriate.</p>
<p>I also think that you might want to start your dog on a small dose of phenobarbitol – whatever your vet thinks is an appropriate minimum to try – and see how it impacts your dog’s energy level and behavior. It sounds like you are worried about side-effects (lethargy, depression) that may or may not occur for your dog. You can always discontinue the meds if it turns out to be a problem. (I don’t have any experience with dog seizures, but my last dog had pretty severe allergies, so there was always a matter of figuring out the right balance of meds for her. You really can’t know without trying).</p>
<p>Hi - we do use the liquid flea/tick stuff - as we live in a wooded neighborhood with lots of deer. I did not use it during the winter though - not in January or February - and he did have a seizure in February - so I don’t see a connection there, although I have heard people mention that before. I like the idea of trying a very low dose of PB at bedtime and seeing how that goes - that might not be so bad.</p>
<p>OMG Pizzagirl…your “standard” poodle has Addisons! I have an 11 pound dog…and I know how expensive that shot is an Addison dog needs every 25 days (and since the shot is weight dependent your dog’s bill much be hefty!)</p>
<p>My friend’s dog had seizures that turned out to be caused by a glioma, a brain tumor, and of course there are many possible causes of seizures, especially in poodles.</p>
<p>If my dog was having seizures, I would watch, wait, and treat with inexpensive meds, keeping my pet comfortable and pain free. I would not get all involved with thousands of dollars of people-level tests and treatments. Horrendously expensive, and no guarantees of a good outcome.</p>
<p>My personal opinion, although I am a pet professional. YMMV.</p>
<p>I also currently have a dog with epilepsy. I can say he has had bad years and good ones. He has not had a seizure for months now. His seizures were always mild and and rare - perhaps a few times a year, so we never put him on medicine. He had the first one around one year in age. He went through a year, when he was 5 (he is now 6) where he got several seizures in a month, so the vet said to put him on medication immediately.</p>
<p>It turned out very poorly for us. He became miserable - he seemed depressed, couldn’t keep up on a walk around the block, packed on the pounds, and seemed to no longer have any desire to be. I think he associated the medicine with this. We always put it in food and he would take it right away, eventually I would have to shove it down his throat to make him take it. I eventually thought that his quality of life was non-existent and decided to stop medicating (you need to gradually come off the meds). We stopped in January and he soon returned to his old self and has not had a seizure since. I’m unsure if there was some type of stimulant or what - but unless he is consistantly seizing more than once a month I will not put him back on - I can’t stand to see him like that again. He was on a very small dose of phenobarbitol btw.</p>
<p>SOad - your experience is exactly what worries me. On one hand, Otto’s seizures are becoming more frequest - since the last 3 were Feb. 12, March 18 and April 7 - we are now running less than one month apart. I am concerned that if I do nothing - he will soon be having seizures every week. But I am so worried about the side effects - like you describe. I am taking him tot he vet tomorrow and might try the lowest possible dose and just see what happens - with the idea that if the side effects are like what you describe - I will take him off the meds.</p>
rockvillemom, I have 2 schnoodles, and the male who is a month or so older than the female has been having seizures for about a year now and the female has been having something similar to them, but not quite sure if that’s what they are for sure or not… I am curious what did you do to resolve your issue. I am freaking out and had no idea that this would happen to them, and I feel awful for them… feeling lost as to what to do??
Is medical marijuana available in your state?
I’ve given some to my dog for anxiety ( prescribed by a vet), but it may work on seizures.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t hestitate to give the smallest dose of phenobarbital to see if it helps. http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana/
Did the vet note the pros and cons of medicating for a condition that appears rarely?
If this was your kid, and he was having seizures of unknown cause twice per year, with exactly the same presentation, would you put them on daily phenobarbital?
I’d have trouble doing that. For such a rare occurrence.
Pretty old thread. My dog developed lymphoma - underwent chemo which gave him an additional year of good quality - relapsed and died last January.
We did do the phenobarbital for seizures. It helped and there were minimal side effects. The vet explained that any seizure could be fatal, so it was not really about the frequency. The drawback to the phenobarbital was that we had to increase the dosage every few months, as the seizures would return. We did switch to a different newer drug that was more expensive but worked better, but I do not recall the name.
While I have no proof, there is a strong statistical correlation between dogs that develop lymphoma and homes that use lawn chemicals, which we did at that time. I will always suspect that the seizures were the first sign of his exposure. No one ever suggested that to me - he was diagnosed with ideopathic epilepsy - meaning no known cause. But once he had lymphoma, I found the studies. When we get our next dog - I will be extremely vigilant on this issue. We no longer use any lawn chemicals and will never do do again.