Epilepsy? Anyone heard of "fly biting" syndrome?

[bullmama]

[MENTION=10206]agentbunny[/MENTION]

 

[agentbunny]

Hi there!

I just came across your post and this is exactly what my Lola has recently started doing. Can you please tell me what they vet ended up doing for her? I am very scared.

The neurologist did a blood test and had me do a bile acid test to rule out a liver shunt or any other possible condition. After all that and the EEG, she was diagnosed with idiopathic seizures. Idiopathic just means that they are not caused by anything external or an illness, but are hereditary in nature. I was told that as long as they were minor, did not last longer than five minutes and did not occur more than once a month or so, she would not need medication. If they increased substantially or became more severe, she would be put on an anti-seizure meds. So far, she has not needed the meds.

Interestingly, when I was talking to the lady who runs our local bulldog rescue and told her of the this, she told me that bulldogs do it all the time and that she had no idea that it was a seizure. She made me feel a bit silly for seeing a specialist about it because according to her, it is a normal thing with bulldogs. This gave me a pause because aside from running the rescue for the breed, she is also a long time bulldog breeder. For a breeder not to know what caused flybiting or star gazing and thinking it was normal concerned me. It told me that these dogs with this mild form of epilepsy are frequently bred, passing the illness to future generations. In my opinion it should not be OK to breed dogs with even the most minor form of epilepsy, as some dogs will ultimately inherit and present the illness in petit and grand map seizures, which are life threatening. To say I was disappointed to hear this from a breeder with lots of experience is an understatement.

 

[My Otis]

Praying for your Sweet Lola that everything she is going through will go away and she will be doing Great. Give Lola a Kiss and Hug from me and Elmo.