Epilepsy
I am
writing from India. We have a 11-year old black Labrador, who, about two
weeks ago, had an attack of epilepsy (for the first time). Thereafter, he
had twelve more attacks, spread over a week. We treated him with a tablet
called Garoin. The attacks stopped a week after medication was started,
but he has totally lost his strength and is unable to walk now. He does
not get up and is in a lying position throughout the day. His body
twitches almost a hundred times a minute. His bowel movements are normal,
and he is on a normal diet. He cries a lot and constantly wants someone
near him. He does not, however, seem to respond or recognize us ; he does
not wag his tail. Has this affected his brain? Is there a possible
remedy? We would really appreciate a reply, as this incident has left all
of us in a terrible state.
Epilepsy is caused by abnormal discharges of electrical impulses in the brain. These discharges can be caused by poisons, tumors, germs, parasites, hereditary and many other factors. Without a history of exposure to Distemper or drinking insecticide, or similar clues, the only way to diagnose the cause would be to biopsy the brain, which is impossible. In dogs, even CAT scans are usually fruitless. Most of the time we are unable to determine the precise cause of the seizures in a living animal. Cancer and strokes are thought of as being the most common causes in dogs. Therapy is oriented at decreasing the initial inflammation with steroids, and reducing the seizure threshold with primidone or phenylbarbital sedatives. Sometimes a dog has a serious seizure, and never has another. The seizure frequency may be daily, weekly, monthly or annually. With a thorough neurological examination, your veterinarian may be able to identify other abnormalities in the central nervous system which could help pin point the area of the brain that is having problems.
The medication you mentioned may account for much of the dog's inactivity rather than the epilepsy. You and your veterinarian may consider alternative medications to suppress the seizures and allow for greater activity. If your dog appears to get worse instead of better evaluate his suffering. You may decide to let him rest in peace.
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