Our Tiki has had seizures since 3 years of age sadly. Since he started our vet has not pushed a single vaccine on him. He is now 5 and still has one about every 7-15 days. He gets his bloodwork done, all is fine and he's healthy. Our vet just keeps slowly increasing his meds to see if it makes a difference. I tried CBD oil even... but didn't help so I stopped...

I agree, those with certain challenges are more likely to post in the hopes of looking for advice or insight!

Besides this issue, he's a happy, sweet, loving boy! Couldn't imagine life without him. :)

@tanza So far she knows all about his epilepsy journey, not the bumps yet as it's only been a week. But, yes I absolutely am going to ask her about it for advice and to let her know what's going on. Thank you for the reminder! Been so busy juggling pills and cream - and everything else in daily life. ;D I appreciate it!

@DebraDownSouth indeed. He's a trooper though, so full of love and is a happy boy but our heart aches for him. I have a feeling that even if the bumps go away with the cream and pills....... they will come back. He had a couple bumps before that acted like these - but went away on their own. Is way worst this time. No mites, parasites or fleas..... he's all A-ok there. No valley fever..... he's had ever test ran already because of his epilepsy. Other than that he's super healthy! ;D

Thank you Debra, yes it's a mystery. I may have to take him to a skin doctor vet for the bumps if this doesn't clear up. Just so odd - as it's healing it feels like his skin is rough and bumpy like sand paper ?! As for the pills, they just keep checking his blood levels from the phenobarbital 2x a day and now increasing his Keppra to 3x a day. ;) He's a sweet heart, he doesn't deserve this......

Hi guys!

Well, our beloved Tiki (who I've posted here about his epilepsy saga... which is still an issue and attempting to get controlled....) had developed bumps on his forehead a week ago. He went to the vet today and they said it was not mites, nor allergies.... just an unknown secondary infection possibly caused by one larger solid bump adjacent. The large bump was biopsied and had 'spindle shaped cells' that he said was a concern but not cancer - but to watch to see if this growth grows rapidly here soon. Must be rapid - it was NOT there last week! ;0

We were sent home with cream and anti-biotic pills.

Before going to the vet it seemed like text-book mange!! or maybe folliculitis? But neither were mentioned today.

These bumps start off in a cluster - making their head all lumpy and gross. At first he looked wet, sticky. Then it turned into balding areas with raw flesh underneath. Very nasty. He's kind of clumsy so before in the past when he got these we thought 'oh, maybe he ran into the oven door or something'.... but now I'm just really concerned about what on earth these things are!!

The large lump is a concern - watching... they'll want to surgically remove it if it grows. Seems strange that it didn't exist before these lumps arrived last weekend.

Does anyone have experience to share? :D

I'll update on the epilepsy later too..... still playing with PX dosing... he hasn't gone more than 2 weeks without a seizure since the spring! Usually 1 a week.

MANY thanks!!

@DebraDownSouth This is very intriguing !! I started finding articles about melatonin helping those with "night time" seizures....... Your mention of light sleep not deep REM sleep makes sense. If melatonin helps relieve some night time seizures..... maybe it's because the subject is sleeping more soundly?

Most articles I found said that pure melatonin (check dosing charts of course by weight) 30 mins- 1 hour before 'bed time' can help a lot with dogs with seizures - and for those who panic with storms etc.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/melatonin.htm
http://www.petremedycharts.com/Learning Center/Nutrition/Nutrition/home_cure_for_canine_seizures.html
http://www.vetblog.net/2013/01/dog-melatonin-uses-dose-rate.html
http://dog.rescueme.org/seizures

One article I found said to not give melatonin for dogs who have seizures. (at bottom)

http://ultimatehomelife.com/melatonin-for-dogs-dosages-safety-and-everything-you-should-know/

Does anyone on this forum have experience with giving their B's melatonin? :)

@Nancy-Berry Thank you so much for sharing about sweet Skippy - and the links! :) Every bit of knowledge helps for sure. Have a great weekend! :)

That is very interesting about the flickering! There are so many triggers I'm sure! :(

Tiki had another seizure....... at least just he seems to be at one a week. Still horrible for him - and to witness. Gut and heart wrenching.

A few notes I forgot to mention as 'tips' that I read about if this helps anyone:

1. IF the pre-phase is noticeable a tiny bit of honey MAY snap them out of a seizure continuing (Tiki's come on FAST..... too fast to react.)
2. during a seizure to put an ice pack only on their lower back/spine area - take off when the seizure is over. (some have felt the 'after recovery' is quicker with ice.)
3. After a seizure 1-2 Tbsp. non-preservative natural vanilla ice cream OR a 50/50 combo of honey and butter!
4. A few kibbles at a time as a post-seizure snack. (Someone said a seizure is like running a marathon..... they are often famished after.) But not so many so they don't choke.
5. One thing my vet said is that pets have 'styles' typically of seizures..... ie. the aftermath recovery - some are confused, run around the house, spin in circles, are disoriented..... while others get aggressive! That the tend to react the same way for each seizure, like a pattern.
6. The one curious observation we had - was that Tiki's always seem to happen late at night and during a heavy rest or sleeping period. He's usually on the sofa - in the zone - relaxing for hours, before one comes on. Or he'll be sleeping on our bed - and at 3am starts a seizure. I wonder if there's a REM component or something going on with 'rest'. Curious if anyone else has noticed that. Storms trigger some dogs....... thunder and lightning don't phase ours....

Thanks for being there - you guys are fantastic and appreciated.

:)

@DebraDownSouth Thank you for your reply! I'm beyond thrilled that this was an interesting and hopefully helpful bit of information!!!! :D

Some links to what I was reading include:

https://www.munch.zone/taurine-for-dogs/
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/taurine.htm
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/taurine-and-epilepsy/
http://www.cotonclub.org/How_much_taurine.pdf

Other advice from the Canine Epilepsy Forum mentioned that while the Taurine didn't 'stop' seizures....... it seemed in their observation increase the threshold of sensitivity to a typical seizure trigger / reduce tremors in their circumstance etc. ....... if that makes sense. When they stopped the Taurine - the seizures and/or tremors came right back at same intensity.

In the least..... if I can buffer any phenobarbital 'effects' with a supplement to help in any way - it's worth it.

Also to note - one article it said that Taurine requires B6 to be assimilated (or whatever the word was they used....... ;D can't remember.) I did find a Taurine with B6 at Sprouts and it was only $10 for 100 500 mg capsules.

Time for an update! Well, Tiki went 3.5 months seizure free. With our vet's blessing we had slowly reduced his phenobarbital by 1/2 pill AM then PM during that time. Mostly just to see if those prior seizures were an anomaly. Last month, his seizures came back. :( Not cluster, but at least 1-2 a week. We immediately put him back up to full dose of phenobarbital and took about a month to settle back in.

I did a ton of research for natural remedies and for now am doing the following: only using food and treats that don't have any rosemary product in it (even if last ingredient!) and also am adding 500mg 2x a day of a Taurine with B6 powder. (I take the gel cap a part and sprinkle in 1 tsp of plain yogurt.) He loves it. ;D

So far been 1 week without a seizure. Trying to not get my hopes up....... but can't hurt. The research on Taurine is interesting! Apparently their bodies 'dump out' Taurine during a seizure, and that it's something that can help protect their liver - and their heart. Most dog foods don't add Taurine and it's something they should have. (Found in organ meat - uncooked ....... organ meat. Heat kills it's properties.)

I wrote to this company - sounds interesting - though not ready to dive into that yet....... our vet says 'it's extremely promising and I hope there are more studies on it but I can't officially condone it as the industry/products aren't monitored well yet."

[https://cannacompanionusa.com/](link url)

! I have friends whose family members have severe epilepsy and CBD has been a blessing to them....

Thanks for being there on this journey!

So so very sorry ....... I love what CaliMaggy summed up so beautifully - true indeed to the core.

Big hugs to you!!!!!!

Results came in - negative for Valley Fever, all blood and thyroid looks perfectly normal. AST and creatine were slightly elevated but still normal but that could have been cause by the muscle activity in all his seizures. Now we just see how he does for 3 weeks - retest his liver blood work and go from there. Could be simply that he has idiopathic epilepsy.... then to figure out the triggers. The temperature fluctuations from cold to hot for all those days camping - and elevation change from valley to mountains, all the packing and such....... could easily be a stress! Camping has always been fine before so is a mystery.

My vet is open to reducing, changing or stopping the phenobarbital - flexible. Will just take it week to week and see. So far he's very HAPPY, still playful and not at all groggy....... he seems his normal sweet self!

Here's a photo of Tiki (left) and Hana (right) camping. :) When temps dip, they have a sweater or Ruffwear. jacket on under their Ruffwear. harness. We do what we can to keep them comfy while camping!

@LifewithAva thank you!

I realized I don't think I had even mentioned that the night I wrote my first post - he had FIVE seizures within a 30 hour period. So scary.

He's had only two phenobarbital pills so far and I'm shocked that he had zero seizures at all yesterday or last night?! Certainly not from the pills that I know - too early. So very curious what's going on. Thankful for every hour he's fine!!

I'm curious about your mention of high protein....... like many B parents we feed high protein, no grain foods..... but is that too much protein I wonder.

Right now we use Taste of the Wild - all flavors to keep life interesting. Tiki loves it. Hana only loves it the first 2 days of a new bag - then is bored. ;) My breeder has been using Victor recently and is loving it tremendously. High protein, no grain again.

What did you feed your boy?

His paternal line breeder said if the labs don't reveal anything..... look to Cushings.......

Day by day right? :D

Thanks again!!

@Alex - didn't know what CBD was..... so I looked it up. Which kind are you using? I won't be buying a thing of course until I know more from his labs. Just curious! :) Was surprised at all the variations! :0 They did have one labelled pet though, green label. Thanks!

@LifewithAva Thank you for sharing!
I'm keeping this note on file for our 'next step' to chat about with our vet. If the blood tests don't reveal anything this is a great next lead. Both of his parents are not fanconi carriers thankfully, but as you mentioned there are other related issues to think about as well.

I appreciate you writing in - thanks again!! :)

@DebraDownSouth

There are rare frogs here in AZ. We thought about that but we were right beside them 100% of the time and they were cable leashed to their harnesses right at camp. Mostly gravel around there. Had a cot with blankets that (especially) Tiki laid on the entire time. When we walked and pottied in the woods watched them the whole time and didn't let them eat or sniff anything leafy or unknown. Lots of elk poop - but didn't go near that! ;)

I just wrote an update to @Alex about our vet visit today. One day at a time..... will see what the results bring and reveal !!!

I had a nice long chat with our breeder and she suspects a low thyroid possibly......... so that's why we're running more than just the plain T4..... will see!!!! Pricey visit today - but worth it. We love our sweet boy so much.

Thank you so much for listening and being there!!! xo

@Alex

Thank you Alex for writing!!!

Was a long sleepless night last night!! Tiki had two more seizures!! :( Thankfully our vet called me back before they opened and got us right in. She's running completely blood panel including full thyroid (not just T4) and also checking for Valley Fever too. She felt 'no' to any kind of worms, parasites..... wouldn't cause seizures..... also felt 'no' to tumor due to his very young age......... but will see. Will take 48 hrs to get results back.

In the meantime, he's put on phenobarbital immediately until we hear more details and will do the next step when we hear more soon. Will take 72 hours to kick in....... so we wait and keep him close by!!

Thank you for your advice and link. I'll be saving this information!!!!

Blessings to you and your sweet dog!!

@DebraDownSouth

Thank you so much for your kind encouragement!!

I just was on the phone with our breeder and she provided some insight that a thyroid issue could very possibly be something to get a full panel test regarding. Tiki has been gaining weight despite our cutting back on food..... so this too could be a sign.....

Hoping to get in ASAP tomorrow with the vet. Will update!

Thank you again! Hugs!

Hi guys!

We're scared and sad..... any advice or experience would be most welcome.
It's Memorial Day and our vet opens at 7am tomorrow and am trying to get him in.
He seems to be fine..... BUT.......

We were camping, high altitude, was cold. We had our B's in jackets, and had blankets etc. along with a propane portable fire for ambient warmth around camp. At night they slept with us in our sleeping bags. Nice and cozy.

Last night Tiki seemed to have a seizure in the middle of the night - 15 seconds or so, some foamy in mouth - jerking legs. Then calmed down. Hubby was half asleep and bewildered what had happened!

Fine today....... ate, went to the bathroom and everything fine. Drove down home to our regular elevation in Phoenix. At around 7pm in the middle of our living room had a seizure of same description but now we both saw what was happening and was an obvious seizure. Very SCARY! He finally stopped....... he ran around the house panicked, like he was looking for something, followed him around, let him outside followed him around. He did a normal pee and poop. Nothing runny. Then came back in and started to mellow down again and now he's happily lounging on the sofa.

Obviously - we're heading to the vet to see what's up !!!!!!

but in the meantime - has anyone experienced this?! Advice of what to do to care for a seizure? Thoughts of what can cause this in such a young dog. He's from a reputable breeder and was not at risk for falconi .

Thank you so much!! We're sad, scared..... and love him SOOOOOO much as do our kids. He's the most awesome, loving little sweetie. Thank you!

Adorable !!! Enjoy her! Our little guy Tiki is about her age right now. So much fun!! :)