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  • 1.  Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-26-2023 03:52 AM

    Hello all,

    The 13-year-old dog started having seizures that look epileptic... it happens once a week and has happened 4 times. 

    Vets suggest giving antiseizure pills even without knowing the reasons. I wonder what are your thoughts or if any of you had similar experience.

    thanks


    #CaseManagement*
    #EducationandTraining
    #FieldServicesandPublicSafety*
    #Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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    Natalie J
    NA
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  • 2.  RE: Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-27-2023 06:50 AM

    My 14yo dog has seizures and we don't know why. She's been taking anti-seizure meds since she was surrendered four years ago and she doesn't have seizures as long as she's given her meds. I wouldn't want to put her through a stressful and expensive battery of tests, scans, surgery, etc. to fix something that already has an easy, non-invasive solution. Or do all that only to find out it's something that can't be fixed! What would be the point of knowing the exact reason? Whatever it's caused by, the meds are working and she's happy, and that's good enough for me!  My vet agrees that the specific underlying reason doesn't matter since the meds are working great.



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    Maria Saucedo
    GIS Analyst
    Pets for Life at HSUS
    Baltimore, MD
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-27-2023 02:34 PM

    Hi Natalie:
    A veterinary perspective: a 13-year old dog is not likely to have epilepsy, even though the seizures may look similar; there is almost certainly some underlying cause for the seizures in a dog of that age. That said, a complex workup may not be in the dog's long-term best interest, although I do think a basic blood profile isn't too much to ask for. Blood tests could provide all sorts of good information: is it a low blood sugar issue (which won't be helped by traditional anticonvulsants); are the dog's liver enzymes normal (which helps to give options for anticonvulsant selection); are there other problems which could impact the dog's ability to handle anticonvulsant meds, since there are a variety of options? All that said, I get that sometimes you just have to start the meds and keep your fingers crossed. Just my two cents. Good luck!



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    Kirsten Cianci, VMD
    Palmetto Animal League
    Ridgeland, SC 29936
    =^..^=
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-27-2023 06:41 PM

    Hi Natalie (vet here - ECC & Behaviour)
    If you want more information - which may lead to a diagnosis, you can ask your vet. It would be useful to at least run a baseline full blood profile to rule out causes for seizures outside the brain). Pending these results - you could also request a referral toi a Medicine or Neurology specialist.
    The next logical steps for investigation: CT/MRI/ CSF tap... you can discuss all this with your own vet and/or the specialist.
    Seizures are not "good" for the brain - so the suggestion of anti-seizure medications is reasonable.
    Dr Kat Gregory BVSc.MANCVS (vet behav; anaesth & crit care)



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    Dr Kat GREGORY
    Vet behaviourist
    Creative Animal Solutions
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-28-2023 07:51 AM

    Natalie - Is this a shelter dog or a personal dog? I ask because if it's a shelter dog, and you don't have a medical history, it may have had a seizure disorder for years before it came to your shelter. Most dogs with idiopathic (i.e. no identifiable cause) epilepsy start having symptoms by middle age, so starting to have seizures for the first time at 13 makes this less likely - as Kristen said. But without a medical history in a shelter dog, you don't know if this is actually new for this dog. Seizures starting for the first time in an older dog is more likely to be due to some other underlying cause. Other suggestions made for looking for an underlying cause are all what I would recommend for a personal pet, up to the point that you're reasonably able.  As a shelter vet I would run bloodwork +/- x-rays if you have those capabilities, and if there is no clear reason found to not start anti-seizure medications, then I would start them. As Kat said, I would want to treat the seizures as a symptom even if there is another underlying cause because they are potentially causing damage to the brain, especially with the weekly frequency. If the seizures are well controlled with the medication, I would then be looking to transfer to a rescue group that specifically adopts out animals with chronically managed medical issues because we have trouble getting adopters at our shelter to take them. 



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    Rebecca LaDronka
    Veterinarian
    Ingham County Animal Control & Shelter
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Senior Dog Seizures

    Posted 04-28-2023 11:17 AM

    Dear Kat and Rebecca,

    Thank you for your answers.

    The dog is not from a shelter, it's a family dog who has ongoing ear problems as she has some sort of formations in ears polyps or something else which made her deaf and unfortunately, we live in a country where there are no dog MRI's and I can't really trust vets as I have experience of communicating with them for 25 years. Even with her ears the vets here are suggesting opposite things. The dog is active and now taking luminal(phenobarbital) for seizures, I just want to double-check the dosage and hear from the people with the same experiences.  She had never had seizures before. 

    Many thanks



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    Natalie J
    NA
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    Original Message


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