Please Help! My Baby Had a Seizure

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Can also work for keeping seizures under control. It is the fat in the ice cream that does it. It comes from the Ketogenic Diet. This only works before the seizure if not related to hypoglycemia

Do you have any studies to back this up? I have never heard this before in the ten years I have researched epilepsy. I would love to see more information.

[slahey2000]

Wow -- thanks for all of the insights and prayers! I love yorkietalk, finally other people who are just as obsessed as I am. I took Linus to the vet this morning for bloodwork, which should come back tomorrow. I made sure he got all of the tests. So far, he's been fine since his seizure, maybe a little tired. My vet said 2 1/2 is a very common age for epilepsy to show up. I won't be too sad if it turns out to be Epilepsy now knowing that he would still live a nice long life.

Anyway, I had not given him any flea/tick medication recently. However, I asked the vet about using Hartz brand medication because I found it at Target and it was so much cheaper than Advantix. She said NOT to use the cheapie Hartz brand because it causes seizures and contains an insecticide that is dangerous. Thank goodness I hadn't used it! I've also used Biospot in the past, but won't anymore. I ended up getting a new organic medication. Thanks for all the great tips. I'll keep you posted!

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by slahey2000

Wow -- thanks for all of the insights and prayers! I love yorkietalk, finally other people who are just as obsessed as I am. I took Linus to the vet this morning for bloodwork, which should come back tomorrow. I made sure he got all of the tests. So far, he's been fine since his seizure, maybe a little tired. My vet said 2 1/2 is a very common age for epilepsy to show up. I won't be too sad if it turns out to be Epilepsy now knowing that he would still live a nice long life.

Anyway, I had not given him any flea/tick medication recently. However, I asked the vet about using Hartz brand medication because I found it at Target and it was so much cheaper than Advantix. She said NOT to use the cheapie Hartz brand because it causes seizures and contains an insecticide that is dangerous. Thank goodness I hadn't used it! I've also used Biospot in the past, but won't anymore. I ended up getting a new organic medication. Thanks for all the great tips. I'll keep you posted!

Biospot can also cause seizures, even death. You didn't use it recently, did you?

Yes, idiopathic epilepsy is usually diagnosed between 1-4 years old. He may just have an occasional seizure and not even need medication for many years.

Epilepsy sounds scary, but it really is a better diagnosis than a serious illness whose symptoms are seizures.

Let us know the bloodwork results, okay?

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

Do you have any studies to back this up? I have never heard this before in the ten years I have researched epilepsy. I would love to see more information.

I don't have the info now but I will see if I can locate one of the vets who was in the study. I have his site somewhere. He has since retired but was in the valley where I live, I had a dog who was having seizures and I contacted him about it but he did not recommend it for my old guy as it was caused from a brain injury from running into the sliding glass door. I will also do some site searching tonight to see what I can find . I know it works for people but haven't looked any farther for dogs since I was told it would not work for what I needed it for.

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by slahey2000

Wow -- thanks for all of the insights and prayers! I love yorkietalk, finally other people who are just as obsessed as I am. I took Linus to the vet this morning for bloodwork, which should come back tomorrow. I made sure he got all of the tests. So far, he's been fine since his seizure, maybe a little tired. My vet said 2 1/2 is a very common age for epilepsy to show up. I won't be too sad if it turns out to be Epilepsy now knowing that he would still live a nice long life.

Anyway, I had not given him any flea/tick medication recently. However, I asked the vet about using Hartz brand medication because I found it at Target and it was so much cheaper than Advantix. She said NOT to use the cheapie Hartz brand because it causes seizures and contains an insecticide that is dangerous. Thank goodness I hadn't used it! I've also used Biospot in the past, but won't anymore. I ended up getting a new organic medication. Thanks for all the great tips. I'll keep you posted!

What's in the organic stuff ? Be careful of organics. Just because it's natural doesn't always mean it's safe. 1 or more of the ingredients could be the culprit.

[HollyandMommy]

Sorry to hear about your baby.

[lillymae]

Ok what I found so far is they stopped the study as it was not successful in dogs. But I'm thinking that's what the vet was doing when he said to feed the ice cream. I will continue my search and see if I can find anything else.

[lillymae]

Ok here are some sites with pretty good info. I think it's not so safe for dogs due to the high fat and pancreatitis. But acupuncture has been successful in some dogs. That's good news as no toxic side effects. I'm thinking that's where I would start if I ever have another with seizures.
www.thebark.com , www.thepossiblecanine.com ' www.canineepilepsy.co.uk
www.canine-epilepsy.com these are just a few of many but I think they pretty much sum it up.

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Ok here are some sites with pretty good info. I think it's not so safe for dogs due to the high fat and pancreatitis. But acupuncture has been successful in some dogs. That's good news as no toxic side effects. I'm thinking that's where I would start if I ever have another with seizures.
www.thebark.com , www.thepossiblecanine.com ' www.canineepilepsy.co.uk
www.canine-epilepsy.com these are just a few of many but I think they pretty much sum it up.

I have heard of the ketogenic diet for humans, but not canines.

I wasn't asking you about the ketogenic diet, though. I was asking for studies specifically to support your claim that ice cream can control seizures. I think it's important to make sure we are giving accurate information when we offer advice on a medical condition so providing a link to an article, study, etc. is essential.

Do you think perhaps you misinterpreted the recommendation to give vanilla ice cream after a seizure to raise blood sugar as being part of the ketogenic diet?

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

I have heard of the ketogenic diet for humans, but not canines.

I wasn't asking you about the ketogenic diet, though. I was asking for studies specifically to support your claim that ice cream can control seizures. I think it's important to make sure we are giving accurate information when we offer advice on a medical condition so providing a link to an article, study, etc. is essential.

Do you think perhaps you misinterpreted the recommendation to give vanilla ice cream after a seizure to raise blood sugar as being part of the ketogenic diet?

Oh, no I was referring to post #10 about the springer. They don't usually have seizures from hypoglycemia so the ice cream wouldn't be for that type of seizure. I was saying not so much the ice cream but the fat in it is what would be helping the springer witch would come from the ketogen diet. As it would be the sugar content for hypoglycemia.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by slahey2000

Yesterday Linus had a 2-minute seizure when he was leaving daycare. This has never happened before, and he is only two-years-old. They've ruled out causes like poison and brain swelling because he doesn't have any symptoms, and they think it may be epilepsy. Please let me know if this has ever happened to your baby. I'm petrified to leave Linus alone even for a minute because I'm afraid he will have a seizure and nobody will know Any insight would be great.

My Elvis is 2 1/2 and just had a seizure. I've only had him a few months and his previous person said he never had one before. the vet says 2-3 years is a common age for epilepsy to set in. I'm taking Elvis to UC Davis for neurological testing. Did they tell you what to do for emergencies until your baby is on meds? The major concern is that they are in a safe place to seize (put a blanket or towel on their body only) if the seizure last more than 5 minutes or they have several in a row (Elvis has cluster seizures) or they are not returning to normal within 10 minutes you need to seek emergency care. Get the emergency number of the vet and the directions to the clinic memorized now, it will save the panic and mistakes later. Also if the vet didn't leave you with any meds to administer during or after the seizure, then get some karo syrup, thin it out a bit and get a dropper depending on the weight of your dog you need to administer a dosage after seizures to aid the kidneys---that may only be for cluster seizures and is only until actual pharmaceuticals are prescribed). I use my hands anyways but the vet recommended keeping a a leather piece, or heavy gloves, or a rag to open the mouth in during seizure if necessicary, like if your dog is choking to prevent getting bitten on accident.On a personal note if you have other dogs, separate them and be careful. My Scoobers was really weirded-out by Elvie's seizures, he growled at him and ran away didn't want to be anywhere near Elvis for almost two days after, he never bit him or anything but he was growling at him to go away and then would leave the area...and Scoobers loves other got so be careful even if your other dogs are bonded, animal instincts come first. Just prepare yourself as best you can so in an emergency, you are... well prepared!

[concretegurl]

On a separate note, why isn't Frontline Plus an option? I've found it to be the safest and the best. If price is an issue buy the large dog size and break it up into the correct dosage, I can tell you how to do it if needed. Costco sells Frontline Plus super inexpensively and it actually works, is safe, and is so much easier than other options. Frontline Plus does not contain pesticides, it contains agents that are harmful only to insects. The agents can irritate eys, thus the warnings on the package. Hate to sound like their spokes person, but I love the sharing of information on good products.

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

.On a personal note if you have other dogs, separate them and be careful. My Scoobers was really weirded-out by Elvie's seizures, he growled at him and ran away didn't want to be anywhere near Elvis for almost two days after, he never bit him or anything but he was growling at him to go away and then would leave the area...and Scoobers loves other got so be careful even if your other dogs are bonded, animal instincts come first. Just prepare yourself as best you can so in an emergency, you are... well prepared!

Good point. I have read horrible stories of dogs attacking and even killing a seizing companion. Apparently it is instinctive pack behavior as a sick or dying dog will attract predators in the wild, so they are often killed by other pack members.

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

On a separate note, why isn't Frontline Plus an option? I've found it to be the safest and the best. If price is an issue buy the large dog size and break it up into the correct dosage, I can tell you how to do it if needed. Costco sells Frontline Plus super inexpensively and it actually works, is safe, and is so much easier than other options. Frontline Plus does not contain pesticides, it contains agents that are harmful only to insects. The agents can irritate eys, thus the warnings on the package. Hate to sound like their spokes person, but I love the sharing of information on good products.

Frontline Plus is probably fine, too. I meant that Frontline was the recommended flea preventative for epileptics.