Seizures in puppies

I've got a 4.5 month old puppy coming into foster care on Sunday. He's been having seizures since Jan 24--about one a week and is now on phenobarbital. Bile acid tests have been done (apparently) and are normal. No other clinical signs of PDE.

I've scheduled him to be seen by a neurologist as soon as he gets here, but I'm wondering if anyone has had a dog this young with epilepsy?

I know it could be a bunch of things and that epilepsy is just one (I'll take it if my options are brain tumour or PDE).

Anyone else had a seizure puppy?

No,but we are getting in a 3 year old with a history of terrible seizures that started when she was a puppy. Not sure how young though. Signs have all pointed to epilepsy, especially since she has had them for so long and it has been controlled with pheno until recently, but we haven't seen her vet work yet.

Poor puppy!

aw, poor pupp! i hope everything will get better for him!

My fahter did, the vet told him he had water on the brain and to put him down, he didn't and the dog lived to 12 or so. I would take care of him once and a while and he had many a seizure while he was in my care. It was hard to see him go thru this but in the end he was fine.

Poor little guy! Yes - I think Donna could be right. Hydracephalus could be a cause. Can the rescue afford an MRI?

Aussie Witch wrote:Poor little guy! Yes - I think Donna could be right. Hydracephalus could be a cause. Can the rescue afford an MRI?

We will be getting an MRI. It would be foolish not to in a pup this young with seizures. We're seeing the neurologist on Wednesday the 17th.

I had a good friend who's lab had epilepsy as a puppy and lived a long happy life and the siezures were well controlled with meds.

Blanche-Norton had them start when he was 12 weeks old. We made the choice like Donna's dad not to have the MRI. He has been on Pheno since he was a year and it helped greatly until this past year. He is now 5 years old. I am much better at handling the seizures and have learned to keep myself calm once a seizure begins. I always put my hand near his nose and talk in a very soft voice. The seizures are much shorter in duration currently but I am concerned that he has had two in the 48 hours. They used to be right smack dab in the middle of the night but lately he seems to be having them shortly after he settles in for the night.

My dads dog was an unusually large Whippet, don't know if it had to do with his condition. When he had a seizure I had all I could do to hold him down just so he wouldn't hurt himself, they could be pretty intense, he was on Pheno all his life and it helped but did not prevent them.

No experience in puppies, but hydrocephalus, encephalopathy, or a brain tumor can certainly cause seizures. I forget which conditions can be seen with either a CT or MRI. If it is hydrocephalus, I know that in humans they can try to control this with a shunt that usually drains to the abdomen plus anti-seizere meds.

I hope you get some answers for this poor puppy that will help you make the decisions you need to make.

It makes me very sad to read this after all that I endured with Lucky. I am hoping that it is just idiopathic epilepsy and nothing more. I have to say I would have much rather dealth with that then the what my family and our poor Lucky endured with the PDE. My best wishes that this baby has nothing SERIOUSLY physically wrong that could shorten the life span! My best wishes from my family!