Thank you Mike! I feel so much better after hearing from ALL of you. There is nothing more comforting than to hear from people who have gone through this experience first hand.

The other night, my three year old husky was laying on the floor of our living room sleeping as my boyfriend and I were watching tv. He woke up, and tried to get up, and then started having a seizure. This was the first time he has ever done this. It only lasted about 15 seconds, and then he was back to his happy self, but it really scared me. My boyfriend and I immediately started researching it online, and found out that epilepsy is common to the breed. The stuff we read also said that, unless is happens again or lasts longer that 2 min, there is no need to take him to the vet. Has anyone else every had this happen to their dog? If so, what did you do about it?

SO sorry to hear you go through this! Yes it is common, but I don't know about not taking him to the vet. A phone call is free, so I would call your vet and see what he/she recommends.

There is another thread about this already, so I'm merging them.

oh no sorry you had to go through that.

definitely wouldn't hurt to call up your vet and ask their opinion on it.

My dog had a seizure for the first time just the other night! He is three...he was asleep, when he woke up suddenly and went to stand up. In the middle of standing he had a seizure. It scared the crap out of me!

I'm happy to report that it has been a month and Dakota has not had another seizure!!! I know that doesn't mean he still won't have one....but I remain optomistic.

Well, I spoke too soon. My son called me at work today to tell me Dakota was Seizing again. I'm so bummed. I was really hoping it was a one time thing. When I got home he was pretty clingy to me and wouldn't eat his dinner. I offered him some ham and he snatched that up so I won't worry too much about that. I'm pretty sure he will go back to eating his dry food in the morning. After about 2 hours of being home, he has returned to his normal self. Ugg... I hate that he is getting old on me. I know siezures having nothing to do with age, but since he has never had any health issues until now, I can't help but be reminded that he is in his last years with us. I just want to thank all of you agian for your information. It made this 2nd seizure easier to handle.

I'm sorry that you went through that, but I'm glad the experience of others here could help you and your family through this. Keep us posted. Dakota likely still has a lot of living to do with you all and it sounds like your family has a good handle on how to approach things now.

We're here for you!

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

sorry to hear he had another one

Oh no =(

This is one area where I am quite knowledgeable. My parents adopted a husky last year named Dawson and he had seizures. After 6 months his seizures continually got worse. They tried different supplements and visits to the vet, but eventually he lost so much of his brain activity (seizures cause brain damage) that he would start running into walls and forget how to drink his water. So they took him to the bet one last time and he had a couple seizures there and didn't come out of the last one. So they put him down. If you want to know about any of the special diets that he was on feel free to shoot me a PM and I can help you out. Best of luck.

Seizures rarely cause brain damage. Usually (to my knowledge anyway) the severe and frequent seizures associated with brain damage are also associated with brain dysplasia, tumors, or stroke.

About 3/4's of the way down on this page there is a brief section on seizures and brain damage.
http://www.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_facts

I'm only stating what the vet explained to us. He was hoping to use Dawsons body as part of a test that the University of Colorado is doing graphing the loss of brain activity paralleling seizures. Apparently they've been doing it for quite a few years and they like to get a hold of the dogs while they're alive and graph their brain activity. The vet spoke with CU and they explained that with the amount of seizures that Dawson was having (over 6 months he would average a seizure or 2 every week) he probably had less than a quarter of his brain functioning.

Dawson definitely sounds like one of the more extreme cases. I just wanted to add some perspective, and hopefully avoid any unnecessary scare.

I did read that Siezures can lead to death, but I interpreted it for extreme cases as well. I'm hoping Dakota will stay at the once a month level for his sake. I'm sorry to hear about your parents dog. That is heartbreaking.

Dakota had his third seizure this morning. This time it was a month and half since the last one so that's good. I'm glad it hasn't increased in time. I'm off from work and he is very clingy with me, like the other two times. I feel like he is needing reassurance maybe? I'm trying not to behave differently, hoping it will get him back to his old self sooner. It's just really hard to see him so unsure. Usually Dakota and Willow have thier morning romps and I don't think he is up to it. Should I try to keep Willow away? I thought about taking her for a walk to give him some rest, but I think that will upset him more since he doesn't want to leave my side. I'm just not sure what I should do to help him through this. I'm a bit lost... I'm taking him and Willow to the vet in the next week for some heartworm meds so I will talk some more to the vet about this but in the mean time if any of you have suggestions, I would love to hear it.

Having a seizure takes a lot out of them, he probably needs quiet time for a little while. After my moms dog would have a seizure she would usually 'hide' under my moms desk and sleep for most of the rest of the day. If any of the other dogs would try to play with her they got bitten, if me or my siblings tried to interact with her, we got growled at.

Well we are thinking that Sierra is having seizures now after the frighting collapse at the dog park all most a month ago i have been on HIGH alert with my baby girl. Yesterday morning i work up to find Sierra on the floor next to the bed by my head, she has NEVER slept there before, she was not there all night as i had gotten up at 3am and she was on her dog bed. when i woke at 6am she was smacking her lips and sticking her tongue out, she looked a bit off and gave me a sad look. i got out of bed and got on the ground with her to give her some love, after we got up we went down stairs to go out, she had trouble getting down the steps on the first few, looked like it was the hind legs. she came back inside and was super clingy with me and was digging her head into my arm, i just sat there holding her for a long time. i gave them breakfast and got ready and went to the gym as she seemed ok. i got home and she was back to her self, went for a walk played some and i left for work. we had a vet visit all ready set up that day or else i think i would have made one. we did blood work on her and it all came back fine, the vet said to keep an eye on her and keep a log of when i notice a change in her behavior, if it is happening once a month or so then no worries, if they start happening sooner then we need to look into it more. she has been fine up till that park episode so i wonder if that triggered something in her as her diet has not changed nor has anything else in her life so i wonder if these things just happen or does something trigger them... im also concerned about her on our hikes and about making sure i pack things to help her if it happens. wonder if there are know foods out there that help prevent seizures that i can start feeding, you know certain vitamins or proteins that kind of stuff. our vet said sugar is a good thing to feed but not to go giving her pure sugar but maybe get some sweet potato treats, im also gonna look into those sport drinks for dogs as maybe they have some sugar or electrolytes in them. i have some homework to do i guess.....

I'm sorry to hear that about Sierra
If she is starting to have seizures, I hope they are infrequent.

I think Sierra likes fish, correct? I buy these treats for Ginger that are dehydrated and they are make of only fish skins wrapped around sweet potato or chicken wrapped around sweet potato. Remind me, and I'll bring some for you on Sunday to our meet up to try on Sierra.

Oh! And there are also chicken wrapped carrots too...carrots would be something that has sugar in it....maybe you could also try if she likes raw carrots?

jbealer wrote:

our vet said sugar is a good thing to feed but not to go giving her pure sugar but maybe get some sweet potato treats, im also gonna look into those sport drinks for dogs as maybe they have some sugar or electrolytes in them. i have some homework to do i guess.....

So, these types of food will help prevent seizures?

26nikita wrote:

jbealer wrote:

our vet said sugar is a good thing to feed but not to go giving her pure sugar but maybe get some sweet potato treats, im also gonna look into those sport drinks for dogs as maybe they have some sugar or electrolytes in them. i have some homework to do i guess.....

So, these types of food will help prevent seizures?

No, the vet suggested to feed after an attack to get the blood sugar back up.

I was asking if anyone knew of a "superfood" that has shown signs of reducing seizures. Kind of like how we eat things to help prevent attacks in our system, or we at least hope that is what it is doing...

jbealer wrote:

No, the vet suggested to feed after an attack to get the blood sugar back up.

I was asking if anyone knew of a "superfood" that has shown signs of reducing seizures. Kind of like how we eat things to help prevent attacks in our system, or we at least hope that is what it is doing...

Oh, ok. Sorry, I read that wrong.

My vet didn't mention anything about getting Dakota's blood sugar levels back up after his seizure. I guess I should have another conversation with him.

That would be great if their was a "superfood" to reduce seizures...

I was so glad to find this topic. Kobey, who will be 3 in February, had a seizure last night. I've never seen an animal or person have this, so at first I honestly didn't think he was going to make it. We went to the vet today and they did blood work and will be calling with results tomorrow. I'm so worried about him. But soo glad to read that the seizures themselves won't shorten his life. I couldn't believe all of the things I found when researching that could cause these... Hoping to hear some answers tomorrow..