Longtime member, not active. Had a basenji with the same diagnosis back in 2004. He took a tremendous amount of bicarb each day, his Fanconi was being well managed, but he started having seizures at night. Our vet gave us something to stop the seizure that we'd administer rectally. We kept track of the number of seizures and they started becoming more frequent, to about twice a week, if I recall. The final seizure he had he went temporarily blind and howled and howled and we knew that was it was time. I just sat on the floor with him and cried. A couple months later we looked at photos we had taken of him right before and he looked very, very tired. Very much the hardest thing we had ever done was to let him go across the Bridge, but after looking at those photos, we had done the right thing. Our vet had told us that it was possible he would have a seizure and not come out of it, and we certainly didn't want that.
Chance had a seizure
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Last night we were all sitting on the couch watching tv, Chance was asleep. All of a sudden Chance yelped and started shacking. We took him on the floor and he was completely still and tense, his eyes were open and he was not moving and drooling a bit.
It lasted about 1-2 min, he then came to his senses, got up and acted like nothing happened. He had a drink of water, went outside and peed. Then came we came back into the house, and our other dog who witnessed the seizure was not too happy with Chance, so we had to separate them for a while. Now they seem to be fine, with occasional growl.
We called the vet and made an appointment for today. Chance gave us a real scare, he is only 3.5 yrs old and this has never happened before.
He is normally active and alert, eating/drinking well, current on his vaccines and does not exhibit any symptoms of illness.
Reading various posts here it sounds like it could be anything, food, poison, liver, kidneys, neurological thyroid etc.. so we will see what the vet says. Some remedies are medication for seizures, petcalm and cold water/icepacks for getting them past the seizure.
Meanwhile we are prepping for dealing with another and hoping for the best and that this was just a fluke.
Alex
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Alex, my parent's dog (not a Basenji) had ideopathic (unexplained) seizures occasionally during her long life, starting around age three. Her seizures weren't serious enough to put her on meds, they just calmly sat with her when she had one, and she came out of it quickly, and then was very tired. It may be just a one time thing, or not. I am sure it was very scary! The only thing I would do for sure, is to make sure you don't leave the dogs together when you aren't homeā¦just in case he does have seizure, and the other dog reacts badly again..she could really hurt him as he is coming out of it. I am sure she is really scared by it as well.
I hope you vet can give you some answers...you are in my thoughts.
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Good luck, My whippet had her first seizure after getting overheated on the coursing field last May at age 3.5. She has had a mild one like your dog about every 6 weeks since, always just as she starts to go to sleep for the night. Nothing found in the bloodwork or exam, she is not on meds, but our holistic vet does give us supplements for her, not sure if they are helping or not, but she has not gotten any worse.
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Thanks Andrea,
Good point about separating them, right now they have a free roam of the living room when we are at work and are always together. I am not sure how separating them is going to work, but it might be best until we figure this out.
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Alex, my thoughts are with you and Chance. That must have been a scary thing for all of you to experience. Wishing Chance the best outcome possible.
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I hope Chance is okay after this incident. It would be very informative to see what the vet says so pls. keep us posted.
Casey (my 1st
had only 1 seizure when she was 10 yrs. old. When I got her at 2 yrs. old, my vet already saw a small growth in her liver and was hypothyroid. When this happened, I knew this was a symptom of something bigger. The growth in her liver started growing larger since her seizure but even though it was benign, it was located in an inoperable area.When she had her only episode, I took her to emergency (it costs a ton of money) since I was so scared and this was the first time I've seen a seizure. Since then, I've read a lot about this topic on the forum and learned that it wasn't necessary to do so (at least, not in her specific case). I should have just scheduled a regular vet appt the next day (since they really didn't do anything different that a regular appt would have done).
Pls. keep us posted on Chance.
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Hope Chance is alright now and you get some answers at the vets.
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Chance has been ok so far today, active and playfull, on the way to the vet right now. Our female B is still holding a grudge against him, we were told that since she saw him go through the seizure she is trying to push him out of the pack.
We will need to do more bonding and play activities with both of them in the coming weeks, to get them to get a long.
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Your other dog may just be spooked by his behavior, he acted unpredictably and she does not understand. We have had dogs with grand mal seizures and fortunately, all the other dogs were very concerned, but with no aggression. Yes, play and long walks together will help re-unite them!
Most vets tell you to keep a good diary, time the event, what was happening before and after, how severe, etc., and don't treat unless they become too frequent or debilitating.
Hoping that Chance is OK and that it was just a fluke. -
Sadly, attacking dogs during seizures isn't uncommon, so glad you are going to separate. Often dogs have one seizure and never have another, so hopefully that will be it. Sending good vibes that the testing is all clear.
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Thanks for everyone's support! It's about 10:30pm and Chance was under watch all day, just acting normal and playful, we hope it continues that way. Took a bunch of tests at the vet today, so we will see what the results will say.
Vet recommended to put him permanently on low dose of potassium bromide, as the alternative phenobarbital is more toxic and could cause liver issues. So I guess we have a couple of choices, wait until this happens again and spare him from the meds, or put him on Kbr and hope this never happens again. We will see what the tests say.
Found a good site with a wealth of related info:
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SO glad to hear that Chance is doing well. Please keep us posted on the little guy's health!
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So far so good, Chance is acting normal since the seizure epsiode. Our female is still growling a bit, but is less aggressive. Just waiting for test results now.
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Keeping fingers crossed, Alex. Dang it is so hard when something is wrong.
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Alex I'm so sorry to hear about Chance but happy to hear that he has been ok since the seizure. As others have said, not unusual to have there be some growling going on from Kiya. Based on my experience, time will fix their relationship.
FWIW, when Brando broke his leg (playing with Ruby), there was some serious hate going on between Brando & Ruby and vice versa (mostly the vice versa :rolleyes:). I was told by my breeder and my vet that it was normal and that the most important thing for me to do was keep Brando safe until he was healed and then worry about letting them be together later. For the 8 weeks that Brando was in a cast, the only true together time they had was a walk in the morning. My brother took Ruby, I took Brando - but we walked together. Otherwise they were separated by a baby gate. At night Brando slept in the bed with me and Ruby was crated. If I needed to leave the room and couldn't keep an eye on them both, Ruby was crated. About 6 weeks in, all the hate and growling stopped. Ruby would start to kiss Brando if he came near the gate. At 8 weeks, the cast was off and they were back together without a hitch.
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Alex..I am so sorry to hear about Chanceā¦Hoping he has no more seizures and that him and your female gets over their issues and goes back to normal again..
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I hope that Chance 's seizure is just a one off. I agree with Denra when she says that other dogs will attack a dog having seizures - I do hope the little bitch calms down around Chance soon. It can be such a worry when this happens.
My thoughts are with you.
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Chance is doing fine, he is active and is not showing any signs of having any issues. All medical tests came back normal, and his low dosage of potassium bromide is coming in the mail tomorrow. I am still unsure if I want to put him on that, we are going to seek more advice from another vet.
Chance now tries to play and paw grumpy female, he has no clue about what happened. They share the bed sometimes, now more than before, but Kiya still growls at him on occasion, probably expressing her dominance and discontent with what happened. I think time will heal their relationship, we do have to put her in place sometimes, when she gets really grumpy with Chance.
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Alex, have you had her thyroid checked?
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Hers or his? Chance had a full panel done just now.
