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  1. #1
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    Seizures and excitability

    I have a 9 yr old Lab. About 3 years ago, he had a seizure that lasted about 10 seconds. We took him to the vet, they ran some tests....everything was normal. They explained that dogs can have seizures, to keep an eye on him. They would like to see a pattern before putting him on any meds. As far as we know he never had another one until a couple years later...this one was about 5 seconds. He had another very small one...no tremors but just a little out of it. We have noticed that the incidents have occurred after excitability. This would be after running around or one time when our grandkids were over their was a lot of noise and excitement. Or else, we would be playing and he would start running around then stop abruptly and would pant. I am going to get an appointment with our vet to discuss this but would like to hear if anyone else has had the same experience with the seizures after excitability. Thank you.

  2. #2
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    Overheating. Excitability causes overheating and overheating exacerbates a tendency for seizures. I've had two yellows who had this.

    Brutus "just" had a tendency to overheat...mostly from external temperatures, though, since Bru was a very mellow boy. He'd also had heartworms/treatment before we got him and that may have been one of the causes. His seizures proceeded from petit mal to grand mal. We honestly didn't know at the time that he was having seizures at first.

    Honey was a screwball...very hyperactive and anxious. She developed seizures at the age of 6 and was diagnosed by a holistic vet....hers were from internal overheating. It didn't have to be warm out (started during a very cold winter, after running in the snow). She had three petit mal seizures, each one more pronounced than the one before, within a week or so. We were instructed to change her diet....kibble feeds the fire and food sources have different temperature values so we needed to steer toward cool/warm value foods. [Traditional Chinese Medicine assigns temperature values to foods based on what they do to your body...this is not the temperature of the food as it is being eaten.] Honey's seizures stopped for many years with just this food change (we'd already taken steps to try to contain her hyperexcitability, so that helped, too). She also moderated her exercise level...didn't want to run for as long during a fetch session, for example. When she developed hind end weakness, she was so frightened by her own condition, that her anxiety level caused seizures to start up again. She was 11 at that time.

    If you Google Traditional Chinese Medicine food temperature values, you'll come up with some links showing categories of food sources. Again, avoid kibble totally. We used canned but raw/cooked if you're more dedicated to food preparation is good. Here's just one: https://sfraw.wordpress.com/2018/03/...ovel-proteins/

    You'll note that two of the most common proteins we use for dogs are hot: chicken and lamb. Not good for a dog with this tendency.

    There are others here who've had seizure dogs and followed this...hopefully they'll see this and pitch in.

    Note: Our traditional vet was clueless with this but totally on board with what the holistic vet said. If your vet is traditional, your discussion may or may not be all that valuable at this stage of the game. Since your dog's seizures have been few and far between, and clearly associated with activity, your best bet is to attack from the standpoint of food. It can only help.

    Good luck!

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  4. #3
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    No experience with mild seizures. I don't know if I would even notice one. We've had a couple with full blow grand mals, there is no mistaking them.

    Have you ever checked to see if your dog has EIC? He may feel something coming on, which is why he stops and pants.

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  6. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    No experience with mild seizures. I don't know if I would even notice one. We've had a couple with full blow grand mals, there is no mistaking them.
    Mulder eventually progressed to full-blown grand mals around when he turned 15 (he lived until almost 16) but for about a year before that he had what in retrospect we think where small focal seizures that looked like he was trying to catch a fly. They seemed to be triggered by direct sunlight. I thought the episodes were odd, but didn't realize they were probably seizures until after he progressed to grand mals. We never had tests done to confirm but due to his age and progression they were pretty sure it was a slow growing brain tumor.
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  8. #5
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    Not sure if I am posting this in the right place. Just wanted to add that my Lab Jake has had only one seizure where he actually laid down on his side where his legs were shaking. His other times were an unsteadiness or a lip twitch. Jake is a very laid back dog. We believe that these incidents occur because he goes from zero to a hundred and since he is so so low key...it sends him into this type of reaction....sort of fires off something in his brain. We watch to keep his excitement level down but like last night he went flying around the yard (which he rarely does) and put himself over the edge. We will watch him to see if this helps. Our vet is aware of his problem. Thank you to all who replied!

  9. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by JoAnn View Post
    Not sure if I am posting this in the right place. Just wanted to add that my Lab Jake has had only one seizure where he actually laid down on his side where his legs were shaking. His other times were an unsteadiness or a lip twitch. Jake is a very laid back dog. We believe that these incidents occur because he goes from zero to a hundred and since he is so so low key...it sends him into this type of reaction....sort of fires off something in his brain. We watch to keep his excitement level down but like last night he went flying around the yard (which he rarely does) and put himself over the edge. We will watch him to see if this helps. Our vet is aware of his problem. Thank you to all who replied!
    Honey's petit mal went from shaky/lip twitch to shaky/lowering to ground/general uneasiness...three seizures. When they resumed after we corrected the situation (anxiety late in life), they were more pronounced but not the full blown grand mal seizures that Brutus had (major shaking/loss of bowels and bladder/etc.).

    The excitement causes overheating. If you get a handle on these now, you may be able to prevent progression to more serious/more often seizures in the future.

  10. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    Honey's petit mal went from shaky/lip twitch to shaky/lowering to ground/general uneasiness...three seizures. When they resumed after we corrected the situation (anxiety late in life), they were more pronounced but not the full blown grand mal seizures that Brutus had (major shaking/loss of bowels and bladder/etc.).

    The excitement causes overheating. If you get a handle on these now, you may be able to prevent progression to more serious/more often seizures in the future.


    Thank you you for this information.

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  12. #8
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    Hyperexcitability can initiate seizures in some dogs. I saw a Lab that would have a seizure when he would chase birds. It wasn't the exercise, but the excitability. This basically means that the brain wave function is higher in him than in other dogs and when he gets excited, it pushes his brain over the edge and a seizure happens. These sensitivities in dog's brains are hard to pinpoint a cause, but in many years of practice, I know that the diet can be a major factor. I too practice Chinese medicine as well as conventional medicine. In Chinese medicine, almost all seizures are cause by rising yang, caused by imbalanced liver. There are some exceptions, but as a rule, this is the case. Feeding a warming diet such as chicken, beef, lamb or venison will only exacerbate this problem. Feeding a cooling protein will often help. This would include turkey, pork, rabbit or fish. I like turkey because it has L-tryptophan in it, which calms the brain. Also, feeding kibble will often cause leaky gut syndrome, which causes the gut to improperly handle protein conversion to amino acids. These chemical byproducts often enter the blood stream and cross the blood brain barrier and cause the brain to do unusual things. I have seen many Labs stop seizing when put on a fresh, non-processed diet, using turkey as a protein source. If your Lab continues to have seizures, I would include a holistic approach to resolution. In my experience, I have had much better luck going this route than using conventional drugs. Good luck.

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  14. #9
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    Some information circulating the internet right now is seizures caused by some flea and tick preparations. I wonder if this could be a factor, exacerbated by excitement?
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  15. #10
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    I was trying to post a new thread but not sure where so I’m adding to my first thread. My dog Jake is 9 years old. He had his first seizure in 2017. Almost a year later he had another. In 2019 has had 2 in February and one in March and one in May. All have been after excitability...getting excited and running across the yard for example or getting excited with play. He will get wobbly and go down...only once did he do do the paw peddling. Jake is a very laid back dog. I spoke to our vet and he suggested a seizure workup. He fasts overnight and then next morning at the vet he will be given a higher protein meal and then do blood tests during the day. Has anyone ever had this done? It might give some info on what is actually triggering his seizures. I really don’t want to start him on any medication due to the side effects which can cause more problems. His seizures are on the light side and as long as he doesn’t get over excited he is fine. We are going to see how he does over the next month. I am finding that a lot of dogs have this condition. I would appreciate any advice or recommendations. Thank yo very much. JoAnn.

 



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