I woke up to my 10 year old Dakota having a seizure this morrning! It was incredably scary and lasted a long time. I'm a bit freaked out. I know dogs can have seizures like people and this can be delt with medicine, but I haven't heard back from his blood tests yet so I thought I would ask on here in the mean time. Does anyone have experience with this? he has never had one before, he was acting like his usual self the night before so I felt like this happened out of the blue. His vet has always commented how he is in such good shape for his age so this is kinda freaking me out. The vet took his blood and sent it off to the U of I for testing. I never got to talk to the vet, only his assitants. They said they need to make sure it is not his liver or it could just be he has developed Epelepsy (sp). Wouldn't there be signs??? I swear it lasted 5 minutes and I was afraid he wasn't going to come out of it. I was such a mess this morning over it. After we got home from the vet, I had to go to work...I've missed all of last week because I fell and broke my wrist and had surgery. My son stayed home with him to keep an eye on him. When I got home, he ws back to his old self and i never would have guessed he had a seizure this morning. I 'm just worried.....

wow sorry to hear that! Poor Dakota

I've never dealt with them so I really hope someone can help you and give some advice, keep us updated on him and his blood tests

Sometimes it can just be a one time thing, we've had dogs come into work who are totally healthy and then just randomly have a seizure out of nowhere. Wait until the blood tests come back as that's all you really can do for now. Good luck

Aw, man. What a horrible thing to have to go through! I've fortunately never had to experience this, but I know some people do know their stuff, so hopefully they have some advice.

Please do keep us updated. Poor Dakota!

Talked to the vet today, his liver tests came back good so he thinks it is Epilepsy. He says its very common, he sees it all the time. He did say he may rarely have them so he suggested waiting on the meds to see how things go. I'm soo glad it's not his liver but sad that he will now have to deal with this at his age. I just hope that this will be a rare thing for him because i just don't see how that can't take a toll on him especially since his first one was so bad. I hope none of you ever have to experience it because it was aweful to watch knowing you can't do anything for him but be there with him.

I am comforted by the fact that he is happily playing with Willow as I type this up!

Omg, I'm so sorry Dakota had to go through that! Poor baby =( I hope it was just a one time thing! I'm sure you're a nervous wreck thinking that it might happen again =(

not to be overly dramatic, but I had never witnessed a seizure on a dog or a human and even knowing it's a common thing, I was so scared that he was dieing on me when it just continued on and on. That really shook me... even my 18 year old son was crying. I feel like I will handle it, better, emotionally,if he does have one again, but would prefer it didn't. Breaking my arm on Christmas day and having to have surgery was less stressfull!!

Glad the prognosis is positive. Keep us updated and I'm so sorry that you are going through this!

Glad it isn't his liver, HUUUUGE relief! Hope he doesn't get another one, keep us updated.

Tommy's first Husky, Tia, was epileptic. Actually that's how he got her, as her owner wanted to breed her and couldn't with epilepsy.
Do not panic, first of all. Tia developed them before 9 months, and lived to be 16 years old, healthy til the last few weeks, and it wasn't epilepsy that took her.
I had never experienced a seizure in a dog until I met Tia, and it IS scary. The best thing you can do for him is remain calm, pet him, talk to him. One trick Tommy learned was to get her brain waves going in a different direction. He would open a can of tuna, put stinky cheese or sausage in front of her nose, and that would help to lessen the length of time the seizures lasted. Weird, but it worked. You don't necessarily want to give the food to him while she's seizing, just let him smell it.
Tia was on Phenobarbetol all of her life after her first seizure, and as long as she got her meds, the seizures were uncommon, except for times of great stress. (storms, spats with the other dogs, etc.)
Even if Dakota does need meds, all should be well with him. You will notice, if he has another, that he seems tired afterwards. That was normal for Tia. Also, Tommy (and later, I) develpoed a sense of when one was coming. She would pace back & forth to us, just acting out of sorts. That was a clue. If you know your Dakota, as I am sure you do, if it becomes more common for him, you will develop this sense too.
He will be ok. I will pray for it to be so. Hope I helped a little. The Doc will help you along with it all. Take care!
AND you ARE NOT being overly dramatic. It is a normal reaction!

Thank you, Amy

Also, I have read in some of the breed literature that this can be common for Huskies. But I am wondering now, as it doesn't seem as if too many here have had this issue.

Thank you Amy!!!!! I really appreciate the information and it does make me feel better to know that this won't shorten his life with us. It happened @ 6:30am and he was asleep in his bed, next to mine, so there was no tell tell sign this time but if it does happen again, I ill take note of what he was doing just before. i will also try the food smelling to shorten it. I think that's what scared me the most. I was pretty calm and cooing to him when it started but when it kept going on and on, I was starting to panic that he wasn't going to come out of it. Dakota has always been more my dog, not my son's, so it warmed my heart when he put Dakota on the prayer list at church,

Not to sound cheesy or anything, but it warmed my heart to see Amy's post and now your reply. It's reasons like this that I'm happy I got the opportunity to put this forum together I know it's just our little corner of the internet but when I think of the connections we've help to make (one successful adoption, sorting through various stomach issues, moral support with seizures), it makes me feel like we've done some good here

So happy to have you all in my little husky corner of the internet!

/mushy talk

My mothers cocker spaniel had epilepsy, it is definitely one of the scariest things you can witness. She started having seizures when she was about a year old, she would have seizures about 3 times a year. The meds work very well, if you have to put him on them just be careful, they sort of develop a dependency on them and if you miss a dose they are almost certain to have a seizure (at least this is how my moms dog was). She lived to the ripe old age of 17 and had to be put down for unrelated medical issues.

I hope this was just a one time thing and you and your Dakota never have to go through this again.

Just glad I could make you feel better, Nikita...Remember, if you try the food thing, make it something he loves or that is very strong-smelling...it's like it gets the chemistry in the brain going in a different direction and you can see SOME sort of recognition of SOMETHING when they smell yumminess. Tia used to try to lift her head to find/follow the scent. I imagine the smell of that stinky tuna was heaven to her! Pepperoni worked well, too!

Tori-this forum has been of great help to so many, whether medical issues, training suggestions, a little pick-me-up, or even a venting rant or two. WE thank YOU GUYS for creating it!
You have done A LOT of good here!

amykmac wrote:

Just glad I could make you feel better, Nikita...Remember, if you try the food thing, make it something he loves or that is very strong-smelling...it's like it gets the chemistry in the brain going in a different direction and you can see SOME sort of recognition of SOMETHING when they smell yumminess. Tia used to try to lift her head to find/follow the scent. I imagine the smell of that stinky tuna was heaven to her! Pepperoni worked well, too!

Tori-this forum has been of great help to so many, whether medical issues, training suggestions, a little pick-me-up, or even a venting rant or two. WE thank YOU GUYS for creating it!
You have done A LOT of good here!

TOTALLY AGREED!!!! I don't know what I would do if I hadn't found this forum!!!!! You are all awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This forum is my new Facebook!! I love it and it has greatly helped!! Thanks for the creation of it and thanks for everyone so willing to help with such great advice! By-the-way, my name is Mindy

Gotcha, Mindy! Sorry, I am sometimes too lazy to look at profiles. (Or I am at work, and need to be fast so I'm not caught looking and Huskies! )

Wish there was an option to put our first name on the side if we so choose..HINT-HINT!

amykmac wrote:

Wish there was an option to put our first name on the side if we so choose..HINT-HINT!

Done

Go to your profile and there is now an option for Name It's not mandatory, but if you wish others to see your real name, just fill out the profile field! That was easy

PS- Aww, thanks ladies! It's been a pleasure serving you

Wow, You're quick! I'm going there next to update mine! Thanks!

26nikita wrote:

Wow, You're quick! I'm going there next to update mine! Thanks!

I do try

Koda wrote:

26nikita wrote:

Wow, You're quick! I'm going there next to update mine! Thanks!

I do try

Just one more reason to LOVE this forum!

Awww this is horrible. I hope you are feeling a bit better now (as well as Dakota).

I feel for you, it really is one of the most horrible things to witness because you can't do much about it. The good thing is that he's doing good now and you are taking care of it with the vet and I bet everything will be great from here on out!

When I had taken Zoe to the vet after hers (which also came out of nowhere after nearly 3 years), the vet told me that seizures rarely ever cause death. In the case of Zoe, she just happened to take a really strong one and after it was done with, she was very dazed but took another strong one right after.

I definitely can relate to you, though, as it is so scary and I just hope your nerves are a bit more relaxed now. I think everything will be fine from what you've said and what I've been told

Sending good vibes to you and Dakota!