Question about neutering and seizures

[Trudy]

Hi everyone

We are weighing whether to neuter our lab Sarge, who is nearly 4. We've held off because he has epileptic seizures and we didn't want to stress him out, which seems to trigger the seizures.
But we've got a female who needs to go through a heat cycle to resolve a recessed vulva and so Sarge is now panting more and looking upset and pursuing our female Trudy around the house, which we think triggered a seizure yesterday. Its like he can't settle down suddenly and is panting and panting, even at night when it's his bed time.
Not good.
We've worked really really hard at controlling his epilepsy. We switched to grain free, which really helped and we keep him out of the heat and free of stress. All of this has kept him from having seizures, but now that our 9-month old is starting to smell good to him, he's very, very stressed out and panting all the time.

My fear is neutering him well sent him into a seizure period again where he's having them frequently, as was the case last year. We want to avoid the Pheno Barb route if possible.. Does anyone know if neutering will make him less obsessed and focused on our female? Or will neutering not even matter? We are going to spay her after her first heat cycle, which is supposed to help her avoid a life of UTIs due to the recessed vulva. I'm trying to weigh what the best option is for his health. That's our only concern.
Thanks!

[Labradorks]

It sounds like it'll be a temporary situation, so can you medicate him just until your female is spayed? There is a chance that he may still be interested in her after she's spayed, but it should not be nearly as much. If that's the case you can look into neutering him.

[POPTOP]

Have no experience with seizures but the signs Sarge is exhibiting certainly is spot on for an intact male dog around a female in heat. Understand why you are waiting to have your female spayed. Is there anyone who can temporarily keep the female while she goes through her heat? It would be for about 4 weeks. After that, life for Sarge should get back to normal and then in about 3 months, between cycles, she could be spayed.

Sorry Sarge is going though this. You're kinda caught in between right now. I have no information on neutering in a dog with known seizures.

[Trudy]

Thanks everyone. The trouble is that Trudy isn't in heat yet, so this could go on for months. I think placing Sarge would be stressful for a very long period of time.

[Labradorks]

She may be heading toward a heat, however, and he can smell what you cannot see. She could go into heat at any moment. Did you ask the breeder when her mom did? That is generally the time when her daughters will. His reaction would not be this way if she wasn't very, very close. I would be keeping them separated starting now.

[Trudy]

Yes, we calculated, based on her mom and sisters, that her earliest heat would be ten months, so, I guess maybe we are not too far off. I think I'm going to go for neutering Sarge.
I feel it is a risk to his seizure situation, but he's so hyped up, probably it is best in the long run as apparently heightened interest in females can also trigger seizures.
The times he has them tend to be on days when he smells a female in heat, somewhere near our house, and he just goes crazy.

[3ChocMom]

She's not even in heat and he's acting this way? I would say that's not normal. I don't think neutering him now, if your female is potentially that close to coming into season, is going to help the current situation much. It takes time for the hormones to drop off after a neuter, it's not immediate. So if you do it now and she comes in within the next month or so, you're probably still going to have an issue. But considering he acts this way when there's a girl around your neighborhood, neutering him would probably be best. Whatever you decide, I would start thinking about ways to keep him separated from your girl, in the interest of his health.

[Trudy]

I believe the breeder suggested his interest in her would start before the first heat. She's going on nine months. Vet says neutering will lessen to some degree his anxiety and obsession with her. We probably should have neutered him earlier.

[JenC]

Another thing you can look at for the seizures is to make sure that the food you are feeding is not chicken or lamb based. I don't particularly think it's the grain, but rather some proteins according to Traditional Chinese Medicine are "hot" which don't help "internal heating" issues like seizures. How often are the seizures?

Jack started having seizures at 2 and we fixed him at 4. He had no problems with the surgery. Our vet was aware of his problem, he's not on medication for them. I woul just make sure the vet knows and opt for the blood work option before the surgery. I am sure he'll be fine. It's an easy procedure, no where near as invasive as a spay.

Your dog will still remember the smell but the drive to do the deed will be removed.

[Berna]

I'd separate the dogs till the female's heat cycle ends. Separate rooms or even better, if someone can keep the older dog in a different house.

Some neutered dogs continue to pursue females in heat.