• Hello all!
    One of my B's was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy a few weeks ago. He is 6. I was just curious if any of you have "older" B's that have epilepsy? We started him out on phenobarbitol but he had severe side effects so we stopped and put him on keppra, which takes a lot longer to build up in the blood stream. I believe he had one seizure since the switch (it was during the night, he peed his bed, he never pees his bed) so overall he is doing okay.
    Thanks! It's been forever since I've been to the forum, I forgot I was even a member 😛


  • No experience with Bs with it but so many long time folks here sure someone has.


  • @equis8:

    Hello all!
    One of my B's was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy a few weeks ago. He is 6. I was just curious if any of you have "older" B's that have epilepsy? We started him out on phenobarbitol but he had severe side effects so we stopped and put him on keppra, which takes a lot longer to build up in the blood stream. I believe he had one seizure since the switch (it was during the night, he peed his bed, he never pees his bed) so overall he is doing okay.
    Thanks! It's been forever since I've been to the forum, I forgot I was even a member 😛

    I have not had any experience with epilepsy, but sending good thoughts your way….. sounds like you are getting it under control. Not a usual problem in Basenjis that we know of....


  • our English bull terrier developed seizures,out of the clear blue she went down,scared the crap out of us plus it was like 1 am, call the emerg vets etc. long story short we started her on her on phenobarbital, , we change her food and started making our own along with home made treats (dog friendly) , or vets really cant pin point what causes them.she had good days and bad, she sometimes had cluster seizures (3 or 4 in a row) we were up many many nites with her,cause after she had them and started to come out the that state of mind she was in she'd walk blindly into corners and get stuck, but eventually come back to normal like nothing happen,we were so in tune with her we know that sometime that day she was going to have one,please im not trying to frighten you im just relating our story, during this time when i mention it to people seems like someone knew or had problems like this with all different breeds of dogs they come and go with no problems,and lived a normal life, i wish you our best please keep us posted


  • Thanks for your post.
    We haven't been able to figure out any cues as to warn us he will have one. I know that he's had a few, but he has them at night when we are sleeping. I'm a heavy sleeper and I have slept through the 4 that I suspect he has had since November. He never wets the bed, yet four times now he has. One of those time my husband happened to be just getting in to bed (he works nights and was home a little early that evening) heard some weird noises, went to investigate and thought that sid was choking because of his collar. But now we know he had just had a seizure. Just after New Years Sid had another one right next to me while I was reading on the couch. At that point I knew without a doubt that those mornings when he had peed his bed (and last week when he peed the bed) and the night the hubby thought he was choking were all seizures. Luckily he hasn't had any clusters of them. They all seem to happen late at night (as I usually don't go to bed till 11-12). The one he had next to me I think may have been a cluster, because he seized for a while then stopped for about 45 seconds and immediately seized again. Of course at the time I didn't think to time it, it seemed to last forever. I just stood there watching him almost fall off the couch.
    He developed severe anxiety with the pheno, and he would fall over because his hind end was so weak. He would scream for HOURS after I went to bed. Nothing helped, I tried desensitizing him to the lights being off. I tried moving his kennel. I tried setting up a gated area with his bed. I even gave him benedryl. Nothing worked. We stopped the pheno and within 48 hours he was back to his normal self. So he's on Keppra right now.

    Anyway, I was just interested to know of anyone with B's that developed it late in life. Sid turned 6 on Dec. 20th.
    Thank you for your story. And no worries you didn't scare me 🙂 I've dealt with epilepsy before. Just not with my own dogs.

  • First Basenji's

    One of the B's at 3 Basenji Amigos, the oldest one, is epileptic. Their momma is very nice. If you get in touch, she'll get back to you.


  • thank you 🙂


  • we had a female basenji who had seizures also..however she was diabetic and had to be on insulin for 6 years…...we installed sheet covers...bought at target that kept the mattress from getting wet from accidents...we also had a male who developed seizure late in life. due to cancer issues....we kept him off any "mind altering" drugs....hehad seizures but we felt the odds of having seizures was better than a drugged up basenji....make sure your vet give you all the options....


  • He is going to see the neurologist on Wednesday (2 1/2 hour drive). His anxiety got bad again so the vet told me to stop the Keppra (this is why we had to stop the pheno). He's been off it for 3 days, and had two seizures yesterday and still has anxiety. We are worried there is something more severe going on as the severity of his anxiety has increased. Even after getting a shot of valium last night to stop the seizure he was still anxious all night long. And as you all know a screaming basenji is not a pleasant experience. It's hard to tell if the anxiety is due to the drugs or the seizures or from some underlying cause. He's never had these issues before. He is definitely not the same dog as last summer. I can't imagine having to sedate him for the rest of his life, and if he still was having anxiety 30 minutes after the valium, what is prozac going to do? Thanks everyone for your well wishes and support. I will keep you updated as to what the neurologist says on Wednesday.


  • you might want to try a holistic vet especially if the siezures are not too frequent.


  • A friend of mine has an elderly B who has been having seizures roughly every 6 weeks for the past couple of years. I don't think they have ever discovered what is causing them but they give him valium to stop the fits and he sees a holistic vet. I know they have seen some results from this.

    I hope you get something sorted to ease your poor boys suffering.
    Hugs to you and your B 🙂

  • Houston

    I am so sorry to hear of this..sending well wishes and good vibes, hoping you will all get a handle on this swiftly..poor guy.


  • sending you good vibes, and so sorry to hear about the seizures.

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