Border Collie seizures?!

[Blondeyoghurt]

Hey everyone,

My parents have a lovely Border Collie that’s just recently turned 2.

Last month she had a seizure, this was the first time this happened with her. She wasn’t foaming at the mouth or anything, just paddling her legs and had a wee before coming back around and being so frightened she would of gone for us if we went near her. We took her to the vets but they said it’s quite normal and probably a one off.

Yesterday my brother was walking her when she had another one, same symptoms as last time apart from her trying to run home when she came back around and being sick. She’s had some bloods done at the vets this morning but had another little fit when she was coming round from the sedation.

Does anyone know what this could be? Scared stiff that our poor girl might have something underlying going on

Thanks for your help!

[Whoknowswhocares]

Epilepsy is a common Genetic conditioning in collies so that would be my first guess. Hope your vet can provide some answers but if they brush it off again I personally would be seeking a second opinion.
It can be managed by drugs in many cases

[Blondeyoghurt]

Oh wow thank you for that, I know epilepsy was a possibility so it’s nice to hear the same from someone else. Fingers crossed it isn’t anything else

[frostedviolets]

As PP said, collies are prone to seizure/epilepsy unfortunately and and as far as I know there currently is no screening test available to stop dogs carrying the gene being bred from.

Your ‘vet’ sounds appalling.
‘Quite normal’?!
A seizure?!
I don’t think I would class confusion, paddling legs and loss of bowel control as ‘normal’ in a healthy dog!

My own collie has had a few seizure type incidents.
Sudden fearfulness followed by snapping at imaginary flies, sometimes a startled bark then fearful/confused for a few minutes afterwards.
Triggered each time by booster vaccination and flea spot on, think she was 3 or 4 years old, maybe older, can’t remember clearly.
Haven’t vaccinated or flea treated for years and she, touch wood, hasn’t had any further incidents.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

As your vet said some dogs have a single seizure and never have another. I suspect the vet actually meant uncommon rather than normal.
Investigation level advised by specialists is two in 6 months exactly as your vet has done. Gold standard would be fits and faints bloods and then MRI of all clear then anti-seizure medication. However, many people can not afford/ don't want MRI so often we prescribe meds on a presumptive diagnosis of idiopathic epilepsy on the basis of clear bloods.
Beyond maybe using inappropriate words I can't see that your vet has done anything wrong.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

@frostedviolets yours sounds like an MDR positive collie as it reacts to certain flea and worm treatments there is a blood test to identify the MDR gene in collies.

[PollyPolson]

Having a lot to do with collies epilepsy is all too common and in my ancedotal experience does often start before the age of 3.

link to info from ISDS

info from ukaw

There are no genetic tests but there is an Anadune border collie register which does list sporting dogs with epilepsy in their lines . It is quite laborious to troll through but certainly worth the effort.

When getting a border collie always look down the line to see if epilepsy is in the dogs breeding - they say it is not always genetic but you do see it a lot in certain pedigree collies.

I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. Epilepsy can be a difficult thing to deal with. Some dogs are moderately affected and the triggers are easy to avoid for other dogs it can be very disabling

[frostedviolets]

I have thought about MDR1 being a possibility lonecat but I have never been able to find any suggestion when I’ve read about it that vaccination or imidacloprid (the flea spot on) is typically harmful for dogs with MDR1

[bobisbored]

My parents collie was epileptic. He had medication for a while but sadly it was very hard to control his seizures and after each one he seemed to be less the dog he was. They had to have him PTS after a very bad seizure. They were heartbroken. I'm so sorry to give you a bad news story.

[Nonestopcaberet]

I had a border collie cross with epilepsy. The first fit was frightening but we soon got used to them. He could go months without having one, then have several in a month. We kept a diary but never found a trigger.

He nearly always vomited after a fit and was always tired.

He lived a long and happy life.

[Blondeyoghurt]

Thanks everyone for your advice - I’m thinking definitely epilepsy now then bless her. (Btw I don’t think the vets have done anything wrong - they’ve been brilliant with her so far and luckily we’re under a pet plan that will soften the blow for the costs of things like MRI).

Hopefully it is just something that can be managed as so far we’ve not found anything that could have triggered either of the fits.

How old were everyone’s collies when they had their first fit and did it affect their lifespan?

[Bergerdog]

I had a GSD who had his first seizure at around a similar age. Sadly they got progressively worse despite medication (Lots do different types!) and he had to be put to sleep a year or so later. The seizures got longer and more violent and he struggled for days after each one. He also became more unpredictable in his behaviour and even forgot simple commands at one point.

I think it’s one of those things, they can either be well controlled on meds or they aren’t and you won’t know until you go down that road sadly.

[Blondeyoghurt]

I appreciate you being brutally honest, there’s no point sugar coating these things I guess! I suppose I’ll wait for the blood results and take it from there. Hoping it’s just something daft but either way I’m sure there will be a way to manage it. Thanks everyone

[PollyPolson]

@Blondeyoghurt It is not always bad news and I do know many collies who can live a normal life, some without medication and only occasional fits fingers crossed this is the case for your collie.

This facebook group may help