Epileptic Huskies

[hannahpatterson93]

 

Hi guys, this is Jax. He’s a two year old Siberian Husky and he is my best friend. [emoji851]

 

Jax recently just last week, had been diagnosed with Epilepsy. One morning Jax just went into a seizure, which he had never had before. Followed by another seizure the next morning right before his vet appointment. I got him to his regular vet where they ran a whole bunch of tests on him to rule out any certain causes for these seizures. All of the tests they ran came back negative, but Jax had another seizure right before he left the vet which made it 3 seizures in a span of 48 hours. We decided to take him to the 24 hour emergency vet and have him observed over night and get a neurologists opinion/diagnosis for Jax. They ruled it epilepsy and prescribed him Keppra 500 MG to be taken every 8 hours, so basically 3 times a day. So far since he has started his medicine he’s been seizure free, thank god.

 

Does anyone here have a Husky with Epilepsy? If so, do you have any tips on dealing with it or natural supplements you use to help glue dog?

[2Huskyfun]

O he is handsome, looks just like my boy ❤️

I don’t personally but I have a couple of friends that work for rescues that have  Epilepsy dogs they are caring for. 

One (senior that was having a ton of them) has just been on meds. Two that are younger; one is on meds and CBD (kicked in the head by a horse); along with a puppy (was physically abused) is just on CBD. 

All seem to be doing really good with what works for them.

My sisters-in-law has a son that has Epilepsy. They are starting him on CBD and hoping they can start weaning him off the meds.

Talk to your vet about CBD. My personal vet won’t talk about it but.... there is a vet tech that will help the clients with dosages LOL

[Jay]

I have an epileptic husky, Yukon.  Similar to Jax's situation, Yukon was about 1 1/2 years old when one night he was sleeping and went into a seizure, that was in November 2013.  He had 3 or 4 more before I took him to the vet.  They also ran tests and could not find anything wrong and diagnosed him with epilepsy and put him on phenobarbital.  He was seizure-free for about 7 months before he had another fit, and then a couple months after that when it became worse.  The vet put him on Keppra as well, and eventually also put him on Zonisamide and Potassium Bromide.  That seemed to help, but he would still have breakthrough seizures.  It would vary, from one every week or so, but at one point he was having cluster seizures (3-5 grand mal) every couple of weeks. 

In February this year I started him on CBD oil, and the vet also suggested Purina Neurocare.  For the first few months I did not notice a difference.  He would have 1 seizure per week.  However, since about June he has only 1 seizure about once a month, which is a huge improvement.  Now, I usually and skeptical of special foods and if they work, but I will say that I do think that this food does work.  I thought it was the CBD oil, so I have been weaning him off the Neurocare (mainly because it is $50 per 11lb bag and Purina stopped offering discounts), but since I started doing that he had 2 seizures in a month.  So, I am going back to putting him on the Neurocare and continue the CBD oil.

 

That food is prescription only so I would talk to your vet about that.  I also have a couple places I get CBD from ( I use a combination of oil and CBD biscuits).  I can give you my facebook profile or contact info if you need more advice.  I have been dealing with this ugly disease for 5 years now so I can completely understand how you are feeling.  There will be ups and downs, just when you think things are looking good you have some bad days.  It's heartbreaking to watch and it doesn't get easier but you can manage it and he can have a happy, healthy life.

 

Good luck to you

[wolfpup]

Marley started his seizures at around 12 months old from my failing memory  -  it will be on here somewhere   - my vet did not want to put him on meds because of his young age.   He averaged one every 27 days or so.

I put him on cbd oil and after a short period of experimentation his last few seizures have been at  67 days  39 days  108 days  - the last one being 44 days ago.

[Marty]

How much CBD are you giving Marley a day? I having been  giving Paws .5ml a day for the last 3 months and her seizures have gone from 1 a week to almost a month now without one.😊

[wolfpup]

After I found the right cbd oil for him his seizures went from the 108 days above and is currently still seizure free  150 days later (as of today).   I initially put him on four drops - as that was the level he was on with the previous oil  -  but have lowered it to two drops a day as it is a much stronger oil  -  and as you know it is possible to go over the 'sweet spot'  - more is not necessarily better.     This is working fine for Marley  -  but all dogs are different.   

[karennn]

Omg Jax is precious!!!!!! I've never had a husky with epilepsy, I didn't even know this was a thing. It was shocking really to come across this post. But i'm glad you figured out what was going on with Jax. Thank goodness he's doing better with the medicine! I think it's important to try a variety of things, some people have suggested CBD which has many benefits. I hadn't heard of the Purina neurocare food before but hey it might work for you. Of course always consult with the vet. May Jax continue to live his best life with as few seizures as possible!

[Jay]

I stopped using the Purina Neurocare because I noticed no difference, and they charged $45 for an 11lb bag, and stopped giving rebates.  I am still using the CBD biscuits and Yukon's seizures are less frequent and less severe.  He still has them but its more that he drools and stares into space for a half hour rather than the grand mal ones that he used to have weekly.

 

 

[wolfpup]

Marley has gone from 4 fits in 12 days,  3 fits in 2 days  in  Feb/March 2018   to no fits at all in the last  1 year 2 months and 10 days  (yes, still counting).     He has never been on vet meds because I found cbd oil and went against vet's advice.    I am lucky that the first one I tried worked for him  - took him to 106 days, the second one I tried took him to 108 days, the third one (the strongest)  stopped epilepsy in its tracks  ......................... so far.    It costs me £20 a month   - MUCH cheaper than vet meds and no side effects.

Marley is my second epi dog, and living with an epi dog can be heartbreaking - but also so rewarding.    I know a girl who is risking imprisonment as she is paying £120 for 50ml of cbd with high thc content every month to control her dog's fits.   For her it is worth the risks   - her dog (border collie X) was fitting and clustering every 5 days - and is so far around day 37.   She is somehow managing to get hold of the exact cbd/thc that is used in medically treated human epilepsy.

[Sione11]

It's horrible. I feel very sorry for you and hope that your dog is all right. I can just imagine how worried you were. When my dog started experiencing terrible pain (she was whining really hard). I was terribly worried. I couldn't sleep for several nights in a row. Finally, the vet advised me to buy CBD oil to ease her pain. I decided to study this question in more detail at https://denverdispensaries.net. Next, I found where I can buy this oil and decided to buy it. I gave it to my dog for a week, and thank God the pain subsided. He became more active and stopped whining.

[wolfpup]

Marley is now on 2 years and 237 days fit free  - still on cbd oil.