Seizures???? Please help!!

[travelin4fun]

I have a 6 yr old that just started having the same type of sezures. It all BOUT YOUR POST.

We adopted Ginger 2 years ago. We have feed her EUKANUBA YORKIE FOOD as that was what her prior owner feed her. She has been on phenobarbatol and potaassiun Bromide for the last 4 months. During that time she has had 4 sezures.
I then changed her diet to a no grain EVO brand food. I did this 4 weeks ago. She has no had an event since.

TRY CHANGING THERE FOOD BRAND TO A HIGH PROTIEN NO GRAIN DIET. If you do and this works please let me know, it will be very interesting to know. If you look at the post(sticky) about foods you will see that Eukanuba is not rated very high. Please let me know what happens. I hope this helps, if it does it will save you thousands of dollars, I know first hand.

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by travelin4fun

I have a 6 yr old that just started having the same type of sezures. It all BOUT YOUR POST.

We adopted Ginger 2 years ago. We have feed her EUKANUBA YORKIE FOOD as that was what her prior owner feed her. She has been on phenobarbatol and potaassiun Bromide for the last 4 months. During that time she has had 4 sezures.
I then changed her diet to a no grain EVO brand food. I did this 4 weeks ago. She has no had an event since.

TRY CHANGING THERE FOOD BRAND TO A HIGH PROTIEN NO GRAIN DIET. If you do and this works please let me know, it will be very interesting to know. If you look at the post(sticky) about foods you will see that Eukanuba is not rated very high. Please let me know what happens. I hope this helps, if it does it will save you thousands of dollars, I know first hand.

Did you know that it can take 3-4 months for potassium bromide to reach its full effect? I suspect this is the reason she hasn't had anymore seizures, not the change in diet.

Canine Epilepsy-Using Potassium Bromide to control seizures in dogs

[travelin4fun]

Yes your right it does take 3 to four month to reach it full theraputic value. In Ginger's case she started the potasium bromide about 5 weeks ago. We tried it before but it didn't work. So they started phenobarbatol which made it somewhat better but not completly. That's why we started the Potassiun again. Just had her tested for levels and she tested low on the potassium and the same as before on the pheno. It could very well be it's the combo of meds that are working, then again it could have something to do with her diet change or all three things or none of it. All I know is that she is not having them for a good while now. If your like me, that is a good enough reason to give it a try. It shouldn't cause any harm according to her vet and neuro doctor. It is something that seems to have helped my yorkie so I threw it out there. If your do is haveing these seziures I assure you you would be williong to do whatever it takes to get them under control.
Just struk me as odd they have the same rare variety of seziures, with the same behavior during them and the all got the same diet. I think it's worth looking into.

[ArmaniMan]

I would definitely get these two in for BATs. Shunts are very costly to deal with, but you cannot worry about the costs before knowing a diagnosis... first find out what is wrong with your little girls. Good Luck!

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by travelin4fun

Yes your right it does take 3 to four month to reach it full theraputic value. In Ginger's case she started the potasium bromide about 5 weeks ago. We tried it before but it didn't work. So they started phenobarbatol which made it somewhat better but not completly. That's why we started the Potassiun again. Just had her tested for levels and she tested low on the potassium and the same as before on the pheno. It could very well be it's the combo of meds that are working, then again it could have something to do with her diet change or all three things or none of it. All I know is that she is not having them for a good while now. If your like me, that is a good enough reason to give it a try. It shouldn't cause any harm according to her vet and neuro doctor. It is something that seems to have helped my yorkie so I threw it out there. If your do is haveing these seziures I assure you you would be williong to do whatever it takes to get them under control.
Just struk me as odd they have the same rare variety of seziures, with the same behavior during them and the all got the same diet. I think it's worth looking into.

In an older dog like your Ginger or my Lady (she started having seizures at 4.5 years old), the cause is generally idiopathic epilepsy. Certain things can trigger seizures in an epileptic dog. Some owners of epileptic dogs swear by grain free diets like you do. Preservatives in commercial foods are another potential trigger. Have you ever seen this list?

Seizure Triggers

In 15 week old puppies like the ones in this thread, though, seizures are usually caused by a disease. In Yorkie puppies, the most common cause is a liver shunt. That's why is is essential that the puppies have a bile acids test.

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

In an older dog like your Ginger or my Lady (she started having seizures at 4.5 years old), the cause is generally idiopathic epilepsy. Certain things can trigger seizures in an epileptic dog. Some owners of epileptic dogs swear by grain free diets like you do. Preservatives in commercial foods are another potential trigger. Have you ever seen this list?

Seizure Triggers

In 15 week old puppies like the ones in this thread, though, seizures are usually caused by a disease. In Yorkie puppies, the most common cause is a liver shunt. That's why is is essential that the puppies have a bile acids test.

So True ! and changing the diet to higher protein would not be in their best interest if this is liver related.

[dwerten]

here are two liver disease groups that are very informative

DogLiverDisease : Dog Liver Disease

Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support : Liver Shunt & MVD/HMD Support

[kjc]

What kind of bowls are you feeding them their food and water in? Plastic or stainless steel or ceramic?

[ChrystalBella]

I feed them in plastic bowls that attach to their cage. I purchased them from PetSmart.

I am waiting for Auburn Univ. Vet Hosp to open up so that I can call. I was supposed to work today due to low census but they called me off I plan on making lots of calls today. I know that Univ of Tenn is the place to go but I called and spoke with Auburn and they do do the surgery if indeed that is the case. Does anyone have any expeirence with them??? My neighbor used them for her cat who needed extensice urinary surgery and can't say enough about them.


After all the reading reading and talking with soooo many people thus far I am just going to go to them and let them proceed with the diagnostic work up instead of my local vet.

Any advice?????


From the bottom of my heart I truly appreciate each and everyone of you for listening and voicing your thoughts. These two little girls are sooo cute and I just don't know what I will do if there is something major wrong. If you are a praying person please pray for our finances in the ablility to deal with what comes our way and for the doctors to have wisdom and discernment in their ability to treat them. THANKS!!

[kjc]

Get rid of the plastic and switch to stainless steel (best) or ceramic. Plastic can leach out chemicals into the food and water and can cause seizures, in some dogs (sensitive ones),. Bloodwork does not look indicative of Liver Shunt to me. Have to go, I'll post more in an hour or so.

[kjc]

Also, seizures that occur from LS in young pups normally happen within 30 minutes of them eating, many within 5-10 minutes, and they are usually more involved, as they occur due to toxicity issues in the brain, so it's more of a fall down flat on the floor for a bit, with full body involvement, then get up and function okay until after next feed time.

Also, on the bloodwork, the ALT, and AST enzymes would be high. It won't hurt to do a Bile Acid Test on both of them, as all Yorkies should be BAT tested, and your regular vet should be able to do them. I wouldn't worry about calling U of Tenn just yet, until you get the BAT results back. Also, they have great info re: LS

Portosystemic Shunts FAQ

[ChrystalBella]

Thans so much for the reply. I am in the process of trying to get an appointment to have them evaluated at Auburn. Their seizures are spontaneous and don't seem to coorelate with feeding. I agree that the blood results are not way out of normal. It was even suggested that the abnomalites could reflect recent vaccinations. I want to have them evaluated at Auburn since they are more qualified than our local vets. I want to cut out the running around and hopefully get to the bottom. I have even thought about thyroid problems???

[kjc]

Did they do a T4 on the bloodwork? If not, they may be able to run it on the blood already at the lab... call and ask your vet.

Exactly what vaccines did they get recently? DHPP or DHLPP or DHLPPC?

I think you're really jumping the gun here though. Replace their bowls with Stainless steel, then schedule the BATs with your regular vet. There really is no need to have anyone else do the BATs. The procedure can be looked up by your vet if he's not familiar with it. It's really not rocket science. I'm just telling you this to try and help you to conserve some money. If the BATs come back high, then go to a specialist for further evaluation. The reason I know is because my dog has Liver Shunt, and we've been there. I can understand your panic and wanting to get to the bottom of this quickly, but seriously, their bloodwork really isn't leaning towards LS.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ng-dishes.html See post #21

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by ChrystalBella

Thans so much for the reply. I am in the process of trying to get an appointment to have them evaluated at Auburn. Their seizures are spontaneous and don't seem to coorelate with feeding. I agree that the blood results are not way out of normal. It was even suggested that the abnomalites could reflect recent vaccinations. I want to have them evaluated at Auburn since they are more qualified than our local vets. I want to cut out the running around and hopefully get to the bottom. I have even thought about thyroid problems???

Than sounds like a good plan. Auburn is the place to go. Keep us posted, okay?

[kjc]

Also, be sure that the food you're feeding or may feed in the future does not contain fish or fish meal. All fish products are preserved with ethoxyquin, but not always listed in the ingredients.