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Last week got off to a rocky start but ended on a very high note. At breakfast time, I called little foster Chihuahua Theresa to the kitchen, but she didn't come, which was highly unusual, so I went looking for her. My heart nearly stopped when I saw her: She was lying on her side but with her head up and her mouth half open, staring into space like a zombie. I approached her, called her name, and reached out to my normally hyperactive little lady, and got no response. It was horrifying. I thought she was dying right in front of my very eyes. I scooped her up and ran to my car, repeating over and over again, "You're going to be fine!" and off we went to the vet.
The vet did blood work and a chest x-ray, but both were negative. After ruling out a "syncopal episode" (loss of consciousness resulting from insufficient blood flow to the brain), the logical explanation remaining was that she had had a seizure. I learned that many dogs have a single seizure and then never have another one again. So I thought, "Well, that's the case here, I'm sure―a fluke. No worries!" But 12 hours later, when I came back from taking my big dogs out to the beach, I could see that it had happened again because Theresa didn't greet us at the door in her usual excited manner. Instead, she looked very subdued, and the other two Chihuahua girls were licking her and hovering over her as if to protect her. My heart sank.
I remembered that back in the mid-90s, my cocker spaniel, Rogan, had had several petit mal seizures, and a holistic veterinarian had figured out that they were being caused by whipworms. We got rid of the whipworms and he never had another seizure again. So the next day, I got a stool sample from Theresa and took it in to the vet to check for every conceivable intestinal parasite, but it was negative. Drat!
I began to do some Internet research (I found this site particularly helpful) and learned that there are an awful lot of conditions and environmental factors that can cause seizures. Epilepsy is only one of many, many possible causes. But how to get to the root of the problem? I recalled learning a few years ago that a misaligned neck could cause seizures and that chiropractic could be very useful in that regard. So I set up an appointment with my local veterinary chiropractor at Animal Chiropractic.
As soon as Dr. Rowan got his hands on little Theresa's neck, his face registered surprise. He said that the joint between her skull and her first vertebra (C-1) was completely frozen and inflexible. Eureka! He adjusted her neck and loosened it up, and, given the fact that the brain stem runs right through that area, we both felt pretty confident that her seizure days were over. There's no way to prove it, except just to wait and see if she remains seizure-free. She's got another chiropractic appointment next week, but so far, so good. I didn't realize it until after the chiropractic adjustment, but between the time when she had the first seizure and her appointment with Dr. Rowan, her behavior had been off and she had even had an unfamiliar look on her face. Now, however, she's back to her old self, frisky and mischievous as ever!
This whole episode got me thinking about all the dogs who have been put on powerful, anti-seizure medication, complete with all their deleterious side effects (especially for the liver), when what they may actually need is a good chiropractic adjustment. I think it would be worth exploring alternatives such as this for any dog having seizures, even one who has been on anti-seizure medication for a long time. Besides, a misaligned vertebra is undoubtedly a royal pain in the neck!
Comments ( 5 )
I had a Chihuahua mix boy, adopted as an adult, who would periodically go off into a corner or behind furniture to quiver and shake, what I assumed to be small seizures.
After a period of time, he would be fine.
He went into one full seizure going down some stairs one day. I held him and he gradually came to. No ill aftereffects.
Thank heavens I had a vet who believed that medication was not necessary until and if it became a quality of life issue.
The condition never worsened, and he lived to probably 20 healthy years.
I wonder if this is not linked to the breed, like so many things are.
Posted by kelly | May 7, 2008 4:15 PM
Posted on May 7, 2008 16:15
I did not know something like this could cause seizures thanks for letting me know My 9 yr old girl has had what they called epilepsy since 2005 and been on meds for it. Since she will be going to Heaven at the end of the month I will not look into the chiropracter for her but if I have another animal who has seizures I definitely will thank-you
>>>KP's Response:
Hi Tara,
I'm so sorry to hear about your 9-year-old! That's very sad. Good luck with your other animal. Theresa went back to the chiropractor today for her follow-up, and she did great. There have been no additional seizures in the meantime.
KP
Posted by Tara | May 12, 2008 5:26 PM
Posted on May 12, 2008 17:26
I'm just looking for epileptic dog blogs as I just had to put my little Bichon, Wally, to sleep as we couldn't get him out of his latest cluster of seizures. He had 9 grand mal seizures in one night and thats with 1.5 times his regular phenobarbital dose, 2 supository full syringes of valium and 1.5mg of chlonazepam. Then the following day I left him at the vets and even with IV shots of phenobarbital after each seizure and vallium after the second, he had a third, so our Vet concluded that she thought it unlikely that we were going to break out of this cluster as we had in the past. In addition, even if we did, I could tell that he'd lost his vision from the seizures that day and he was asking me in broken whines to make it stop, so I did. I've looked on youtube and have not seen an attack as violent as the ones Wally used to get. I think we made the right decision and he's in heaven right now, and no longer suffering. It was just so sad.
I had never heard of chiropractic work helping a dog avoid epilepsy. Perhaps that might work in petit mal steps, but it doesn't make scientific sense for a grand mal as the seizure has nothing to do with the brain communicating with the body, but is like an electrical storm inside the brain itself. My dog would get very disoriented afterwards, sometimes blind and I believe he also suffered from migraines as he'd like the dark afterwards. The reason I'm posting here is that I want people to know that if your dog is frequently having grand mal attacks, it is time to consider letting him/her go to heaven. With petite mal attacks you really have nothing to worry about other than it progressing to grand mal.
I've also heard of others supporting taking on an epileptic pet. Don't do this unless you can be in the pet's presense 24 hours a day....please...when they come out of grand mal attacks, they want lots of TLC. Also, please note that I've managed to get my dog, Wally out of attacks quicker by calling his name during attacks. He can hear and struggles to attain consiousness.
All the best
-Donald
Posted by Donald Murray | May 27, 2008 3:00 AM
Posted on May 27, 2008 03:00
My dog's been suffering with seizures a lot. I appreciated reading about the parasites and chiropractic. Murphy's seizures are grand mal about 1-2 weeks apart. We have resorted to medication, but I will also look into other remedies.
Thank you,
Diana
Posted by Diana | July 18, 2008 2:21 AM
Posted on July 18, 2008 02:21
I think the situation with my 5 year old Shitzu is most common to that of your situation, Donald. Ella, (my dog), is five and all of a sudden with no warning began having a seizure (or at least that's all we know to call it). She just suddenly began making a screaming noise as if she was in terrible pain, I could also tell one of her front legs was stiff. In only seconds she was getting stif all over and continued the screaming noise. We could see that her tongue was just hanging out of her mouth, her mouth was drooling somewhat, and her eyes looked like they were popping out her head. This seizure lasted about several minutes and we hoped after it was over that it would be the only one. However, through the night, about a couple hours after the first one, she had another and then kept having smaller attacks for a period of about three hours. I took her to the vet and he took blood tests (all of which normal) and then gave me the anti seizure meds and is planning to get the valium suppositories to me. Ella had another that day and then I gave her the medication as told to do so by the vet. She has not had one since but she will not eat and just lays around. She perked up for a short period of time when we were arriving home from being gone to town. The episodes caused her eyes to get really bloodshot and as the vet called it, bruised. I am just confused mainly by the noise she was making, I don't want to think that she is in pain, yet with that noise I don't know how she couldn't be. Through research, dogs do not make noise with seizures and they are not supposed to be in pain. I was wandering if Wally (or anyone else reading this) had a dog make a lot of noise during seizures. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Posted by Denise | October 11, 2008 11:12 AM
Posted on October 11, 2008 11:12