Seizures

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I am sorry to hear that Max is having these problems.

It is true that when a dog of this age starts to have seizures the most likely cause is a brain tumor. Unfortunately this can be really hard to prove because the only way to find a tumor in the brain is to do a cat scan or MRI.

I have found that most of the time when I have a case like this it becomes more and more obvious when it is time for euthanasia. What we are looking for are signs that Max is not enjoying life.

The seizures and the little spasms are not causing him pain. We do think that dogs feel a little bit "off" after having a seizure. This can last for a few minutes to several hours. But this is not painful to a dog.

It's hard to say whether the little seizures are part of the big one or not. What I have found is often the little tremors are kind of like warning signals that a larger seizure is coming. I have seen dogs have several little tremors or shakes throughout the day and then have a big seizure later on.

There are medications that can help reduce the severity or frequency of seizures. However, often they can take several weeks to build up to a level where they are helpful. And, if the cause is a brain tumor then they only work for a short period and that's it.

If the spasms are getting really frequent you could talk to your vet about trying medication. And, when it comes time to thinking about euthanasia, here are some questions you can ask yourself that may help with the decision:

1. Does Max seem to be enjoying life more often than not?
2. Are you enjoying having Max?
3. How is his appetite? When dogs are not feeling well they generally don't want to eat.

And again, most of my clients just seem to know when it is time.

Dr Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, that does sound traumatic. This is where the part about whether or not you are enjoying having Max really does come into play. If he has more episodes where he is this uncomfortable then we know that these are going to keep on coming. And yes, euthanasia needs to be discussed.

But it doesn't sound like we are at this point right now. Many dogs will have seizure episodes in clusters. It's possible that things calm down and he doesn't have any more seizures for a few months. But, when we are seeing them happen really frequently or gradually getting worse and worse in severity then we know that the end is near.

Dr. Marie replied:

It's unlikely that the anal gland problem is directly related to the seizures. My guess is that the thing that is causing the seizures (i.e. likely a tumor) was lurking. Then, the stress of going through an illness (anal gland issue) made things worse for his body.

Has your vet done any blood tests recently? Another possible connection would be if these seizures were because of kidney failure. It's really not common, and really Max should be really unwell and off of his food. But, if there was kidney disease and he was put on Metacam then the kidney disease could have gotten worse. But this really is a long shot though.