Epilepsy Process

Over the years we have had four hounds that had what might easily be called an epileptic fit. However in two of these cases even though the hound fitted it was not epilepsy.

These notes have been written from our own experience of fitting/epilepsy to help anyone who might have a hound that has a fit.

In no way are these notes designed to take the place of a qualified veterinarian but to add some additional information that we have found to be useful..

So your hound has had a fit. The first rule is to find out why your hound has had a fit BEFORE resorting to your vet prescribing Phenobarbitone. Some vets with no experience will simply draw on their training and prescribe a drug that is used in the treatment of epilepsy. However at the moment you don't know why your hound has had a fit and your hound may be fitting for some other reason. Phenobarbitone should only be used if all other reasons for fitting have been excluded, and it can be thought that your hound has idiopathic (hereditary) epilepsy. Phenobarbitone is addictive and your hound will become dependant on these drugs, so we need to be sure.

Please be comforted: our Phoebe now mostly has very small, quick fits (less than 3 minutes) every other week or so. She is otherwise very happy, healthy and 'busy' with life.

In most cases fitting starts with one and then is followed often days later by another. Or even weeks or months later. Obviously if your hound is continuing to fit your vet may use a sedative (Orally or via a drip). Please comfort your hound during the fit - but stay away from the head end as a hound can bite after a fit. He is not really biting of course but he has no control over his jaw muscles. Sometimes we believe that ours have gone blind for several minutes after a fit. Often your hound will be disorientated for a while afterwards and bump into things. We get ours outside as soon as we can so the hound has less to bump into. We also believe that a hound can still hear when all other senses are not working in a fit.

There is an old wives tale that says dogs only fit when asleep - don't believe it - we have had them fitting whilst eating and whilst playing.

Firstly, you need to start to keep a diary of when the fitted happened, what happened during the fit, how long it lasted, how long did your hound take to recover, can you remember whether anything happened that was in any way 'odd' before the fit? We noticed that our boy, Tucker had a very runny nose the week prior to his fit which seemed unimportant. Our neurologist vet said it helped him in his diagnosis. So you never know what might help your vet to help your hound.

Get your vet to carry out a specialist blood tests - these will certainly have to be sent away to a specialist laboratory but if you are lucky enough to get a positive back you can rest easy as both conditions are treatable. The blood test is for Neospora and Toxoplasmosis.

The next stage is tricky as you will have to decide if a brain-scan would be useful (we found one of our fitting hounds had a major brain tumour). Personally we would seek a referral to a specialist neurological vet before taking this option. Costs are high for this procedure so hope that you are insured.

If you do take this option and the scan is clear then your hound almost certainly has idiopathic (hereditary) epilepsy.

If you can tell from the pedigree or if other hounds you know to have fits are related to your hound the odds are on hereditary epilepsy. For example, a young couple in our breed have a two year old hound who has just started to fit. His sire has already produced a fitting bloodhound so the odds are on epilepsy...but they are having the Toxoplasmosis and Neospora test to be certain.

You must tell the breeder of your hound what is going on. The owner of the stud dog also needs to know as it takes two carriers to produce a fitting hound. So each parent must be a carrier of the epilepsy gene. It is important that anyone who breeds or uses their dog at stud knows which hounds are producers of fitting offspring and avoids them in their breeding plans. It can be the most beautiful bloodhound in the world - but it is terrible to see it on the floor thrashing about in a fit.

Here are some ways we have found to help Phoebe (and two of her sons use the same remedies)

• Phoebe has a high dose of medication 2 x Potassium Bromide and 3 and ½ x Phenobarbitone twice a day. 9.00am and 9.00 pm. We set an alarm so her medicine is always on time (it matters)

• So far thanks to good and regular blood testing from our vet (100 days after any increase in Phenobarbitone) we know that her dose is still in the middle levels thus keeping the chance of liver damage (which is a side effect of this medication) to a minimum.

• We also give her 5 x Dorwest Herbs Scullcap and Valerian tablets twice a day with her meals. (She weighs 50 kgs - you do the maths!)

• If she behaves 'differently' ......hard to describe but we recognise slightly odd behaviours these days - like sleeping a bed she would normally never use; or running about a bit more maniacally than usual ..... we increase the dose to 10 in the next meal.

It works for us.

We also use Bach's rescue remedy if she is upset in any way - being knocked over by one of the others...if we have visiting hounds...if she has been in a ruck with one of the others..

It calms her down.

If we think she is sliding into a fit we shout her name at her and make her get up with us and run outside. We have 'shouted' her out of a fit.

We try different things all the time if any of you know anything we don't know - please share it with us.

Our Phoebe is the most precious of people. She even knows when it is Saturday and she goes out in the car with her 'dad' and has a pig's ear all to herself without it being stolen by the rest of the gang!

Eileen Peers