Seizures with yorkies???
 

Is anyone here familar with yorkies having seizures? We have a 2 year old female yorkie who is 4 lbs. We have never had any problems with her health EVER. Even the vet was surprised because of her small size. But, overall, she's been a GREAT dog and always healthy. But, yesterday something really strange happened. I can't figure out what happened. I got home from work and my boys were home all day. I walked in and one of them was holding her and she jumped out of their arms because of me being home (he was standing). He said she hit her head on the arm of the couch (very soft arm). She went down the hall instead of to me and then all of a sudden she was scooting around on the floor with her head down. She was shaking really bad and couldn't use her front paws, like they were limp and she was using her hind legs to scoot quickly around the floor. Like she was freaking out. I picked her up, and her eyes looked like they were unfocused (hard to tell, very dark eyes). Her ears were pulled back, and I couldn't get her attention. I held her through it all. It lasted for about 10 minutes that she couldn't use her front paws. They were pulled up toward her body, but limp feeling, if that makes any sense. I was scared! I was suppose to take my oldest son to the ortho. and there was no way I was going to leave her at home, so I grabbed her leash and took her with me. She curled up on my lap all the way there, no sound what so ever. But, by the time we got there (20 minutes later), I took her for a short walk in the grass to go potty, and she seemed perfectly fine. I left her in the car while we were in the ortho and she started whining, which is totally normal, when I leave her in the car. So, she seems fine now. Just totally freaked me out. Any suggestions? Thanks a bunches!

I have one suggestion get that baby to a vet asap and get her checked out please

Exactly the same thing I was going to say, take her to the vet this morning please, and let us know what you find out

i would take her to the vet, it could be a couple of things, make sure they do a bile acid test

Some thing like this happened to lily when she hit her head, we have a gate to block the kitchen so she can not get in and she jumped up on the gate and fell back and bumped her head. She acted really weird for like 5-10 min her eyes were weird and she was shaking and walking sideways and would not use her front . I took her to the vet and she said she could not find anything wrong with her. It was so scary.

Anytime they hit their head you need to get them to a vet for a neurological exam. Head trauma can result in internal bleeding, hydrocephalus, or brain damage. She may seem fine to you right now but you can't really see what is going on inside. It's always best to safe than sorry with these little ones.

She's doing great!
 

Sorry all. It took a while for me to get back on here with work, kids and pets. My babydoll is doing great. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with her and no episodes since. I've been keeping her pretty close to me most of the time and she's back to doing everything she did before. Thanks a bunches for your advice. I was a bit scared over it all. God bless!!

So glad to hear that your baby is okay

Something very similar happened to me a few months ago. Only Max didn't hit his head....he hadn't done anything, in fact, he'd been sleeping in my lap while I was on the computer. He stood up, like he will a lot of the time b/c he wants to get down into the bed just below the desk, so I went to pick him up and set him in it. When I went to put him down, his front paws drew back, and I thought he'd changed his mind, or I'd just misread his moving for wanting to get down and he really wanted to stay on my lap. So I pulled him back up to my lap, but his front paws stayed pulled up against his body, and I thought it was odd. So I tried to set him down again, but his front legs wouldn't straighten out. So I held him up in front of me, and I could see that he was just sort of staring; not focusing at all, and I called his name, but he didn't respond to me at all. I was so freaked out, I had no idea what it could have been and thought maybe he'd gotten something stuck in his trachea (although he'd been sitting with me in the office for at least half an hour or more), so I was doing the whole CPR protocol, and even when I stuck my fingers down his throat, he didn't resist. I was going to rush him to the vet's (although I was afraid that if he wasn't breathing, we wouldn't make it there in time), but once we got into the car, he was alert and we got down the street and I knew that the vet wasn't going to be able to tell us anything. We turned around and went home, thinking that if he exhibited any other problems, I'd take him in immediately. But we got home, he raced outside, peed and pooped, ate food and was just himself. NO weakness, no confusion, no sequelae at all. And it hasnt' happened again (yet). It almost makes you wonder if you didn't over-react b/c maybe he was just sleeping. But even a dog that's sleeping responds when you call him or pick him up, so I don't know. Now I'm thinking after seeing your experience that this IS (or very well might be) some sort of seizure activity. It's just hard to explain to the vet when the dog that you take in is perfectly normal.

SEIZURES-Possible Triggers/Causes
 

One of the potential adverse reactions to vaccinations is seizures -- has your dog recently been vaccinated?

Significant calcium deficiency can cause seizure-like episodes, have you had a blood test to check calcium and phosphorous levels? High phosphorous foods (meat, eggs, nuts) bind with calcium, as do high oxalate foods (oatmeal) and may deplete your dog's levels to a point where it will cause problems. Poison will also cause seizures.

You might want to do an online search for "canine hypocalcemia" or just "hypocalcemia". This link http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/breeding/eclampsia.htm will take you to an article on this subject in which it states that the signs of low calcium levels (hyocalcemia) are: "Muscle tremors, restlessness, panting, incoordination, grand mal seizures and fever as high as 106."

Further, the above articles thats a one of the possible causes: Poor Nutrition - "Home brewed" diets usually are at fault. The owner innocently may be adding too much unbalanced meat to the bitch's diet, thinking the extra protein is beneficial. What's really happening is the calcium to phosphorus ratio is out of balance because the amount of useful calcium in the food is actually reduced! The ideal contains a ratio of calcium to phosphorus of 1.2 to 1. (Many organ meats such as liver have a ratio of calcium to phosphorus of 1 to 15!! Liver is great for dogs but if it comprises a large part of the diet, the calcium/phosphorus ratio of the diet will be improper.)

If you have chickens, you should be aware that their droppings are extremely high in phosphorous and can cause a problem if your dog eats too many of them. If the droppings are charging your dog's blood with phosphorous, it's going to drain him/her of calcium in order to maintain proper pH balance and cause muscle twitching, etc...

Check this link HPA | Phosphorous | FAQs on phosphorous from the Health Protection Agency, especially this quote: "It has been used as a rat and rodent poison.."

Check this site Eclampsia (Puerperal Tetany, Milk Fever, Hypocalcemia) in Dogs "Eclampsia, also called milk fever or puerperal tetany, is an acute, life-threatening disease caused by low blood calcium levels (hypocalcemia) in dogs ...."

One of our dogs developed severe seizures after the second of his puppy rabies shots -- his head shook so hard we thought his eyes would pop out, it was terrifying. After this seizure activity triggered by the vaccine, he became prone to them from other triggers. Whenever he ate too many high phosphorous foods (or chicken droppings), he would seize. Giving him 1/2 a quart of plain organic yogurt would calm his seizures within 15 minutes, when they were food-related.

Personally, I would have a complete blood count done to check for mineral levels if you don't think vaccines or something your dog is eating is causing the seizures. PLUS, I would consult a Homeopathic/Holistic veterinarian for an alternative treatment.

Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST THIS MESSAGE.

The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are accessible online at http://www.leerburg.com/special_report.htm .

The 2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are downloadable in PDF format at http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocumen...s06Revised.pdf .

The same thing happened to our Einstein, it has happened 3 times now. First time Vet said it was due to the anesthesia he received and possibly not having food not water in post- op and Yorkies are succeptible to that.
He did bloodwork and testing on him too see if it was a disorder common in Yorkies but everything came out clean, Took him to Vet again the other to times and he again ran tests and he is fine, Vet finally said if it happens periodically every like 3 to 4 months and not regularly not to get worried and that he will be fine and it's a mild seizure that won't harm him. It is scary to see him go through it though!

Please read my recent post...
 

Please, please have your pup tested for liver shunt if they have a seizure. We also thought all was fine and the Vet thought so too. Do a bile acid test and don't give your dog meat until you find out for sure it is not a liver shunt.

my little female just had 3 seizures, it 7:40am her last one was about 6:30-6:40, she started to cry and shake, she has add two before this around 3am and 5am. she looses control of her pee. the first one was horrible she was in her cage with our other little dog. she just stated to role and role around the cage, my husband and i thought they were fighting. about two weeks ago we toke them both to a canel becase were where going to be out of town. when we returned she had canel coff, they gaved her medicine, but it only made her worst. we toke her to her normal vet and she gaved her some other medicine.
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO I DONT WANT TO PUT HER DOWN.

But i dont have the money to do all the testing

Welcome to YorkieTalk. I see this is your first post. Is your baby sick? I would recommend starting a new thread in the Sick & Injured forum so that people will see your post.

:(ok... make that 3 times so far today that I have cried because of a post on YT... It appears it is too late for this baby. I just read her (armanireeves) blog.. (click on the blog link on her name) then click on the "keep reading link" seems she put her down this morning..:(

OMG! I just read it... so so sad.... It just seemed it all happened so quick...

Oh, dear heavens! My Lady was having several grand mal seizures a week when I adopted her at age 4. She is now 15 and counting. Her seizures are well controlled by medication.

Seizures should not be a death sentence in a young dog.:cry:

I am crying as this hits me so close to home. My baby Max was 11 weeks old and 3 days new to my family when he had his first seizure.

I am sad and I'm absolutely irate. I need to step away.

Thanks, but i had to put my lil one down, we did test on her and there was not much to do, she had liver shunt and if we would of treated her for the seizures, it would of caused her more liver damage. :( by the end of the day she had 10 seizures, and before we put her down the vet says she was going to have a major seizure that could of caused her brain damage. I'm still heart broken, but i did not want my armani to not be happy and hypper like she always was!!!

That is very sad. My Teddy has been diagnosed with epilepsy and has been put on medication to stop his seizures that would not cause any liver damage. I'm sorry one of these newer drugs could not have been tried in this case. :(