I used to have a heeler/dingo/timber wolf cross. He died of old age last year. Best dog I've ever had. Out of all of the heelers I've had he was the only one with seizures identical to the one you describe. The vets up here are familiar with all cow dog breeds and said it was genetics. There are pills you can give them for it but I don't remember what they were. He did say it affected his heart everytime and after the first one he developed a murmur. His first one happened at about 10 years old and he live to 15 years which is pretty good for that breed. He had four or five more in that period even with the pills. As soon as the youngest boy starts walking I'll get another heeler. My dog had the ice blue eyes and his night vision was awesome at first but the last year he was alive he started having trouble and his hearing was about shot too. He was still in great shape though. I never got him cut and bread him to a few other heelers and a couple Catahoola Leopards. Talk about cool dogs. He threw some dandys.

I've had friends heelers red and blue have seizures though. It isn't that uncommon if you are around a lot of those kinds of dogs.

I've seen that dog Skidboot on TV. That dog is awesome.

 

Dieseldud4x4 is right. strays and mix-breeds are the toughest. Its called hybrid vigor...

 

Wannadiesel, what did the doc say? Hope everything is fine.

 

I'm waiting on results of some blood tests. They couldn't find anything obvious wrong with him. No siezures since.

 

Do dogs get femoral seizures? He didn't have a fever when he seizured, did he?

What else could cause a seizure?

 

maybe he was reading all posts by above poster ^^^^^^^
sure hope they don't find anything serious, sounds like you have gotten to like him alot, remember too, people food is for people, a lot of dogs can not handl scraps, and forget about chocolate...... sure he didn't get into anything ???? pesticides??????

 

Where does he sleep or hang out? A kennel?

If any, do you use any kind of bedding?

Cedar chips / shavings are notorious for causing seizures in dogs. If this is the case... get rid of it ASAP and lay straw down instead.

 

Nope, had nothing but dog food (Purina 1) and maybe a Milk-Bone or 2.

He sleeps on my bed, so I try to keep the straw and wood chips to a minumum.

The vet says all the blood work came back normal except the platelet count was low. He wants to retest in a couple weeks to see it that's not a fluke.

 

I am sorry but the one thing that pop's into my mind is maybe the reason you found this stray dog is it's former owners did not want to deal with the problems it is having? And that may be the reason no one has stepped forward to claim it?

And do not take me wrong from what I just typed. I think what you have done is a good thing. My exwife used to drag home animals like your dog all the time. She brought home a mangy old worn out Rottie one time. Had what we thought were major problems, about half of those abuse. A month later we had a litter of half Rottie half Black lab pups. We nursed her back to health and she lived for about 5 or 6 more years. She was one of the most gentle, faithful dogs I have known. I still have the pick of the litter. Turned out just like his mother. Good dog for being a Rotten Blacklab.

 

Dave, hope your patient is doing fine, How does Ginger accept the new one?
My dog is very possessive and jealous with me.
Dogs can have epilepsy just like humans do and some breeds are more susceptible.
One thing we really need to watch is Ethylene Glycol poisoning from antifreeze, chocolate some flea and tick treatments, pesticides you spray on your lawn and sugar free people products.

Sugar free products.
http://www.pgaa.com/canine/health/badsugar.html

Here is a little tidbit of information.
http://mooreshaven.com/pets/dogs/safety/antifreeze.html

Check this out.
http://mooreshaven.com/pets/dogs/saf...foodslist.html

Also check out the poision section.
http://mooreshaven.com/pets/dogs/saf...oisonpage.html

Jim

 

why would you breed a dog that has seizures?

 

Thanks, Jim. Ginger is very jealous, but I think she's getting over it some. It used to be she'd try to push him away if he came over to me, but now she doesn't get upset unless I'm playing with him or giving him a belly rub. She also hates the way he lets me know he's gotta go out - he (very gently) takes my forearm in his mouth. Man, that freaks her out, she must think he's trying to eat me. They play chase and wrestle out in the yard, both with tails and ears up. It's kinda funny to watch him play with her because some of the things he tries to do are cattle herding and some of them are dog play. Ginger doesn't really appreciate being herded, but she gets into the dog play, and she likes to chase him around.

 

Anything that moves quick is subject to be herded by a Heeler. My neighbors kids think its funny when Ralph herds them. They love it and he loves it. He is very gentle with the kid to and wont use teeth on them but I saw him try and tear a cows leg off one day. She learned after that to do to what the Heeler tells her and all will be ok!

 

We had a healer a few years ago that suffered from seizures. It eventually took her life.
There are meds for this problem and they do seem to help but in our case it only prolonged her fate.
The meds are feto-barbatall[wild guess on spelling] these are the same meds used for a human with the same problem.

Hope this helps good luck

 

He didn't have seizures until he was 10. We bread him before that. I didn't breed him after that though. Thanks for the concern.