My German Shepard had a Seizure

[Steelfan]

The other morning right after my wife, and I got up for work, my 8 year old German Shepard had her first seizure. Boy was that scary. My wife was in the room with her at the time, and I was downstairs. It lasted about a minute, but took about 10 years off of our lives. We called the vet, and they didn't seem too corcerned, but they setup an appointment for yesterday. After running a blood test on her, they found nothing. I was overjoyed about that, but the vet also said that was common too. He's holding off putting her on medicine for it, because he said it could be a one time thing. Anyone else ever experience seizures with their dogs? Also now we feel worried about letting her here alone. She's a great dog, and we are very worried about her.

[Carl]

Steelfan,

Can't say that I have experienced this with animals, though a girl I dated for several years had two seizures and was on medication. It is somewhat disconcerting when happening I must say..

You might consider a PC Cam setup to your computer to record during the day in the area she spends her time. This way you could monitor her activity.

Otherwise I would go with the vets advice.

Carl

[Steelfan]

Thanks Carl,

For the idea about the PC Cam. I may just try that. PC Cams are pretty cheap if I remember correctly. Thanks again

Kent

[Hank]

Here's a page I found that covers canine epilepsy pretty well; it cites lots of veterinary references.

[hazmat]

Kent,

Sorry to hear about your dog. Have faith in your vet, in today's instant gratification society, sometimes it is best to "wait and see". In the meantime you are doing the right thing by gathering as much info as you can.

Use this new found info to work with your vet to treat the dog. It will allow you to be a better observer at home for trouble signs. It will help you speak intelligently with your Vet as well. He/She will appreciate that you took the effort to come up to speed on the siezures.

Wishing your pooch a speedy recovery (or a lack of re-occourance)

[Steelfan]

Hi Hank,

Thanks for the site. There's a lot of info there. I see German Shepards are on the common breed list. I'm still hoping it was a one time deal, but at least there is medicine for it. Thanks again.

Kent

[TimSullivan]

Sorry about your dog, Steelfan.

We had a Silky Terrier that started having seizures at about twelve. They gradually got worse until she had a very bad one at sixteen and we had to put her down. That was one of the worst days of my life.

On another note I had a GSD and he had a seizure at six years old and never had another. You are sure right about getting scared to death. It was bad with the little dog but the big guy it was something very different.

I too would say rely on your vet but remember you have Penn State Vet School to fall back on. In New York we all contact Cornell and they are wonderful sharing information with vets and owners. These dogs are a big part of our lives and we have them for such a short time as it is.

I hope everything works out well,

Tim

[Steelfan]

Thanks Tim for the post, and info. Penn State is an excellent school in my area. They are involved in many things, when it comes to health. In Humans, as well as in animals. Thanks again.


Kent

[Alan_L_Texas]

We had a female Cocker Spaniel that had 2 seizures when she was about 3 and 4 years old. She lived to be 12, and never had another one.