Yukon is 1 1/2 years old, and on November 7th around 10:30pm as he was just going to sleep he had what looked like a grand mal seizure. I have never witnessed one, so naturally I was pretty terrified. He was convulsing, making noises and foaming at the mouth. It lasted about a minute. Afterwards he was breathing heavy and seemed dazed for about 5 minutes or so, and then he was fine, he was just very thirsty. Afterwards we went to sleep and I had planned to call the vet in the morning. The next morning as I was getting ready to take him to the vet he had another one about 7:40am, which seemed to be just as severe as the first one.

The vet ran some blood tests and gave me a prescription for phenobarbital, which she said to start him on if he has another in the next few days. The next night, around 2am he had a 3rd seizure, and this time he peed himself as well. I went and got the prescription the next morning and started him on the drugs. So far, he has not had any more.

We went to the vet last weekend and his phenobarbital were a little low, but nothing that needs adjusting. Since he has been seizure free she didn't want to increase it at this time.

There are a couple of concerns that I have:

1) I read that a side effect of the phenobarbital is increased thirst and urination. Last week he peed his crate twice. He is in his crate from 8am-noon and 1pm - 5pm M-F. It was a Tuesday evening I came home and he was soaked. Then, on Wednesday afternoon I came home from lunch with the same result. And last night I came home from work to a pee-soaked dog as well. I make sure he doesn't drink a ton of water right before, but what else can I do about this? The vet is checking for a UTI, and if it comes back clean she may try another drug, but I am wondering if anyone else had this issue

2) Weight gain. Yukon is already kind of lazy. Until recently I thought he was just lazy, but his front legs are kind of deformed and I suspect he has elbow dysplasia, which would explain his lack of energy, etc. So running him or walking him more is not really an option, because I don't want to make it worse, or put him in pain.

If anyone else has dealt with seizures I would love some input. Thank you

Meredith (blueeyedghost) has done a lot of research on seizures in huskies since he pup started having them, so hopefully she can point you towards some good resources. You may want to PM her.

Question, did Yukon receive any vaccinations or flea/tick medication leading up to the seizures?

Good luck and I hope you get some answers. I can't imagine what you're going through.

Thanks, that's actually the first thing I asked the vet. He had his annual rabies and DHL4PP shot on October 26th, and I gave him his Bordetella on October 27th, and he has the seizures on November 7th. His last flea/tick medicine was on October 1st.

Hey, I posted in the other thread before I saw this. I'm happy to talk any time, and in the meantime go check out www.canine-epilepsy.com and join the list serve. I've learned a lot from them, and the community is really supportive. With the PB, make sure you're doing a liver supplement (we use Denamarin) since PB is metabolized by the liver and can do damage. Have you seen a neurologist? Also, do you have any inclination to look into holistic treatments to complement the conventional meds? We've had some good results there.

Seriously, message me any time if you have questions or just need to chat, and you're welcome to look me up on Facebook as well. My last name is Botnick.

Thanks, I will keep it on this thread so I don't highjack the other one . I did join canine-epilepsy.net, but I will have to check that one out as well. I spoke to my vet about the concerns about the PB and the liver damage and she did not seem too concerned about it, and said that it occurred in a very small percentage of dogs on that. We may be changing anyway depending on the outcome of the urine test, since he has been peeing in his crate. I haven't been anywhere except for the vet, so I have not seen a neurologist.

I feel so bad for him because he has always had so many issues. I blame his breeder, I am almost certain she is a BYB. I am convinced he has elbow dysplasia in his front legs, he gets car sick, and now the seizures. It was pretty awful to watch, but since he has been on the PB he has not had any.

Here is a recent pic of the pack by the way. From left to right is:

Nikko, Kodiak and Yukon.

That's a good looking pack

I talked at length with our neurologist about meds, and he said there is a higher instance of liver damage with zonisimide than with PB, so that something to keep in mind if it comes up. If you do wind up switching, look at Keppra (Leviteracetam). It's metabolized in the kidneys and has an almost nonexistent incidence of damage unless there are underlying kidney issues. Like I said, the dogs don't always metabolize it correctly and so you could see breakthroughs, but if you can afford it (about $60 a month from Costco), it's worth looking into.

And I agree, watching a dog have a seizure is pretty much the worst thing ever. I hate feeling so helpless.

I know, I had no idea what was going on and was freaking out the first time it happened.  I literally thought he was dying   It broke my heart and ever since I have been babying him probably too much lol.  He gets away with way more than the other two haha


BTW Shadow is soooo cute! I love her little mask

We were actually in Hawaii when Shadow started having seizures, I was losing my mind until we got home. Thankfully she hasn't had one since late august, but I still fear them. And yeah, she gets away with a lot

And thank you, though she's not so little anymore. My "baby girl" is now taller than Ghost and weighs 60 lbs

Wow, I was reading her progress. I am glad she is doing better, but it sounds like you've been through alot with her. Hopefully she will continue to be seizure free

Thanks, and if hope the same for Yukon

I'm so sorry to see this. I can't help much with the epilepsy except state that keeping the liver cleansed in the long term will help (supplements, herbs, etc.). However, I wanted to comment on the elbow dysplasia you this you are seeing. I've seen this similar trait in some dogs, especially German Shepherd Dogs and I beLieve you are actually dealing with really weak pasterns because of the location of the odd bend in the leg. That is the location of the pastern.

Google search "weak pasterns dog" and you will see a lot of pictures of GSDs with the issues. I've talked to a few breeders about it and the only way to really help it is by walking the dog up stairs or up hill on a consistent basis; it will strengthen the pastern.

I hope you don't mind me slightly high jacking!

So, for the urination issues...

The vet said that if he continues to pee in his crate that we could talk about putting him on different drugs for the seizures. So he had that third accident the other day so I called the vet and she wanted to do a urine test to rule out a UTI. So, I collected a sample and it came back as a "borderline" UTI. They are not sure if is a result of the PB, or if he really does have a UTI. So, they are putting him on some antibiotics for 2 weeks. Then, when he is done I have to have another urine test done. If it comes back clean, they will have to assume it was a UTI, however if it comes back the same, then they will talk about changing his seizure medication at that time.

The costs are piling up too, I should have gotten insurance It was $72.00 just for the urine test and antibiotics plus it is going to be another $30 to have another test done.

And he peed his crate again. This is time number 4. I really hope the antibiotics work because I am at my wits end

I feel you. I really do, and so does Beth with Saber. Saber is becoming incontinent due to age related issues, and Shadow's cognitive limitations make it so she doesn't understand that she should wake us at night or hold it if she's in her crate. We finally gave up on crating her at night because it's just easier to clean poo off the floor than it is to bathe her before work every morning. She's doing better with it now, but there were mornings that I'd be cleaning her and her crate crying tears of frustration. Heck, even now she's at our vet getting bathed because in the 3 hours I was at work this morning she pooped all over herself and her crate. I'd have bathed her myself but my hand is still all jacked up and I can't wrestle her myself.

I'm truly sorry you have to go through this though, this is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I hope the antibiotics work, and if they don't you have many other options for meds.

Oh wow, I am so sorry I would much rather clean pee from his crate than poo. It doesn't seem as bad now and I can consider myself lucky.

It doesn't help that other things have been stressful lately, so it just all piles on. Work has been pretty much unbearable, and I come home stressed and have to bathe him I just got frustrated. Plus I don't get much help with the dogs either And to top that all off, I took them all sledding last weekend and it was an absolute nightmare as they went after and killed a cat while on the line. It was utter chaos, but luckily it was my friend's house and just their outdoor cat. (Not so lucky for the cat). It was horrifying to watch too

Man, that sucks about the cat. Sorry you had to go through that.

I almost had a nervous breakdown earlier in the fall between Shadow, work, a class I was taking, and the complete lack of help I get at home. I wound up having to drop the class, but things sort of settled down after that. You'll get into a routine with Yukon which will help. I hope work settles down too. It always feels like everything piles on at once, doesn't it?

That's for sure! It is a stressful time but nothing like what you have to go through. It always helps talking to people going through the same issues, it really puts things in perspective. Even though I get stressed all I have to do is look at their cute faces and it takes care of it

Yep, seeing how happy she is makes it all ok

And yes, it really helps to have people to talk of who "get it". I think the worst thing besides facing the fact that we might lose Shadow was the feeling of being utterly alone when we first got the diagnosis. I was able to make some good connections (a friend of Arooroomom's lives practically up the street from us and has gone through similar) and that really helped. I saw your email to the canine epilepsy list serve I'm glad you reached out. They're a good group and I've learned a lot from them.

Yes they have been very welcoming and knowledgable, although it's a learning curve on how to post lol. I have gotten a lot of good information so far.

And yes, the first time he had a seizure I was so terrified. I honestly thought he was dying, I never saw such a thing. Once I figured out what it was the second one wasn't as scary but still upsetting. I never want to see my furbabies in pain or hurting. Of course now he gets away with pretty much anything LOL. I cant even yell at him even when he is being naughty LOL

Denali was on phenobarbital for a long time and then her liver levels started skyrocketing so our vet switched her to potassium bromide which has worked well. It costs us $50 for 100 pills. We were giving her twice a day then reduced it to once a day. Worked very well. You may wish to ask about that too.

I'm sorry to hear about Yukon. I've been meaning to reply to this thread.

Nova started having seizures in October - just before he hit 1 year.

We've done a full blood panel, bile acid & thyroid testing = all came back normal. (thanks to Meredith for the advice on the million questions I asked her- she said I should get those checked) There are 4 other tests we can do that where suggested by our vet: Distemper Virus PCR, Neospora Serology, Toxoplasma Serology, Tick Vector PCR.

Since then he has had 6 seizures we are actually having a MRI & CSF (spinal tap) done on Thursday. His seizures are increasing in length and are taking longer for him to recover from them.
Meds: Nova is taking Levetiractam & Trazodone. (He is taking trazodone also because he has high anxiety and when he works himself up he has a seizure.)

Sorry to Yukon is going through all this. I hope they can get the meds to start working for him.

Unfortunately, Yukon had another seizure last night It only lasted a couple of minutes, but this was the first time since November. I talked to the vet, and the last time they checked his pheno levels back in January he was a little low but they did not want to up his medication dosage. When they go on the meds, they usually do another test 6 months later, which it is about time for, so I will probably have to bring him back in to have his pheno levels checked and they may have to up his dosage. I am waiting to hear back from them now, but hopefully he does not have anymore seizures

Ugh, I'm sorry the streak got broken. Shadow had one this morning too, I think it might have been a reaction to her heartworm pill...

Go check out Canna Companion. We've had Shadow on it for a couple of months now, and have seen a huge improvement just overall. It's a hemp based cannabidiol product, but is perfectly legal since it has no THC. I'm part of a forum for that, and lots of folks have seen a marked difference in their dogs.

Good luck with Yukon, and hopefully you can get him straightened out. 8 months really is an awesome streak though.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Ugh, I'm sorry the streak got broken. Shadow had one this morning too, I think it might have been a reaction to her heartworm pill...

Go check out Canna Companion. We've had Shadow on it for a couple of months now, and have seen a huge improvement just overall. It's a hemp based cannabidiol product, but is perfectly legal since it has no THC. I'm part of a forum for that, and lots of folks have seen a marked difference in their dogs.

Good luck with Yukon, and hopefully you can get him straightened out. 8 months really is an awesome streak though.

I saw a programme on this cannabis oil recently for a young child with severe seizures and related problems. There was a remarkable turnaround for the child and he was even given it in hospital. Unfortunately the police raided the parents house, took the medication and charged them. It has created a public outcry and the case is ongoing. I feel that it will all work out now that the politicians are being educated into this type of treatment and as you say the THC is removed from the product. Based on what limited amount of info I have seen on it, I believe it is a real lifesaver and the potential for our beloved dogs should not be understated.