My dog is having seizures. HELP

[wubanga]

just got back from the vet after witnessing the most terrifying thing, my dog randomly went into a seizure, convulsing, stiff, foaming out of the mouth and lost bowel movement. thought i was witnessing her pass away. anyway she is almost 8 years old and most of the info i have seen on this site is from basenjis 14-15 yrs old having seizures, anyone know or have experience with a younger basenji having them?

this dog means the world to me, just put my jack russell down last year from bladder cancer cant take another one of these so soon.

dont really know the point of this thread, im new here, this my first post/thread ever. but would like to get involved in the community and show off my 2 amazing basenjis. and hopefully get some good news about basenjis living with this problem but this is not lookin good. she has had 5 seizures today and the last 3 were at the vet, she is still there and they are monitoring her over night. please pray for the best for amber shes such a good dog this hurts so much

ps amber is the red/white one and is almost 8 yrs old and zaar is the black one and he was 1 in that pic now about 1 and a half

[wubanga]

[wubanga]

[wubanga]

[wubanga]

[thunderbird8588]

Hi Wubanga,
your Basenjis Amber and Zaar are beautiful.
What did the vet say about Amber? I assume they are going to run tests to find the cause.
I have experience of a Basenji having fits and i know they are terrifiying to see and very distressing, just try to remember that the dog knows nothing about it and its worse for us to watch.
Hopefuly the vet will find the cause and it will either be able to be treated or managed.
Benji suddenly had a fit at the age if 12, completely out of the Blue, he suddenly started running realy fast and barking before collapsing to the ground,convulsing and foaming etc. He was diagnosed with somesort of liver problem and put on treatment, we eventualy got the fits stabalised to occuring every few months, his were triggered by certain sounds and extreme cold like frost or snow. We were given rectal valium to give as he was coming out of a fit. Of course every case is different but he did survive this.
Hope Amber is feeling a bit better today, it can take a few days before they feel right again.

[dmcarty]

I had one dog about 6 have seizures - cause was the new carpet they had put down that he had chewed up a scrap - as it was a reaction to a chemical.

Thyroid disorders can cause seizures as well as Liver or Kidney issues. Make sure when blood is drawn for any of these test that they do enough of the thyroid test and send to a basenji savy lab or person. Some on the list use Jean Dodds and some use U of Michigan. Important to do not just the T4 but the full panel.

[nala121498]

Welcome and I'll keep good thoughts that all is okay for your pup! Please keep us posted on what the vet finds…

[wizard]

Welcome Wubanga - keep us posted on how amber is doing (beautiful pups BTW - but then what basenji isn't :))

[sharronhurlbut]

Someone who on another site, has an old b with seizures, and she just waits them out and gives the b some vanilla ice cream once she comes out of it.
Seems that helps get her going again..not a lot, and I hope you check with your vet
before you do anything we suggest..
Do let us know what the vet says.
Hugs.

[tanza]

There are many reasons that she could be having seizures… any chance that she ate something she should not have? Has her yearly check ups been good, including blood work?

[nobarkus]

The foaming at the mouth sounds like an ingestion of something bad.Was she acting over excited before the seizure? I had a Basenji that would occasionally have them and the vet said her brain would misfire because she would get too worked up. Better get the full blood work up done. A low thyroid can cause seizures too.

[YodelDogs]

I agree about seizures often being related to thyroid problems. I would have the vet run a complete thyroid panel, not just the T4 that most do.

[MacPack]

I agree, it is terrifying to see a seizure. Complete thyroid panel is a good start, and keep a careful diary, starting today, of the time of day, length of seizure (it only seems like forever) and recovery time. Think back to anything new in her life (new carpet, detergents, lawn care products, etc). Then just wait and hope another does not happen. If it does, keep up the diary. Dogs may have occasional random seizures, most vets don't get excited till they come often, or are very prolonged.

A seizure uses a lot of calories, so the ice cream sounds like a good idea! Our old dog took about an hour to recover and she was disoriented but frantic to walk. We would leash her and go out into the street in front of our house and just let her walk in circles till she was exhausted, then she would sleep for a few hours and be just fine. She did that about once a month after she was 17.

Your dogs are both beautiful! I hope your lovely girl never has another seizure!

[wubanga]

thx for the warm wishes all, amber had an mri today and a spinal tap at the neurologist both came back negative, they think its possibly some sort of disease or infectious. took her home sedated, she woke up paddling her arms and screaming and peeing, rushed her to the emergency vet, said her body temp was low and they are gonna monitor her thru the night. this sucks love that dog so much, she better be ok.

also her blood work was perfect and they did thyroid testing not sure if they did full panel but ive paid 4,000 so far so i would assume they did and i will check on this.

[wubanga]

[wubanga]

amber shedding her winter coat, its funny when we lived in ct she never got a winter coat then moved to va and after first summer she got one. big humidy change in dc

[wubanga]

crazy the neurologist i saw in leesburg va knows my fiances sister, just got ahold of her and asked bunch of Q's , they think its possibly she developed epilepsy at an older age, i mean i know that is unlikely but i pray that is the case rather than something worse.

i have never been so freaked out in my life seeing ambers first seizure, i cant imagine seeng another one. this is so rough. i thought the worst was happening to her and after putting my jack russell down last yr from bladder cancer i just cant take this anymore. love dogs so much hurts so much seeing them in pain. i mean shes only 7 yrs old just didnt expect this so soon. gonna post a few more pics for your enjoyment, glad to be a part of this forum. basenjis are the best! my jack was 12 when she passed , funny part is my dad is a dog trainer in tolland ct and caspers mom is still kickin at 15 or 16 yrs old, and active as hell.

does anyone know the basenji in ct named romeo? hes a 14 or 15 yr old basenji and he goes to some competition every year and wins biggest basenji and curliest tail lol and a few other awards i believe. romeos owner mariyln is a very nice lady and even watched amber for me once when i went to a concert!

[wubanga]

[wubanga]

btw i feel like im posting the pics way to big, im using tinypic to upload them anyone know how i can make the pics smaller? thx in advance