One of my huskies, Blitzen, is going to be 6 years old this month.  Ever since he was about 2ish, he has had seizures.  

The first one scared me to death, obviously.  So, I asked my vet about it.  He told me that epilepsy is common in the breed.  He also told me that I have nothing to worry about, as long as he does not have them all the time, and as long as they do not last long.  We also did some research on how to handle these seizures, and have learned how to calmly take care of Blitzen whenever a seizure strikes.  And, after a seizure, Blitzen gets really drooly and weak for about 20 minutes, and then he is back to his normal self again.

With all that being said, Blitzen usually has them once about every 6 months or so, and typically last about 3-5 min.  And every year, I mention it to the vet, and he still seems to think that they are so far apart that it has not been a major concern to him, just something we need to keep an eye on.  But in the past 2 weeks, he has had 2 seizures. And not only that, but they seem to have lasted longer than the norm.  

My questions are: Does anyone else's baby have seizures?  What do you do about them?  Am I right to be so worried right now, even though they do not seem to affect Blitzen after he comes back to?

Hello and welcome to the forum. There are a few members here who have Huskies with epilepsy and seizures. If you search for both terms you'll find the threads with all of the info and discussion. I'm on my phone now and linking them would be far too involved. Search for Shadow as well.

Good luck.

PLEASE contact your breeder and let them know! Probably one of the biggest issues we have is that when something goes wrong with a puppy, we aren't' told and can't accurately track genetic issues like seizures that occur later in life.

Agreed contacting the breeder is a must. They most likely do not know that they are passing this on if no one has made them aware. Seizures often show up between 2-3yrs old, which as Jaimie points out makes tracking the disorder next to impossible if no one is coming back with the information.

My 1 1/2 year husky, Yukon started having seizures in November, and the vet put him on phenobarbital after he had 3 in a 2 day period. I would definitely call your vet again. I know sometimes they won't medicate if they don't have them frequently, but if he has had 2 in the last 2 weeks that's something they need to do something about.

I contacted my breeder as soon as it happened, but unfortunately it didn't really do anything, as she stated that no other puppies or dogs they have ever had seizures.

I hope this helps. If you have ANY questions feel free to contact me. blueeyedghost also has a husky with seizures too and has helped me through a few questions.

Finally getting on the forum for the day, and it absolutely breaks my heart to see two more Huskies having seizures (the other posted in the holiday hijack).

Here is Shadow's Thread

And here are a few other recent threads:

Yukon

Anushka

Unfortunately our little club seems to be growing, but this is something that is sadly common with Huskies. As Jason said, you are more than happy to contact me as well and I'll answer questions as best I can and just be there to offer support.

I have read that adding coconut oil in the diet can help prevent or reduce degree of seizures. do a Google search on coconut oil and seizures in dogs.

coconut oil dosage
¼ teaspoon for every 10lbs of body weight twice daily, or
½ teaspoon for every 10lbs of body weight once daily.

see link for benefits of coconut oil for your animals

https://youtu.be/ND8doiVSLDw


also your dog could be deficient in magnesium

jmscott wrote:

PLEASE contact your breeder and let them know! Probably one of the biggest issues we have is that when something goes wrong with a puppy, we aren't' told and can't accurately track genetic issues like seizures that occur later in life.

Sorry, I just saw this. The problem with contacting the breeder is that I rescued Blitzen when he was only 8 weeks old. A girl was taking him to the pound because she couldn't care for him like she originally thought she would be able to, so I took him in. So even though I have had him since a puppy, I do not know who his breeder is. If I did, I would contact them.

jschrader wrote:

My 1 1/2 year husky, Yukon started having seizures in November, and the vet put him on phenobarbital after he had 3 in a 2 day period.  I would definitely call your vet again.  I know sometimes they won't medicate if they don't have them frequently, but if he has had 2 in the last 2 weeks that's something they need to do something about.  

I contacted my breeder as soon as it happened, but unfortunately it didn't really do anything, as she stated that no other puppies or dogs they have ever had seizures.  

I hope this helps.  If you have ANY questions feel free to contact me.   blueeyedghost also has a husky with seizures too and has helped me through a few questions.  

I took him back to the vet. We didn't need to put him on medicine though. The seizures having been being that frequent anymore. Now he has one every month or two. Also, according to my vet, they are not considered severe. He does not full on convulse, but instead its like his muscles lock up. He said unless they become frequent enough to affect his daily life or unless they become severe, then he doesn't need medicine yet.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Finally getting on the forum for the day, and it absolutely breaks my heart to see two more Huskies having seizures (the other posted in the holiday hijack).

Here is Shadow's Thread

And here are a few other recent threads:

Yukon

Anushka

Unfortunately our little club seems to be growing, but this is something that is sadly common with Huskies. As Jason said, you are more than happy to contact me as well and I'll answer questions as best I can and just be there to offer support.

Thank you! It is hard. My dog also has Atopy. He looks and acts as healthy as can be, so people never even know anything is wrong with him. It breaks my heart whenever he seizes. We just do everything we can to reduce the stress in his life, because that is what seems to trigger it. Luckily, he is a very laid back dog and doesn't stress about much. About the only things he does get stressed about are being alone and being around water.

msav wrote:

I have read that adding coconut oil in the diet can help prevent or reduce degree of seizures. do a Google search on coconut oil and seizures in dogs.

coconut oil dosage
¼ teaspoon for every 10lbs of body weight twice daily, or
½ teaspoon for every 10lbs of body weight once daily.

see link for benefits of coconut oil for your animals

https://youtu.be/ND8doiVSLDw


also your dog could be deficient in magnesium

I actually have some, so I may try adding that to his food! Thanks!

Oh no, not another baby suffering from epilepsy Kody started having them at 3 1/2. His first one was in December and scared the living crap out of me! I thought we were going to lose him Vet said he'd put him on meds if it happened less than every 6 months and yep, the next one happened 2 months later. Then another almost 3 months later. He's now on Pheno as well (since April) and thankfully has been seizure free since. Knocking on wood it remains that way! They last 3-5min though? I think that's really long. Kodys last about 30sec (which feel like 10min!!). The aftermath sucks. He gets back on his feet within 5min or so, but acts all crazy for the next 24 hours. Crazy in the sense of really hyper and "aggressive", which he is NOT, by any means. He's the sweetest dog ever!

Meredith helped me tremendously!!! She's awesome!