Seizures - epilepsy

I have a 3 year old Siberian Husky named Attila (he'll be 4 in june). About 6-8 weeks ago Attila had a seizure, since then he has had one more. After the first one I took him to the vet, the vet told me he thinks he has epilepsy. I've researched around the web, and found epilepsy is not uncommon in Siberian huskys. Has anyone else's dog had this problem?

I also had a husky with seizures. He died a few years ago at age 10, but not while having a seizure. I believe he may not have had the best breeding and that may have attributed to the issue. About the only thing I could do is comfort him until it ended. I've heard that once you put them on the meds, if you ever go off them, they become much more frequent. His seizures did not occur very often and he always let me know when they were about to start by getting real close to me. Hang in there, while they are so hard to deal with at first, once you get to know the signs you'll be more able to handle them. One good note, I currently have two huskies now with no seizures.

Hi Michelle! Ron from Toronto, Ontario...Canada coming at you!! Sorry to hear about your pup...it is so sad when they are ill like this...makes you cry for them! My sibe is no 10 - 11 years old and she wasn't diagnosed with epilepsy but exhibits signs of Parkinsons.....shakey leg...affects all four from time to time.....thankfully only one at a time. She also seemed to get shakes from certain sounds.....Harley-Davidson cycles was one of them and would shake and collapse on ground.............happened around 9 to 10 years but this action has all but stopped.....thank god.....might have been ear infection.....such was not diagnosed. Do try to obtain all info you can...human type is same. Attacks can be triggered by visual light...ie: flickering lights of sun against lamp-posts during car rides, images on the television or comp screen, even leaves fluttering in sun-light. Watch your pup and try to relate seizures to environmental activity so you can possibly avoid other spells. All the best to you and your efforts/quest. Good luck...fuzzy buddy....live long and take your meds!

My 6 year old starting having seizures last January. She was at the kennel at the time. They took her to the vet to control the seizures. "Cluster seizures" as they called them. They put her on phenobarbital which did stop the seizures, but it also makes her completely loopy. When I brought her home she would continually pace around and had no bladder control. Not good. I stopped giving her the meds after two days and she hadn't had a seizure until last July, and then only one.

Just last week she had another cluster seizure, most of them the grand maul type. I again took her in and they put her back on the phenobarbital because they knew it worked in the past for her. I spoke to them about the side affects so they switched her to Potassium Bromide. The phenobarbital has slowly worked out of her system and she's near 100% again. I'm still giving her the Potassium Bromide and there's no apparent side affects so far.
As far as triggers for the seizures, it seems to be when she's really wore out, exhausted. Usually from not eating enough because she was being picky with her food. I could discontinue the meds and just watch her diet and exercise levels but I think I'll continue this time since the side effects are minimal.
I'm sure genetics plays a part in this. However she is a purebred with show-quality linage. You just never know.

Good luck with Attila. If he has more then one seizure get him to a vet ASAP.

Mike

My husband and I own an 11 year old Siberian Husky named Dakota. We got her when we first started dating and when she was 3 years old she had her first seizure. We rushed her to the vet where they informed us she has epilepsy. She has been on phenobarbital every since and has been seizure free as long as she gets her meds twice daily. It was the scariest thing for us as she is our number 1 baby.

hi, my name is lisa, my husband and I have a siberian husky, she is 7 yrs old and has been having mild seizures for about 6 yrs now. We dont know whats causing them. She eats healthy all-natural food. We did some internet searching and found out that alot of the treats and food products out there for dogs have too many chemicals and preservatives in them. We now shop at globel pet food stores, they carry natural treats and food. Apparently treats and food that contain "BHT and BHA" are bad for dogs that have seizures because they can actually make the seizures happen more often. She still has them but not as often now.

I am so glad I found this board. We have a husky that is 9 years old. She just had surgery to repair her acl. Five days after her surgery she had a seizure. It lasted about 30 min. We took her to the vet and she had another. She has never had a seizure in her life, but he said the surgery was traumatic and could have brought these on. She was put on phenobarbitol. I am worried to death about her. She is my heart. Tina