seizures dog

Acute Seizure Monitoring Devices

Recording the number and duration of seizures is the best way for owners to help us manage seizures long-term. Should we start anticonvulsant medications? Should we increase medications? Should we stop medications or try something different? These questions are all dependent on the seizure frequency and duration. If the seizure frequency is acceptable but each seizure is 15 minutes long, adjustments are needed. If the pet is not showing adverse clinical effects, and the serum drug concentration is good, but the pet has 1 seizure per week, we need to make a change. If the pet continues to have cluster seizures, despite adequate drug concentrations, we need to make a change.
There are many data recording options available to owners.

  1. Keep a paper log with date, duration and number of seizures (this doesn’t need to be a diary!)

  2. Keep a spreadsheet record

  3. Use a smartphone app. There are many available and some can even connect to the vet clinic. (RVC Pet Epilepsy Tracker; PetPace; Safetail; SeizAlarm)

What if the owner cannot be with their pet 100% of the time? (This is everyone.) How will we know if we missed a seizure? Here are some options that I provide for owners:

  1. Consider a video camera and keep the pet in the room with the camera when you are gone. This works well to document seizures but can increase anxiety in an owner if they witness the seizure but aren’t there to intervene or comfort the pet.

  2. Consider using a FitBark monitor. FitBark is like the human FitBit. It detects gyroscopic movements and is an activity monitor. It has also been evaluated as  a “scratch-o-meter” by dermatologists. I have played with it as a seizure monitor but do not have official data to support its use as a seizure alert tool. If a pet has partial seizures (head shaking, jaw chomping, other) it likely will not trigger the FitBark. Generalized seizures are likely to be identified as an increase in activity but the monitor cannot distinguish between running around the house after a housemate or having a generalized seizure.

  3. Observe for signs of a seizure upon your return. This is our typical recommendation for owners. If a pet voids during a seizure, they may see urine or feces unexpected. If a pet has profound ptyalism, there may be evidence of drooling on the pet or surroundings. This is the least objective measure and probably has a high false negative result.

Recently a report was published out of Japan (https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2025.1558274) detailing a patented seizure-detection system (SDS) that they developed for dogs. This is not yet commercially available but, based on the results, it may be available in the near future. The device was previously tested in laboratory dogs.

Study Design and Outcome
One research Beagle and 12 client-owned dogs were enrolled in the study. The dogs were hospitalized with 24-hour staff who were available for intervention for seizure management. A video system was placed and the SDS was  placed into a custom designed jacket worn by the pet during the observation period. The device was connected to an application on a smartphone.  The SDS detected 25 of 34 seizures during the observation period, providing a sensitivity of 74.3%. The median sensitivity for detection was calculated to be 37.5% for each dog (range 0-91.7%). Three false positives were noted in only 1 dog, one of which was excluded because the jacket fell off. The authors calculated the positive predictive value to be 92.6%. Median latency from onset to detection was 11 seconds (range 6-75 seconds). During the observation period 35 focal seizures, which did not develop into generalized seizures, were observed and none of them triggered the SDS.

Discussion
This device performed more poorly than previously reported data for human SDS. Human SDS have a sensitivity between 79-91% and this device had a sensitivity of about 74%. That said, this is a very positive step toward canine SDS. The time from the onset of the seizure to detection by the SDS was a respectable 11 seconds. This latency is well within the acceptable window of observation expected in a hospitalization scenario or it would allow an owner to address the seizure if they are in the area but not directly observing the dog. This tool may soon be one more option for us to accurately record seizures for pets at home. As with all tools, knowing the limitations (partial seizures) and the expected outcome (low false positive results) will help us guide owners to the best monitoring for their pet.

 
Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week and I look forward to working with you soon!

Epilepsy in Labradoodles

How many of us are old enough that a Labradoodle wasn’t labeled as such when we first started practice? The labradoodle was officially “started” in 1989 as a breed intended to have low shedding potential. They have gained in popularity over the years and are now extremely popular as a breed worldwide. They are not a recognized breed by the AKC as of 2024, but that hasn’t stopped many breeders from providing pedigrees. Although typically considered a mix of just a labrador and a poodle, they can also be mixed with Irish Water Spaniels, Curly Coated Retrievers and even Cocker Spaniels. One of the proclaimed benefits of a mixed breed dog is the perceived lower risk of health problems. Several studies have refuted this and certainly we see a similar incidence of seizures in Labradoodle dogs compared to Labrador dogs. Idiopathic epilepsy has a known genetic inheritance in the Labrador, and it is suspected in the Poodle. A recent study evaluated Labradoodle dogs with idiopathic epilepsy, presumptive epilepsy and those with epilepsy of unknown origin. They included 40 dogs in the study. Males were over represented in this study (supported in other studies) and most of the dogs were neutered before their first seizure.

Generalized seizures were noted in 25 of 40 dogs, 12 of 40 had focal and generalized seizures and three displayed only focal seizures. The average age of onset was 2.3 years +/- 1.3 years which is similar to the Labrador. Note that the study limited age as an inclusion factor so this could be slightly skewed. The average number of seizures per year in this cohort was 5.4 seizures +/- 6.5 seizures, also similar to the Labrador. Poodles tend to have fewer, less frequent seizures and rare status or clusters. There were similar numbers of seizures in the treated, and non-treated groups, but remember that we treat frequent seizures, and don’t tend to treat infrequent seizures!  Seizures were scored for severity on a 1-10 scale (1: not severe, 10 – very severe) and, although a subjective measure, was considered 6.9 on average +/- 2.0. About 33% of the dogs had cluster seizures (more than 1 seizure/24 hours) and the other remaining dogs had occasional clusters or no clusters.

This study utilized a questionnaire to determine the personality of the dog, and home setting. Eleven dogs were described as nervous/anxious dogs and the remainder were described as vivid, cheerful and stable. Although more seizures/year were noted in the anxious group, this was not statistically significant. No correlation was noted between tick/flea/food and vaccinations in this group of dogs. However, all owners thought that they identified precipitating factors that were all considered ‘stressors.’  Some examples provided included visits to the groomer, vet visits, home visitors and sounds. Both the ictal and post ictal phase were considered stressful for some of the owners, however more owners referred to the ictal phase as the most stressful part of the event. Owners scored their own and their pet’s QoL as fair to good for most of the study. However financial cost was considered a moderate problem (an average of 5.1 on a 10 point scale) for owners.

What should we take away from this article? An awareness of the prevalence of idiopathic epilepsy in Labradoodles should be an important take away from this article. Secondly, it is helpful to note that generalized seizures are common, however focal seizures are also reported in Labradoodles. If you have a desire to read the remainder of the article it can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1459260

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a good week and stay warm!