Dog had seizures after normal bloodwork. Should vet recheck blood?

Thanks for the picture! Unfortunately the way they have it printed out, it doesn't include what is normal for their lab machine, so I still can't fully interpret the results. From the lab that I use, the liver values that you have gotten would be considered normal, or very close to the normal range. Did the vet that ran the bloodwork give you any indication that they were abnormal? Seizures in a young dog could be caused by many things, including portosystemic or liver shunt (which may need ultrasound or bile acids testing to diagnose), epilepsy, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, intracranial disease, infection, among several others. I would recommend that you discuss these possibilities with your vet and see what other testing can be done to look at these other systems.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Bloodwork can be diagnostic. It can diagnose: diabetes, kidney failure, liver disease, thyroid conditions, it can make you suspicious for cancer, leukemia’s, immune conditions if anemic or low platelets, blood parasites, tick borne disease, some viral feline diseases. Sometimes the blood work does come back perfectly normal which rules out a lot of things but doesn’t give a diagnosis. Which then prompts further testing or diagnostics to try to get an answer. I’m not sure what is wrong with your pet. But we are here to help if you need us. I hope this helps!

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!

He could have this behavior from an ear infection, head injury, low blood sugar or epilepsy. If Sherlock is back to normal then it was a seizure, if he's still having these problems and the blood work was normal I'm concerned about a serious neurological problem. I would take him back for a recheck if he's not much by tomorrow. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Sherlock.

I'm sorry to hear that Maci is having this problem! Idiopathic epilepsy, which refers to seizures without any underlying cause, is rare in cats but can occur. Other possible causes would include a brain tumor or neurologic disease of some kind, as there would not be any evidence of these issues on normal bloodwork. If you are concerned and want to try and get a definitive diagnosis, you can request referral to a veterinary neurologist for further testing, which would likely include an MRI or CT scan of the brain as well as a CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) tap. If going to see a specialist is not an option for you, your veterinarian should still be able to prescribe medication to control Maci's seizures even without knowing what the underlying cause might be - I would definitely recommend this at this point, if she is having seizures every other day.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear that Clunker has been having seizures. It is important to see exactly what is going on, to determine that he is having a true seizure, as opposed to a collapse or localized tremors for a different reason. A video would be very helpful and I would be happy to provide a consultation. If this is a true seizure, they are usually the result of abnormal brain activity. This can be due to a large number of diseases including brain cancer, infection, or epilepsy (the cause of which is not currently known in cats). With brain cancer or epilepsy, blood work can be normal, however, x-rays or a CT scan would determine if there is something else causing the seizures. It may be helpful to know that seizures themselves are not thought to be painful, and it is normal for animals to urinate/defecate while they are having a seizure. This frequency of seizures is definitely confusing and distressful for Clunker, and a veterinarian can prescribe an anti-seizure medication to keep him comfortable. It is important to have Clunker evaluated by a vet to ensure that there is nothing else that can be causing collapse or tremors, such as a hormonal issue or viral infection, and to have him treated appropriately.

I always recommend blood work to start with in any dog that started having seizures. There are a few things that could be diagnosed on blood work that could cause seizures, such as liver disease, kidney disease, electrolyte abnormalities, and infection. If the blood work is normal. Your vet will likely recommend that you continue to monitor Harley for seizure activity. Some dogs will have a seizure or two early in their life and never again. But some develop epilepsy that needs to start on medications. I generally wait to start medications until one of the following occur: -many seizures clustered together -seizures that are severe and cause bodily harm -the pet does not recover within 45 minutes after a seizure (should be tired, but otherwise normal) -seizures are occurring regularly (ie every month or two) Here is an article you may find helpful: https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/seizures-1/