Letters from readers

I RAISE and train drug dogs, all German Shepherds. I have a three-year-old male with high drive who started having a seizure after we worked. I rushed him to a vet and his blood work was fine, so the vet put him on 64 mg of phenobarbitone. This was two months ago. Then later I was in Texas working him hard and he had a seizure that lasted 45 seconds. He recovered quickly and worked for three more days, then in the morning he was disoriented, foaming at the mouth, and sounds startled him.

I carried him with me and he was alert, to the point of jumping in and out of his crate, and doing some obedience. I gave him a 64mg and a half (32mg) that morning, on the advice of my vet. Nothing helped. I took him to a local vet, who gave him a shot of 'pyrilamias' or some name like that (an antihistamine - I could not read the vet's writing). Nothing helped and his condition worsened. I drove 400 miles to my vet but we found nothing.

His eyes are constricted, he has tremors, teeth popping, listless, and takes very little water. Can this be an after-effect of a seizure, or are we looking at this thing the wrong way and he perhaps has something else? I would really appreciate any and all help here. - Jan Lambert, Kachina K9s

I will put this problem out to readers, especially any who have experienced and solved a problem like this. Meanwhile, one suggestion was: I think its worth asking him if the dog has had a brain scan as it could be something like a tumour.

A second suggestion was: I am wondering if he fits due to low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). It is a common condition in dogs that are worked too hard e.g. hunting dogs, tracking dogs etc. Most people take along high-energy food for their dogs if they suffer from this and it will prevent the fitting. To find out if the dog is hypoglycaemic it is necessary to do a starvation glucose test that would require the dog to have food withheld and to be monitored for blood sugar levels at the vets during the course of a full day.

The other thing I thought possible was inappropriate administration of phenobarbitone. Once an epileptic dog is started on a drug regime it is very important to give the doses regularly as sudden cessation of medication or even missing a dose can trigger terrible seizures. This will often happen in a boarding kennel situation when the employees forget to give the epilepsy medication and this triggers serious fitting.

The behaviour of the GSD mentioned is quite typical. After a seizure a dog will be disoriented (sometimes blind), exhausted, glassy eyed etc. They do foam at the mouth as sometimes when the jaws are clamped together in a seizure the saliva just banks up and dribbles out! - Lyndsay

If any readers have other suggestions please contact us and we will pass your suggestions on to Jan immediately. - Ed

Gwyllgi mastiff wanted

I AM hoping your readers can help me with something. I am trying to track down some information on a rare, possibly extinct Welsh breed, known as the Gwyllgi, or Welsh Mastiff, or Welsh Black. This is a huge, black, agile mastiff breed used in the Welsh hills for guarding (I think) and maybe flock protection. If anyone knows an owner or breeder, or has any more information on the breed than I do, please contact me. I know that the name has been attributed to a mythical dog, but I first (and last) saw one in about 1997. They are wonderful dogs. - Gillian e-mail: growling.nurse@virgin.net

I did a search on the internet for that name and the only dog that came up was the subject of a Welsh folk tale. However, it may be a breed named after the fairy tale because of its colour and size, or perhaps is called by another name now. If any readers have further information on the Gwyllgi as a breed, do let us know all about it. - Ed