Seizures
Nemo had a seizure this morning. His first one since June, at least that we know of. The type of seizure that he has is not that terrible, on a scale compared to others. He gets very wobbly in his legs and is obviously disoriented but he never blacks out, loses bowel or bladder control or foams. Nemo always tries to get up and walk around but he is to stumbly, and I just tell him to lay down and he does right next to me. His pupils become huge, his entire eyes seem black and his legs just shake for awhile. I can tell he doesn't understand what is going on, so I just keep him as calm as possible and stay with him for the duration. This one was about 3 minutes long, maybe less, I had no clock in the bathroom. Poor little guy.
Anyone else's Shiba have seizures?
Comments
Jeez... that is so sad. Poor little man.
He is lucky to have someone like you that understands and can help him. Three minutes is a long time to struggle through something like that.
Sorry to hear about it, hope he is ok.
Is he on pills for it?
Nemo is not currently on any pills for his seizures. His seizures are very mild, relatively, and the anti-seizure meds can be very hard on a dogs liver, even decreasing life span. I have some friends with dogs who have serious seizures, these are 10-15 minute episodes (imagine sitting through that?) where the dog pretty much "blacks out" (unresponsive to anything), loses bowel and bladder control, foams, shakes violently, and can often be "off" for the rest of the day as they seem to sap energy from the dog, which makes sense. One friend does have their dog on anti-seizure meds because his shiba was having them pretty often, and for a long time. The risk of liver damage was a toss up between the risk of brain damage. He figured a possibly shorter life with high brain function was superior to a possible long life with possible brain damage/dementia.
Nemo's first seizure (that we know of) was in November 2005, I think, I could check my notes when I get home. They are all of the mild type like he had today. When he was on heartgaurd he had them much more often, now that he is on interceptor they seem to be less frequent. When I took him off of heartworm preventatives all together (over the winter) he had none.
We don't know the exact cause, poor breeding is my guess as to why he is prone to them. The person I mentioned above, his Shiba is from a mill rescue, and another friend has that dog's brother and he has seizures also. In fact the mother and all five of her pups that were rescued from that mill have seizures. Nemo's brother has the same type of seizures that he does. I'm not Vet but my feelings are that they are genetically handed down/linked and from poor breeding.
The only thing that has changed recently for Nemo is that a few days ago I started him on an Immune System supplement, but he is on two other supplements from that company and has had no adverse reactions, only really good results. I just finished drying off from my shower and putting my clothes on, opened up the bathroom door, he tried to walk out, I spotted he wasn't right, closed the door and sat on the floor with him. He was fine within 10-15 minutes. Ate breakfast, and went back to bed with my wife.
They suck to deal with, I'm just glad that his are not bad.
jmaxwell your parents dachshund sounds like my friends shiba. When there is a change in Snickers' (shiba) routine, she can often have a seizure. Floor being repaired, dust up at the dog park, suddenly hot day, suddenly cold day, etc, can all trigger one.
Honey is a wonderful natural product. It probably helps the seizures because of the sugar content, raising the blood sugar levels. Whole Dog Journal did a report on honey not long ago. If some of you don't have Whole Dog Journal subscriptions, you should look into it.
Holy crap - 10 - 15 minutes... that is really hard to imaging. I am with your friend tho, I would give the drugs too. What is the point of having a dog be unhappy for a long life rather be really stoked and feel good for a shorter life... especially when you are talking about a couple years.
I read that Whole Dog Journal as well - that article sparked a lot of interest for me in honey - for humans and dogs.
I can't imagine watching Nemo have a 10-15 minute seizure either. I've only been told that's heartbreaking, as most of the time there isn't much you can do except try to comfort them and let them know that you are there.
Did you know that honey is the only food that never goes bad? If it turns into crystals you can just reheat it and it goes back to being honey. Bacteria can't grow on it for some reason. I've always been a big fan of honey, and was glad to hear that it's also good for me. Watching Nemo it it can be pretty funny.
I honestly didn't know much about honey till I read that article - once I read that I hit Wikipedia and read all I ever needed to know about Honey. If I recall, it can't go bad because there is very little water - and therefore not much oxygen - in honey. The bees, when creating honey, beat their wings at an incredible rate to heat the honey up and evaporate any of the water. Pretty amazing.
Having said that, I did just throw some honey away because it turned to crystals - I wish I had know I just needed to heat it up.
Awww, Brandon. Poor Nemo. Just remember that, despite the seizures, Nemo can still live a long, happy and healthy life as long as he is loved and cared for properly. My last Shiba (a puppy-mill rescue) lived until she was fourteen years old.
My Anakin (also a puppy-mill rescue) has seizures, also. The only explanation that anyone can provide me is poor breeding, or perhaps in-breeding. All of his blood tests come back normal, and every other test only proves that my pet is a healthy dog, despite the seizures. They've gone unexplained for years. The seizures started out of nowhere when my Shiba was somewhere around two years old; He is six now. Four years ago, he would have perhaps two seizures each year, but I find that they come more often as he continues to get older.... as many as 6-10 each year now. In the summer, they become more frequent (one/two a month or so) and then during the winter he seems to be fine. Sudden changes in his routine, stressful events and too much excitement/play (especially in the summer heat) seem to trigger them, I've found.
My Shiba's seizures aren't as awful as they could be... but they're still stressful for both of us. My poor Anakin starts to pant and become agitated, then his eyes get a vacant look and every muscle in his body seems to tense, and his claws spread as though he's trying to grip the floor. Usually, he lowers himself to the floor until he looks like a gargoyle and remains there until it passes, while other times he attempts to stagger around, kick or crawl. I feel awful during the 3-5 minutes it takes for him to return to normal, but the vet assures me that there is nothing that I can do besides comfort him, talk to him, and remind him that I'm nearby. He never loses control of his bladder or bowels during a seizure (thankfully) and he doesn't foam at all, but he vomits EVERY time. I always make certain to walk him afterwards, and my veterinarian suggested that I give him plain vanilla ice cream after a seizure to bring his blood sugar back to normal.
My vet (and the second opinion I received from my mother's vet) says that we won't attempt to medicate my Shiba for his seizures until they become too frequent. (The medication to prevent the seizures does considerable damage to the dog's liver, sadly, and we're trying to avoid that for as long as possible.) Until that day comes, we're just doing the best we can. As I said, my Shiba is a healthy, happy boy. And the fact that he truly needs me makes me cherish him that much more.
Just continue to take care of and love your Nemo. You're doing the best for him that anyone can.