One of my Border Collies has developed epilepsy; five weeks ago he had 17 seizures within 24 hours. Then last weekend he had 13. He's on medication, but i'm wondering if there is something else i can do to help him such as diet, anything else. He's two and a half years old, fit as a fiddle, normally with me in he fields all day.
Now i feel as if he's 'missing' out' compared to my other Collies. I'm now taking care of him 24hrs a day, i darn't let him out of my sight in case he starts fitting.
He's never had a kick from sheep or a bang on the head from anywhere. I'm at my wits end as how to help him; i don't care if my dogs can work or not, they all hold the same place within my heart. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

I've had BC's for the last 20 years. We lost our first one to epilepsy at only 12 months old, so I feel for you there

I believe mightymildred is a farm vet and may be able to help:

http://www.freel2.com/forum/member2916.html

Tigger

My brothers Dalmatian started with it a few years back completely out of the blue

They give it tablet or two at strict times to keep the drugs in its system,

It's a greedy dog, and they have found if he gets fixated on what they are eating it can trigger a fit, so try to get him to stop sitting there drooling

I know your worried and what to be there, I don't blame you I think I would be the same, but I believe they was told not to do anything if zac has a fit, obviously protect him from injury but let it run it's course, then stay calm when they are coming round as they will be disorientated. It has taken alot of test and trial and error at the vets to get the meds just about right, but each night they lay cushions around the lounge where zac sleeps to protect him from corners and hard objects, they also have a CCTV baby monitor

Now Zac was having a fair few, wether it was as bad as your BC, but there's is no nice way to say this, they have said to me the vet said dependent on the severity they may have to think about the dogs comfort and future quality of life and have to make a choice if tablets can't control it

Speak to your vet, there might be a specialist in the area who can shed more light on it


Keep strong, hope it gets settled with the meds  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Just to add, Zac lives a normal life still, 3 walks a day etc though when they was sorting meds out, some made zac very docile and out of it

But I believe they have cut all treats out and stick to a certain brand of biscuits to keep his diet the same, and hopefully cutting out any trigger foods Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Tigger,
Thank you. I'll wait to see if mightymildred will reply before i send a PM. I don't wish to appear 'scrounging' so to speak.
I'm sorry you lost a BC a such a young age; you hardly had time to enjoy it all.
None of our last litter (two and a half years old now) have begun working yet, we let them be pups first and enjoy themselves, like you would with children.
Fantastic breed, life without any of them would be very boring.

Regards, pegleg Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Nick,
Thanks for your reply owd lad, i do understand what you say about quailty of life, so please, no offence taken, you are quite right.
Just in case the worst happens, i've ordered a very large canvas pic of him to hang on our wall.
The other sad thing is that it will be the end of many generations of hill farm sheepdog breeding from his stock.
I can't risk any chance of it being passed on.
I just hope the meds work. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Sorry Pegleg, I can't offer any advice but I know how you feel. My dogs throughout the past years have been my life so I hope things work out for you and him.

Our oldest Jack Russell (12 years old now) sometimes has a epileptic fit. He seizes up.
We give him some air and keep him from hurting himself by putting our hands between his head and the floor.

It breaks your heart everytime, but I'm amazed by their strength. When he comes out of it he wobbles to the garden and 5 minutes later it's asif nothing happened.

Thank God it only happens rarely and we stopped his medication years ago as we saw no difference.

I've noticed it seems to gets sparked with discomfort or excitement. Not immediatly tough. He gets them sometimes the day after we had a house party (lots of people) or when traveling and driving in the countryside for a long period instead of taking the highway (probably the lots of turns).
So we try to avoid this as much as possible of course.

Don't know what to say except I know how it feels. Reading the post I'm lucky it's not that severe we have to make descisions like some of you struggle with. About quality of life, I don't know if it hurts the dog at all or how he feels when he's not seizing. I'd too be at a loss...

Many thanks for all your kind words.

Our vet assures me that our dog Max is in no pain from his seizures.
However, as his fits are so severe, it takes him several weeks to recover. Then, just as he's almost back to normal, he gets another cluster.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not a stupid pet lover per say; ie he's not treated all silly and sloppy; i'm his master and he's my best friend. My BC's love it that way and i never have to raise my voice to them.

I'm worried that these fits may cause brain damage. How am i to know?
And his is quality of life comprimised?
I want whats good for him, not me.

Sorry to go on, again!! Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Pegleg wrote:

Many thanks for all your kind words.

Our vet assures me that our dog Max is in no pain from his seizures.
However, as his fits are so severe, it takes him several weeks to recover. Then, just as he's almost back to normal, he gets another cluster.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not a stupid pet lover per say; ie he's not treated all silly and sloppy; i'm his master and he's my best friend. My BC's love it that way and i never have to raise my voice to them.

I'm worried that these fits may cause brain damage. How am i to know?
And his is quality of life comprimised?
I want whats good for him, not me.

Sorry to go on, again!!

No need to worry about "going on", this is extremely important to you.

Our own Collie (Ben), whose also 2 1/2, comes pretty much everyone with us. Obviously, exerise is important to him, but not as important as being involved with whatever is going on. Is yours still able to regularly do what he needs to to enjoy being a "teenage" collie? Can he concentrate and play like a young collie does? If he can do this at least some of the time, he has a quality of life. With medication, you may be able to increase the times he is able to do that. Alternatively, are his days completely dominated by his condition?

Only you can make that judgement, but I really feel for you...

John. And Ben.

Ben, on a narrowboat holiday, complete with lifejacket and hyped up collie expression! Ready.....

Tigger,
Lovely pic of Ben, he looks very happy. I'd post one of our Max, but i've no idea how to upload to this site.
The problem with Max that that because hs seizures are so severe, it takes him a few weeks to recover then the fits start again.
This time he has recovered more quickly, not quite himself, but is able to play quite happily with his sister in the fields. The time before, he took him almost a month to recover and for about 10 days he was not on this planet so to speak.
The vet asked to see him this morning and has made no mention of PTS; we just have to be patient and hope they can find the right balance of meds.
It's like waiting for a bomb to go off.

Thanks for your concern, very much appreciated. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Pegleg, I've pm'd you.
Idiopathic epilepsy (epilepsy of no known cause) is sadly a very common condition in young BCs and Labradors.
It's a very distressing condition for owners to witness.
Medication is key and there have been a few important developments in the management of epilepsy in the last few years.
I have quite a few collies on the books who are doing very well on medication with few or no breathrough seizures. One is a working dog (cattle and sheep farm) the other does agility. Sadly I have had collies that despite my best efforts and the most advanced human antiepileptic drugs, just didn't respond to treatment.
It can take a few weeks for the drugs to get to steady concentrations in the bloodstream. Stay positive... There's lots of support out there for you so check your inbox

MM

Thanks for all your kind words.

The pic below is of Max, my epileptic Collie.

Click image to enlarge