My vet recommended an MRI for my pet's seizure. What if it's clear?

An MRI is the best way to see the brain to find out if there is an abnormality in structure or tumors that could be causing the seizure. If you are unable to pursue the MRI discuss this with your vet. Medication to treat/prevent seizures may be an option but will not cure the disease will only alleviate seizure symptoms. Good luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear about Jake’s seizure- that can be very scary to watch. The real answer to you question is: it depends. For many young, otherwise apparently healthy dogs who see me on emergency for a first time seizure, I do not push for advanced imaging. I do usually advise bloodwork to screen for tick-borne illnesses, liver problems, and local fungal diseases that can cause seizures and are treatable. You should also know that many dogs will have a seizure once and then never again- we have no idea why this happens. However, if the seizures recur frequently, and especially I’d there are other neurological signs (mental dullness, loss of vision, head tilt, abnormal pupil or eye movements), I do offer the MRI or CT scan. Jake is the right age to have idiopathic epilepsy (seizure disorder of no known cause. Usually starts between 2 and 5 years of age) In the case of idiopathic epileptics, the MRI/CT comes back normal. Many people do not have the funds for these tests and so, if they are the right age and have no other signs and normal bloodwork, we presume this diagnosis. I hope this helps clarify a few things but please reach out to myself or your vet for any clarification or further questions. Best of luck to you and Jake.

In my opinion, it is a long shot to diagnose brain tumor based on one episode like that. First of all, it should be established if the episode was a seizure or not (it could have been a muscle spasm or a bout of neck pain, maybe ?). I assume that neurological examination at the time of your visit at your vet was all ok. If Sookie has another similar episode, ideally you should record a video of that and play it back to your vet. It will help to establish if this is a seizure or not. Even if the episode was an epileptic seizure it is not necessary because of brain tumor. Problems like blood clot in the brain vessel, bleeding from a brain vessel, inflammation of the brain, infection or even diseases distant from the brain (for example diabetes, heart diseases) can result in seizure-like episodes. So, the best approach for confirmed seizure is to run blood test first to rule out diabetes, drop in blood glucose level, liver/kidney function etc. If the results are negative AND your dog is experiencing similar, frequent epsidoes you can consider MRI of the brain. Lastly, brain tumors do not respond well to chemotherapy/radiotherapy therefore this mode of treatment is usually not recommended. However, some brain tumors can be surgically removed.

Hello. If you can manage the cost of an MRI, I would strongly encourage this. Depending on if anything is found, specific recommendations can be made. It really all depends on what might be there, the skill of the veterinarian caring for Peanut, & of course, your financial situation. But not knowing generally means that nothing is done to help her, or the wrong treatment is tried, wasting valuable time. If you can do this for Peanut, I recommend having the MRI done. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Initially it will be important to make sure they were seizures and not heart related (syncope/arrhythmia) as these can appear similar. Try to catch an event on video for your neurologist and document what happens before, during, and after the event. You are right the most common sign of a brain tumor is new onset seizures. But we do also always rule out any other causes like systemic issues, heart issues, and any other cancer elsewhere in the body. There are also other problems that can occur in the brain like inflammation. Ultimately what your neurologist will recommend will be based on the exam and information you provide but is likely to include chest xrays, an abdominal ultrasound, and MRI +/- CSF tap. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know this is a very scary time. There are multiple causes of seizures. I'm not sure how old your dog is, but in dogs under 5 years old who are completely normal in between seizure episodes, epilepsy is the primary cause of seizures. In older dogs it could be inflammation, a brain tumor, and infection or problems with the organs (particularly the liver). I always recommend blood work first to look for any problems there. If the blood work is normal, the next step is to evaluate the brain by doing an MRI. If blood work has not been done, I would highly recommend it. If problems are found in the blood work, then you should treat that. If everything is normal in the blood work, I would recommend starting seizure medication. Some dogs will have seizures very infrequently like your dog started out. Those dogs don't usually need medication. But when they become more frequent and are clustering (multiple in a 24 hours period) then I would definitely recommend medication at this point. There are multiple different seizure medications to choose from, so talk to your veterinarian about that. Many times the seizures will be manageable with medications, but it takes consistent medication multiple times per day and blood rechecks for the drug levels. Honestly, some dogs will be very difficult or impossible to control and will continue to have seizures despite being on multiple medications. So to answer your question, yes, there is something you can do to help your pet and based on the number of seizures he is now having, he needs to be put on medication. I hope this helps!

I think your vet may have asked that to see if Oscar was showing signs of Chiari malformation and syringomyelia - this is a syndrome where the brain and spinal cord form abnormally and can cause pain, neurologic symptoms and seizures. It is common in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. An MRI would be the way to diagnose this disease, but there might not be much else to do treatment wise if Oscar does have the disease. An MRI also helps rule out infectious and inflammatory diseases which could cause very similar symptoms. This website has some more information: https://cavalierhealth.org/syringomyelia.htm