Seizure

walk213

walk213

Active member
This morning Echo (5.5 year old lab), went into a 1 minute seizure. We had never witnessed her have a seizure. Following the first seizure, she seemed to have another short one, and she subsequently threw up her breakfast. We are planning to take her to the vet tomorrow, unless she has another one today.

This was unexpected and deeply upsetting for my family and me.

Has anyone ever experienced this issue?
 
My yellow lab used to have occasional seizures as well. Probably started around 5 or 6 as well. He would lay on the ground and kind of freeze up for 30 to 60 seconds and couldn't move. After they were over, he was fine. I never did take him in to the vet. He never had a problem during an actual hunt. I wish the you and your dog the best. Hoping it turns out to "just be a thing" that happens occasionally.
 
Thank you for the words of encouragement. We were completely stunned today. I was glad I was there to embrace her and try to make her feel safe.
 
I had a Brittany that had an occasional seizure. My vet said it wasn't all that uncommon. No problem unless they become more frequent and get more severe. He advised that when we knew the dog was going into one to just stay calm, keep the dog calm and let it pass.
 
Dakotazeb said:
I had a Brittany that had an occasional seizure. My vet said it wasn't all that uncommon. No problem unless they become more frequent and get more severe. He advised that when we knew the dog was going into one to just stay calm, keep the dog calm and let it pass.
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Thank you for the insights. I am hopeful that this was a one-off occurrence. We will be getting some professional insights.
 
I have had a couple of different Goldens have seizures. Usually they were connected to an insect/bee bite/sting, only found out about that in hind site. I had friend who had a lab who had an ailment that his glucose(?) level went out of whack and he had to give the dog some sugar water(?) or another solution to get it back on track. Can't remember the exact details but he had to watch his dog while hunting and drink it periodically. His dog and my dogs all lived long lives of hunting. Good luck.
 
Alaskan swamp collies said:
I have had a couple of different Goldens have seizures. Usually they were connected to an insect/bee bite/sting, only found out about that in hind site. I had friend who had a lab who had an ailment that his glucose(?) level went out of whack and he had to give the dog some sugar water(?) or another solution to get it back on track. Can't remember the exact details but he had to watch his dog while hunting and drink it periodically. His dog and my dogs all lived long lives of hunting. Good luck.
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Thank you for the insight. We will pray that this is the root cause and it is a one time event.
 
As a breed, labs can be genetically disposed towards seizures, the same as EIC. Over the years I've seen several labs have these health issues, and the common thread was they were all backyard breedings by well meaning but limited knowledge amateur owners (not saying Echo is from an amateur breeding). This is one big reason why a person should get pups from professional gundog breeders with established bloodlines. part of what dogs are bred into those bloodlines is health/DNA testing so as not to breed dogs that are genetically pre-disposed to health issues...
 
My 11-yr. Golden has a history of seizures, some lasting several minutes. They happen for no reason and there's little warning.

I sit with him on the floor, stroke his back and try to calm him - seems to work.
 
Labs said:
As a breed, labs can be genetically disposed towards seizures, the same as EIC. Over the years I've seen several labs have these health issues, and the common thread was they were all backyard breedings by well meaning but limited knowledge amateur owners (not saying Echo is from an amateur breeding). This is one big reason why a person should get pups from professional gundog breeders with established bloodlines. part of what dogs are bred into those bloodlines is health/DNA testing so as not to breed dogs that are genetically pre-disposed to health issues...
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We did our best to research Echo's breeder. That said, we did not delve into the health background of the sire or the mom.
 
walk213 said:
We did our best to research Echo's breeder. That said, we did not delve into the health background of the sire or the mom.
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And sometimes you just get bad luck. I have a buddy who bought a lab pup from what he described to me as a reputable pro gundog breeder. That pup had one of the worst cases of EIC I ever heard of. It literally couldn't do a couple puppy bumpers in the yard w/o collapsing. It had a 26 month health guarantee and I strongly advised he return the pup to the breeder but as is often the case, he had become too attached to do so. He ended up giving it to a non-hunting friend who wanted a lab for a companion and bought a pup from another breeder. He did talk to the breeder he got the pup from and hopefully he did some further research on his line before breeding those two parents again...
 
my last brittany had an occasional seizure. they lasted a minute or two and seemed to scare him. he never lost consciousness and was back to normal immediately after. never turned into a real problem and the dog went on to live to 12.
 
Sorry to hear Echo had a seizure. My lab had her first seizure at 3 years of age. It is not normal for dogs to begin having seizures later in life so I looked into it more after her breeder reported no history in either mating side. Turns out I had just switched to a different flea and tick medication. It was Bravecto. At the time, there was no warning with this product with regards to seizures. Now there is a warning from the manufacturer. If you are using Bravecto, or any medication containing fluralanar I would stop using it immediately. My dogs seizures went from less than 5 minutes about every 4 months for about two years, and now the last two have lasted almost three hours. They are full grand mal seizures, locked jaw, splayed toes and rigid extremity extension. She will appear to come out of the seizure but when she starts to try and move it sets her right back into it again. There are no lasting side effects that I know of, but if she went into an hour long seizure on a warm dove hunt, it may be her last day. The problem with the seizure in warm weather is the dog can not cool them selves down and could very easily overheat and die. Just a warning if your dog does develop regular seizures about hunting in warmer conditions. Pass the word on about the risks of Bravecto and other fluralanar containing products. Please let the viewers know if you were giving your dog Bravecto flea and tick medication. Thanks and good luck with Echo.
 
I had a Golden that would have a seizure the day after hunting. For him it turned out he would get low on blood sugar. Vet had me put some corn syrup (1/4 cup or so) on some cooked up burger (about a 1/4 pound) when we GOT HOME from hunting or heavy exercise. As long as I remembered to do that he would not have the seizure. If I would forget or waited until the next day he would have the seizure.

I do recall how scary it was the first time. I only really ever forgot to give it to him once as that was just something I hated to see. Best of luck to you and I hope you find the cause.
 
sjohn said:
Sorry to hear Echo had a seizure. My lab had her first seizure at 3 years of age. It is not normal for dogs to begin having seizures later in life so I looked into it more after her breeder reported no history in either mating side. Turns out I had just switched to a different flea and tick medication. It was Bravecto. At the time, there was no warning with this product with regards to seizures. Now there is a warning from the manufacturer. If you are using Bravecto, or any medication containing fluralanar I would stop using it immediately. My dogs seizures went from less than 5 minutes about every 4 months for about two years, and now the last two have lasted almost three hours. They are full grand mal seizures, locked jaw, splayed toes and rigid extremity extension. She will appear to come out of the seizure but when she starts to try and move it sets her right back into it again. There are no lasting side effects that I know of, but if she went into an hour long seizure on a warm dove hunt, it may be her last day. The problem with the seizure in warm weather is the dog can not cool them selves down and could very easily overheat and die. Just a warning if your dog does develop regular seizures about hunting in warmer conditions. Pass the word on about the risks of Bravecto and other fluralanar containing products. Please let the viewers know if you were giving your dog Bravecto flea and tick medication. Thanks and good luck with Echo.
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Thank you for the detailed insights. The condition you described is certainly frightening. We don't use a flea and tick prevention medication on either Echo or Josey. Ticks were a big issue when we lived in Massachusetts. They have not been a problem in Colorado.

We will monitor Echo closely. Her bumper throwing over the last 2 days has been nerve-racking.

I will keep everyone updated.
 
Elkhounds said:
I had a Golden that would have a seizure the day after hunting. For him it turned out he would get low on blood sugar. Vet had me put some corn syrup (1/4 cup or so) on some cooked up burger (about a 1/4 pound) when we GOT HOME from hunting or heavy exercise. As long as I remembered to do that he would not have the seizure. If I would forget or waited until the next day he would have the seizure.

I do recall how scary it was the first time. I only really ever forgot to give it to him once as that was just something I hated to see. Best of luck to you and I hope you find the cause.
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We are on it. Thank you for the valuable insights
 
I had a GSP that had a few seizures a month from the time he was three to seven. Vet said they was not much we could about them. Then we got another GSP and he never had another one that we know of until he passed away at 14.
 
My old shorthair had one a year ago out of the blue. Thought it was a stroke at first. Hasn’t had one since and has been fine. Took him a few hours to regain his balance.
 
Our 5 year old lab started having seizures two years ago had about four one year then two to three the following year. This year she has had two one in January and one last month. Our vet said the same, she has them too infrequent to warrant any medication.
 
Harper had one Friday night. It only lasted 10 minutes compared to the prior one that lasted almost three hours. Vet also told me they were too infrequent to warrant medication. Although I did not tell him about the multiple hour seizures. This is the third one she had this year.
 
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