Small seizures? Hair loss? HELP!

[ZeusMamma]

What panel of tests can one expect the vet to order upon our boxer having seizures? Saturday and then again Monday our Zeus was sleeping and lifted his head up a bit and his eyes rolled back in his head while his head shook rigerously back and forth (in a "no" motion- not an ear shaking motion). He did not respond for about 20 seconds and I'm almost positive it was a seizure (although the rest of his body did not convulse). I spoke with the vet's office today and they seemed to offer little- all they said was that he could come in and "get some testing". Two times in three days and this is the first we've seen of anything like this. He is also dealing with a "reoccuring secondary bacterial infection" and seems to be loosing hair all over (although it is not mange). I'm really starting to wonder if the two are related. He's been to 3 different vets about this "secondary infection" and honestly I'm thinking it's a wrong d/x b/c nothing we have tried is helping! Needless to say we are very worried about our boy. We know he hasn't gotten in to any toxins and we have not changed his food in about 2.5 months plus he had eaten dinner not long before the second episode (so I'm thinking it's not blood sugar). We have not noticed any personality change although another cause for concern to me is that he urinated in the house 3x in the past month and has never done that since he just a baby (BTW I'm pretty sure no UTI b/c he was just on 2 different antibiotics). I just don't know where to start and we keep getting answers that I don't feel add up from vets that we have taken him to- not to mention meds that don't help him! I don't want our baby to go through a bunch of unnecessary tests and stressing him out- I would like to go into the vet educated about what I am asking for and preferably with an idea of what could be the cause of all of this! Thanks for listening.

 

[ZeusMamma]

No insights??? I know we shld have his thyroid and sugar tested by anything else?

 

[rosko2323]

Tyson has had 2 seizures as well, (click on my name and see previous posts.) As for your puppy, I don't know what could be causing them, but my Vet has told me that he thinks it has to do with his Thyroid. I had blood work done and they had a couple of things in question, but was told the Thyroid issue is the most important one... hope everything is ok.

 

[LoganLVR]

Sorry I have not responded sooner, I have been off of the site the last couple of days. I know how scary seizures can be, as our 9 month old is going through them. I can only tell you what we have had him tested for and our experience...he has been through the gammet of tests, and had to stay at a specialty clinic for 4 nights when he first had them b/c he would not stop and also saw a neurologist. He did not start having seizures until after he was neutered, so we initially thought the supression of oxygen during the surgery to the brain (when they knocked him out), could have made any underlying problem come to light. Anything like this that you can think of, tell your vet. They did blood tests to check for poisons/toxins, xrays to make sure he didn't have anything in him (metal, etc), and a spinal tap after everything else did not find anything. We are now also having them do numerous thyroid tests (T4, T3, etc.) after getting a tip from a great boxer buddy on this site.

Out of the research we have done, seizures can be from numerous things - from poisons or toxins, low blood sugar, brain tumor, nutritional deficiency, distemper, thyroid, epilepsy (no other underlying disease process in the brain), etc. What I can tell you about our situation, is that they could not find the root cause of the problems, and have since labeled it epilespy (there is no test they can run to determine if this is actually the cause). The meds (and he is on the highest dose his body can handle) are not working for him. We are waiting on the results from the multitude of thyroid tests we had them do. I will let you know if we find out anything more. Good luck and hang in there - we were told most seizure problems can be handled. If you run across anything else, please let me know. We are running out of options...keep me posted on your situation! I know exactly how it feels to have to watch your furbaby go through it all...

 

[Ozzie]

Here's another thought:

Seeing as Zeus' seizures are happening when he's at rest reminded me of my experiences with my Kato.

Kato would have mild seizures, but only when he tried to sleep. The diagnosis was cardiomyopathy, and he lived for several years while taking sota for his heart problem.

Have your veterinarian--or better yet, a cardiologist-- listen to Zeus' heart!!

Bob.

 

[JulieM]

Is the dog have a seizure, or just a head tremor? You say they last for about 20 seconds - what happens after? Is he out of it, or completely back to normal? Idiopathic head tremors are not uncommon in Boxers and there is no physiological reason for them - there is also no physiological damage from them. If it is just the head, next time try smearing some peanut butter on the roof of his mouth - I've heard this will pull a dog right out of a head tremor. (If this is a seizure, you won't be able to get your hand in the mouth to put the peanut butter in there!)

Considering the hair loss, I would have a full thyroid panel run (at an OFA-approved lab - www.offa.org). Hypothyroidism is often characterized by hair loss, and seizures are frequently an effect as well.

 

[ZeusMamma]

He did not start having seizures until after he was neutered, so we initially thought the supression of oxygen during the surgery to the brain (when they knocked him out), could have made any underlying problem come to light. Anything like this that you can think of, tell your vet.

Great bit of info! Zeus did just get neutered about 2 months ago and this had never happened before.

Thank you all SOOOOOOOO much for the info! The thyroid link is very, very helpful for us. As I mentioned, we have taken Zeus to a series of vets trying to resolve the hairloss and infection issue and have got little help.

Yes, the incidents are only in his sleep (that we have observed) and only affect his head. The entire rest of his body stops moving but does not spasm (ie he was running a bit in his dream and when the head tremor started the running stopped). If it happens for a long enough period I will surely try the peanut butter. Nothing has happened since Sunday (thank God).

I'm sorry for all of you with similar experiences and please know that we appreciate very much all your helpful information. Hopefully this is something very minor.