Dog Siezures and My Boxer's death

by Steve Tracy
(Hubert, NC)

My boxer died this morning at 6 years old. No history of any problems until 3 weeks ago. She weighed 62 pounds and 100% wide open. On the evening of Jan 22 my boxer became disoriented, with her eyes rolled up and eyelids fluttering. She was drooling a lot more then normal. She was very wobbly and had a hard time walking in a straight line.

We took her to the Vet the next morning and she stayed in the hospital for 3 days and then we brought her home. The vet could not find any reason why she had gotten sick. A full physical exam, blood work, and all plus an x-ray. We gave her her meds and she seemed to recover nicely.

She was very much back to normal by the beginning of this week. She never lost her appetite and we continued with her daily walk even when she was still sick because she wanted to go. No vomiting or any other problems with her bowel movements. Appetite was fine and everything looked normal. Last night she was fine and went to bed as always. We played a little and we took the daily walk.

This morning she was up before us and went to the bathroom in the house, which she never does. My wife put her out as normal and when I let her back in she was wobbley and was drooling a lot again. She was very lethargic and then she laid down. I called the vet to let her know and when I went to check her she was gone. I was wondering if it could have been a stroke or such.

Her father died when he was 6 or 7 also. It is one of the hardest things I have had to do in a long time. She was a beautiful dog with a fantastic personality. I don't believe she thought she was a dog. Her and my wife had become a pair going on their walks together. She was my wife's first pet at 47 years old.

Editor Comment:

Dear Steve,

Seizures in dogs happen to be relatively uncommon. Only 4% of all dog populations are thought to be affected by them. Although seizures are less common, they may occur for several reasons, including neurological disorders such as epilepsy or due to toxicity/poisoning.

Dog seizures are treated in various ways, but remember there isn’t any satisfactory treatment available for reaching a complete cure. Dogs with such problems are usually kept on certain drugs, selected to keep them calm and in control. These drugs are sedative in nature.

Along with the use of drugs, management and extra care is needed. An owner of the affected dog should keep an eye on the dog's behavior and never let the pet exercise, walk or run for longer distances. The dog should be kept busy in some indoor but safer activities, which should not include excessive jumping, running or stress.

Treatment for canine seizures is accomplished with several approaches, i.e. some veterinarians prefer to wait and see if this happens again or what are the exact symptoms, so that an exact form of seizure can be identified.

There are different stages of seizures which can help with identifying a treatment method. Other veterinarians may not prefer to wait and therefore start therapy right away. Remember, the approach toward treatment depends upon the status of the pet and an available diagnosis.

In this case, though, we are not aware of the clinical history, exact symptoms and therapeutics that were preferred, but it seems that it was some kind of congenital neurological disorder. Death is unusual in normal dog seizure cases, but if it happens it surely due to shock and coma.

If you own any other dog from this family, take good care of it and it is recommended that you take the dog for a screening. It is probable that it happened due to some type of neurological weakness.

Sorry to hear about this problem, but we are sure your note will help others that are struggling with a dog seizure problem.