Question:
Hello all, I feel so sad, I hope someone can help a bit.

We have an 11 year old English setter who had a first ever grand mal seizure 5 days ago, no warning. It lasted under 2 minutes.

Took him to our regular vet the very next day for blood work etc, everything was normal except for a lipase of about 3000. Our dog, Jake, had already developed some rear lameness which they had attributed to spinal stenosis over the past year or so.

The problem is well, two part. Our vet was very rude and inappropriate about seeing Jake after the seizure, he wanted to keep him all day just to draw the bloodwork and we refused, so he chewed us out. He spent most of his time chewing us out about not conforming to his office procedure vs examining his patient, our dog. He did not even take a temp but he did look at the pupils and listen to his heart. I will never go back to this vet.

As a result of his unprofessional behavior, we have no idea what to do for or expect for our dog.

He is 5 days out from the event, and his personality is drastically reduced, he seems to know us and his name and his basic doggie habits like peeing outside, but he is very weak and still stumbling and pacing the house for a couple of hours at a time until he is exhausted and just falls into a deep coma-like sleep where he is limp as a noodle and hard to rouse. We have taken him for walks outside which he seems to enjoy alot. He's been drinking water and eating -- but he is eating less than normal and both drinks and eats real slowly, makes me wonder if his mouth is working right.

It has been very hot here, around 90-95F and he seems to be better when it cools down at night, we don't have central air. The temp is supposed to be dropping this week by about 20 degrees so that should help.

But I am really worried about the personality changes and the constant pacing and his weakness -- he is stumbling and seems to need to keep moving so he won't just fall over. He does have the thing where his back leg will drift over, crossing the other leg, when he is just standing still. He's alos collapsing front to back, both directions, when he is still, for example when he is trying to drink from the water bowl he tends to fall forward on his face or end up on his butt. Not every time but enough.

So my question is (sorry for being so long) I guess, is this all part of a normal postictal state - it seemed to me that should only last for about 24 hours, from what I have read on the web, my vet being absolutely no help.. I am wondering if he had actually had a stroke that caused the seizure or something, because he is so drastically changed in his personality (forgotten most all his habits, one step above robot dog!) and also his lameness/weakness is much greater and seems to also involve one of his front legs now too, I have seen him do the 'knuckle stumble' on his right front.

I'm also worried about the poss pancreatitis, his body temp seems a little high by touch, maybe just due to the hot weather but I am going out to get a digital thermometer for him tomorrow. I do have another vet in mind here locally to switch to, but he is out of town and this is not emergent, I just feel overwhelmed and a bit lost as to what to do/expect for my dog. Should I worry about what he eats right now or just give him whatever he wants to eat?

so any help will be greatly appreciated, thank you very much, and I apologize again for going on so long.

Answer:
Having had two epileptic dogs, I have never seen either one of them take longer then a couple of hours to return to their normal selves. I think there may well be something more serious behind that seizure.

I agree with not going to that vet again. Is there another one in the area that is in that you could see?

Answer:
I agree, you need to see another vet. This is not normal. I also had an epileptic dog, although only the petit mal seizures. After about an hour, he returned to normal and there were no lasting effects. Something else is going on. Maybe, if you call the other vet, there will be a alternate referral tel# given while this vet is out of town.

Answer:
I'm no vet, but this sounds almost like a stroke, rather than a seizure.

You need to see another vet.

Answer:
No apology necessary for the "long" post. All of the information you gave was vital, and we would have asked for it anyway if you hadn't posted it. Please feel free to say as much as you want/need to say here. I've never once heard anyone complain about long posts.

It definitely sounds like something neurological is going on, beyond just a seizure. The seizure could have been a symptom of the "real" problem, i.e stroke, tumor, etc.

I agree that this dog needs to see a vet immediately. Maybe you could call the animal shelter and ask them to suggest a good one.

I'm sorry you had such an awful experience with the vet you had. Surely that was no comfort to you OR your dog.

Answer:
Sorry but I agree you need to see another vet for sure.

Seizures or neurological disorders can be more then just epileptic by nature. I strongly urge you to see another vet hopefully in an emergency referral clinic where there are specialists and equipment necessary for evaluation of neurological disorders.

My little terrier went through something like this and first they thought it was canine vestibular disease, then it went to maybe it's an inner ear infection to perhaps a combination of both with pancreatitis. BUT the real problem was cancer that spread rapidly (growing tumours)


There are many possibilities of what it could be, just like with us people...we're an odd bunch to figure out sometimes too.

You'll have our support on here and please dont' be afriad to post long questions...most of us have been through similar situations and understand how frustrating it can be.

Do you have any pictures of your lovely dog?

Answer:
Hi again,

Thank you all for your responses, we've had a rough few days here. My little doodle didn't improve at all, since the seizure he had momemts of lucidity with mostly pacing until he dropped.

We had to put him to sleep this morning.

Yesterday morning he had a nice walk in the foothills with us, wide open space, off leash, safe -- he was a little wifty and yet still had a nice walk. got him to eat a little and drink a little and still could not avoid what happened -- he took a turn for the worse yesterday evening, limp as a rag. We took him to the Emergency Clinic, decided on an IV overnight to see if it helped, and it did a little although not enough. He rallied enough to want to come home with us --- it crushed me to have to say no, he was just way tooooo sick, could not even stand, hardly could keep his eyes open. This whole thing was such a shock, NO symptoms until the seizure a week ago. Apparently it was a devistating tumor in his head.

Death is a part of life; I really wish it wasn't.

I am going to get another English Setter puppy soon, anyone got one ready to go?! I really love their sweet personalities and silky soft hair, funny faces, everything. I am really gong to miss my Jake, the house seems so quiet without him. :(

I'll come and post a picture of him soon as I get one scanned,
and thank you all again for your responses.

Answer:
I am sooo sorry for your loss! :( We lost our Murphy to a brain tumor almost two years ago. I feel for you and your family. God bless.

Answer:
I'm sorry to hear of your loss. Yes, death is a part of life, but it's heartbreaking for those left behind. And it's expecially difficult when it's unexpected. One consolation is that he had a good life with you and you were there for him so that he didn't suffer at the end. I'm looking forward to seeing his picture!

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Oh gosh I'm so sorry! :( :(

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you tried your best and did everything that you could your poochie will remember the good times........hang in there

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