Can dogs live a normal life with epilepsy

Some dogs experience seizures very close together in time eg. More than one in a day seizures that are very long or seizures that immediately lead to more seizures which they do not return to normal in between.

Seizure alert dogs are able to detect when a seizure is going to occur.

Can dogs live a normal life with epilepsy. It can be hard to hear that your dog has epilepsy but with a treatment plan in place it is possible for your dog to live a completely normal life. However you need to know how to handle the seizures. Best of all there is hope and the great likelihood that my dog Cutter and epileptic dogs like him will lead normal active happy lives.

Maureen Finn is a freelance writer from Sammamish WA. This is her first article for Whole Dog Journal. Historically epilepsy and seizures have been thought to be a very common neurological problem seen in dogs.

Veterinarians throughout the world recognize that dogs can be epileptic and have done thousands of case studies and research projects to further this point. The life expectancy of a dog with epilepsy may be normal provided the dog wont get injured during a seizure. However some dogs may die due to an injury that happened during a seizure.

Seizures in dogs with epilepsy may happen several times per month or may occur only a. Id recommend that you talk to your vet about this drug. With treatment your dogs epilepsy hopefully will not progress and his life expectancy should be near normal.

The life expectancy of a dog with epilepsy may be normal provided the dog wont get injured during a seizure. However some dogs may die due to an injury that happened during a seizure. Seizures in dogs with epilepsy may happen several times.

Epilepsy manifests in frightening ways causing your pooch to experience sudden uncontrolled seizures. Living with a dog who has epilepsy can be a daunting prospect but with the vets help and a little planning Pal can live a fairly normal life. Common sense and medicine can make canine epilepsy.

One really important fact is that most epileptic dogs are otherwise completely normal between seizure episodes. In those dogs however where the cause of death or euthanasia was due to something other than their epilepsy their life expectancy rose dramatically to 12 years of age. This is clearly much more encouraging.

Epilepsy is not a life threatening condition and most dogs will live a normal life in spite of occasional seizures. It is believed that dogs are like humans in that they do not feel any pain during a seizure. Ultimately epileptic dogs can live high-quality lives with proper management and care.

If you are interested in learning more about canine diseases and their impact on. By yellowdog Mon Feb 14 2005 1120 pm The fact is that most dogs do not die of epilepsy and can lead a normal lifespan as long as they dont experience status seizures which can be life threatening. It is also wise to do bile acid tests on the liver every 3 months if the dog is on phenobarb to make sure there isnt any liver dysfunction.

Some dogs are trained to activate some kind of pre-programmed device such as a pedal that rings an alarm. Seizure dogs do not take the place of medical advice for night time supervision or other physician directed monitoring. There is no evidence that seizure dogs reduce the risk of SUDEP sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Some dogs experience seizures very close together in time eg. More than one in a day seizures that are very long or seizures that immediately lead to more seizures which they do not return to normal in between. These types of seizure pose a particularly high risk to your dogs health can be life-threatening and an emergency.

Seizure alert dogs are able to detect when a seizure is going to occur. Its amazing that a dog can tell a difference in your motor skills and changes in your smell ten to twenty minutes before the seizure occurs. Only fifteen percent of dogs have the ability to foresee a seizure.

Seizure response dogs are trained. Fortunately the medications used are usually very successful in managing epilepsy with no negative effect on the quality of life or significant side effects. Weight gain can occur on some of the medications due to increased appetite so lower calorie foods should be used.

In this way the dog still feels full but eats fewer calories. A small recent study suggested that dogs can be trained to recognize a scent that may occur with a seizure. We look forward to chemical analyses that will identify the nature of these odors and to robust randomized controlled trials demonstrating that dogs can be trained to use this ability in a way that improves the quality of life of people with epilepsy.