Epilepsy our Border Collie
Discussion
Hello all,
Just wanted to ask if anyone has any knowledge / experience with this problem.
My daughters Collie, Kizzy, had a fit on Friday night.
The Vet actually told us that is quite common in Border Collies, which we weren't aware of.
The Vet took the view of no medication or blood tests at the moment with the hope that maybe it is a one-off.
It was a bit distressing as she stumbled around and she clearly had memory loss as she didn't know us when she came around.
It too quite a few minutes before she was recovered.
Just wanted to ask if anyone has any knowledge / experience with this problem.
My daughters Collie, Kizzy, had a fit on Friday night.
The Vet actually told us that is quite common in Border Collies, which we weren't aware of.
The Vet took the view of no medication or blood tests at the moment with the hope that maybe it is a one-off.
It was a bit distressing as she stumbled around and she clearly had memory loss as she didn't know us when she came around.
It too quite a few minutes before she was recovered.
We looked after a friends collie for one night last week.
She is about 18 months old and has been fitting before she was a year old. This is now under control with medication. She has far fewer fits and when she does (usually at night) they are much less severe with recovery time much faster.
Bex, and maybe others, I am sure, will post with more information.
Whilst fitting is horrible for those that witness it, take heart that medication is out there for controlling the fits
Good luck
She is about 18 months old and has been fitting before she was a year old. This is now under control with medication. She has far fewer fits and when she does (usually at night) they are much less severe with recovery time much faster.
Bex, and maybe others, I am sure, will post with more information.
Whilst fitting is horrible for those that witness it, take heart that medication is out there for controlling the fits
Good luck
It seems to be more common that one would think.
Our little rescue terrier has his first fit about 6 weeks into our custody (4 years ago).
Since then, it's been a roller-coaster of cluster fits & medication. At it's worst period, he was averaging 2 fits every day.
He does seem to be particularly resistant to the common medication types though.
He's on 3 types of medication 5 times a day (not all at once).
One awful side effect is his constant, ravenous hunger.
With some careful management of food & diet, we're in a bit of a twilight period at the moment, in as much as his fits are averaging 2 per week.
It's a constantly moving feast though, with no clear pattern. He's just come out of the worst cluster for nearly 3 months. We are tentatively waiting to see what happens next.
Hopefully, in the case of Kizzy, it will be a rareity or one-off.
Our little rescue terrier has his first fit about 6 weeks into our custody (4 years ago).
Since then, it's been a roller-coaster of cluster fits & medication. At it's worst period, he was averaging 2 fits every day.
He does seem to be particularly resistant to the common medication types though.
He's on 3 types of medication 5 times a day (not all at once).
One awful side effect is his constant, ravenous hunger.
With some careful management of food & diet, we're in a bit of a twilight period at the moment, in as much as his fits are averaging 2 per week.
It's a constantly moving feast though, with no clear pattern. He's just come out of the worst cluster for nearly 3 months. We are tentatively waiting to see what happens next.
Hopefully, in the case of Kizzy, it will be a rareity or one-off.
We had a Collie who started suffering from epilepsy once he was about 2 1/2 years old. Unfortunately after 4 years of battling, we had to put him down in June 2016. We tried all the meds.
Do not let the vet prescribe Pexian. It made ours worse and a lot of others have said the same. it seemed to have brought on more cluster fits.
If you get prescribed Keppra, see if you can get a prescription for Levetiracetam and get it online from lloydspharmacy. Its the same stuff (same sort of things as neurofen/ibuprofen - paying for the brand). Most of the time they were out of Levetiracetam and sent Keppra at the same price. Vet would charge £500 a months, we would pay £60 for 2 months.
By the end our Collie was on about 22 pills a day - spread over 5 sessions.
Some important stuff - Make a Fit diary and note time of fit, what the dog did that day, how long it lasted, how they were behaving before the fit and how long it took to recover. if you can take a video of the fit to show the vet. When we showed our vet the video, the vet said it was worse than what he thought based on what we told him.
When the dog is having a fit, keep your hands away from the mouth. If they are in a position where they can do themselves damage, see if you can move them.
Check the food you are feeding your collie. I may be wrong on the ingredient as it was a few years ago since we lost ours, but some people have been reporting rosemary which is used as an antioxidant in some foods, can increase the seizures in an epileptic dog. We didn't realise until it was too late, by which time it was too late to cut it out and see if it helped.
After a seizure we used to give our dog a bit of food as he was super hungry. Vet said the seizures he was having were like running a marathon.
Picture of Flint on his last day with us. He went through a lot, but never looked ill.
ETA: I am sorry to have to say this, but we have found out that Collies are one of the most susceptible breeds to epilepsy, which is the reason why we have not got another one (got a German shorthaired pointer instead - not a patch on Flint though), even though I would love another.
Do not let the vet prescribe Pexian. It made ours worse and a lot of others have said the same. it seemed to have brought on more cluster fits.
If you get prescribed Keppra, see if you can get a prescription for Levetiracetam and get it online from lloydspharmacy. Its the same stuff (same sort of things as neurofen/ibuprofen - paying for the brand). Most of the time they were out of Levetiracetam and sent Keppra at the same price. Vet would charge £500 a months, we would pay £60 for 2 months.
By the end our Collie was on about 22 pills a day - spread over 5 sessions.
Some important stuff - Make a Fit diary and note time of fit, what the dog did that day, how long it lasted, how they were behaving before the fit and how long it took to recover. if you can take a video of the fit to show the vet. When we showed our vet the video, the vet said it was worse than what he thought based on what we told him.
When the dog is having a fit, keep your hands away from the mouth. If they are in a position where they can do themselves damage, see if you can move them.
Check the food you are feeding your collie. I may be wrong on the ingredient as it was a few years ago since we lost ours, but some people have been reporting rosemary which is used as an antioxidant in some foods, can increase the seizures in an epileptic dog. We didn't realise until it was too late, by which time it was too late to cut it out and see if it helped.
After a seizure we used to give our dog a bit of food as he was super hungry. Vet said the seizures he was having were like running a marathon.
Picture of Flint on his last day with us. He went through a lot, but never looked ill.
ETA: I am sorry to have to say this, but we have found out that Collies are one of the most susceptible breeds to epilepsy, which is the reason why we have not got another one (got a German shorthaired pointer instead - not a patch on Flint though), even though I would love another.
Edited by smashie on Tuesday 22 May 14:58
smashie said:
We had a Collie who started suffering from epilepsy once he was about 2 1/2 years old. Unfortunately after 4 years of battling, we had to put him down in June 2016. We tried all the meds.
Do not let the vet prescribe Pexian. It made ours worse and a lot of others have said the same. it seemed to have brought on more cluster fits.
If you get prescribed Keppra, see if you can get a prescription for Levetiracetam and get it online from lloydspharmacy. Its the same stuff (same sort of things as neurofen/ibuprofen - paying for the brand). Most of the time they were out of Levetiracetam and sent Keppra at the same price. Vet would charge £500 a months, we would pay £60 for 2 months.
By the end our Collie was on about 22 pills a day - spread over 5 sessions.
Some important stuff - Make a Fit diary and note time of fit, what the dog did that day, how long it lasted, how they were behaving before the fit and how long it took to recover. if you can take a video of the fit to show the vet. When we showed our vet the video, the vet said it was worse than what he thought based on what we told him.
When the dog is having a fit, keep your hands away from the mouth. If they are in a position where they can do themselves damage, see if you can move them.
Check the food you are feeding your collie. I may be wrong on the ingredient as it was a few years ago since we lost ours, but some people have been reporting rosemary which is used as an antioxidant in some foods, can increase the seizures in an epileptic dog. We didn't realise until it was too late, by which time it was too late to cut it out and see if it helped.
After a seizure we used to give our dog a bit of food as he was super hungry. Vet said the seizures he was having were like running a marathon.
Picture of Flint on his last day with us. He went through a lot, but never looked ill.
ETA: I am sorry to have to say this, but we have found out that Collies are one of the most susceptible breeds to epilepsy, which is the reason why we have not got another one (got a German shorthaired pointer instead - not a patch on Flint though), even though I would love another.
Thank you all for your replies, they are very helpful and supporting.Do not let the vet prescribe Pexian. It made ours worse and a lot of others have said the same. it seemed to have brought on more cluster fits.
If you get prescribed Keppra, see if you can get a prescription for Levetiracetam and get it online from lloydspharmacy. Its the same stuff (same sort of things as neurofen/ibuprofen - paying for the brand). Most of the time they were out of Levetiracetam and sent Keppra at the same price. Vet would charge £500 a months, we would pay £60 for 2 months.
By the end our Collie was on about 22 pills a day - spread over 5 sessions.
Some important stuff - Make a Fit diary and note time of fit, what the dog did that day, how long it lasted, how they were behaving before the fit and how long it took to recover. if you can take a video of the fit to show the vet. When we showed our vet the video, the vet said it was worse than what he thought based on what we told him.
When the dog is having a fit, keep your hands away from the mouth. If they are in a position where they can do themselves damage, see if you can move them.
Check the food you are feeding your collie. I may be wrong on the ingredient as it was a few years ago since we lost ours, but some people have been reporting rosemary which is used as an antioxidant in some foods, can increase the seizures in an epileptic dog. We didn't realise until it was too late, by which time it was too late to cut it out and see if it helped.
After a seizure we used to give our dog a bit of food as he was super hungry. Vet said the seizures he was having were like running a marathon.
Picture of Flint on his last day with us. He went through a lot, but never looked ill.
ETA: I am sorry to have to say this, but we have found out that Collies are one of the most susceptible breeds to epilepsy, which is the reason why we have not got another one (got a German shorthaired pointer instead - not a patch on Flint though), even though I would love another.
Edited by smashie on Tuesday 22 May 14:58
Very sorry to hear about your experiences with Flint smashie, very sad.
Actually, my daughter, who's dog it is, has Epilepsy and so we also have some extremely painful experience with the effects of incorrect medication.
The seizure was really quite short at about 10 seconds but it took her about 10 minutes to fully recover and start acting herself again, recognising us etc.
The Vet is hopeful it will be a one-off and she has not had a reoccurrence so far since Friday.
Very much appreciate the advice on the on-line medication, the record keeping and the rosemary.
One activity which my daughter now regrets involved shining a laser light which Kizzy would chase.
She did this for several weeks but then decided it was a bad idea and stopped.
In the last two or three weeks, Kizzy has started acting as if she is looking for the laser. She will stare at shadows, reflected light, even bright flowers in a very intense, almost manic way. She only snaps out of it when we tell her.
I fear this may be involved in the brain function issue.
Again, thanks all.
I will try to provide an update in a week or two.
Tony.
Collies have a breed predisposition for having seizures. I would have recommended the same as your vet. Keep a diary of seizure frequency and duration. In terms of duration time it using a stop watch as seizures can seem to last longer than they actually do. Have you been given any Rectal diazepam?
Meds-wise I usually recommend to start treatment if more than one a month but depends on how severe they are and the individual case (and vet for that matter). Also I would recommend a general blood test to ensure nothing odd going in the background.
Cheers,
Tom (a vet)
Meds-wise I usually recommend to start treatment if more than one a month but depends on how severe they are and the individual case (and vet for that matter). Also I would recommend a general blood test to ensure nothing odd going in the background.
Cheers,
Tom (a vet)
Hello again all, Its two weeks now since Kizzy had the seizure and nothing else since.
We are still cautious but hopeful it was a one off.
I believe that the laser 'game' may have been the trigger.
Again, thanks for all of the advice,
Tony.
We are still cautious but hopeful it was a one off.
so called said:
One activity which my daughter now regrets involved shining a laser light which Kizzy would chase.
She did this for several weeks but then decided it was a bad idea and stopped.
In the last two or three weeks, Kizzy has started acting as if she is looking for the laser. She will stare at shadows, reflected light, even bright flowers in a very intense, almost manic way. She only snaps out of it when we tell her.
I fear this may be involved in the brain function issue.
The manic behavior mentioned above that I posted earlier has almost completely stopped.She did this for several weeks but then decided it was a bad idea and stopped.
In the last two or three weeks, Kizzy has started acting as if she is looking for the laser. She will stare at shadows, reflected light, even bright flowers in a very intense, almost manic way. She only snaps out of it when we tell her.
I fear this may be involved in the brain function issue.
I believe that the laser 'game' may have been the trigger.
Again, thanks for all of the advice,
Tony.
Edited by so called on Saturday 2nd June 19:47
OP sorry to hear of your epilepsy issues. Thankfully not something we have experienced wit our BC.
Interestingly though about 5 minutes after reading this thread the following popped up on facebook:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/bigbrainyborderco...
Interestingly though about 5 minutes after reading this thread the following popped up on facebook:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/bigbrainyborderco...
The Royal Veterinary College have a Facebook page dedicated to canine epilepsy.
RVC Facebook page
They are currently running a study on Border Collie brain health and behaviour. They are still looking for people to take part in the survey. Unfortunately we no longer have a collie.
RVC Facebook page
They are currently running a study on Border Collie brain health and behaviour. They are still looking for people to take part in the survey. Unfortunately we no longer have a collie.
smashie said:
The Royal Veterinary College have a Facebook page dedicated to canine epilepsy.
RVC Facebook page
They are currently running a study on Border Collie brain health and behaviour. They are still looking for people to take part in the survey. Unfortunately we no longer have a collie.
I'll let my daughter know about this.RVC Facebook page
They are currently running a study on Border Collie brain health and behaviour. They are still looking for people to take part in the survey. Unfortunately we no longer have a collie.
As there has been only one seizure and we feel that we know what triggered it, I'm sure that she wont want to take any risks as far as triggering another.
However, it may be of interest to the RVC if we explain our experiences to them.
Thanks all,
Tony.
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