Lab Having a Seizure

Updated on January 26, 2008
C.A. asks from Petaluma, CA
16 answers

Hello,
My yellow lab is having seizures. She had her first one (that we saw) at 2 1/2 years old while I was pregnant with our 5 month old daughter. Since we've brought her home she's (our lab) had 4 others since our daughter was born. I'm afraid it's epilepsy, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experiences with their dog having seizures and what the cause was.
Thank you!
C.

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So What Happened?

I wanted to thank every one so much for all the support. We finally went to the Vet and she said to keep tracking them for 3 or 4 more months. We went in for a check up and went over our "log" and she hasn't had a seizure for 2 months now (or at least we haven't seen one). We are crossing our fingers she has out grown this.
Thank you again!

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S.A.

answers from San Francisco on

My mom's pug had the same problem. She took him to the vet and he said it was mild epilepsy. He was on medication for a few years and that helped a lot. Now he's been off the medication for about a year and is doing well. I would see the vet asap.

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J.D.

answers from San Francisco on

C.
I had a dog with seizures. We put him on med. and he was fine as long as we gave him his med. If your dog has had more than one you need to take him to a vet and get him on med. Rarely do they find the cause of the seizure. I also have a son who has had seizures since he was 17. He is now 41 and doing fine. He has been on dilantin for all this time and is lucky that he is controled. As you must be guessing I am not a new mom but a grandmama times 7. J.

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M.H.

answers from Sacramento on

Yes C. , My lovely lab, Beauty had seizures. It was epilepsy. There is medication that you can give your lab that will prevent the seizures . My lab had her first seizure at around six years old. On meds , she lived to the ripe old age of almost fourteen!!We miss her very much!

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B.C.

answers from Bakersfield on

I also would like to know as we have a pom who has seizures.
even the vet can't give us a reason.

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J.S.

answers from Sacramento on

I have a yellow lab mix who had a seizure at about 4 years of age. We rushed him to the vet and no cause was found. He's now seven years old, and as far as we know, he's never had another one. Our vet said seizures are fairly common in labradors. I know there are antiseizure medications available for pets, but I have no idea what the cost is or what the side effects are. You should talk to your vet for his/her recommendations.

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S.T.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi, a friend of mine has a poodle that has this problem,the medication the vet gave her made the dog very loopy, a homeopath in our area suggested she give the dog a spoonful or two of honey when the sezure would come on or if she saw signs of one. Seems to work very well for this dog, I am not a vet, not even close, however I have seen this work, and it can't hurt to try.
S.

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J.H.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi, Our dog has epilepsy. It started the way you describe. You should for sure take it to the vet and get it put on Phenobarbital. That will prevent the seizures for the most part. Aren't they the worst? Wait til one of your kid has one...
Good luck with your dog and daughter.
J., Nevada City.

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D.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Hello,
I am a veterinarian in Santa Rosa. Epilepsy is a common disease afflicting many breeds but Labs in particular seem to have a high predisposition. The age of onset points most likely to this disorder that is generally NOT treated unless 2 or more or more severe Grand mal occurrences result. There should be NO association with the birth of your children, except for the fact that stress will lower the inherant seizure threshold in an animal and if there is underlying epilepsy, a seizure could result from the stress or anxiety associated with the new environment. I would suggest a thorough analysis of his blood and or/general xrays for other disease states, and if treatment is necessary, Phenobarbital is the first choice of treatment. Ask your vet for further assistance. You may reach me at my hospital at ###-###-####. I am currently on paternity leave myself but my associates can help you with any of your needs.
Sincerely,
Dr B

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A.C.

answers from San Francisco on

HI,
I had a poodle which had seizures. She mostly had it when she was alone during the period I was working. When I stayed home after my son was born the seizures went down.
Then I could not handle both our baby and the dog went to my parents, who were home most of the time.

Thus the meds were stopped (she was on phenobarbitol) and she no longer had seizures... she die in her sleep years later of aheart attack probably.
I hope this info helps....

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J.N.

answers from Redding on

We had the same problem with our yellow lab. We found that the seisures normally came on after we had taken her for a long walk or other extended activity. After talking to other people we found that is not unusual for yellow labs to have seisures, when she would have one we would just leave her alone and make sure she had plenty of water when she came out of it (she was always really thirsty after a seisure). There is medications available to prevent seisures so you might want to talk to your vet.

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B.R.

answers from San Francisco on

Our cat was having seizures for a while, we found out that it was due to the flea treatments we were giving her. We switched to advantage (this was a few years ago, Im not sure what they use now) and she stopped having them. Most medications for epilepsy usually leave the animal really out of it, so I would look into other causes first.

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S.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi C.,
We found out that our 2 yr old bloodhound had epilepsy. He is on medication that your vet can prescribe for you. We take our dogs to Bradshaw Vet in Elk Grove which we love!! But any vet should know what is best for your lab. Good luck.

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J.S.

answers from San Francisco on

our 2 lab had seizures. rare, and only for a few min. each, BUT it changed her... she became aggressive and defiant. By 12 years, she was too mean to keep near out small children...

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E.L.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi. I work at a veterinary clinic (I am not a veterinarian, though). There are several reasons for seizures; epilepsy could be one; he could have neurologic problems. You may want to get some blood work done to determine if he's epileptic and/or an MRI to see if it's more serious that than.

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A.A.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi there....just read about your Lab having seisures. Unfortunately, some breeds of dogs, Labs included, are prone to epilepsy. Keep a diary or write down the dates your dog has seizures and let your vet know, I know there are epilectic drugs for dogs. In the mean time, if you bought your dog as a puppy and still have the breeder's adress & phone #, call and or write to see if your dogs parents had seizures also. This is inhereted in the bloodlines of your dog's breeding. Hope this helps you.

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A.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi C.,
My sister has a couple of Jack Russel dogs and one of them has had seizure since he was about a year old. apparently the more thorough bred a dog is the more medical issues they have, including seizures, b/c they have been bred and bred again to the point where alot of what they have, who they are, is a good way away from what is natually occuring. From what I understand it is pretty easy to get a script from a vet for phenobarbital for your pup's seizures and it is helpful preventatively.
Peace to you
A.

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