A few years ago our dog started having seizures. Recently, he has woken up a few times and attacked our other dog. Do you have any suggestions about what we can do?

Question

Good morning.

    My name is Abby and I am a proud owner of two dogs, black Labrador 'Buster' who is six years old and a German Short-Haired Pointer 'Bodee' who is five. I need your advice for my dog Buster. I do not mind you being blunt or direct with me, for I am desperate for an outside point of view.

    Let me start by saying, I love my dogs and I have no children, so my love is strong for my two boys. I do not believe in 'fixing' dogs as long as the owners are responsible and do not allow puppy mills to thrive throughout their neighborhoods. My boys are not fixed, due to my choice, and they have never experienced mating relations for they practice abstinence, to put it politely.

    About three years ago, my dog Buster started having Gran mal seizures. With documentation of the multiple Gran mal seizures (approximately six) and verifying no hazardous environmental issues existed, my veterinarian and I decided to put Buster on Phenobarbital. First he received one pill (60mg) in the morning and one more in the evening. I took him to have his six month blood work analyzed last August and was told his Phenobarbital level was low. Our veterinarian asked if I wanted to increase his dosage and I stated no, for why try to fix something that is not broken and he seemed to be doing great. A week later, he quickly awoke from a nap and attacked my other dog which required stitches for his face. My boys are separated throughout the day, for Bodee stays in his crate while we are not home to monitor their interactions.

    We increased his medicine to one pill (60mg) in the morning and one and a half pills (90mg) in the evening. The amount of medicine seemed to be working, with the exception of a few bad dreams and moodiness once awoke from the dreams. About two weeks ago in the middle of the night, Buster woke up and again attacked my other dog Bodee, who is the most loving, forgiving dog I have ever had the pleasure to know and love dearly. My husband and I believe Buster may have had a mini seizure and when woke up he immediately attacked because he was disorientated and unclear what was ?really? going on in his surroundings. We were able to, literally, tear Buster off Bodee and now Bodee sleeps in our bedroom during night with the door shut.

    Last evening, my husband and I were relaxing on the couch watching television and both dogs sleeping at our feet. Buster showed no signs of distress while sleeping; no rapid eye movement, groans, twitching, or anything- just sleeping normally. He suddenly raised his head up, started the growling routine and attacked my other boy within a second. My husband grabbed him off Bodee and forced him to the ground. I removed Bodee from the room where Buster was and examined him thoroughly to locate any puncture wounds or damaged to him. He has some minor scraps on his face and was alright. I went to the other room where Buster was supervised by my husband and Buster had snapped out of his aggressive state. Buster was laying there welcoming me to comfort him. Even though I wanted to spank and scold him, my husband pointed out to me that he is unaware of what just took place and reprimanding him would be useless.

    I am not sure why he was doing so good and now has had two issues in the recent days. I have to take him to the veterinarian?s office for his second six month blood level testing in February. I believe the medicine is doing what it is intended to and I know if we increase his Phenobarbital levels that his other vital organs could be damaged. What I would like to do is muzzle Buster during the night and remove the muzzle first thing in the morning and leave it off during the day because both dogs are separated unless we are home. I would like your opinion on this subject and your thoughts if I am overlooking anything that would help me with Buster. I have read several times online that dog owners should not muzzle their dogs for more than a period of 20 minutes. I am not sure if that pertains to outside dogs or what the reason is behind that rule? Both of my dogs are spoiled inside dogs, so there would not be any issues with panting and unable to cool off.

    My goal is to continue to provide the unconditional love and great home life for both of my babies. Unfortunately, I know the truth is that Bodee should not have to live every moment as if he will be attacked by Buster. I know Buster does not want to hurt Bodee or us as parents. My heart aches about this and I can not act as God and snuff the life away from my best friend.  Please provide me your expert opinions on this issue, even if you think it may be harsh.

    Sincerely grateful,
Abby

Accepted Answer

I would get my dog to another vet, for a second opinion, a specialist if possible. I would want to uncover the cause of the seizures if you can, because until you do that it’s hard to go forward. Maybe your dog has a brain tumor? Or damage from vaccines? A head injury? It could be that the medication is causing the recent growing aggression. Maybe he needs to have his dosage altered again or needs a different medication.

I would consult with a homeopath and try to find a neurologist. This is a pretty complicated issue, that needs to be addressed medically before training can be applied.

I am afraid until you find out more about the medical aspect of this, all I could advise it to keep the dogs separated more so the lab doesn’t have to endure being attacked. You could try the muzzle, but it won’t do anything for the aggression that he is displaying. I would probably use the crates more if these were my dogs.

Here’s a list of vets http://leerburg.com/holisticvets.htm