Hello fellow husky moms and dads,

Sorry about the long post.

On November 10th 2016,  our 17 month old husky Zeev has had his first seizure . I have never seen a seizure happening to a dog nor a human being first hand. This is really heart breaking to me and my husband.  

We were about to drive off for a weekend trip leaving our husky with a friend of ours who was ready to baby sit him at our place. Just an hour before the trip , my husband and Zeev were in the living room watching TV . My husband mentioned just a couple of minutes before the seizure striked , Zeev moved from afar off couch to the one next to my husband .


My husband saw Zeev's eyes shutting  and opening rapidly at a very high rate .. He was confused coz we never saw him do that .. Just seconds later he saw  his arms and legs twitching .. Drool and foam coming out of his mouth and mouth opening and shutting rapidly like he is shivering and his arms and legs stiffened up . He peed on himself and we think there was some anal gland discharge too , considering the fishy smell after.


My husband not knowing exactly what is happening  and to stop him from trying to hurt himself ( the tongue or teeth or choke ) placed his knuckle in his mouth, he got injured a little bit , but later we learnt from the vet that this is not necessary since dogs in seizure can't be choked from their own tongue .

The whole episode was about 30 -45 seconds from start to finish.. I watched this only the last 5 -10 seconds . I was upstairs and came running down when my husband was yelling in shock.

Those were the longest 10 seconds of my life.

Right after the seizure was over , I called out his name and tried to touch him , he snapped at me .

We rushed him to the vet in the next 30 minutes ..  He had his blood taken fr a check up ., and we got to know a few more details  about seizures /epilepsy in dogs from the vet.


It is so nerve wracking and heart breaking to see him go through this and there is nothing much we can do ..

His blood test CBC results came in today , vet said everything  is normal and there is now way to determine the cause of the seizure .

Here are some of the things that I would like to bring to your notice ...

-he always had a problem  with his right ear, where it would go out of position  every once in a while , like the left would still point up , and the right one looks like it s horizontal  to the ground .. He suffers when this happens , I try to massage the back of his ear and that sometimes goes away .. And sometimes it goes away in few minutes .. We have noticed that happen for about 30 min ( his longest ) recently , about 3 days ago before the first seizure happened. Not sure if that is related to the whole seizure episode .

- he is also bilateral crypt orchid . We never got him fixed yet , But are planning to as soon as he turns 2.

- Our backyard was mowed that day ( only grass no plants at all) and he played in the fresh cut grass fr about an hour or so ( not his first time though )

- ate  cooked chicken breast ( not first time )

- ate half of a flax meal muffin ( first time )


Not sure if any of the above could have been the cause for his seizure .


Also, he is a very picky eater .


His second attack happened on Nov 23rd 2016.

He was Upstairs in his crate , Nothing unusual happened  that day earlier , he was in his crate sleeping , we heard loud banging  noise similar to washer /dryer overloaded sound .

Ran upstairs to check , it was Zeev in his crate having a seizure, This time around it wasn't  that severe as his first time , no rapid jaw movements , Lasted for about 15 seconds .

my husband crawled in to the crate , and was just holding him. its a pretty big crate.

I  turned of the lights and made the room a dark , covered him with a towel .I guess that helped a bit .

he peed on himself and in the crate , was back to all normal in about 30 seconds  and was a little hyper after .

Nothing was noticed  that was unusual or abnormal that happened before the seizure.



His third and the most disturbing seizure episode ( Multiple seizure ) happened on Dec 20th . Only thing i remember , My husband and i had a  dis agreement ( something about the in-laws ), he heard us talking in loud-noises and usually tries walks away from there and same thing happened that day too.


Also, an  another husky  almost 6 year old  )friend's ) was staying with us for exactly a week now .


At 5:30 Am in the morning , he was sleeping on the carpet right next to us , we heard a loud shriek , he banged the floor fan ( about 10 Pounds) , it fell down next to him and he was having a full on Seizure .

he peed , anal release , foam was coming out of his mouth . Lasted for almost 45-55 seconds .

I guess it took longer this time  cause the fan falling down created a major disturbance . After he was out of it . he was hyper active , but kinda acted like normal how he was acting the very first time . He was all fine in an hour or so.

we both went to work as usual , but were watching him  from time to time on pet camera. His every day activity includes dozing off almost half hour after we leave work , and gets up occasionally to get some water and wakes up right before we come home. But he  was pacing all day , slept in between for a hour or two , but constantly trying to open  and chew the front door knob , backyard door knob . was very rest less the whole day

At 4:30 Pm we noticed him having a seizure on the sofa , we rushed home as soon as we could .

It felt like he might have had multiple seizures that day before the one we noticed the one at  4:30 PM .

he peed and pooped on the floor and not on himself . while we were cleaning him up and cleaning the place  ( I was using vinegar to clean the place , not sure if this activated an other seizure  ) , he had an other partial seizure . we rushed to the ER , he was under observation the whole night and was home the next day .


He is now on Keppra , leviteracetam 750mg XR given orally every 12 hours .

the first few days when we started this medication were the most horrible, even worse than the actual seizure.
He was  acting strange.
Pacing, a bit of whining and seems to be looking for something, bumping in to things, counter surfing ( which he never ever did , in his entire 14 months ) I have let him out multiple  times and he just stands in the yard with his nose in the air, smelling. he was is doing the same thing in the house, has his nose up in the air smelling, had difficulty pooping and peeing . Sat down to poop but nothing came out  or raised leg to pee the urine stream was very weak. Chewing on the front door knob , back door knob like he wanted to get away from the house and us , when i left him in the back yard , he acted like he was about to climb the fence and get away which is not normal for him .

I couldn't stop my tears watching him go through this.


Went to the vet again , the Dr said it can take up to weeks for him to get used to  the Leviteracetam , and we just need to give him that time.


on Christmas morning Dec 25th ( may be just the Christmas Miracle we needed ) , we started to notice he was coming back to normal . It's been more than a week now , he is almost normal , a bit more sleepy , a lot more hyper active and rambunctious when awake . he is very sweet and soft in nature , but i am  seeing a bit of aggression every now and then.

Other than that , he is doing very well. No more seizures till date.  


I have read that zinc deficiency is more common in northern breeds and this could cause seizures in husky's and malamutes sometimes ( spoke to the vet , but she said she is not aware of zinc deficiency causing seizures )  . Could that be a reason ??

In addition he has a strange ear twitch/getting stuck  problem, his left ear will sort of get stuck in a weird position,  (sort of pointing to his left side instead of up like the other ear). we started noticing it when he was about 6 months old .. Happens about 1 or 2 times a month , it gets fixed ( back in to position ) by itself in couple of minutes or so . Some times we massage his back of the ear to help out . It works sometime , but sometimes it doesn't .

does this have something to do with his neurological condition ? Mentioned it to the vet , but they think it is just a muscle spasm , nothing to do with his seizures ..

Please share your stories/ tips suggestions , so I can better care for him  and may be avoid the possibility of him having an seizure.  

Really appreciate any helpful input .

attaching a recent picture of him ( the one on right )  Please keep him in your prayers.

These threads may help you. They have lots of information from a member who went through a lot and documents her steps when her dog had extreme seizures as yours is having.

Canine Epilepsy Info

Shadow is having Seizures

Unfortunately seizures are relatively common in huskies. Not super common but a lot do have them. They are often genetic and the result of bad breeding practices or people breeding dogs that they don't know the medical history of. At around 2 years of age is when these genetic seizures start to show themselves. The ear I'm not sure would really play a part unless your dog was hit in the head pretty hard as a pup then physical brain damage might could be a cause, but I would almost expect to see the crooked ear coincide with an attack in order to rule that they are linked.

It is a rough and expensive thing to go through. With good vet care and time you can find the right combination of medication to bring his life back to relatively normal. I do not envy your journey though. It will not easy and will require a lot of dedication on your part, but know it is possible to control this thing.

Also , I forgot to mention he has ocassional throw ups once in a while , which solely contain of yellow foam .

Are these hunger pangs or something else , he is a picky eater.

I can do my best to help you with some of the things you mention. I'll post to certain points seperately though so as to not get to confusing (for you...and myself) and probably not all at once. One of my past huskies (he was only 11 months old when he had his first seizure)was on meds (phenobarbital ) because his seizures had escalated to cluster seizures immediately (cluster seizures are where they go from one seizure into another) because cluster seizures are so dangerous (the dog is not getting any air during a seizure so the longer it goes on, the more stress is put on the internal organs from lack of oxygen and those organs can fail...only takes 30 minutes) so my guess is your pup is on meds already because his seizures had already started clustering, or having seizures more often than once or twice a month.  My other two huskies were not on meds, their seizures were not at a point yet where the vet thought meds were necessary, the girl was the sister of my boy husky on meds, she started seizuring at around 2 years old, had them once a month or so for about 3 years, and then they totally stopped for 5 years. My third husky who seizured, was also not on meds, he seizured about once every 3 months, he had the same father as my other two, but was 4 1/2 years younger, so it's believed their seizures were genetic. So that's my history, I'll try my best now to give you my thoughts on some of the things you brought up.

First, the ear thing *could* actually be related to the seizures. I say "could" because it may also have nothing to do with them, but from what I know, dogs go thru a pre-seizure stage that can be only a few minutes long, or as long as a few days, often they will start to want to be by themselves a lot, I know with my last boy Malukhai (the youngest) he would find a "dark" place to "hide", sometimes it was my spare bedroom that has the blinds closed mostly, or under a bench next to a bed in another room, he most often did that a few days before a seizure and I think what triggered his seizures mostly was a noise from a certain jet that flies from time to time here and the noise seemed to scare him. My first boy, his pre-seizure stage was often marked by chewing on grass (grass was not the cause of seizures, vet told me her thought was the grass was because he knew he wasn't feeling well and was trying to eat the grass to make himself feel better...I also researched the type of grass and in no way was it toxic in any way to animals) so, back to the ear thing, if you think about it, a dog who is not feeling right, might hold his ear (s) funny, and most often that look would be off to the side, just like you describe. Ear position in dogs is often how they communicate things with each other so it seems plausible, to me, that when your pup isn't feeling right, he might hold his ear off to the side like he does, or not, I honestly can't say for sure, but I'd keep paying attention to it, note it in his seizure diary just in case, and see if a pattern becomes established.

Ok, I'll stop for now, but a few other things I'd like to address from your post still so I'll continue later.

Ahh, the throwing up thing...my current boy Kohdi also throws up the yellow stuff once in awhile, usually in the mornings. Kohdi has never seizured/epileptic. I can say with my first epileptic husky, when he ate the grass, he'd look like he was about to throw up and then he'd slowly fall and go into a seizure, so I'm thinking your pup throwing up is *probably* not related.

Indu, I am glad you posted a new thread, gets members involved. I have no actual experience, except with my first dog as a kid she was a gsd x husky, and it was believed it was due to old age and possible tumor. I would if you have the funds rule a brain tumor out, sorry it sounds extremely sad, but there are several reasons seizures happen to dogs.

Next on my list is what food are your feeding? raw feeding may be something to think about, several ways to do it to make it balanced, but it would be an idea, especially dependent on what you are currently feeding.

Next, the yellow bile is typical in dogs who don't eat a lot, my girl does when she goes without eating, it is because of an empty tummy, not related to the seizures.

Lastly, admins delete if not allowed, but I also belong to a gsd forum, and a pup at 18 months old had seizures starting in November. If I could cut out some of the 11 pages of the thread I would, but I can't, so you will end up scrolling through stuff, but there are some useful ideas within that thread.....the three posters Magwart(I think that is right) Momto2gsds, and Carmspack are very well informed in health issues, pay attention mostly to their posts. And feel free to ask questions concerning that post. There are a few others who are medically knowledgeable and did post some links. http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/health-issues/675474-grand-mal-seizures.html

Jimmy has first hand knowledge, so he is a great source, as well as the threads Jenn(Twisterll) posted. I know it is a lot of reading, between what we all posted, but it may help you and Zeev. please continue to update us and ask questions, we all are more than happy to help in whatever way we can.

Renee, the initial blood tests the vet does test for atleast 6 different things, one of them being tumors...vets don't just diagnose idiopathic epilepsy just cuz a dog is seizuring, they take the blood tests, the dogs age and breed, etc all into consideration. I don't remember what all 6 are, but markers pointing in the direction of tumors is one, I believe kidney/liver function is another, diabetes and things of that nature are all ruled out before their diagnosis. More testing can be done for thyroid and I think too, the zinc deficiency. I'm sure an MRI would be the most accurate for determining a tumor, but blood tests I think would atleast point out some abnormalities that would need further consideration/testing. I remember distinctly Blitz's first visit to the vet when he was put on pheno, the vet coming back in the room to say he had "good news" and that was that it was unlikely Blitz had a brain tumor. He had, however, temporarily lost some vision due to his clustering seizures...I was lucky cuz I was told it may, or may not come back.

Back to the OP, one thing I wanted to say is all those symptoms you mention your pup having once put on medication, every single one of them from counter surfing to wanting to climb the fence, are in fact due to his medication. Most of it does get better, but things like counter surfing may linger. The meds make them extremely hungry, pretty restless most of the time (you might find your pup starts chewing on things you don't want him to) etc. Dint be discouraged by anything I say, Blitz lived a very good, happy life on the meds, most of the things you mentioned, I expanded on, are temporary and especially bad when initially medicated...the level in their blood begins to stabilize and things DO get better.

Blood work will only show signs of tumors in certain spots such as the pituitary gland. Other tumors would require an mri or CT to find with any certainty. If funds permit having one of those scans would be beneficial to ruling a tumor out for sure.

Hmm, I wonder how my vet ruled out a brain tumor then because I never had either a MRI or CT scan done. I'll have to remember to ask the vet next time I'm there with either Kohdi or Mishka, cuz this was 10 years ago and I remember that vet visit distinctly for a few reasons, one being his words that it was "good news, Blitz doesn't have a brain tumor" and I can't see a vet being that irresponsible to make a statement like that without something solid to back it up, especially since he was correct in that Blitz did not have a brain tumor.

Thank you so much Artic_Wind , MiyasMomma, TwisterII . I cant really tell how much talking to you all is helping me  keep calm and  in turn helping Zeev too . .

Thank you all so so  much ..

What is the order of diagnosis you guys would suggest , we are a bit tight on funds , but we can push , cut down else where  help him as much as we can .

What is the order you would suggest in terms of diagnosis.

we just had the CBC , blood work done . The vet said , if you can afford we can refer to neurologist to get an MRI and spinal Tap , but she hasn't spoken about the any other possible tests .


Reading through all the information , i feel he needs some further diagnostic tests. Thyroid, Kidney . Liver function I am going to plan to get these tests done soon .

Also , food he was mostly on Blue buffalo and taste of the wild . We switched to Orijen original large breed recently and he is eating okay.

I am adding a teaspoon of coconut oil to his food everyday , he seems to love coconut oil .

he is sleeping a lot , but when is awake , he is hyper active and acts like he is like a puppy . ( I can relate to few things when he was still 6 months old ) .

He still loves meeting new people, getting his belly rubbed from them.

Also, it may sound weird  I and my husband where thinking about all possible triggers for the his seizures and somehow , he brought up the super moon that happened twice in Nov and Dec this year couple of days before and after were when he seized too .. Did you guys hear about any full moon /new moon triggered canine issues ?

Indu, it's a long shot but I'll ask anyways...do you happen to know where any of Zeev's littermates went? If it's in fact epilepsy, from what I've read, Zeev wouldn't be the only one who developed seizures from it.

I don't know how it works in other states but here, the protocol for a dog going into the vet for seizures consists of blood panels first. I mentioned the first one above, and it checks for organ function (like the kidneys and liver) any toxins Zeev may have ingested, abnormalities that would point in the direction of cancer tumors and a few more I can't think of at the moment. They also consider your pups age, family history (if any is known) and things of that nature. There is then the *option* of another blood panel that gets more involved. I did have that one done on my first husky, Blitz, but not on his sister Anuschka or my boy Malukhai because by then, a family history type thing was established in that this line more than likely carried the epilepsy gene. But anyways, the very first blood panel, unless it's different where you are (and my dogs were tested at different vets because my regular vet was closed and a emergency vet was my only option, so I'm guessing it's pretty standard protocol blood panel wise for seizuring dogs being brought in) should have tested already for kidney/liver function. I may be wrong but I think thyroid testing was in the optional blood panel so Zeev may not have had that checked already. As far as what you should do first, ugh, a MRI would offer more concrete evidence of tumor, swelling on the brain etc., and knowing those things exist or don't exist would be the best determination of how then to proceed, if affordable, that may be where to start. His ear thing, in my own opinion, is something more than just a muscle spasm as your vet said, I just don't know if it's related to his seizures or not but it may come out in a MRI if it's related.

Full moons have been linked to seizures in dogs...who seizure already, but not to "healthy" dogs that have never seizured before. I have my own experience in that Anuschka, who went seizure free for 5+ years, had a seizure, her final seizure, on a full moon. The author of the threads that Twister posted links to, has mentioned the full moon phenomenon and I honestly don't remember how it affects an epileptic dog, but should you read her posts, you will probably come across it. Everything I've read online about full moon and seizures though is that it's a myth and that on nights of full moons, there are actually less seizures occurring (in epilepsy studies) however, I will say the night Anuschka had her final seizure was the spookiest night I've probably ever had.

Artic_Wind wrote:

Hmm, I wonder how my vet ruled out a brain tumor then because I never had either a MRI or CT scan done. I'll have to remember to ask the vet next time I'm there with either Kohdi or Mishka, cuz this was 10 years ago and I remember that vet visit distinctly for a few reasons, one being his words that it was "good news, Blitz doesn't have a brain tumor" and I can't see a vet being that irresponsible to make a statement like that without something solid to back it up, especially since he was correct in that Blitz did not have a brain tumor.

I don't know the quality of your vet at that time, but pituitary tumors are the most common and will always be the first tested for because they are most common and easiest to test for. Other forms of tumors are more rare but still possible. He may have figured to go through his check list of most common to least common in that order and just didn't get as far as an MRI.

Pituitary would be a cancer being tested for as far as seizures though? Or just a cancer most tested for in general because my vet specifically mentioned brain tumor. I get that a MRI is the most thorough way of testing for brain type issues, I guess I'm just thinking the initial blood panel taken, had to have had something in it that would have been a red flag to either test further for a brain tumor or that further testing would have been not so much needed for him to say specifically that it was "good news" and that a brain tumor was nt likely to be causing his seizures. I use the same vet to this day and while I don't think he was as knowledgeable about seizures as a neurologist, he does, I think, know how to best proceed in cases like this. My dogs went to emergency vets more often than my regular vet just cuz of the timing of their seizures, blood panels were taken each time but I don't remember any of them suggesting a MRI or referral to a neurologist, my thinking is it was it maybe was because it was just too "classic" epilepsy . I don't know though, I still do bring up my past dogs seizures to my vet, I will ask him the next time how and what was done in those blood panels to come to the conclusion he did.

A lot of pituitary tumors are not actually cancerous. Biopsies often come back that they are benign. Just a mass sitting there pressing on it. I'm not altogether sure that in the case of the blood panel they are looking for a cancer marker so much as they are looking for something that suggests the gland is functioning differently as it would if something was pressing on it. Same could be said if a tumor was growing somewhere like your optical nerve. You would expect to have eye sight issues, but a tumor pressing on your optical nerve I wouldn't expect to change how your hormones work as a tumor growing on a gland that produces hormones would. Obviously I'm not a vet. My experience comes as someone who has had a brain tumor scare.

I do think that while epilepsy research in dogs has come a long way, I do still believe that some vets prefer to chalk a lot of cases up to "classic" rather than take the time to dig deeper. Vets have a tendency to think that we worry too much and rather than have a patient say that their vet is sending them on a wild goose chase just to get their money some established vets will just try to treat and keep the peace rather than hunt and potentially make a client think they are swindling them for money. There is also the whole cost factor. Surgery for a brain tumor is insane expensive and most generally it's better for the dog and the people to just do what they can with what they have and not dig up something that will only make them feel worse or cause themselves to put themselves in a financial bind for the sake of something that isn't guaranteed.

I was actually able to ask my vet about what we discussed here, today...Mishka is sick so anyways, he said the initial blood tests showed all values where they should be, nothing out of whack so to speak, that should values have been out of whack, it would have prompted him to do more testing in whatever area/s the values were not where they should have been. Being 10 years ago, and not having Blitz's file in front of him, he couldn't remember exactly what he said, and didn't commit to saying he said brain tumor specifically, but I have a really good memory when it comes to "events" and I do remember, cuz I also thought it was odd (not impossible, just not what I was expecting to hear from him) a brain tumor was brought up at all...Blitz was only 11 months old and in my mind, symptoms besides a seizure would have presented themselves (I'm probly wrong but...this was all new to me) like being unsteady on his feet, or running into things, etc. But anyways, he said he would have referred me to a neurologist had something not looked right, and from there an MRI/CTSCAN would have probly been the next step.

Update : We were doing good on Keppra XR 750 mg twice a day until last weekend ( three weeks , no seizures) . we had a another episode of three more seizure over the weekend ( two on Saturday and one on Sunday )

After he seized on Saturday , he was a little dis orientated ,  wobbly , looked for food and water , so i gave him some shredded chicken pieces and water , and then started the strange cough and gaging  ( not continuous ). we thought still the symptoms of post ictal phase , but it got worse on Sunday morning and  i saw a drop of blood in him vomit afet ( just saliva and drops of blood ) rushed him to the ER , the vet said there might be fluid in his lungs ( diagnosed as non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema) which she confirmed after a couple of xrays , put him on antibiotics for a week.

He is doing better now, still coughs once in a while , but we have another check up this weekend and more x-rays to see if the inflammation and fluid in lungs has reduced .

the sunday seizure happened right after we got back from the ER , The vet visit , car ride everything stressed him out and i feel like that was the reason for the sunday seizure ( he never seized two days in a row )

He has completely stopped eating kibble , doesn't have any interest in any kind of kibble any more ( Orijen , blue , TOTW) . I don't think there is some issue swallowing coz he is  eating some home made baked chicken and turkey and home made treats just fine.

What do u suggest , when he is done seizing and desperately looking fro something to eat and drink , should i give something to him or wait for sometime before he is completely back to normal.

I feel this was my mistake giving him food and water and caused him more pain , he is barely 2 yeas and this is way too much that he is going through .

Feel so angry , helpless that i cannot help him enough and just watch him go through it .


--
Indu

People with actual experience will have to answer the feeding after a seizure question, tho I do recall it helps, maybe it was some yogurt? rather than a meal. Instead of kibble I would look into The honest kitchen, Grandma Lucy's or Sojo's, they are considered raw foods and feel raw is a better route for a dog who has seizures. The 3 foods I mentioned come with all the work done for you and are AAFCO certified as balanced for a dog. All 3 also have base mixes where you can add your own raw protein if you prefer. Feeding raw just helps to eliminate some possible triggers that may have in kibble, of course this is imho. If it was me in this situation, not knowing what the triggers are and him not wanting to eat, I would choose feeding this way. Most people do not feed all raw in correct proportions, and the three foods mentioned take out the guess work of balancing.

Meals After a seizure are pretty important, seizures take a lot out of them and causes a lot of changes to occur from within them... one thing that happens is blood sugars can spike and in turn can actually make it more likely to go into another seizure, under certain conditions, however, I'd probly hold off on solid food, like kibble (unless he's willing to eat it, then yes, let him) , and stay with things like vanilla yogurt, some people say vanilla ice cream (all natural like Breyers) But from what I read, unless he is hypoglycemic, giving something containing sugar can actually increase the chance of brain damage in some types of seizures so your vet should be consulted before you do things like ice cream. . Malukhai would devour the yogurt.

Edit: I meant to address the not eating kibble but I forgot. Malukhai would sometimes do this as well, I *think* I figured out the reason, it's only a theory though...when going thru a seizure, their teeth clamp down like a vise, I believe, after seizures, their teeth may hurt for a few days and things like kibble might hurt to bite down on. Chicken, cheese, turkey are all soft so he may have had an easier time eating those things, which is good! Cuz he's getting food in him, but you also mentioned home made treats so without knowing how hard they are, I can't say if my theory applies.

Hello everyone, please help.

It's so hard and unbearable to see ACE (20 months) having seizures.

My ACE have had 4 seizures today. Its happening every two to three hours. He's currently in emergency being monitored.

After his first seizure (around 8 am) we took him to vet, vet didn't prescribe any medicine but did blood test. We came home and then he had another one around 1 pm we took him to emergency. Just called emergency and they told me that ACE had another seizure.

Can some one please tell me what's going on and that everything is fine

I can't help. just to let you know that it's very slow here over the weekend.

One added thought, we have several people here who have pups who have seizures and live relatively normal lives with them. Listen to your vet(s), there are some excellent medications available now. I cannot imagine the feelings you must be having ... I'm sorry that you're having to go through this and know that you're in my thoughts and prayers.

Have they discussed the results of the blood tests with you yet? Seizures don't automatically mean epilepsy, it could be your pup ingested something he shouldn't have without you knowing. Like Al said, listen to your vets instructions...but we are here to listen and help out if we can. Please keep us updated.

ACE is back from ER after overnight stay, right now he's just not sitting at one place maybe bit drugged. Howling and crying a lot. Doesn't want to sit in his kennel either, bit disoriented. Not very friendly to Dusk (his brother from same litter). Anything we can do to soothe him down?

He's been prescribed 90 gms of Phenobarb every 12 hours.

That's the phenobarbital. It takes a little while to build up in the blood stream, I want to say atleast a couple weeks but my only husky to be on pheno was 10 years ago and that detail is probly a bit fuzzy in my memory. Not a lot you can do but wait.

My daughter as a toddler, after meningitis, was on phenobaritol. Came out of the hospital walking bent over like an uncoordinated ape with wildy swing arms and stiff, loping gait and not quite "there". I thought, oh well...at least she's alive. My dad told me it was the phenobarb and that she would rapidly devleop "tachiphylaxis" (adapting to the medication.) She did and was walking and interacting normally within a few days.

I am so sorry about ACE , it been about three months my fur baby Zeev started to seize too . Yes , we has to go through the episode where we was just pacing around tithe house , crying/whining and being very disoriented .. He tried to counter surf and eat everything that he can .
I know its hard to watch them go through it .

The symptoms subsided in about 3-4 days . To this day , I am not really sure if these were the symptoms of post -ictal phase or his body getting used to the medication.( Keppra).

My guess , is the the first , coz we see some of these symptoms ( on a lower scale) ,when ever he seized later after we started on with the medication .

Try to stay positive and keep good vibes at least when you are around . I am sure our babies sense what we go through and in my opinion , we staying strong and having positive thoughts will help them make this journey a little less painful .

Kisses and belly rubs to Ace and big hugs to You .

Also, Quick question to all the epi - parents watching this thread .

I have noticed Zeev sleeping with eyes open or partially open . I am not completely sure why he is doing that , medication side effect ? or is he fearful now after going through such a trauma .we never even once noticed this before the his seizures began . I sometimes see him starting at a wall , thing continuously with a blink , i call his name out and go touch him and he responds and is back to normal .


I also notice now that he suddenly jerks and gets shocked for any sudden noises , especially the once that he is not directly seeing . Also, This never happened before he started seizing .

Is he scared now of something ? or the open eyed sleeps/naps .. further seizures .

I heard a lot of people talk about focal seizures , what exactly are they. Can any body explain or point me to a video ( you tube or something else ) so i can understand better , if this is what Zeev has been going through .