I had a phone call whilst away from home today from my son to say one of our Golden Retrievers (Poppy) was having a seizure. I couldn't get back very quickly, as had to fly home, but luckily my friend was able to get my dog to the vets, and I spoke to him on the phone.

It seems the seizure may be epilepsy, or may have been brought on by something else. She did have a high temperature, which the vet said coul dhave caused the seizure, or the after effects of the seizure could have caused that. He injected her with metacam to lower her temperature, and gave an anti-biotic, and she has anti-biotics to take at home in case of an underlying infection.

She is 18 months old, and had her first season between 11 and 12 months. My other two bitches have just finished/are finishing their seasons. I did think Poppy was going to come into season, as her vulva became enlarged and her teats also enlarged, but she never started bleeding. I did query a silent season and pyometra with the vet, and he felt pyo was unlikely.

The vet has basically said I need to see if she has another seizure and record the details of it if she does. However, I am not sur eif it is Ok to let her sleep with my other dogs for the time being? (they usually all sleep in the kitchen) Or if it is Ok to leave her unsupervised at all for now or if I go out should I seperate her from the other dogs or crate her in the same room as them? (she is crate trained, but I no longer use crates at home, and am thinkiing this may not be a good idea, due to the confined space?)

All the three girls get on great, but I have heard that other dogs may attack a dog having a seizure, and so they are best not left alone with other dogs. Also, as Poppy became aggressive immediately after the seizure (I am assuming down to fear, she has a beautiful temprement, although even then she was just 'acting aggressive' and not attemtping to bite. I obviously didn't see for myself, only have my son's and friend's accounts to go on) the vet felt it might be a concern that she would 'accidentally' harm the other dogs.

If anyone has any experience of advice, I'd appreciate it.

My friend has an epileptic GSD bitch(she's unregistered BTW) & she has had seizures in the presence of the her (recently deceased) other GSD dog. She never crated her as it wouldn't have been safe for the bitch, but she did separate them if she went out.

It could be that your bitches seizure is linked to her season & caused by hormones.

This was the case with my friend's bitch. She had her spayed after she had three seizures one during her season & one nine weeks later & come into season again 3 months after her previous season & had another seizure during that season. After being spayed she had subsequent seizures & the good thing is that they gradually went from Grand Mal full blown seizures to a few seconds of slight trembling. She's been spayed for just over 15 months now, & touch wood, last had a very light Petite Mal that lasted a couple of seconds last September. So hopefully they were hormone related & the seizures are a thing of the past.

Hi There

I have a dog with epilepsy and I recall how scared I was following his first seizure so I know how anxiety-provoking this is for you.

Firstly, your vet is completely right. Epilepsy will only be diagnosed following further seizures and in the absence of tests showing any other physical difficulties. I recall that Finn also had a high temp following his first seizure and was treated with antibiotics also. He did not fit again for a further four weeks and then went on to have cluster seizures (more than one in a short period of time).

I would absolutely not leave your dog unattended with your other dogs. Firstly, you are right in saying that other dogs can be aggressive toward the dog having the seizure. It is absolutely terrifying for both dog and owner to witness and other dogs can attack based on a fear response. In addition, on coming out of a seizure, a dog is very confused and it's not uncommon for aggression to be shown to other dogs and to owners. Finn had absolutely no idea who I was post-seizure and I would sit with my head down allowing him to sniff me all over and refamiliarise himself with his surroundings. This could last anything from ten minutes to the following day.

Providing her with a safe environment is paramount. Finn was kept in a separate room to my other dogs with nothing for him to climb on. If he had a seizure when I wasn't there then the chances of injury were kept to a minimum. In terms of crating....I'm not sure I would consider a metal cage as there may be a risk of trapped paws/limb injury. Perhaps one of these fabric crates might serve you better if a safe room isn't possible?

Finn is now ten years old after developing epilepsy aged four. He takes Phenobarbitone medication and, touch wood, has not had a seizure since starting this medication! The only side effect he has is ataxia (which shows itself as trembling in the back legs particularly after exercise) and he's a little clumsy in his movement. So, please don't despair if your dog does develop epilepsy. You may read many horror stories online as I did (I spent weeks in tears and was consumed by anxiety at first) but, for the majority of dogs, epilepsy does not significantly impact upon their quality of life.

A couple of things to consider:

(1) Diet - some ingredients in commercial dog food have been connected to seizures in animal testing. If you feed kibble, you might want to consider something like James Wellbeloved or Burns

(2) Boosters - talk this through with your vet. My vet advises me not to booster vaccine Finn

(3) Use of flea treatment/wormers - I confirmed safety with manufacturers on this - Panacur wormer and Frontline are what I choose for Finn with no ill effect.

(4) Spaying - Again, talk to your vet about this.

(5) Inform the breeder of your dog. If your dog goes on to have repeat seizures, this should have consequences to their breeding programme.

The Mother of my youngest dog had her first seizure aged three (after having her first litter). She was immediately spayed and 2 years on has not had any repeat seizures. All puppies from her one and only litter have now been spayed/neutered. Although disappointing as we did hope Tyne could be used at stud, we would not risk breeding from him given his Mums history.

Hope this helps a little

I'd say the fit was caused by the hormones and the temperature.  I'm sure she'll be fine!

I agree with Colliecrew , we had a rough collie who suffered epilepsy from 7yrs and lived until he was 15 half yrs he was also on phenobarb everyday of his life with no ill effects .
I noticed his ears would slightly twitch just before a seizure giving me time to put him in a safe place that was dark and quiet.
Aggression and exessive  thirst afterward is very common.

I hope you get her sorted.

Roni

I had a G/S years ago who had just the one fit, right out the blue, when he came out of it he was very agressive, he was scared and very confused, as was i having never seen this before, he was nine months old at the time, we were told not to leave him with our other dogs as already said in earlier posts, but on a good note we were monitoring him closely to find a trigger but he never had another and passed away aged 12.

Hoping she's ok and it was a one off for you also