Dog having fits

[bettybroccoli]

Our much loved nine year old labradoodle has started having fits. They began at around the same time our other dog was PTS (unsure if that's relevant) he had 3 in 4 month period and then nothing until two weeks ago when he had 3 in a 24 hour period.
We took him to the vets, bloods etc. All came back normal. They suggested an MRI scan of his brain but this would cost upward of £2000 and then obviously any necessary treatment following it - we can't afford this. The vet said extremely unlikely to be epilepsy as rare to suddenly develop in an older dog (though not unheard of) also didn't think brain tumour as all otherwise normal (eating, sleeping, walking, personality etc.)
So had no fits for 3 weeks and then suddenly as of yesterday has had 4 in a 24 hour period. Am at a complete loss of what to do or where to go from here. Do we just carry on and hope for the best? The fits are very distressing for both him and us and our two young dd's. We can't really afford to pay another £350 to get him checked out again especially as it will probably all come back normal. We definitely cannot afford an MRI. Should I be asking for epilepsy medication any way to see if fits reduce?
Anyone been through similar or have any advice? We are all so worried about him.

Are you in any qualifying benefits to go to the rspca? They do clinics for people on ctc and wtc (I think)

If not, I would beg your vet to help you in this situation and see if they would consider a monthly payment plan.... Worth an ask

Not sure if this is in any way relevant but in case....Our dog had a number of weird fits where she went all wobbly and distressed, needing to go to doggy hospital twice and go on a drip. She had all sorts of investigations and nothing showed up then I read about epileptic cramping. There are some clips on YouTube of dogs with this condition. There seems to be no treatment but I read somewhere that diet can contribute so I switched her to a fully natural food (Eden). She hasn't had a fit since, for many years. Hope your dog gets better soon.

Considering the Mri may not give an answer and will not actually treat the problem I'd probably considering saving up for it in the future but spend whatever money I had on possible treatments and whatever monitoring needed(diet stress control in case it's related to losing your other dog and drugs)lots of the TXs for the long term diseases need long term monitoring...an mri would rule out a brain tumour but what else?sounds like a tumour is unlikely if otherwise absolutely fine. Treat the treatable and hope for the best.

so sorry to hear of such distressing situation with your beloved ddog

agree with others about the MRI, and what would you do once its done? can they offer some epilepsy treatment and see if condition improves without the need for MRI?

PDSA in your area are worth looking at if you are on any of the key benefits, i think maybe housing benefit.

I don't want to alarm you any further at all but perhaps to be aware that successive fits can lead to grand mal. ddog not close to immediate medication, like actually in the vets at the time, can lead to death. Sorry, but just in case you didn't know. Wonder what your vet has said about this, and what advice given, preparation for you and your family?

I had a Sheltie who started to have fits around 14 months old. Vet put him on medication and he was fine, had the occaional fit until he was 8 years old and then the fits got more severe. He had almost 7 good years on medication, was even shipped from the UK to NZ at around 4 years old and came through that trip fine.

The medication was really cheap and worked very well. I would definitely ask to try it, our vet never suggested MRI. I hope all goes well, it is really distressing to see your dog having fits.