The Rig

iTrader: (13)

My mum owns a labradore and an alsation.
Both about 18mths old now.

they both suffer from a kind of seizure/fitting, the go all stiff and panic,drop like a sack of spuds and just stare at you,very scary since therebig dogs.

vets cant find anything wrong, bloods taken/scans etc, all fine.

bit of a coincidence both do it, they havent done it for about 6 mths then yesterday morning the labradore did it now just a minute agao the alsation did it, bloody bizarre !!!

only thing i can think of is the food, its a big bag she gets from the local pet store, Burns Chicken and rice,recommended by vets.

any thoughts........

cheers

Ms Gooner 1

That is VERY bizarre. I'm no vet, but do have quite alot of dog and cat knowledge. So my word is not gospel! However, I wouldn't think it being the food? If it was the food - the fits, I think, would be more often, being that the food intake is obviously regular (daily).
May sound strange, but if they have been out on walks, possibly off the lead, could they have access to and streams or ponds? Any "treats" been given around the time of the fit? I beleive animals can be suspecitable to lighting? Anything in the garden - grass seed, something like that?
I'd look more for something that isn't part of their daily routine!
Keep us posted
Also, how are they after the fit?

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

cheers.
they go for walks roughly 5 days a week prob for 30 mins each,she takes them out 1 at a time now ha ha,never off the lead.
AFter the fits, there fine, as if nothing has happened,weird,they only last a few mins, about 3-4 but at the time, it feels like 10 mins or so!



cheers

Spoon

Rig, this is a website that might be worth a look. I know it's Cavalier related but take a look at the symptoms and videos and see if you can see a link. Cavalier Episodic Falling

After exercise muscles can sometimes fail to relax. Are these episodes after the dogs are walked? For starters with 2 different breeds doing it, I'd change the food immediately.

Spoon

Rig, I just took a look at the Burns Chicken and rice and to be honest if you're feeding an 18month old GSD and have been feeding him this since he was younger then he really needed more protein than 18.5%, not to mention meat!

Most puppy foods have as much as 32% protein in which is also too much but you should have been aiming for circa 24-25% and maintaining that now. Then there's the horrendous percentage of Brown Rice over meat!!

Your food: Brown Rice (min 63%), Chicken(min 20%), Oats, Peas, Chicken Oil,Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Minerals & Vitamins

Typical Analysis/100g: Protein 18.5%, Oil 7.5%, Fibre 2.2% , Ash 7.0%, Vit A 8000 iu/kg, Vit D 1500 iu/kg, Vit E 50 iu/kg, Moisture 8%, Copper 15mg/kg, Sodium 0.51%, Calcium 1.1%, Phosphorus 0.63%, Magnesium 0.10%, EFA 2.6%, Carbohydrates 57%

My Food: Chicken Meal* (min 26%), Whole Grain Rice (min 26%), Whole Grain Maize, Chicken Fat*, Beet Pulp, Dried Brewers Yeast, Egg Powder, Fish Meal*, Linseed, Fish Oil*, Minerals, Vitamins, Nucleotides, Prebiotic FOS (Chicory Extract), Prebiotic MOS, Cranberry Extract, Chondroitin Sulphate, Glucosamine Sulphate, MSM, Yucca Extract, L-Carnitine, Taurine, Green Tea Extract, Quercitin, Grape Seed Extract. * Preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract.

Protein 25%, Oil 18%, Fibre 2.4%, Ash 6.5%, Moisture 8%, Omega6 3.67%, Omega3 0.55%, Vitamin A 20000 IU/kg, Vitamin D3 1400 IU/kg, Vitamin E 750 IU/kg, Calcium 1.4%, Phosphorous P 1%, Copper 25 mg/kg (as Cupric Sulphate)

One of my Shepherds is the same age as your Mothers dog too.

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Edited to add: Unless your food from Burns is this which is better.

Contains: White Rice,Chicken,Chicken Oil, Oats, Peas, Linseed, Beet Pulp, Fish Meal, Sunflower Oil, Seaweed, Minerals and Vitamins.

PaulC72

we have a lab who has the fits too, they for ours she has then at random times, sometimes if she has eaten alot of food it has happened a few hours later other times not.
When we spoke to our vet as the first time it happened we were really scared as we had not been through it before they told us it is quite common in labs to have them but as long as they do not last more than 10-15 minutes there is nothing to worry about if they do then treatment is required {not sure what sort though}
I am not however sure about othe rbreads of dog but assume it happen too.

All we do when it happens is make sure the area around her is clear so she cannot hurt herself when she is having a fit and we just talk to her to comfort her FWIW. When it has finished she always tries to jump up but is always a little wobbly but within about 10mins she is back to normal as if nothing has happened.

HTH.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

agree with spoon, its amazing how many vets recommend certain foods and they are cr@p
I use arden grange natural and I think Spoon does as well from previous threads. My springer suffered from seemingly random fits and like you blood tests showed nothing. We have found it to be that the dog is sensitive to artifical colours (a lot of dog foods contain them especially the likes of bakers!)

Also something else to look at like mentioned is things like plants, there are quite a few out there that can cause fitting. Hope you get to the bottom of it

Spoon

Yes Jay, Arden Grange after many years of research on GSD's.

Vets, well, if any vet recommended that first Burns food for a young GSD then he/she needs a serious word with themselves. You only have to look at the comparison to see the first Burns is mouse food in disguise.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

cheers for input guys/gals.
she is using the burns food that is 18% protein, she doesnt have internet or drive so is limited to the amount/products she can get from her local pet store, small friendly place,not massive retail outlet type.

i have said for her to change from Burns and to look for a high protein ingredient,to be honest, me and her even the missus just go by the name/vet recomends etc,dont really read the ingredients.

hope that right for me to tell her ?

cheers