Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 My yorkie of 4 years has seizures every once in awhile. I'm not sure what causes them. They are very scary to watch and I can't do anything to help him. Has anyone had similar problems or know what might be causing them or how to stop them? My vet. doesn't seem to know, just said to watch him. :cry: If anyone has any ideas, I would luv to hear them, as it is, I feel helpless not being able to help my little baby. :cry: thanks. kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Oh Kelly! I am so sorry! I would have no idea what to do. Is there any medication that can be given to lessen them? How long has she had them? Maybe you should see another vet for another opinion... someone specialized in this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefeathers! Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Cally, I can feel your pain. Honest. Recently, my own Yorkie had an episode of mild seizures. My vet pretty much said the same thing as yours... to watch him. Apparently, they don't really begin medicating them unless it becomes a regular thing(?). My vet told me that it's really difficult to tell what might trigger it and told me that he could begin having seizures regularly, or he may never have one again. I'm in a rural area and, though he is a good vet, it's not quite the same as a university. I'll be interested to know what one particular guest we have says, or Tic Doc. They may be able to offer some cutting edge advice. I really can't offer much except to say I know how you feel and that my vet pretty much says the same thing as yours. It really breaks a heart to have to watch one, especially so tiny, go through something like that. A friend of mine told me something that I will pass along to you. It sounds silly, but really gave me comfort. She said that when they seizure, they go to a special place where friends talk to them and comfort them and to not be scared. It sounds so silly and I know it's scary and traumatic, but, for some reason, those words brought me comfort. Keep checking back and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Horsefeathers, thanks for the compliment. A few questions for the owner of the Yorkie: When do the seizures occur? Is it after eating? How long after? Is it before eating? How long before? They are prone to hypoglycemia. Does a seizure after vaccinating? Does a seizure occur after a stressful time? Does it occur after exercise, play, napping? Has the dog ever been injured? (head injury/trauma) How does the dog act during the seizure? Have you checked with the breeder to see if the parents have a history of epileptic seizures? This is usually an inherited disorder. Have you had the vet to check for liver disfunction/disease? Here is something I pulled off the net (to avoid having to re-type it myself): Epilepsy Seizures may be caused by a number of conditions, including low blood sugar, brain tumor, heat stroke, poison, nutritional deficiency and distemper. Classic or idiopathic (meaning "of unknown cause") epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures with no active underlying disease process occurring in the brain. This form of epilepsy is not usually seen until a dog is mature, usually between three and five years of age. In a typical seizure, the dog will salivate excessively. There is usually dilation of the pupils and stiffening of the limbs. The dog may arch its back and paddle its legs. Frequently, the dog's temperature will spike up three to five degrees. Urination or defecation may accompany or follow the episode. Seizures usually last only a minute or two, but severely affected dogs may have longer and more frequent episodes. Dogs who have infrequent seizures do not require treatment. When treatment is required, phenobarbitol, dilantin and primidone are frequently used. This is an excellent website: [url]http://www.upei.ca/cidd/intro.htm[/url] This website deals with inherited diseases. Look under Inherited Nervous System Disorders. This also discusses Idiopathic Aggression. Seizures are caused by some unknown disfunction in the firings of the brain. They could be caused by many different things: inherited disorder, household chemicals, vaccines (especially Lepto), trauma, stress, food, hypoglycema, liver disfunction or disease .... etc..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I hope he gets better! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Here are some things you can ask your vet to check: Thyroid levels Liver Panel Blood Sugar Complete Blood Panel Some things can be corrected with medication such as blood sugar and thyroid. I would contact the breeder and ask if the parents or any other littermates (even prior litters) have had this problem. Or any other problems such as liver, blood sugar, thyroid or etc. This might narrow it down.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 [quote name='cally2']My yorkie of 4 years has seizures every once in awhile. I'm not sure what causes them. They are very scary to watch and I can't do anything to help him. Has anyone had similar problems or know what might be causing them or how to stop them? My vet. doesn't seem to know, just said to watch him. :cry: If anyone has any ideas, I would luv to hear them, as it is, I feel helpless not being able to help my little baby. :cry: thanks. kelly[/quote] IMO your vet should be doing bloodwork to rule out some common causes of siezures - you might want to consider using another vet for your pet's care. in yorkies pancreatitis, liver shunt, low blood sugar are not uncommon issues for example and could cause the problems you see - no testing no knowledge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Thank you all for your replies. I will look into getting some of the blood tests and maybe rule out some things. thanks again. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Do you have your Yorkie on a Flea/Tick preventative treatment and/or heartworm preventative? Some dogs can seize or become ill right after or several days after these treatments. Keep a daily record on your dog, and that will help you determine a time frame. I am not very familiar with diseases that are prevalent in Yorkies, but I do know that cardiomyopathy is very prevalent in boxers and some dogs with this undetected disease do either appear to be seizing or fainting. A lot of vets are unfamiliar with breed specific diseases and do not test for certain things. Cardiomyopathy cannot be detected by just a heart check and EKG. The dogs must have a Holter Monitor test done. Since I do not believe this is prevalent in Yorkies, I'm not suggesting that this is what your dog may have. I just wanted to alert you to other possibilities. Sometimes there is no way of detecting what is causing seizures, and most vets will not put them on medication if the seizures are very sporadic. I do wish you and your dog the best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefeathers! Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Guest, have you ever heard of Revolution causing seizures in dogs? I know that a few dogs will seize with Advantage, but I haven't heard if Revolution can cause it. The one episode of seizures MY Yorkie had was shortly after an application of Revolution. I wondered then if it might be related... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Yes, I have heard of Revolution affecting certain dogs. All of these medications have their benefits and drawbacks. I, personally, do not use any of these on my dogs, since I do not want to take a chance and also because these medications have not been around long enough for us to see long term damage or good, but that is my personal choice. Yes, my dogs do occasionally get fleas and ticks but not to a great extent, and I check them every day, wash their bedding daily and change my vacuum bag after vacuuming. I also will not be getting my dogs yearly vaccinations and will be having them titered, except for 3 yr. rabies which is required in my state, as I do believe we are over vaccinating our pets. Also to add a bit to Tic Doc's post on spraying the lawns, some dogs have had their immune systems compromised and have experienced seizures from these chemicals, especially the commercial companies that come out and spray your lawns for weeds and tell you not to let pets or children in the grass for 24 hrs. One friend's schnauzer suffered from chronic seizures (head shakes, staring at the walls) after they had a commercial company come out and spray (was more than 24 hrs. later) even the spraying of a neighbor's grass can have reactions in our pets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 [quote name='Horsefeathers!']Guest, have you ever heard of Revolution causing seizures in dogs? I know that a few dogs will seize with Advantage, but I haven't heard if Revolution can cause it. The one episode of seizures MY Yorkie had was shortly after an application of Revolution. I wondered then if it might be related...[/quote] I have not done much research on Revolution as when it came out it sounded like way too much in the way of poisons given at once to me. With new items like this I tend to let everyone else test them on their dogs if they want to long before I will use them on mine. I'm perfectly happy keeping my home flea free with IGR and ticks off with amitraz collars and heartworm away with intercepter - all given or used with different timing not all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Thanks for the feedback. That application of Revolution was the first and only time I've ever used it on this particular dog. I really don't like it for flea control, anyway (it just isn't that effective on our industrial strength fleas), but I was given several free samples by a rep and was told it would be the safest heartworm prevention for my old delapidated Yorkie. I know nothing about his background, or medical history, as we adopted him when he was already an old man. I do know that the only seizure episode that I'm aware of is the only time I ever put Revolution on him. Eeeek! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 :-? I heard pretty much the same thing you all are saying your vets said from my vet today. I love my little yorkie just like she is my child. My daughters are 20 and 19 years old so grown and I'm young myself not yet 40 years old age. My yorkie means the world to me and my husband. She scared me and my husband at 3:00 a.m this morning she made this awful noise and I turned on the light and just started screaming. She was not really moving my husband grabbed her and moved her around some trying to get her to come too. I was freaking out crying, screaming and calling her names. She finally came around but oh it scared me so bad. my little girl sure was scared herself. She just kept staring at me. I thank god she isn't o.k. the first stop early before opening of the vet we were there. I heard exactly what you are saying. I already called the breeder but she wasn't home yet. You know what is really strange is that I hear frontline on here and I just gave my little baby frontline well applied it 5 days before this happened. Very upset!!! Has any really seen this happen? I would really love to know if this is what the problem was. She has never had a seizure before. I couldn't bare losing her I really don't want to go through this again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Irena Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 first of all change the vet, go and see others, i'm sure that with proper testing they will found what the problem and give you the way to treat him good luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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