I have a neighbour who has recently homed a 6 week Staffy . The breeder(??) said it was fine for pup to leave mum and be homed at this age . :(
The poor little thing has only been there a week and has started having fits . The vet was called and he thinks it may be epilepsy . I am absolutely fuming wth the so called breeder but my neighbour wont contact her .
Has anyone had a dog with epilepsy and what will it involve ???
Could the vet be wrong ??? Poor little thing. The pup is KC registered

This is incredibly early for primary epilepsy to begin - it usually starts between 18 months and 3 years of age, so I would suspect something else is going on here. Poisoning can cause fitting (slug bait a possibility? or chewing linoleum?), as can encephalitis, or even renal or cardiac conditions. Also tetanus is a possibility (though rare), or low blood sugar or calcium levels. So the vet has a lot of tests to run. Poor pup. :(

Thanks for your input JeanGenie
they said pup was unwell the other day and was being sick and frothing at the mouth . Being inexperienced owners I thought maybe pup had merely eaten something it shouldnt . Bu thats what the vet said today when he called and he gave pup a form of valium ????

I still wish they would contact the breeder

Meningitis is another possibility - years ago my friend had a westie pup that died of that.
:(

Hi Lel, poor little mite! Only thing I can think of is if it`s had any vaccines? J/G covered most other things. Any paint around with lead in it, wood preservatives, stuff like that that it could be licking around the house or bathroom & garden?

Christine, Spain.

God i hope not !!!!:(
As I say with the being inexperienced I wondered if maybe pup had eaten something it shouldnt( you know what they are like) and maybe the pup had merely been sick .
If epilepsy does tend to strike when older I find it very irresponsible of this vet to therefore mention epilepsy . Surely he should have said he will do tests first to determine what it is .
Dont think he has had his jabs yet but they did mention he had been out in he back at the weekend playing . Wonder if he has picked up something there or eaten something .
Lel

At this pup's age I would say that epilepsy is highly unlikely. Some sort of poisoning is far more likely.

I have just been on one site that agrees with you JG about epilepsy usually being detectable from 6 months upwards .
You dont think it could be distemper or the like do you ?
I am going back to read the threads recently posted about the doggy disease currently going around .
Pups owners said he had suffered fits though .

Hi lel,
Hope the little one's O.K. I agree with Jeangenie, doesn't sound like epilepsy to me. My last Staffie had epilepsy. We rescued her at 3 years old and found out why she wasn't wanted shortly afterwards!! When she had her first fit we thought she was dying!! Bonny was put on Epifen not long after, but unfortunately this drug isn't good for the liver, and I didn't know about Milk Thistle at the time. We had to get her put to sleep last year, at 9 years old. It broke our hearts!!
Hope you and they find out what it is.

Sarah.

Sarah
so sorry about your poor dog :(
I will contact them again tomorrow and see how pup has been over night .

lel,
We'll never forget her, but we did get another Staff. Buster, who's a total thug and winds the Shepherds up something rotten!! They had such a peaceful life until he came along!! But they love him too bits!! He bought out the "Mother hen" in them.:D

I've personally owned a Lab with Epilepsy and have known several others including GSD's a Corgi, a Sheltie and a couple of Goldens. Grand Mal Epilepsy does usually start at around 18 months but there are so many other types or causes of Epilepsy. I used to know a Cocker with Hydrocephalous Epilepsy, brought about by running into a brick wall. Rat poison is another possible cause. Epilepsy is often used as the name for any fitting of a reoccurring nature.

Regards, John

You're right John, many people consider any sort of fitting to be epileptic in cause, but that isn't in fact true. Many young children, for example, will fit if they have a high temperature, but it is not due to epilepsy.

i had one with epilepsy.hers started at 2yrs old , normaly it starts at a late age , 6 weeks im sure it must be somthing else.but im not a exspert mabe she should get a second opinion, poor little thing there must be a reason why the breeder let her have it at only 6 weeks. makes you wonder hey. let us know how it goes

My miniature poodle was diagnosed with epilepsy. It started when he was just over 3 years old (the day after his booster oddly enough). He had convulsions approx every 6 weeks and was on mysoline for around 10 years. During that time he still had fits although most were milder and of shorter duration. For his safety we fitted gates to the top and bottom of the stairs. I always think he sensed when a fit was imminent as he always came to one of us and and sat very close, during a fit we would gently soothe and comfort him until it was over. Afterwards he always needed letting out to do his biz and then settled down for a good long snooze. When he was around 13 they became far less frequent and virtually ceased. We gradually withdrew the mysoline (after consulting vet) and he went on to live to the grand old age of 17.

I can see you have been through it Angie, I could have written all of that except Bethany started at 18 months. I started getting slight character changes around 10 to 11 years old, around strange dogs she was slightly less confident when approaching a fit (Up to 3/4 days before) as if she knew that she would be rather more vulnerable.

She was always more relaxed if she could feel us around when she fitted, Lucy, who was around at that time used to sit and wash her face as we held her.

Bethany's painting hangs over my computer and if I’m ever answering something and am not quite sure I look at her!

My "Big Bad Bethany"

Just to give an update on this -
pups owner has contacted the breeder and one of the litter sisters has died :(
Not sure how or why as yet:(

It may not be relevent but my 17 year old son has had 2 Grand Mal seizure's which are being investigated. But the thing is that both times he had a severe kidney infection.
We have since been told that alot of seizures are brought on by infections.
Trace.

Symtoms could be tetanus, seizures, foaming at mouth, stiffness.  go to www.berkshirevet.com/caselucy.htm  to read one dog's symtoms and success story.  If it is tetanus, treatment needs to be started immediately.  Keep us posted.  Best of luck to you.  Ann