My dog is having seizures. HELP



  • always loved this pic, zaar at about 3-4 months id say


  • zaar vs rotty named fenway


  • 5 mins later


  • miss beautiful as that vet put in the written write up of ambers exam today


  • She looks like a sweet heart… prayers headed her way.. and for you too


  • @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?

    shes had all her vaccinations, i really dont think she ate anything bad im with her pretty much 24 hrs a day since i work from home. we had bloodwork done 6 months ago cuz we were concerned about her being a bit lethargic and needing more water than normal, everything came back fine. as they did this time too, but something is def wrong i pray we find out soon.

    the neurologist prescribed zonasamide a med for anti seizures…..clinddamycin .......doxycycline which are both antibiotics

    first vet bill $1300, next day $3100, tonight $600-1200 more is our estimate.......rough, but i would pay any amt to keep my dogs healthy and as comfortable as possible


  • Don't assume they did a full thyroid panel, ask. Here is a site with articles on hypothyroidism and epilepsy, http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/Thyroid.htm

    It is always hard when they are sick but it is really important for us to be sure to ask questions and really try to understand what each test is supposed tell us and how the results guide the next step.


  • thx for the site, been checking it out, lotta good info, apreciated, as for your comment about dont assume. i said in my post i assume they did it for the amt of money i paid but i will ask about this.


  • I just say don't assume because I learned the hard way that what you would assume was done isn't always what is done. That is also why I said it is important to know what tests are being done and what each will give information about. It is very difficult when we know they are sick and we want so badly for them to be better and know how to help them.


  • ya sall good , just in a bad mood….thx again for the link

    and im tryin to learn as much as i can about this so i can be better prepared in the future.


  • I also forgot, has your girl been tested for Fanconi? You had mentioned increased water drinking earlier. In some dogs with Fanconi there are also neurological issues that develop.


  • Wish all of you the best will say a prayer for answers soon and better health. Take care.

    Rita Jean


  • @lvoss:

    I also forgot, has your girl been tested for Fanconi? You had mentioned increased water drinking earlier. In some dogs with Fanconi there are also neurological issues that develop.

    That was going to be one of my questions also. Have you strip tested her for Sugar in her Urine? Or was it done with her latest blood work?


  • @tanza:

    That was going to be one of my questions also. Have you strip tested her for Sugar in her Urine? Or was it done with her latest blood work?

    she has been tested for everything, i have it all documented.

    well heres the update on her, i got her home finally no more seizures since the originally day when she had aprox 5 of them. shes still acting "drunk" coming off the drugs, but shes doin good got her in a nice padded crate so shes not walkin around into walls and such. shes still being pretty vocal but its partially because she hasnt been in a crate in 7 yrs since she was a puppy and absolutley hates crates. still no real diagnosis yet but in the written report it says "we are prescribing 2 antibiotics (clindamycin, doxycycline) for amber, in order to empiracally treat her for some rare infectious diseases that can cause seizures" .

    so thats as much as we know so far, i will keep everyone updated on the last test. they tested some fluid not sure exactly what type.


  • Do you have a copy of the blood work? Does it specifically say that they checked for sugar in the urine? Did they do an ultrasound to check out her internal organs?

    Here is a good link about Seizures in Dogs and some of the causes
    http://www.buzzle.com/articles/symptoms-and-causes-of-seizures-in-dogs.html

    However most everything says most common cause is Epilepsy. here is another interesting link
    http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Why.html


  • They would have had to do a urinalysis to look for sugar in the urine so if only bloodwork was done you may want to pick up some urine test strips and test her just to be sure.

    What were her thyroid numbers? Were all the values well within in the normal range or were they toward the low side of normal? If they were toward the low side you may want to submit the panel to Dr Dodds since she works with many basenji clients and get her opinion.


  • Glad to hear Amber is doing well. Lets hope it is an infection and the seizures were a one off 🙂


  • @lvoss:

    They would have had to do a urinalysis to look for sugar in the urine so if only bloodwork was done you may want to pick up some urine test strips and test her just to be sure.

    What were her thyroid numbers? Were all the values well within in the normal range or were they toward the low side of normal? If they were toward the low side you may want to submit the panel to Dr Dodds since she works with many basenji clients and get her opinion.

    they did urinalysis, glucose level was high the first day, 134 on august 5th the day of the seizures, the next day it was down to 92.

    i have all the numbers for the tests, which abrevation is the thyroid #s im lookin thru and cant find them, there are all kinds of numbers and abreviations just not sure which one is thyroid, thx for the help all. amber is the best just tryin to make sure shes gonna be ok and thx to u guys for helping me make sure the vets did all the tests and the correct ones.


  • If a full thyroid panel was run there should be values for, T3, T4, Free T3, Free T4, T3 AA, and T4 AA. If they only ran total T4, that is not enough to rule out a thyroid issue.

    If she tested positive for glucose in her urine and her blood values are normal then she may have Fanconi and blood gases would be needed to determine the course of treatment. http://www.basenji.org/PUBLIC/HealthInfo.htm

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