# Seizure, possible pancreatitis?



## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on in so long. I was hoping to get some info from anyone who may have similar experience.

Reed had a grand mal seizure yesterday, a pretty violent one. Immediately before the seizure he threw up yellow bile. It looked like he was about to throw up again when the seizure started, and in fact I thought he was choking at first, until he started the running in place part. 

We got to the vet afterward and they said it was a seizure, and after reading about them it matches the symptoms. He was fine after, they checked his temp, fine, eyes, fine, etc. No problems at that point. 

They took his blood and ran a bunch of tests. We haven't gotten results back from the tick panel yet, but they did come back with the rest of the tests. The vet said the only thing out of the ordinary is he has a slightly elevated enzyme from the pancreas. She wants to check it out later, but said it wouldn't cause a seizure. He doesn't have any of the other symptoms of pancreatitis except for the vomit right before the seizure. He very rarely has diarrhea, most of the time his poop is very solid and dry. He is not overweight, he doesn't eat a lot of fat (he has been on a raw diet for 1 month. I did raw before with Sadie with no problems. She's on the same diet now. We're still on the chicken only phase.). He has actually lost 3 lbs since our last vet visit, so I am actually upping his food even more. 

Anyway I have called them back and asked her to call me so we can talk about the pancreas thing again, because a few people have said pancreatitis could cause high blood sugar, which could cause the seizure. But like I said he doesn't seem to fit the bill in any other way. 

So my questions are basically - 
If you've had a dog that had a seizure, did it throw up first?
Has anyone had a dog that had pancreatitis and seizures?
Does anyone know if it is possible he WAS choking, and that caused the seizure? (I will ask the vet this when she calls me back, she's out today but there tomorrow.)

Thanks for any info you guys can give me. Reed is doing great now, he's acting perfectly normal, and very happy.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Welcome back!! I had just mentioned you in a thread wondering where some posters have gone. 

I don't have any information for you. I know three dogs that have had pancreatitis, so let me see if I can't ask their owners about throwing up/seizures.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

ThoseWordsAtBest said:


> Welcome back!! I had just mentioned you in a thread wondering where some posters have gone.
> 
> I don't have any information for you. I know three dogs that have had pancreatitis, so let me see if I can't ask their owners about throwing up/seizures.


Thanks for thinking of me! What thread is it?

I spoke to the vet again Saturday and she said he does not have pancreatitis. He has no other symptoms, so they're just going to check the enzyme again later. They are still waiting for the tick panel. She thinks he got into a toxin, but I can't figure out what it could have been, there's nothing unusual he could have gotten.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I'll have to dig it up! It's called "Posters you wonder about" and oddly right after I posted it we brought back nearly every one we were wondering about!  

I'm glad he doesn't have pancreatitis. Hopefully they find it's something very simple and easy to explain. Things would be much easier if dogs could tell us what they feel.


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## heidiann (Feb 3, 2008)

I have a dog with epilepsy.

How old is Reed? One seizure may not necessarily mean anything. Some dogs have one seizure and will never have another. 

Topaz has never had a seizure after throwing up, his are all Grand Mal and are generally in the middle of the night. 

Did anything else change? New cleaning product/air freshner? Weather changes? Fertilizer or anything like that? Food changes - did he get into anything - Rosemary is a known trigger for some dogs. Any recent shots/vaccines or heartworm treatment?

If everything checks out I'd just wait and see, but in the meantime start a journal to document everything that happened that day/any changes in routine/what the vet said, etc. 

Here's a good link for information: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com 
They also have a good e-list that has a number of knowledgable people: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/subscribe.html
And I have a blog that I use as my dog's journal just for an idea of what I document: http://topazseizures.blogspot.com/

Hopefully this seizure was a one time thing. Glad he's doing better!


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## doglover88 (Mar 6, 2011)

Hello,
I am really sorry for what Reed has experienced. I have a small dog and will feel the same if I am experiencing like yours. I browse the Internet and find this article useful, especially if your dog loses his appetite due to pancreatitis. 

Here is the link: http://www.brighthub.com/pets/dogs/articles/73954.aspx

Thanks so much


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## bobt (Mar 27, 2009)

My first JR had pancreatitis. Her symptoms were she started to throw up several times in an hour. Then she started shaking for several seconds then stoped then started. Took her to the emergency since it was of course on a sunday afternoon. Since it was an emergency place they got test results right there and then. Blood tests showed she had pancreatitis. Eating makes it worse so they had her on an IV for a day & half. They told us the shaking was she was in extreme pain. She still wouldn't eat after the IV was removed. Had to give her baby food at first. It was a real ordeal and it cost us $1200. The vet told us she could have died from this. Luckily we were home when it happened.


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## aero4ever (Jan 18, 2007)

I'm so sorry to hear that Reed has had a seizure. One of my dogs, Shiloh, started having seizures in July and has now been put on medication to control them. His first seizure terrified me and I had no clue what was going on. He was diagnosed with having Idiopathic Epilepsy because they couldn't determine a cause. He never did exhibit any symptoms prior to seizing, but dogs, like people, are all different. Wishing all the best for you and Reed.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Update: He has had 3 more, for a total of 4. In the past 2.5 weeks. We started potassium bromide today. Vet says idiopathic epilepsy. He throws up before each one. Afterwards seems very hyper for a short while, then tired. Each one seems a little shorter and less scary, but that might be our perception. Two were in the morning, two were are night. One on a full stomach. (About an hour after getting first dose of meds.)


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Very very sorry to hear of this  Have you contacted his breeder?


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

jesirose said:


> Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on in so long. I was hoping to get some info from anyone who may have similar experience.
> 
> Reed had a grand mal seizure yesterday, a pretty violent one. Immediately before the seizure he threw up yellow bile. It looked like he was about to throw up again when the seizure started, and in fact I thought he was choking at first, until he started the running in place part.
> 
> ...


How old is this dog? What breed? First seizure? I had a dog who got pancreatitis. He never had any seizures. I have an epileptic dog (currently well-controlled with a combination of potassium bromide and gold bead implants) He's never thrown up or had pancreatitis.



jesirose said:


> Update: He has had 3 more, for a total of 4. In the past 2.5 weeks. We started potassium bromide today. Vet says idiopathic epilepsy. He throws up before each one. Afterwards seems very hyper for a short while, then tired. Each one seems a little shorter and less scary, but that might be our perception. Two were in the morning, two were are night. One on a full stomach. (About an hour after getting first dose of meds.)


It will take a while for the KBr to build up to a theraputic level. For the post-ictal (after seizure confusion) I give Willie a "RR sundae' (a few drops of Bach's Rescue Remedy on some Breyers homemade vanilla ice cream. Seems to help. Other things I've found helpful is avoiding any foods with rosemary (hard to find in premium foods - currently on TOTW) and avoiding vaccinations or chemicals. I suspect he has an MDR-1 defect since he's so sensitive to things like flea meds and HW preventive. I haven't gotten him tested, but just assume that he may be, and treat him as if he is. I don't know your dog's breed (relatively new here) but if he is a herding breed or mix, that might be worth looking at. Gold bead implants (like permanent acupuncture) have been a miracle for Willie - taking him from a cluster a month to one or two single seizures in a year. If traditional meds don't work for your boy, that might be something to look into. Good luck. It's a difficult thing to have, and to watch. When I got Willie he as about 2 or so. Now he is probably around 11 and mostly seizure free. We've been lucky.

Just noticed he is a Vizsla. Probably doesn't have the MDR-1 defect then. But I would still be careful of chemicals and vaccinations.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Xeph said:


> Very very sorry to hear of this  Have you contacted his breeder?


Yeah I called her after the first, we've been keeping in touch. None of her other dogs in this line have had epilepsy.


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## dudleysma (Mar 13, 2011)

My first Brittany suffered from seizures, but they were nothing more than epileptic seizures. My 2nd Brittany died of Pancreatic Cancer, and trust me, and he had no seizure problems what so ever, but his blood sugar was out the roof, along with anemia and extremely high white blood count. Some dogs just have seizures, they are controlable, but be forewarned, if put on pheonobarb, the dog will be extremely lethargic.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Hey guys - just wanted to update, he had 4 seizures in 4 weeks, so the doctor prescribed potassium bromide. We only had one breakthrough so far, in 2 months. We're about to switch to sodium bromide for his stomach. Diagnosis is epilepsy, he's doing great on the meds.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Sorry to hear he's epileptic. I was hoping that it would be an isolated incident. It's really good to hear the meds are working though.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

jesirose said:


> Hey guys - just wanted to update, he had 4 seizures in 4 weeks, so the doctor prescribed potassium bromide. We only had one breakthrough so far, in 2 months. We're about to switch to sodium bromide for his stomach. Diagnosis is epilepsy, he's doing great on the meds.


Potassium bromide did (does) much better for Willie than phenobarbitol did. I think it may have fewer side effects. I was fortunate to find a compounding pharmacy that can make it for me (with tasty beef flavoring) for about half what I paid for plain at the vet's. If things deteriorate, consider finding a holistic vet and looking at the option of gold bead implants (it's like permament acupuncture - tiny gold beads injected on acupuncture points). It's been a wonder for Wills. He did pretty well on KBr for years, but was back up to a cluster a month when I did the gold beads. In the past couple of years, he has had maybe 5 seizures. And they have been single seizures (his previous routine was a cluster of 3-6 seizures in a two day period, and sometimes status. And I've been able to reduce his dosage of KBr by half.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

I guess I spoke too soon, he had a really bad one today. 4 minutes long, took him 3 minutes to get up and walk. Worst one yet. He fell pretty hard, I'm watching to make sure he didn't hurt his shoulder.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Jeez.  I hope you guys find something that helps.


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## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

I'm so sorry to hear this! That must be heart-breaking. Bella has very mild seizures every now and then, and those are scary enough...I can't imagine what you're going through. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. 

Maybe looking into acupuncture might not be a bad option...? 

I really hope something makes a drastic improvement soon.


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## PMW (Sep 27, 2011)

My Papillon had pancreatitis 2 1/2 years ago. It wasn't at quite the acute stage as far as vomiting, but the ultrasound and blood work pointed to that. He was given fluids but needed more so we admitted him for IV fluids. The hospital gave him a med he couldn't take (even though I'd told them he couldn't have it) and soon after he began having seizures. He was finally diagnosed with GME and the neurologist basically saved his life. he recovered and did very well for two years. Last November he began having focal seizures, then some seizures that weren't quite grand mal but close. We did an ultrasound and spinal tap and found no significant changes in his brain to explain the sudden onset of the seizures. We tried KBR which only helped a bit and he couldn't' tolerate the side effects, so we tried Keppra which was awful as far as the side effects and finally Phenobarbital. We've had to continually increase the dos of the Phenobarbital so our cycle is increase, lethargy and dullness until he acclimates to the new dose, a short time of feeling good without seizures, then focal seizures, more seizures, increase dose and so on. So could the initial pancreatitis caused this pattern of seizures? Does anyone know if any clinical studies on the relationship between pancreatitis and seizures down the road? Does anyone know how to get a subject considered for a clinical trial or more research? it seems after reading this forum there are enough dogs who have had both problems to warrant further investigation.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I realize this is an older thread but I was at an Agility trial with Remmy and had just been in the ring in a Snooker class. It was not really hot out and he only did a few obstacles, then went off course so had not done much. I was walking back to my truck when he suddenly stiffened out and fell over. His eyes were fixed and I thought he had died at first. It was a seizure. There was a Vet there and she said to just keep him quiet and after about twenty minutes, he started to relax and blink his eyes. His heart rate was about 200 at first. He was fine afterwards and I scratched him and took him home.

About six weeks later, he woke me in the morning throwing up, then had another seizure but it only lasted a few minutes, same thing, stiff, eyes fixed, then alright within about five minutes. He has been fine ever since. (another 5 weeks tomorrow) and I could finally get an appointment with the Vet I wanted to see as they had told me that unless he had several they would not do anything about it. What tests can they do?

I have had a Greyhound that had epilepsy and these seizures were quite different, no thrashing around and when he came out of them he was fine whereas the Greyhound would be disoriented for quite a while.


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## Steven Paul taylor-caine (Aug 21, 2021)

jesirose said:


> Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on in so long. I was hoping to get some info from anyone who may have similar experience.
> 
> Reed had a grand mal seizure yesterday, a pretty violent one. Immediately before the seizure he threw up yellow bile. It looked like he was about to throw up again when the seizure started, and in fact I thought he was choking at first, until he started the running in place part.
> 
> ...


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