My 10yr old boy having seizures?

[JackandCarie]

My boxer is around 10 years old, he has infrequently had head tremors over the past 8 years since we got him. (he was rescued!) Since last night at 11:30 pm he has had 5 seizures (?) his face contorts, he salivates all over, and froths at the mouth (he has had a little blood in his saliva, we think he bit his tongue) this all lasts only 30 seconds or so, this last seizure he also contorted his leg. We took him to the vet today around 4:00pm (after 3 events) and all his blood work looks normal, (even good for his age) he has had 2 more events since we've been home. Every time this has occurred right when he falls asleep. He has also been drinking a lot of water. Theres nothing we can think of that he may have ingested other than a new bone with peanut butter in it.... I'm just looking for any advice.

 

[Cami]

So sorry your boy isn't well.
It could be any number of things. Based on age a brain tumor would fit but it can also occur in younger dogs as well. Here is also a link to info about seizures & their relationship to thyroid issues (would also fit due to age and breed).
Canine Hypothyroidism and the connection to seizures in dogs.

 

[sriley]

In addition to what the previous poster suggested, I wouldn't rule out a potential heart issue. Does the dog lose control of its bladder when these episodes are happening? My first Boxer had episodes in his sleep that I thought were seizures. As it turns out, they were really syncopes. His blood pressure would drop while he was sleeping and he wasn't getting enough oxygen to his brain, hence the syncope. They are truly terrifying to watch. My boy was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and a grade 2 heart murmur. I hope you get answers soon. Please keep us posted.

 

[mileswilson]

Did they check him for cardiomamothy? That is when the heat does not get enough blood and they have a seizure type symptom.. Ask your vet about it. I hope this is not the case either way did they give you some type of meds.. I hope your baby feels better. I took mine in today. He has swollen salvitory glands and they gave him antibiitoics. I hope the swelling goes away. IF not it could be cancer.. anyhow I hope your baby is better keep us posted.

 

[JackandCarie]

In addition to what the previous poster suggested, I wouldn't rule out a potential heart issue. Does the dog lose control of its bladder when these episodes are happening? My first Boxer had episodes in his sleep that I thought were seizures. As it turns out, they were really syncopes. His blood pressure would drop while he was sleeping and he wasn't getting enough oxygen to his brain, hence the syncope. They are truly terrifying to watch. My boy was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and a grade 2 heart murmur. I hope you get answers soon. Please keep us posted.[]

Hi, thank you for your information... He hasn't lost his bladder so far, (fingers crossed) we just got home from our 3rd trip to the vet in 2 days. The vet said that we need to let the pheonalbarbital (spelling?) take effect. He only started it this morning. He has never had an event like this before and it's been 11 since Sunday night at 11:30. It is very terrifying to see the fear in his face when it is happening! Thank you for the good thoughts! We appreciate them! :o)

 

[Roge]

Keeping our fingers crossed for you, hopefully when the meds kick in you will see an inprovement, having pets is the same as having children your never done worrying about them.

 

[ekggraphics]

My 10-year old started having seizures, too

My girl never had seizures until after her getting her vaccines and starting heartroom medicine this past spring...she started having them a few days later and didn't stop and had to bring her in for a booster dose of phenobarbital. She had seizures again a few days after I gave her the next round of heartworm medicine the following month. I no longer give it to her and she hasn't had any. When she had the 2nd round seizure the vet said increase her phenobarbital but I just couldn't since she was already not the same dog (pretty close but not quite) on the drug. The vet has again said she probably has a brain tumor but I would think my dog would have much more problems because of a brain tumor but haven't noticed anything other than the side effect from the phenobarbital. Wish I could slowly take her off the stupid drug. And, yah, the vets say the seizures happen when the dogs are asleep. Best of luck to you!

 

[Bunzy]

Maxwell just turned 2 and we noticed seizures about 6mos ago, they happened generally when resting or sleeping, but he is always completely coherent, just head tremors, he can follow commands, move, etc while having them, and sometimes we can stop them with toys/treats (strange). But the vet did bloodwork and checked him out thoroughly, and decided he has Epilepsy, so he was on phenobarbitol, 64.8mg a day, the first few weeks he was still having about 1/week so we've since doubled the dose, he gets a pill with breakfast and one at supper...and we haven't seen a seizure since. The vet told us to monitor him for changes in mood/energy level and we have not seen ANY changes, he wants to play constantly, so we are thrilled with the outcome and have solved the problem.

 

[srennie]

Sounds very similar to what happened with our last boxer. He had head tremors his whole life but just a couple a year that we saw. The vet called the 'focal motor seizures' and we never did any sort of meds since they were so mild and infrequent. Just before he turned 9 he started drinking a lot of water. I took him in and they ran blood work and all came back normal except for a slightly low thyroid result so we started on thyroid meds. Over the next month the seizures became more frequent eventually up to one an hour day and night. He became dizzy, disoriented (getting lost in corners and under tables) and he couldn't bend down to drink or eat without falling over. He would pace endlessly until we put him in his crate and then he could rest for a bit. It was like if he stopped moving he would fall over. We tried meds for vestibular disease even though he didn't have a head tilt, he was very dizzy. That didn't work so we went to a neurologist and he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The neuro asked if he had any personality changes and in fact he had a violent outburst toward my husband and myself one night and then he seemed to snap out of it and it was like he had no clue he had just growled and charged at us. The neuro said the area of the brain his tumor was in would continue to affect his reactions so we needed to be very careful. Sadly, we lost our 1st 2 boxers to brain tumors and it is one of the more common afflictions that they suffer later in life.

 

[Cami]

Maxwell just turned 2 and we noticed seizures about 6mos ago, they happened generally when resting or sleeping, but he is always completely coherent, just head tremors, he can follow commands, move, etc while having them, and sometimes we can stop them with toys/treats (strange).

Raine started with these as soon as she was spayed (stitches were still in). After a lot of research I started giving her a small amount of cheese daily (ricotta). Head tremors in pups/younger dogs have been attributed to a calcium deficiency. They grow quickly during that time and their bones take what they need first and leave little else for the rest of the body to utilize. Once we started the cheese it took about 3-4 days and she hasn't had a head tremor since. Now at 13 months she still gets her cheese daily. I am not taking any chances plus she looks forward to her daily "dose".
**Prior to knowing about the cheese I could bring her out of it with food also. She would be fully aware while her head was bobbing that is why I didn't take the idiopathic epilepsy potential diagnosis as the gospel. It only ever happened when she was extremely tired. Just falling asleep or being awaken from it.