[Princess52]

Can anyone who owns owns English Bulldogs tell me if seizures are common in them? I have one that developed seizures at the age of 3 yr. old. She is on Phenobarbital and it was doing fine for 6 months now, and 2 months ago she had one again and then yesterday she had another one. Is it hereditary?? She's spayed but just want to know. Will her doses keep going up in the meds. She's not very active at all and just keeps gaining weight. She is on a low fat diet also.

 

[gazar]

Here is a thread form someone else on her dog.
Lisa might be able to give you some advice on this, also.

http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?p=130066&highlight=seizures#130066

 

[Princess52]

Thanks, that thread sounds just like mine does when she has a seizure. But it did help some. Thanks

 

[Kelly Phillips]

My female English Bulldog began having seizures at about 8 months old. Although they are called seizures it looks more like a head tremor, just her head shakes. After a MRI the doctor found water on her brain. Hydrocephalus is the medical term. Believe it or not the vet (a specialist) prescribed prilosec OTC, the human heart burn medication. My bulldog takes a half a pill every morning. She is now almost 3 and has not had a seizure since! Hope this helps!

 

[Princess52]

seizures

No mine definately has seizures. Stiffens up, moves her feet, looses control of her bladder and bowels. I had read somewhere that some EB do have head tremors. She always has them when she's sleeping. It wakes me up because she falls off the bed. Then the other dogs must know something is going on because they start to bark and won't stop until she has stopped. It is strange how they can sence something like that.

 

[mammasreds]

Sounds like you need a new vet. If your taking her in every few months for blood work, it seems to me that your vet can't regulate her levels. That is an extremly low level of PB your vet has plenty of rm depending on her levels to increase her. Or you can add potassium bromide to her meds. It is easier on the liver and works great w/ PB to control them. If your pup is starting up w/ the seizures again her dose needs to be increased. The referrance ranges for PB are from 15-45. My stella is at 17.45 (her pb blood level) Her dose is 1 whole tab in the a.m which is 60 mg and 1 whole one at night 60mg w/ potassium bromide which is 1000mg. That one we just added. Since then she has done 100% better she is back to her old self. My dog is a american staffordshire, so from what I know seizures are not common in that breed. I have done a lot of research and am in regular contact w/ my vet. Does your vet have you keep a log and call after your pup has had one? You should if you don't. I know you worry about hurting her liver but thats why they do liver functions on them if the dosing gets to high they decrease and go to potassium bromide. AS far as her gaining weight sorry but thats part of the side effects of the PB what kind of dog food do you use? Stella doesn't get much exercise either. She chases her mom and dad around the yard and thats about it. She is 3yrs old today . She weighs about 80lbs which is over weight for her. Dealing w/ these are not easy. I know you read my post on seizures.. Stella has grand-mals followed by clusters so one right after another I hate it. I am scared sometimes that they will never stop and she will die. I have cried lots to. Thats part of loving your dog like it's one of your kids. An yep if she acts all crazy and runs around the house and eats and drinks like crasy that's normal to. It takes stella 2hrs to calm down sometimes. I am alittle bother by you said she walks in to furniture and walls after. Does she foam at the mouth or make a chattering noise w/ her mouth when she walks into things? Does she walk into a corner and just stand there? If so she could be having another one but just a petti-mal. They do loose there sense of smell and sight and hearing so keep that in mind. Anyway sorry it took me so long to respond.... Take care and I wish you the best. Keep me posted I would love to hear how you guys are doing.

 

[Princess52]

I'm glAD TO KNOW THAT THE pb IS A LOW DOSE. hE HAS DONE BLOOD WORK 3 TIMES, IN 1 YEAR. fIRST BEFORE MEDICENe then 1 time after 2 weeks, then 1 time in 6 months, she's due again in about 2 months. I call him everytime she has one, and he does record it and I record it, I put down how long it lasts, what her signs are afterwards. I did change vets the third time it happened. I called my regular vet and told the receptionist what happened and she said well come in and we will give you some PB for her. I asked aren't you going to do tests to make sure evrything is ok? Her response was, 'oh, no, if it's a seizure we will just put her on PB'. That really made me mad, so I went to my mom's vet, who at times does come out to my house if need be. That's when he did complete blood work on her to make sure everything else was ok. It took me about 7 months to back to the vet and talk to him about what the receptionist had told me, he said that should have been brought to MY attention immediately, no one even told him I had called. Well she no longer is there. The vet I use now said to keep up with any seizures for a couple months before he increase her meds. It could be stress that brought it on. We had just recently added a few new dogs to our pack, and I took one a female who just had pups because the man who owned her could do it, he lost 7 the first night. So I am to keep record of when she has them and let him know, I also have his home phone number, just in case I need it. Afterwards, she does walk into the doors or walls and just stares at it. I didn't know that was petit-mals. It bothers me though that the people that bred her want nothing to here about it.

 

[mammasreds]

I am glad you have a vet that cares enough to go to your house. It very well could be stress, adding the new pups. I know that when we found out that a few of our pups had seizures we contacted everyone we gave one to and asked how the dogs where doing and made them aware of the seizures. We had a litter of 12 10-24-03. 8 female 4 male. We have mom and dad also. Neither one of them have any health issues or there parents so my vet consulted the other vets and they think because it was such a big litter and my mamma dog got hypokalemia-calcium defiency. An she was unable to properly feed the pups; the lack of calcium could have contributed to the seizures. We didn't loose one we hand feed 6 while my mamma feed 6 and switched it around the next feeding. Petti-mals are a little different than the grand-mals. They are not so intense, or almost nothing at all. just keep documenting it all. Include how long they last what she ate before how she acted before what her surroundings where like, how long it took her to recover. Your doing everything your suppose to. And your one of the few special people that can meet this disease head on and love your pup and not just dump her and get another one. I am really pissed off at one of the ladies we gave one of our pups to. She is my sister-laws close friend and friend to the family. Sorry totally off the subject........ She decide to let her pup get out of her pin and she let the pound pick her up just so she could go get another bully. I am sooooo upset............... I would love to beat her...............Anyway
Take care........

 

[Princess52]

seizures

Now that would P--- me off also. Let the pound get the pup just to get another dog. NO WAY! Why didn't she return it to you or even try to find another home for it? That's crazy. No, I love my dog to death, she is under foot all the time and sleeps with me. In fact she knows when it's time to take a nap, I usually take a nap around 1 or 2. Well the other day she jumped on the bed, had all the covers messed up barking at me at 1:30, I said ok lets go take a nap and she layed on her pillow and wa s asleep almost before I got in the bed. She is sooo human at times. I also let the people know whom I sold puppies to that she does have seizures so just in case one happens to have them they are aware of it before hand.