Sadly, I am afraid that I may need to join the group of dogs with seizures. I believe my 41/2 year old golden is having mild seizures. It all began on July 4. She and my two other goldens had been boarded for 5 days and two days after I was home I noticed Piper was having some type of episode.
She was lying on the sofa, upright (not on her side) and her head began shaking. She was awake and responsive. I asked her to get off the sofa and she immediately got down but went down on her belly. When I called her, she had trouble getting up and sort of hopped, staggered, etc. trying to walk and going back down on her belly. She was totally aware of everything going on around her and this only lasted a minute after which she was totally fine. Got up, walked around..as if nothing happened.
This past Saturday, I put all the dogs downstairs into their "dog room" for the night. She had gone for a 2.5 mile walk that day and had been totally racked out for most of the day. After going out for final call she bounded down the basement steps and into the dog room. I came upstairs and then, for some reason that I do not know, I went back down for something. I looked into the dog room and was greeted by 2 dogs instead of 3. They had only been down there a maximum of 5 minutes. When I walked into the room, Piper was in her crate and I realized she was having another episode. It looked the same to me and after about a minute, she was completely fine again.
I called the vet and had a 5:30 appointment last night. She was with me the entire afternoon, sitting at my feet or on the sofa (I worked from home). At 5:00 I took the other two dogs downstairs and left Piper upstairs. I was in the basement for about 1-2 minutes. When I got back upstairs, Piper was on the sofa and as I walked up to her, I noticed she was lying on her belly, as usual, her head was straight out and trembling. When asked to get off the sofa and come to me, she exibited the same symptoms as the first episode, getting up, back down, walking, limping, hopping like she lost some motor control in her back legs. After a moment of walking like this, about 20-30 seconds she was fine.
I explained all of this to my vet, who immediately said she has epilepsy, and told me she needs phenobarbital. She did not examine her or even take a blood test. I requested a blood test and she said ok, that was a good idea.
From everyones's perspective, does this sound like seizures? Both times she has jumped on the sofa or ran down stairs. My breeder seems to think that it doesn't sound like epilepsy, but maybe a pinched nerve, cramp or something like that. She has been breeding for 30 years, is a personal friend and does not have epilepsy in any of her lines that she knows of at least.
Needless to say, I am a mess right now. I want to get a 2nd opinion and will be investigating another vet today.
Please help.
She was lying on the sofa, upright (not on her side) and her head began shaking. She was awake and responsive. I asked her to get off the sofa and she immediately got down but went down on her belly. When I called her, she had trouble getting up and sort of hopped, staggered, etc. trying to walk and going back down on her belly. She was totally aware of everything going on around her and this only lasted a minute after which she was totally fine. Got up, walked around..as if nothing happened.
This past Saturday, I put all the dogs downstairs into their "dog room" for the night. She had gone for a 2.5 mile walk that day and had been totally racked out for most of the day. After going out for final call she bounded down the basement steps and into the dog room. I came upstairs and then, for some reason that I do not know, I went back down for something. I looked into the dog room and was greeted by 2 dogs instead of 3. They had only been down there a maximum of 5 minutes. When I walked into the room, Piper was in her crate and I realized she was having another episode. It looked the same to me and after about a minute, she was completely fine again.
I called the vet and had a 5:30 appointment last night. She was with me the entire afternoon, sitting at my feet or on the sofa (I worked from home). At 5:00 I took the other two dogs downstairs and left Piper upstairs. I was in the basement for about 1-2 minutes. When I got back upstairs, Piper was on the sofa and as I walked up to her, I noticed she was lying on her belly, as usual, her head was straight out and trembling. When asked to get off the sofa and come to me, she exibited the same symptoms as the first episode, getting up, back down, walking, limping, hopping like she lost some motor control in her back legs. After a moment of walking like this, about 20-30 seconds she was fine.
I explained all of this to my vet, who immediately said she has epilepsy, and told me she needs phenobarbital. She did not examine her or even take a blood test. I requested a blood test and she said ok, that was a good idea.
From everyones's perspective, does this sound like seizures? Both times she has jumped on the sofa or ran down stairs. My breeder seems to think that it doesn't sound like epilepsy, but maybe a pinched nerve, cramp or something like that. She has been breeding for 30 years, is a personal friend and does not have epilepsy in any of her lines that she knows of at least.
Needless to say, I am a mess right now. I want to get a 2nd opinion and will be investigating another vet today.
Please help.