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A very worried golden owner

31K views 182 replies 34 participants last post by  Pipsqueak 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,

Yesterday my beloved 21mth old golden, Rosie had a seizure. It occured when we were making a fuss of her outside of my work place. She was happy and had been perfectly normal before it happened, just excited to see us. She then stretched out her front legs, collapsed and had a grand mal seizure. Thankfully it lasted under 30 seconds, though they were the longest 30 seconds I have experienced! She is fine now, recovered extremely quickly and no sign of any since. I have been on the phone to her breeder who reports last summer she heard of another pup in the litter had a seizure and she was going to phone them tomorrow to find out whether it developed into epilepsy or not. She is the world to me and I am heart broken. I know this may be the only one she ever has but it is much more likely this is going to develop into epilepsy. Thankfully she is fully insured so any tests or meds required she will have but I am looking for some info or reassurance from others who's dogs started so young. I am actually a vet but all that does is make me worry about the worst case scenario! I know about all the meds, tests required but I am worrying about how early she has started all this. She is my first golden retriever and she drives me nuts sometimes but she is one of my best friends. Why do we have them????!! They give us so much worry!!!! :-(

Lucy
 

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#29 ·
Thank you for all your kind words and advice. We have been seizure free since thursday night but I CANNOT relax at all....I am a nervous wreck! We went to the pub for dinner last night and I had to ask the neighbours to phone me if they heard her barking at all so I could get back to her in time! She is her normal self again, been up our usual hill this morning, been playing with her friends in the field and to look at her you wouldn't think there was anything wrong. I am beginning to accept that this is going to be part of our lives and I need to do what is best for her. I will keep you all updated with how we get on tomorrow, I am nervous but it is for the best - she'll be in the hands of experts :)
 
#30 ·
How is your girl? And how are you?

The constant worry and inability to relax is classic for those of us love seizure dogs. I wish I could promise you that it will get easier, but that was not the case for me. I think you will learn to breathe...to take some time for the rest of your life, because life really must go on. But worry is a constant, as it is with human children who have a chronic disease.
 
#31 ·
Just to give you all an update - so far no more fits since last thursday night. She went to the Vet School on monday and had to stay overnight. She had an MRI, bloods and CSF tap done and so far all is normal - we are just waiting on the bile acid stim test results before starting her on Epiphen (Phenobarbitone). The neurologist reccommend starting her on a fairly highish dose of 3mg/kg twice a day - they say they have a lot more success with controlling the seizures on this dose and at the 3 week bloods they are much more commonly in the therapeutic range. (She weighs 28.5kg so looking at starting her on 90mg twice a day) I haven't 100% decided on whether to put her on 2mg/kg twice a day or 3mg/kg as I am concerned about the initial side effects - how have you all found the side effects of Phenobarbitone initially - did your dogs react with the typical lethargy, increased thirst, urination, appetite and sometimes ataxia (wobbly)?? And if so for how long? I'm just trying to think practically, but I have to start treatment, we can always reduce the dose in the future if we don't see any further seizures.

Thanks for all your advice again everyone!
 
#33 · (Edited)
Thanks for the update! It is great to hear that the tests are all clear:)

We put Tia on the Pheno for myoclonic seizures. We are one week in. She is sleeping more deeply than usual, has an increased appetite and her ataxia is full on and still incredibly heart breaking. This may be especially worse than usual because she is so much older and she already had some muscle weakness.

We still manage to take her for slow and very short walks in the afternoon during her medication lull for her sanity and also to keep up her muscle strength. Once she has momentum she can do it.

Researching for the right medication is very difficult as you would know that there are so many potential side effects and then there are some that are effective but only for a honeymoon period. You are in a tough position as you have no choice but to jump in. Is it possible to find out what Rosie's sister's dosage and reaction was?

Good luck with making the choice for your beautiful girl.
 
#34 ·
When we started Charlie on Pheno, our family vet eased him onto it, starting with a low dosage. That was not enough to control the seizures, but it did cause ataxia.

In hindsight, we would probably have done better to bite the bullet and start him on the full 90 mg therapeutic dose at the outset, so as to avoid the recurrent ataxia that happened every time we increased the dose - about once a month for a while. It is heartbreaking enough to deal with the ataxia, without having to watch it over and over again while the dog still has seizures.
 
#35 ·
So sorry to hear about your Lucy. I hope you find the right combo soon.
Although I'm not a vet, I was a nurse in the Pediatric ICU for 10 years and through the thousands of patients that I've seen and taken care of, it is sooooooo different when its your baby. I always felt like my medical training almost got in the way of my mommy instincts, and my mind would be clouded by all of the worst case scenarios that I have witnessed first hand. Sometimes I think to myself "ingnorance can be bliss."
I have no advice for you, but I hope Lucy responds well to her new meds and you can find a good balance to keep her seiure free. Good luck
 
#36 ·
Hello all,

So I've bitten the bullet as the bile acid stim test was normal and last night Rosie was started on 90mg Phenobarb twice a day. So far no difference to her normal behaviour but it's very early days.

Hi Doug, her sister was started on 60mg twice a day but she was only just over 6mths when this horrible problem started for her and so she wouldn't have weighed as much as Rosie now. Also she had 3 fits over three weeks, whereas ours were sadly 3 in one week. She said her dog is no different now and just the same as she was before she went on the medication. I think it's the unknown of how long this drug will work for that is the worst bit :-(
 
#37 ·
Hello,

Just wanted to give you all an update. We have been on the Phenobarb (90mg twice a day) for 2.5weeks now and so far all is good. No more lethargy or ataxia (think that subsided within about 10 days or so) and she is back to her normal mad self again :) She actually charged round the big hill we walk in the mornings today chasing a rabbit - first time since the fits :) Now we just have a waiting game. I will take bloods middle of the week to check her liver and phenobarb levels but I am pleased so far :)

We do have another small problem however.......one of our neighbours complains because she barks somewhere between 6:30 and 7am every morning to get us up - I have tried explaining to him that if I go to her it will just encourage the behaviour and she will learn to shut up very quickly if he will give us a chance (we haven't lived here very long) but he is being very rude :-( she is PERFECT the rest of the day and night (unless she has a fit......of course!). Some people......any tips????? I was thinking of using the citronella spray anti bark collar but I don't want to set off a load of fits.......!!! Arghhhhh PEOPLE!!!! Can't wait to move out of town when somewhere comes up!!!!!
 
#40 ·
...We do have another small problem however.......one of our neighbours complains because she barks somewhere between 6:30 and 7am every morning to get us up - I have tried explaining to him that if I go to her it will just encourage the behaviour and she will learn to shut up very quickly if he will give us a chance (we haven't lived here very long) but he is being very rude :-( she is PERFECT the rest of the day and night (unless she has a fit......of course!). Some people......any tips????? ...
Ljilly 28 has an excellent solution.

Your girl is probably doing you a favor by getting you up. Pheno tends to make dogs drink more water, with the obvious consequence that they need to urinate more often. Sounds like she's telling you that she can't wait any longer and doesn't want to have an accident indoors. This is one of the challenges we have with seizure dogs, as we have to adapt to their new physical limitations.

Good luck!
 
#38 ·
You could surprise her by getting up at 5-6 am, and getting her out before going back to bed?
 
#39 ·
Great idea Lilly! This is what we had to do. Tia became vocal on the Pheno at 4am. We thought that she was uncomfortable due the ataxia and might need a night time stretch. My hubby took her out when he went to the toilet in the night before 4am. This seemed to work.

Also I am an early riser. I find that if I wake in the middle of the night even for a short time I can sleep in far more easily beyond 6am.

So glad to hear that the Pheno seems to be working for you guys:D
 
#43 ·
I have been an onlooker for about a year on this forum, but have never yet posted. I am sorry to hear that your GR has epilepsy. It is very frightening in the beginning especially. You feel that you will never cope, but you do!


We have a Golden retriever who has has idiopathic epilepsy (diagnosed after many very expensive tests) 3 years ago. He is now 4 1/2.
We have had phases when he has wanted to go out at very unearthly hours sometimes to relieve himself and sometimes it would appear just for the fun of it! If I remember rightly when he first went onto the pheno he had quite a phase of it then. It is usually worse in the summer. Almost as if when it comes daylight it is a signal to his brain to go out!

To be quite honest, one of us always gets up to let him out. He usually comes back in and settles down again quite quickly. Also we have not found that it encouraged him to repeat this long term, but I can understand your worry.
 
#44 ·
I have been an onlooker for about a year on this forum, but have never yet posted. I am sorry to hear that your GR has epilepsy. It is very frightening in the beginning especially. You feel that you will never cope, but you do!
Welcome to the Forum! I hope you'll start a new thread and share your boy's story with us.
 
#48 ·
Rosie unfortunately had another little seizure on tuesday morning at the start of her walk - she was carrying her lead in her mouth as usual, we got round the corner to where she has a wee every morning and she just collapsed on the pavement :-( but it was a very minor one compared to the others, she recovered quickly, had her usual walk (though she was a little ataxic) and during the rest of the day, other than being ravernous she was virtually her normal self. Very very disappointing we only lasted 7.5weeks so early on with the medication but fingers and toes crossed we get no more in this coming week like before.....

Thank you for asking! I hope Tom is doing better :)
 
#49 ·
oh dear, and Rosie is so young too. I suppose with it being a small one and she quickly recovered is really good, just wish we could get to the bottom of all this.
Give her a big hug off me n Tom

Tom still isn't 100% but he hasn't had any fits or diving into a corner for over a week now, and probably due to the gabapentin we introduced last week.
 
#50 ·
oh dear, and Rosie is so young too. I suppose with it being a small one and she quickly recovered is really good, just wish we could get to the bottom of all this.
Give her a big hug off me n Tom

Tom still isn't 100% but he hasn't had any fits or diving into a corner for over a week now, and probably due to the gabapentin we introduced last week.
I know, I am really pleased with the recovery this time, I had the rectal diazepam with me (I carry it whereever we go now!!) but I didn't really have time to use it which shows how quick it was and there wasn't the endless pacing afterwards either, even after her walk - she hopped in my truck and we went to work - if they were all like that one this would be much easier to deal and cope with!!!! I think that is what worries me the most with her age, it is just so very wrong :-( I really hope they can find a test for it in breeding bitches and dogs so we can get this horrible disease out of retrievers :-( It's why I took her to RVC in London as they have a specialist epilepsy clinic researching the genetic link. It actually puts me off having another one as this has just been one big worry after another and it's heartbreaking to see her seizures. They are the best dogs in the world and my life would be very empty without her but I just hope this doesn't dramatically shorten her life :-( I just didn't think I would be dealing with such a huge problem at her age :-( I am glad Tom is feeling better, any improvement is absolutely fantastic :) I really hope the Gabapentin will help. At least we all have somewhere we can vent all our frustrations out and learn from other people's experiences.
 
#52 ·
Seizures are the scariest things I have ever witnessed in my dogs. I had a GSD who we rescued at about 8 months old so we had no idea where she was from. At about 10 months, she had a seizure. This was in the late 1990's- I started out testing her, but all the tests came back negative. We just watched her from then on, never put her on anything. She probably had about 4 seizures a year, until she was about 8 years old, that was the last one she had. It was about a half hour after putting our other GSD done. The last two to three years of her life, she didn't have any that I know of. ( I would be able to tell if she had one, when I wasn't home because she would have thrown up, peed and moved her bowels).

In hindsight, I think Nikki's seizures were environmental/or stress related. I know the first day she had them, I had put some fly deterrant on her ears. The longest one she had was when she was going through heartworm treatment. It was so long that I was able to call the vet, and talk to the vet on the phone. I now wish I had kept a diary of different cleaners we used in my house or even if they happened close to after she had vaccines or heartworm prevention.

I did notice that when she knew she was going to have a seizure, she would jump in my lap. If I "talked her through it" and patted her, they seemed to be a lot shorter and easier on her.

Hugs - I hope to never have a dog go through this again.
 
#54 ·
Oh that is interesting about Monty being frequent at the start of the meds. Rosie has so far gone 5.5 days free..........and she is doing really well - she has gone lame on her right fore but I've put her on anti-inflammatories and we are lead walking and have had massive improvements there thankfully- she is one big worry!!!!!
 
#55 ·
Hi there-I guess I haven't been here in a while so sorry, for not posting earlier but I have an epileptic dog as well. Leo started having seizures at about 18 months, so pretty close to where you are. It was in June and truthfully, the two months of getting it under control were tough and I was not sure I was ever going to get a life back again. But, he's on meds now and it's very under control. One seizure since Labor day and it was a minor one. IN terms of getting used to the meds, he had horrible ataxia when he got used to the pheno and zonisamide. Couldn't get up the stairs sometimes and his pacing post seizure was awful. But, life is really really different now. I'm still nervous about making sure he gets his food and medicine at almost the exact same time each day, but besides that, we have gotten into a routine. The neurologist said that pediatric epilepsy cases can be much harder to get under control at first, but that they tend to respond really well and get under control long term better than almost any other cases. He could have just been trying to make me feel better, but it does work! If you have any questions at all, let me know-I'm happy to try to help. Good luck with this-I know how hard it is.
 
#58 ·
****............we had another :-( 2 months we managed though :)

And she had diarrhoea since saturday on and off.......could have affected absorption of Phenobarb???? Diarrhoea now being treated!!!!

I could have sworn she wasn't right this morning but I couldn't put my finger on it. Now I know :-( She recovered very quickly though and barely any after effects, just a little less sure footed on her walk after.

On tenderhooks now for another week.........**** this is a horrible condition to deal with :-(
 
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