We have a small springer spaniel mix that lately has been having what appears to be a seizure. She will fall down and shake for a couple minutes, get up and she is fine. Is this common for dogs, especially spaniels? She is about 11 years old.

My Siberian Husky does that (has seizures), and it has been diagnosed as epilepsy.

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In the meantime, you might be interested in this on-line group. It consists of about 1,500 dog owners all over the world who have been living with dog seizures, and many are expert at it.

A vet neurologist is a list member, and can answer questions, as well. It's a great place to ask any and all questions you may have (but, of course, go by what your vet recommends):

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

In the top left corner of the page is a place to click to join the list. I've been a member for four years, and found it very useful!

Please keep us updated on her!

My brothers childhood dog Ma'Lady (he named her) was a springer. She started having seizures when she was about 5. We had her on meds but they were still unpredictable. After her seizures she would be really confused. Unfortunately, she must have had one when she was let outside to use the bathroom and wandered off. We never found her. I do know lots of people who have epileptic dogs and it is very manageable.

Our dog had severe seizures which turned out to be caused by a brain tumor. I could never have gotten through the experience had it not been for the great group of folks at Aspen Park Vet.
Go see Doc! He is a fantastic vet and can find the root of whatever is causing the seizures.

Thanks to all! She too started having them at a young age, but it was a rare occurrance. Now they happen about once a month. I will have it checked ASAP. She is my daughter's baby.

One of my Golden Retrievers use to have grand mal seizures all the time. When I first got him (age 7) the seizures would occur every 1 to 2 months. They were very violent (often hurting himself quite badly) and took at least 24 hours for him to recover.

I took him to several vets and put him on various meds but the meds did not make a huge difference. And the meds had other side effects (diminished kidney function, etc.). One vet recommended B vitamin injections but they are expensive.

So I decided to take the natural approach (described below) and his seizures became less and less frequent. Also the severity of the seizures were not as bad. I gave him "Rescue Remedy" (available at any healthful store)after each seizure and he recovered in a hour or so. The effects of the natural approach were immediate as his next seizure was 4 months after, then every 6-7 months. Now after 4 years of the natural approach he has not had a grand mal seizure in over a year. He does have baby seizures from time to time which look like a loss of balance and/or a loss of awareness for a few seconds, but those are no big deal.

Natural approach (first two items are most important)

1. Avoid ALL food or treats that contains preservatives, coloring, wheat or corn. ALWAYS! Just 1 purina treat caused a seizure within 24 hours.

2. Add the following items to the dogs diet (amounts to be adjusted depending on size of dog. My dog is 90 lbs.)

*2 heaping tbsp canned pumpkin (pure, no additives) twice a day (so this is actually about 4 tbsp twice a day). This is the most important ingredient which adds B vitamins, beta carotene, fiber and more. My dogs go for the heap of pumpkin in their bowl first. They love it.
*2 capsules of fish oil daily. Omega -3 is very important to brain function and overall health. I buy the large bottles from Costco to keep the cost down.
*1/4 cup frozen blueberries once per day
*2 tbsp fresh or canned chopped tomatoes once per day
*1/2 fresh apple once a day. This is a great treat. 1/2 apple for the dog and the other half for you!

3. Have a regular schedule for feeding at the same times everyday - for food and for treats. It is good to have a strict schedule for everything like walking etc (but that is not as easy).

4. A quiet environment helps a lot too.

I hope that this information is helpful. If you do nothing else please add pumpkin to your dogs diet (it is good for every dog). If he/she doesn't like it at first mix it in with the dry food.

My mother's German Shepherd and my father's Golden Retriever (different households) both have seizures. I know it's pretty common in Golden's, but I have no clue with the Shepherd. Even if it's common, it's always good to get it looked at- just in case.

Our little doggy started having seizures 3 years ago. He would vomit than have the seizure. I spoke with our vet on the mainland and she said we could put him on phenobarbital but, we didn't want to do that as we thought the side effects would be as bad as the infrequent seizures.

Than the poor little guy started having them once a month so we took him to our Vet here and she put him on Potassium Bromide. He gets it daily and is still playful and has not had a seizure since.

I am just curious. Do the majority of epileptic dogs have an extra sensitive and sweet disposition?

My epi Golden is so different from his brother. He is very sensitive and is extra gentle around small kids and the disabled.

I'm just curious if the sensitivity and the epilepsy are linked.

The other natural remedy that works wonders for pulling a dog out of seizures is raw honey. It takes about a teaspoon for an 80lb dog and adjust according to weight. You don't need to be exact on the dosage because it will not hurt them. But it must be truly raw non-heated and non-pasteurized honey. It has helped a friend of mine's lab get off his meds and his seizures are now less frequent.