Enyo, our 12-1/2 year old male basenji is having seizures. First, we thought it might be his liver… diet changed and liver is good as can be. 4 months later he has had 2 seizures in 2-1/2 weeks... he was back at our vets this morning and we had the worst news we could have had... Seems his seizures are 1 of 3 things... Senility, which we have ruled out, The other is called Granulomatous Meningo-Encphalitis (GME) we started treatment for this but wont know for a week or so. And the last... our nightmare is a brain tumour. We are looking into getting a brain scan soon to either know for sure or rule it out. Please if anyone out there has any information, suggestions, or words of wisdom for us please, please let us know.
I have no suggestions, other then older dogs (all breeds) can and do have problems with seizures…. fingers crossed that you get some good news.
Hi.
I know how scary seizures can be in your dog. My older guy suffered from them since I got him from BRAT at age 7ish. He lived to 15. I never found out exactly what the cause was and they happened for the most part infrequently. Very Occasionally there would be 2 in one week, but mostly it happened maybe 3-4 time a year, and certainly there were more towards the end of is life at 15 but for the most part we just suffered through them together… In most cases, as he got older they seemed to work as a reset and within a day or two he would actually be more energetic and recharged than he was before. I thought of it as a watch winding down that then got wound. I weighed out the side effects of the meds, vs the side effects of the seizures and chose not to medicate. In the end the seizures may have played a role in the end of his life but it was a great one and the seizures were just a small part of it.
Also, and i have no proof that this is true of really helpful (but it made me feel better) I would give him dairy following a seizure. I have been told there is something in dairy products which is replenishing to something lost during a seizure. So after the seizure, and a walk (when he could) to shake the willies out, we would come in and he would get a small bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Im sorry or what you are going through. It is so scary when your dog is suffering and you cant stop it.
Hang in there, Erica
Has an abdominal ultrasound been done? I would have this done first as a brain scan is expensive. Has a blood test been done immediately after the seizure? I have had two elderly dogs that developed seizures and both had liver tumors.
Jennifer
thank-you so much for your reply..he had his bloods taken a week before the 2 recent seizure and the vet was very happy, a worry of liver levels had been brought back to normal…he has suggested during the week that there is only 5% chance its not a brain tumor, he is on medrol steriods and seems to me doing worst....Im spending hours online researching and am dreading taking him for the mir, vet has suggested an xray which he can do at our local surgery will also comfirm tumor.... will also mention ultrasound.... many thanks for your reply... Siobhan annd Enyo
I hope you find a solution to your problem. One of my girls had a bad seizure at 13 years of age. We didn't do a brain scan, but my vet suspected a tumour. We gave her a course of Prednisone, which is known to shrink tumours, and she did well for many months. When she had symptoms again, we repeated. She lived to just short of her sixteenth birthday, when the seizing became too bad to continue. She had almost three years, and most of it was good.
We would like to comment but we do feel we have enough information. The diet was changed from what to what? Seizures can be the product of an allergy. Has an exclusion diet been tried? Allergies can develop at any time. Also Dog foods reformulate and they are not required to tell you, so there can be an ingredient\s that were not there before. So please let the forum exactly what food your dog is currently being fed and how long they have been on it. This way it can be looked at carefully for anything that might be a trigger.
Its also important to know what treats, brand and type, that you give your dog. Also please list any supplements you might be giving your dog.
Recently we had friends that were giving their dog a supplement to their diet. The dog started having seizures. When I suggested they take away the supplement because it might be a source of an allergy, the seizures went away, and the dog is back to normal.
We are not suggesting that your case is similar, but sometimes its something very simple that you would not expect that causes the issue.
Thyroid depletion can effect both liver and seizure threshhold; have his thyroid levels been checked? If not, that might be a good place to start. I personally think your veterinarian's rule outs are a bit out of the bell curve without further information.
Good luck.
I forgot about mentioning low thyroid. My girl is taking thyroid supplementation and I assume most people test for thyroid. The vet should have asked though.
Jennifer
Thank you for your post. It has given us a ray of hope…no matter how small. We have gone for a second opinion and the 2nd vet is doing a complete work-up, including a 'seizure blood testing'. Hoping that even if the result is still a tumor we might be lucky to have 2-3 more years with our boy.
