Seizures
 

My dogs' name is Max:aimeeyork. He is about 2 and a half years old. He started having mini episodes of seizures last year. He doesn't have them too often, but maybe it does happen more than it should. It only lasts about 2-3 minutes. I called the vet today, after he had one, and he told me that there is a possibility that my dog may have epilepsy. I need to take him and get some blood work done...

I'm just wondering if anyone here is dealing, or has dealt with the same thing.

Prissy, our poodle was diagnosed with epilepsy several years ago. She will be 9 this August, doing great and enjoying life.

Your Max should deff be seen by a vet as there are many diff reasons dogs have seizures and some can be life threatening.

Seizures in Yorkies are usually an indication of an underlying health problem. Because of their small size, Yorkies are more at risk for a few health problems than are other breeds, and these disorders have the potential to develop especially quickly.

There's several possibilities as to why your yorkie is having seizures...from epilepsy to possible liver shunt, hypoglycemia, to tumors or brain injury.

Please take your yorkie in to the Vet...so you can find out exactly WHY he's experiencing seizures!

My Sammy had seizures since he was 1 year old. After blood work and the vet viewing a video I made of it, she put him on phenobarbital and then pheno and KBR. He hasn't had a seizure since 2002 and he is 12 and a half! He is a happy, playful and mischievous little boy. They can lead a full life with seizures and the seizures can be kept under control. Good luck!!

Epilepsy is a diagnosis of exclusion which means that in order for anyone to diagnose your dog with epilepsy, they need to rule out all other causes of seizures. This is done by ruling out all metabolic causes of seizures such as liver shunt or other medical reasons and it is also done by ruling out all other causes of seizures resulting from brain abnormalities. You can only rule out brain abnormalities by doing an MRI and a Spinal Tap. Although expensive to rule the other problems out, it is really important to do so that you are treating the right condition.

Our dog Teddy has epilepsy. He was placed on medication after we videotaped his fourth seizure. We sent the video to his neurologist who confirmed what type of seizure Teddy had and we immediately placed him on medication which he will be on for the rest of his life and we scheduled him for the MRI and spinal tap to rule out brain abnormalities that might be causing seizures. Once Teddy's doctor determined that the brain and cerebral spinal fluid were normal, he told us that Teddy was an epileptic.

Teddy is on a drug called Zonisamide every 12 hours. It has no side effects to the liver or other organs the way some of the older drugs do.

Good luck.