There are a lot of people with a dog in the Germany. People simply find it a nice animal to have in the house. This is often the case, but there are also some dogs that appear to suffer from epilepsy. This can sometimes cause some problems or tension in the house, which is not very pleasant. There is a chance that your dog may also have it, even if you do not know this yet. In this article we will delve deeper into the epilepsy that we see in dogs, so you can immediately see what the causes and possible solutions are for this annoying condition in dogs.
What is epilepsy?
You have probably heard of the term epilepsy. It is a condition that mainly occurs in humans, but animals can also suffer from it. Everything you do and see in a day is processed in the brain. This is also the area that actually controls the body. The cells in the brain are truly countless, every human or animal has around billions of gray cells in the brain. These cells work on the basis of certain networks, which are all connected to each other in the brain. Each network has its own task. It is only possible that someone gets a short circuit in one of those networks, which is exactly what epilepsy actually is. A short circuit is accompanied by a seizure, the seizure will depend entirely on the network that has short circuited. For example, there are people who can start to shake, others make strange movements and still others become unconscious.
Causes of epilepsy
Usually, there are certain triggers that can be identified for an epileptic attack. These are mainly triggers that have to do with loud noises, bright flashes or a lot of noise. Your brain receives a lot of information in this way, too much to process. This is why people have an attack. For example, you sometimes have at the beginning of a film: ‘can cause epileptic attacks’. But there can also be other causes for an epileptic dog. For example, he may have a tumor, or he may have a certain defect in one of the other organs. The vet will be able to determine the difference. It is therefore quite difficult to deal with it, fortunately solutions have been found. We will come back to this later.
Secondary epilepsy
In secondary epilepsy it is sometimes possible to treat the underlying cause, which stops the epilepsy. If this is no longer possible, the same medications are used in the more serious forms of epilepsy as in primary epilepsy.
Primary epilepsy
In the primary form of epilepsy, something goes wrong in the brain due to a congenital cause and an epileptiform attack occurs due to abnormal activity in brain cells. Medication for this can also be obtained from the vet.
How do you treat epilepsy in a dog?
Okay, so there are different solutions for treating epilepsy in a dog. For example, if something is wrong in the body, an operation can be performed. For example, an epileptic attack can be caused by a defect in the liver of the dog, if the vet does something about the liver, the dog will no longer suffer from the attacks. But there are also different medicines on the market that contribute to the recovery of the dog, these are of course much less invasive than some kind of operation. That is also the option that many people choose.
Medication
So you can choose to go to the vet to get medication for your dog’s epileptic seizures. There are different types of medication available. For primary epilepsy, a heavier medication will be given more quickly, the seizures in this case are also many times heavier than with the secondary form. However, there is one thing in common between the medications, that is that they cost quite a bit of money. Medicines that you can only get at the veterinary clinic are always a lot more expensive than the medicines that you can just buy in the city. But what if you can save quite a bit of money on your medication for your dog?
By taking out dog insurance with an insurer that reimburses the medication, you can save a considerable amount. If your dog has epilepsy, this is a good way to limit the costs, because your dog often has to follow a certain treatment for a while. By clicking here you can find an overview of the best and cheapest pet insurances, so you don’t have to pay too much anymore.
