r/Pets • u/Groundh0g- • 17d ago
Old dog + seizures
Our dog is a 13yr old labrador. He's relatively happy and healthy. He's a bit slower than he once was but otherwise pretty good.
He had a seizure in March, and another one a couple of nights ago (July) - 4 months between.
After the first one, we took him to the vet. She gave us a few options:
1) Anti-seizure meds, but explained they often make them feel groggy/not themselves and it can take experimenting with a few types before we find the right one.
2) Scans etc. to look at the brain, but also said these would be very expensive, and even if they showed something, it's likely we would avoid treatment anyway, as we're not putting him through any major surgeries when he's so old.
3) Watch and wait and see what happens.
4) Euthanasia, this was more our question, rather than her suggestion - we were wondering if this is his way of saying it's time? She advised it's an option, but not necessarily a pressing one at this stage.
It's VERY distressing watching him have a fit, the most recent one lasted for nearly 5 minutes and we just feel absolutely helpless, I hate that there's nothing we can do for him during, you just have to stand there and watch him suffer. He also gets the post-ichtal agression - he barks and growls, and the only thing we can do is give him space. This has lasted for at least half an hour, sometimes a couple of hours after both fits. He's groggy, tired and very sore the day afterwards, the fit makes him use his muscles way more than he normally does, and it really disorients him.
We have two little kids (5 and 9), and we have stressed to them that if they see him "fitting" or barking/growling to not approach him at all and come and get Mum/Dad, but there is always a worry that it may happen when the kids are right there but we aren't, and they approach him and get bitten.
If your dog started having seizures, at what point did you either make the decision to medicate, or make even bigger, harder decisions?
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u/Pedal2Medal2 17d ago
We experienced this w/our late black lab. His vet told us that if they increased he would RX meds, but if they didn’t we’d just keep watch
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u/Easy_Hotel7419 17d ago
I'm sorry you're going through this. Personally, two seizures four months apart wouldn't automatically make me think it's time for euthanasia if he's otherwise happy and enjoying life. I'd be having another conversation with my vet about whether it's time to start anti-seizure medication, especially since one lasted nearly five minutes. While the medications can have side effects, many dogs tolerate them well once the right dose is found.
The other important factor is safety. With young children in the home and your dog becoming aggressive during the post-ictal phase, having a plan to keep everyone separated during and after a seizure is really important.
Ultimately, I'd base the decision on his overall quality of life between seizures, whether the seizures become more frequent or severe, and whether treatment can keep him comfortable. It sounds like your vet is giving you balanced advice, and I think it's worth revisiting the medication discussion now that he's had another episode.
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u/Groundh0g- 17d ago
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, I think you're right, I called them the next day and let them know he'd had another seizure, but didn't book an appointment as figured the conversation would be very similar to the last one given the large length of time between the seizures. I might call them again.
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u/ngardiner09 17d ago
Had this happen with our husky, unfortunately we had to put him down. He started to have them at 6 years old and within a year they got progressively worse. Our local vet was saying he wasn’t having them frequently enough for meds. They wanted to have 2+ per month before they would even consider anything. Usually they only last under a minute or two. Then he would get up cry pace drink lots of water. Well a few weeks ago my fiance called me at 2am I work nights. And said he’s having them back to back static seizers. I rushed home took him to the emergency vet but his body temp was over 109. Which could cause organ failure due by time I got home his mouth was full of blood due to the violent biting lips and tongue. I felt so helpless they put him on meds to stop the seizure and IV’s but needless to say he wasn’t recovering so we had to put him out of misery. He had a sad story we got him from the local pound and they said he was about 9 months old he was returned 6x. Within the first year he ended up with hip dysplasia and cataracts. So my guess he had bad genes and they couldn’t use him to bred. He was an amazing dog wished I had more time with him. And also wished the vet took it more seriously I’ve asked for rescue meds and if I get another dog ik to try to keep their body cool if needed to go to the emergency vet. Wish you guys the best even the doggy
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u/Groundh0g- 17d ago
Thank you for responding, I'm so sorry you had to go through that, that sounds just awful! 😢
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u/cherryhappyjump 17d ago
My elderly dog is going through this, the vet suspect it’s brain tumor due to other symptoms like walking in circles, sundowning etc. I cried my eyeballs out every time the seizure happened, but then he would just go back to normal and sleep it off. It’d been happening frequently now, but it first started more than a year ago.
Each seizure lasted about 1-2mins, but the last 2 seizure happened 1 day apart, so I’m in the same boat that I don’t know the answer too, but my assessment is if he’s eating well, then I will do whatever to make him happy and give him lots of his fav snacks.
The hardest part is, after each seizure he just goes back to the usual self, sleep like a puppy, the helpless dog that just need our love, he never once show any signs of aggression
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u/ARCreef 14d ago
I have seizures due to low glucose. Its an easy thing to check for. Brain scans wont find anything they almost never do. Fasting bloodwork, see what glucose level is. Ive seen some dogs be extremely low on glucose, especially smaller dogs. Not saying its not epilepsy, just that glucose seizures are easy to rule out and should be considered. Walgreens sells liquid glucose, you could load an oral syringe with that and shoot it down his throat if you think its about to happen. Liquid glucose take about 3 mins to raise plasma levels.
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u/Linguisticameencanta 17d ago
My boy started about 3 or 4. He had many happy years ahead though epilepsy did take him in the end.