[happy711]

My dog is a three year old boston terrier (named taz). Once in a blue moon he would start to shake uncontrollably; he couldn't control himself, he would fall down and droll. This would last a few minutes but it seem like an hour. We went to the vet but they really didn't help too much. Is there a name for this or anything that would help him?

[labman]

That almost sounds like a seizure. They tend to be a puzzling problem the vets often don't have a diagnose and solution for. Even if somebody else's dog has similar symptoms, their experience may not be much help.

Stay in touch with the vet and hope for the best.

[jostre]

What is your dog doing just before the seizure starts. Is he sleeping or laying down or is he playing or otherwise active?

[froggy7]

If possible, video tape Taz when this happens. That way the vet can see the actual seizure, which may help him figure out why they happen.

[happy711]

My dog was both sleeping and playing and it happened. With school and work, he is home by himself and we couldn't possilby put video tapes in every room of the house and I wouldn't want to be taped everyday. But an execellent suggestion though.

[Sarah_the_vet_tech]

Keep a diary of the seizures. Anything you can write down may be helpful. Write down what time of day it was? What was the weather like? Was the seizure before or after he ate? Did he just come in from outside? How long did it last?

Just jot down anything about the time surrounding the seizure. Make sure you write about all the seizures you see him have. This info is really valuable to a vet. Sometimes you can find a common variable between all the episodes. But sometimes not. Did your vet give you any meds to give him?

[bushg]

Happy, if he is seizing you may want to confine him to one room where there are not things that can fall on him or steps that he can fall down... also if you did this it would be easier to tape it.

[teachnk]

Sorry to hear about your pup. A close friend of mine has a 6 yo lab that started seizing about 6 months ago. After the fifth known seizure and several inconclusive tests, the vet put him on seizure medication. The frequency and the intensity of the seizures has greatly been reduced. However, the dog's energy & activity level has greatly decreased and they are having to carefully monitor his weight. Based on your post, I would strongly recommend getting a new vet - one who is more interested in finding the cause, or if that's not possible at least considering other options such as meds.
Best of luck to you and your pooch!

[DepecheMatt]

I had the same thing happen to my Beagle 2 years ago. My vet informed me that he had a seizure and they are fairly common in (Smaller dogs esp) and after 3-4 years of age. He mentioned something about a certain chemical imbalance being reached precisely at that point for it to occur. It could have been any thing from household chemicals, something in the dog food, to grass allergies. Any case if its happens too often it may be something serious, but for the record 1 -2 times a year may be considered normal.

[happy711]

The vet did give us medication. We are supposed to put about 3 drops of this liquid in his water. But this doesn't helpt too much.

[jostre]

Our dog would have seizures after napping sometimes. The vet called them "Point seizures" Apparently this type can be brought on by... brace yourself... sleep. I know it sounded really strange to us too. Anyway, he did say that where meds we could put her on but there are many side effects. She did not get them very often. He said if they were to increase in frequency then he may revisit the issue and suggest the meds but since they weren't that often the side effects were not worth it. He did tell us however that when she did have them, to get her moving around a lot and that should make them go away faster. Of course I had been doing the exact opposite. She would have one and I would feel so terrible that I would cuddle her in my lap and talk to her gently and softly (and sometimes crying I might add). But then after he told us that, the next time she had one I did what he said and it was over in about 30 seconds. It worked every time. Now with our dog the older she dog the LESS frequent they became. I hope this helps. I still do agree with the previous posts... I would consult a vet that really cares about the situation.

[happy711]

We also cuddled my dog up. It is very hard to let him move by himself because he would end up hurting himself. He falls, and once flipped over, but I picked him up and laid with him on the couch before he could do anything else.

[bushg]

Happy 711 how is your dog doing? Has he stopped having seizures?

[happy711]

Actually he hasn't had one in about two months, so that's good. It is possible that he has one when I'm not home, but I usually find poop or drool.
Thanks for caring.=)