Elderly dog having some sort of fit

[Elderlydogsrus]

Hi all,

I have an old girl, 15, about 6 weeks ago she had some sort of weird fit/seizure. Took her to the vets, they gave her some pain relief incase it wasn’t a fit or seizure, she had also had a wee in the mist of this episode and they thought maybe she had done this because she was in pain with her legs and couldn’t get up.
Anyway fast forward to Thursday night/Friday morning just gone, again had one of these episodes, accident while it was happening both wee and poo and then again this morning.
I’ve spoken to the vets at great length and have been advised basically it’s a waiting game.
I just feel so torn about what to do for the best, well meaning people saying to me ‘she seems fine’ isn’t helping or making this any easier for me.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I assume they’ve ruled out heart issues?

My dog started to have what we thought were fits, but they were actually syncopal episodes because of his heart.

They haven’t actually done any tests on her. They don’t know what type of fit is it or what is causing them.

I'm so sorry.

We had an epileptic dog. He would lose control of bowel and bladder during a seizure and sometimes vomit afterwards.
I'm sorry to say this, but given your dog's age, the kindest thing would be to let her go.

Our dog was young, we went with treatment for two years, but we now regret this. Once seizures take hold and increase in frequency, they do start to have lasting damage. In the end the decision was taken out of our hands when he went into status epilepticus. We wish we had let him go sooner because there is no doubt that he suffered.

I know it is not easy to make that decision. I'm so sorry. Epilepsy is a cruel condition.

This is my biggest concern that she has one and dies in pain when I could have made the decision for her.

I always told myself when she got to the point where she was having accidents in her sleep and was waking up covered I would make the decision but now we are here, it doesn’t feel easy or right.

plus like I said I’m often told, she’s doing well, she seems fine, she looks happy enough to me. They don’t see the dementia, the accidents in the house, the mainly sleeping all day and now whatever these are but the flip side to this is, sometimes she is ok.

I’m sorry you are going through this, it’s absolutely never easy when it’s coming to the end of a much loved pets time. No one can tell you what to do, only you can make that decision and it is extremely hard. I’ve had to say goodbye to dogs and it took away a piece of my heart each time. Think of the good long life she has had, all the wonderful things you have done and the happiness you have had. The seizures/fits are new and must be scary for her.

I lost my elderly dog at 17 two years ago and it’s was really hard to decide when it was time to let her go. Some days she was really perky and others sleepy. Eventually she started to lose control of her bladder and bowels and we were hand feeding her whatever she would take as her appetite wasn’t the same. We made the difficult decision to let her go as it wasn’t in her best interests anymore to let her continue on. We had a vet come to the house and she went very peacefully. Although I felt awful I know it was right for her.

@Elderlydogsrus
It shouldn't feel easy. It never feels right.

It's about what quality of life she has. She may go on a little longer, but I think you'll know when the time comes.

It's always hard to say goodbye😢

It’s so bloody hard.
I do keep telling myself that I couldn’t have done anymore for her, she’s loved by everyone, had the best food I could give her, has been on countless holidays, plenty of day trips.
But it doesn’t make it any easier!
It’s also awful because I now feel like it’s waiting game….

The kindest thing you can do for an animal you love is to let them go BEfORE they end up in pain and miserable etc. Now your poor old girl is having fits and losing control of her bowels and bladder due to the pain you know what you need to do for HER. This is about what is best for her not you x

Please don’t leave it until she looks at you with that “please just put me out of this misery” look because then when she has gone you’ll be left with the guilt of knowing you kept her alive longer than she wanted to be for you and believe me that will haunt you for many years 😔

My girl developed epilepsy. She would have about 5 seizures in one month and then nothing for a long while. I was told she would need drugs for the rest of her life, but I did a lot of research into it (I can't remember what this was now as it was about 8yrs ago) and I radically changed her diet. She didn't have another fit for about 5yrs, and no medication was needed.

She eventually started to get dementia and the fitting started to happen again, and we had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep. She was 15yrs old though.

I had a 14 year old cocker spaniel who started to have some type of seizure. His jaw would quiver and then his legs would go from underneath him. He then lost interest in food and looked thoroughly miserable all of the time. We suspected he had a brain tumour, but didn't investigate because at that age we wouldn't have put him through any treatment. We made the very hard decision to let him go. It's never an easy decision and usually involves feelings of guilt.

It’s just so strange because at times she does seem ok and others she really isn’t, is that just how it is with an elderly dog.
Its like her mind is failing rather than her body, don’t get me wrong she has arthritis and her legs do shake a lot of time even when laid down but the vets didn’t seem very concerned about this

How old is she OP? Of course no one can know, but I would rather a week too soon than a day too late. I say that with the upmost kindness and after our elderly dog had to be put to sleep in the early hours of the morning after a fit. I wish so much we had made the decision (which we had been thinking about for several months) that he was ready to go before, and he could have gone calmly, not in pain and surrounded by us instead of on the vets table after a half hour car journey to the emergency vets in the middle of the night.

We always thought he would tell us as people say but he never did but the signs were there looking back. He still had a quality of life, but it was inevitable that the end would be how it was, and he had declined so much looking back.

it’s such a hard decision 🌺

She’s 15 in a couple of days.

I just feel lost as there aren’t any real clear signs, but there are some signs if that makes sense at all…This is a fear of mine that she will have a bad one and go in a worse way rather than us just making the decision and it been done as calmly as possible like you say.

But I will forever with the guilt either way, if I go to soon I’ll be thinking what if and if I go to late I’ll be thinking I wish I had done it sooner.

Those sound like seizures OP. Does she go stiff and staring beforehand ? Is she shaking ? Does she seem blank for a while afterwards ? Does she lick her lips repeatedly, froth at the mouth ?
I am surprised that the vet hasn’t given you medication to administer if she has another.
Like a pp I would be concerned about a brain tumour, I think you need to go back and talk to your vet regarding possible reasons for her to start fitting like this , has she had bloods done ? Some imbalances can trigger fits.

It might also indicate kidney failure so I'm surprised the vet hasn't tested for this. There is a saying "better a week early than a day too late" and I think this might apply to your beautiful girl. It is one of the hardest decisions you ever have to make - you feel like you are playing God. But you must do what is best for your doggie.

Re your post above, If she has a bad seizure that can’t be stopped she won’t be aware of what is happening, they are frightening to witness but your dog won’t be in pain. It’s more that there must be a reason that they are happening.

I adopt older rescued dogs and in the past few years I have had to PTS five in a short time frame. I always say better to be a week early than a day late. I did leave it too late for one of my dogs and she got to the point where she couldn't even get off her bed. Took me a long time to forgive myself for that. As a loving dog owner it's the final service of love we can give them to let them go for their sake, not ours.

With us, it ended in calling out the vet and the dog was PTS in our garden after going into status epilepticus. The vet told us that there was obvious brain damage - the dog basically knew nothing by the time they arrived.
We knew it would likely end that way. We still wish we had let him go earlier.

15 is a wonderful age OP, she’s clearly very very loved by you. I think the thing is you will never know. I don’t want to make it about me, but I would rather live with the guilt that she had had 16 wonderful years that ended a few months early than the guilt that I didn’t act when I should have. This must be awful for you, I’m sure you will make the right choice whatever that is

We left it a little bit too late with our lab last year. DH and DS just weren’t ready to let her go.

She was losing the use of her back legs and just wasn’t happy. Still eating though. And still managing to get outside when she needed. We made the decision to let her go after a call with the vet and arranged for them to come to the house on the Monday. But then on the Saturday morning it was obvious she couldn’t go on. She struggled to stand long enough to eat and it took me ages to get her outside to pee and then I was struggling to get her back inside as her legs would just give out. I ended up sitting on the patio with her in my dressing gown in tears waiting for DH to get up and come downstairs.

We got a lovely vet come to the house that morning and put her to sleep. It was peaceful and she was lying on the rug in front of the tv with DS and I beside her. She just drifted off to sleep.

It’s never an easy decision but it’s the last thing we can do for them. And we didn’t want her to be in pain or frightened.

Thank you all for sharing your stories, I’m sorry you have all lost your loved pooches.

This happened to our dog, he had kidney failure, ask the vet to do blood tests

Just the worst thing to have to do and as everyone has said better a little early than too late. But that said you are still on the right side of this she is still having a quality of life so don’t feel pushed in to making the decision immediately if you’re not sure.
you know where this is heading and i think you will know when it’s enough.
you sound like a loving responsible owner who wants the best for your dog.
I send you my absolute best wishes because it’s bloody awful.

This happened to an elderly dog we had and it was related to his kidneys, maybe it's worth asking the vets to assess for possible renal failure? He was ultimately pts and as heart breaking as it was, it was definitely the best decision for him as he was suffering. You know your old girl better than anyone else, if it turns out that it's something that will mean she won't have a good quality of life then I'd do what's right by her and let her slip away peacefully.