Why did my dog's seizures suddenly stop after years of having them?

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 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/

Not all sheepdogs will develop seizures. Seizures have multiple causes and it is important to determine the cause in order to more effectively control them. Consider a second opinion with a different vetrerinarian or veterinary neurologist. There are several medications used in veterinary medicine to control seizure activity. You should also start a Seizure Log. Record such information as time of day, length of seizure, diet and activity before and after. This may help your veterinarian in pinpointing a cause or trigger.

Young dogs sometimes suffer from what we call idiopathic seizures (cause unknown) and older dogs that have never had a seizure before, can suffer from a brain tumor causing seizures. You should keep a diary of the seizures: situation that triggers it, time start, time ends, what the seizure looks like. If the seizure lasts more than 4-5 minutes your dog needs to see a vet right away, as this can cause hyperthermia and damage the brain. If you can you should take a little video of one such seizure to take with you to the vet and show him. Please make an appointment with your vet for an exam. He may want to put her on anti-seizure medication such as phenobarbital.

Generally dogs that have seizures more frequently than once monthly I recommend giving anti seizure medication to prevent the seizures. If they didn't find a specific reason for the seizures they may be due to epilepsy. I would get a video of one of the seizures and keep a calendar of the frequency to share with your veterinarian. You can discuss starting medication with your veterinarian now regardless of the frequency or feel free to ask for a referral to a veterinary neurologist. The specialist can do advanced testing to see if they can find the cause of the seizures and get Mika on medication if they feel it is needed. You are correct to be concerned so keep tract of them and discuss your concerns with your veterinarian. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Mika.

At 7 months of age, I recommend a visit to your veterinarian to check bloodwork and make sure nothing abnormal is found. Idiopathic epilepsy, or seizures for an unknown reason, can develop at this age, but we want to make sure we aren't missing anything else. This might be the only seizure Jerry ever has, or there could be more. Write down the information about this event, and mark it on the calendar so you remember exactly when it happened. If there are more, then you veterinarian will need to take steps to properly diagnose and treat the condition.

The good response to phenobarb makes a tumour less likely - these tend to respond very poorly and continue to have increasing seizures despite medication. His age also makes epilepsy likely so I would continue with the treatment as prescribed for 3-6months and possibly taper down carefully after this if no seizures occurring, or maintain as is if stable and limited side effects