Epilepsy

[goodasgold]

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I have a good friend who's whippet has epilepsy he has asked me to ask if anyone has heard of any other whippets that have this illness and if anyone knows what may help his 4yr old whippet.

It has been to the vets and all they can to do is pump it with tablets to slow down the fits but when she does end up fitting they are quite bad and she don't just have 1 she ends up having 3 in 1/2hour.

Any info would be very helpful many thanks )

This is Stella

 

[*Caz*]

Sorry i cant help but im sure someone on here may be able to help :thumbsup:

 

[whippetmad]

not had a whippet with fits,but my dachie who is 15 this month,used to have fits,he was on tablets but that made it worst,so he came off them and then not have so many fits.he has not had a fit now for about 4 yrs approx.when he went into a fit we just left him alone,as long as he was in no danger to himself or anything.

 

[J.T.]

I read somewhere about a dog who had about 15 fits a day, so bad that a vet had recommended it be P.T.S. The owner refused to give up and after researching it found that cranberry juice in a bit of milk every day helped to almost stop them altogether. Apparently cranberry is very good for the synapses in the brain which sort of short circuit during a fit.

I've probably got that all wrong as it was ages ago when I read the article but the gist of it was that the dog hadn't had a fit in about 6 months.

Hope your friends dog is o.k.

Good Luck :luck:

 

[zilloot]

I had a whippet with severe epilepsy. Unfortunately she died from the disease when she was still quite young so I was quite involved with desperate attempts to find a solution. We even tried homeopathic methods but in our case none worked. Most cases are not so severe. pm me if you need more info but the following might help;

Look out for 'The Phyllis Croft Foundation for Canine epilepsy'. Information from the Chairman at pcfce@btopenworld.com This is a fantastic mine of information and support for what is a very distressing situation. They have a newsletter full of articles, personaly experiences and FAQ. There is a real network of people in similar situations with lots of advice. Their website address is http://www.gsdhelpline.com/epilepsy.htm

also http://www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/ has lots of articles

Overall though I'm afraid the short answer is medication to slow and hopefully stop the fits as MRI scans and neurosurgical answers seem to be extremely unlikely for dogs. My dog died 8years ago so I hope there have been advances in the medication etc - the PCFCE above will have up-to-date info.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[goodasgold]

I read somewhere about a dog who had about 15 fits a day, so bad that a vet had recommended it be P.T.S. The owner refused to give up and after researching it found that cranberry juice in a bit of milk every day helped to almost stop them altogether. Apparently cranberry is very good for the synapses in the brain which sort of short circuit during a fit.I've probably got that all wrong as it was ages ago when I read the article but the gist of it was that the dog hadn't had a fit in about 6 months.

Hope your friends dog is o.k.

Good Luck :luck:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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I had a whippet with severe epilepsy.  Unfortunately she died from the disease when she was still quite young so I was quite involved with desperate attempts to find a solution.  We even tried homeopathic methods but in our case none worked.  Most cases are not so severe.  pm me if you need more info but the following might help;
Look out for 'The Phyllis Croft Foundation for Canine epilepsy'. Information from the Chairman at  pcfce@btopenworld.com  This is a fantastic mine of information and support for what is a very distressing situation. They have a newsletter full of articles, personaly experiences and FAQ.  There is a real network of people in similar situations with lots of advice.  Their website address is http://www.gsdhelpline.com/epilepsy.htm

also      http://www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/    has lots of articles

Overall though I'm afraid the short answer is medication to slow and hopefully stop the fits as MRI scans and neurosurgical answers seem to be extremely unlikely for dogs.  My dog died 8years ago so I hope there have been advances in the medication etc - the PCFCE above will have up-to-date info.

Hope this is of some help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Many thanks for the information will pass it on, any other information anyone else has would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Dean (goodasgold) :cheers:

 

[gavintasker]

I have a good friend who's whippet has epilepsy he has asked me to ask if anyone has heard of any other whippets that have this illness and if anyone knows what may help his 4yr old whippet.
It has been to the vets and all they can to do is pump it with tablets to slow down the fits but when she does end up fitting they are quite bad and she don't just have 1 she ends up having 3 in 1/2hour.

Any info would be very helpful many thanks )

This is Stella

View attachment 29551

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Stella, our Dandy is epileptic. His first fit came as quite a shock!

He`s now coming up for 4 and is fine. He`s on phenobarbital twice daily and goes for months without a turn. Sometimes there are two on successive days but..........

He lives an ordinary, happy life and enjoys his time trials at the South Cots.

[he is a naughty boy and body checks any opposition so goes down alone! ]

The only drawback is that we have our other whippy when we are both out [NOT often] in case Dandy has a fit. He is snappy and disorientated when he comes to and we don`t want any injuries or upsets.

Epilepsy is no reason for cotton wool treatment or long faces.

Julius Caesar was epileptic and look what he achieved.!

I hope your friend`s dog is soon sorted with the right dosage and is as happy as our boy. :luck:

Gavin

 

[gavintasker]

I had a whippet with severe epilepsy.  Unfortunately she died from the disease when she was still quite young so I was quite involved with desperate attempts to find a solution.  We even tried homeopathic methods but in our case none worked.  Most cases are not so severe.  pm me if you need more info but the following might help;
Look out for 'The Phyllis Croft Foundation for Canine epilepsy'. Information from the Chairman at  pcfce@btopenworld.com  This is a fantastic mine of information and support for what is a very distressing situation. They have a newsletter full of articles, personaly experiences and FAQ.  There is a real network of people in similar situations with lots of advice.  Their website address is http://www.gsdhelpline.com/epilepsy.htm

also      http://www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/    has lots of articles

Overall though I'm afraid the short answer is medication to slow and hopefully stop the fits as MRI scans and neurosurgical answers seem to be extremely unlikely for dogs.  My dog died 8years ago so I hope there have been advances in the medication etc - the PCFCE above will have up-to-date info.

Hope this is of some help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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I had written my reply before I saw your piece.

Very sorry about your dog.

Perhaps we are very lucky with Dandy. :luck:

We were told that the condtion is very rare in whippets.

Gavin