Ddog2 seems to have epilepsy - any advice, please?

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

This morning ddog2 suddenly collapsed in the hall - her back legs simply stopped working and she wet herself - then dragged herself out to the garden where she lay twitching and spasming - it looked like a fit to me. We were about to whisk her off to the emergency vet - it was about 7am - when she got up and walked away, apparently normally, apart from some excessive drooling.

So we waited until our vet opened, and took her there at 8.45, where she was examined and blood tests taken - but the vet said he didn't think these would show anything, as the history was pretty indicative of seizure.

She has had a previous episode whilst with us (we got her 12 weeks ago from the Dogs trust), where she hypersalivated, and the emergency vet said this was most likely due to ingesting something toxic (she thought the dog had licked a toad) - but in light of today's episode, our vet said this early incident was probably a very mild fit too - though the emergency vet wouldn't have considered seizures as there was no previous history.

The vet has rung us with the blood test results, which are fine, as expected, so the diagnosis of epilepsy seems to be the main contender. We are to keep an eye on her, and see if/when she has any more seizures (I'm going to keep a seizure diary), and if they get a lot worse or more frequent, we will probably have to medicate her, otherwise, if they are infrequent and not too severe, he thinks we'd be better off not medicating her, as the drugs concerned are fairly serious ones, and the disbenefits from taking them would outweigh the benefits if her seizures aren't too bad or frequent.

Does anyone here have an epileptic dog, or any advice they can give us? I would be really grateful - tbh, this has been a bit of a shock.

Bump. [needy]

Bump [v needy].

This is starting to look a tad desperate, but bump anyhow - I'm not proud.

First don't panic. Dogs with epilepsy can have great lives and you can still enjoy having a good time together. I am not a vet but work in dog rescue so have seen many epileptic dogs over the years.

Make friends with your vet and make sure you have a vet you can trust and who can always see your dog when necessary eg stick to the one vet.

Medication can work wonders for many dogs. In my experience the fits tend to happen when the dogs are resting rather than out and about or exercising. Usually a pattern occurs and that helps you to manage things although some dogs are the opposite and stress brings on the fits and they seem to have no pattern at all (just to keep us on our toes!)

It is frightening when you get the diagnosis but there is a lot of help out there

try canine epilepsy
this site is made by an owner and has their experiences

I hope things work out ok for you both.

Thank you. Our vet is lovely - the only problem would be if the dog needed care out of hours. But hopefully her fits will stay not too severe or frequent.

My girlie has had seizures since being 6 months. She usually has a series of 3 about every 6 months. She has not actually had the tests for epilepsy as our vet said when they are this rare it is best not to medicate as meds will just go up and up.

They are terrifying. They last about 3 mins (I believe 8 mins is the danger point), usually happen at night or when she is worn out. Last time she had 2 within 24 hours, one was in the back of the car. She also drools excessively and is very confused for a whole afterwards (apparently she goes blind).

We were told not to interact with her at all while fitting, which is so hard, but talking to her does seem to make the fit last longer. Keep the lighting level as it is, so if it happens at night we sit in the dark. She gets very thirsty and hungry straight after.

I read somewhere that fish oil can minimise fits, so she now gets oily fish a few times a week and I do think the fits got further apart.

Hope that helps, I'm sure there are bigger experts than me.

Fish oil sounds like a good idea - thanks!