Saint bernards that fit?

Hi everyone,

I have a 16months old saint bernard called barney he had 3 fits before christmas we took him to the vet and she put him on pills which she says he will probley be on for the rest of his life. I was wondering if anyone else has any experience of this as it had upset us and we are alsway worried now. He seems fine now and the vet said the tablets have stablised him. Shes a very good vet but I think sometime people who own a certian breed for so long know more then the vets just wondering if anyone had any advice.

Thanks

Bouncer, who was the sire of my bitch Heidi, had to be put to sleep before Christmas because he started to have regular seizures. He was eight years old when he started, which is quite late on for the onset of epilepsy in dogs as it usually manifests at about 2-3 years old if it is going to. However, dogs as young as six months old can have seizures due to epilepsy.

As a breed, Saints are supposed to be more succeptible to epilepsy although, after nearly 30 years of owning Saints, Bouncer was the first one we have had who suffered from fits, and then only in his eighth year. Given his age, and the frequency of his seizures, it was felt to be best to say goodbye to him.

There is no cure for epilepsy as theere are a number of possible causes, but the symptoms can be treated. I assume that you have been given something like Phenobarbital to treat it. This is usually quite effective in treating the symptoms but has been known to cause liver damage in long term use at high doses. If it works effectively though, your vet is right that your dog will need the medication for the rest of his life.

btw, my father in law was a veterinary surgeon; I'm not just making this up ;-)

I have had the sad situation of breeding & owning 2 saints who were litter siblings (the only 2 in the litter) to suffer epilepsy. Both sadly were put to sleep to end their suffering by the time they were 2 1/2 years old. Neither parent thankfully is able to be bred from again.

There is no test for epilepsy as yet, but there is extensive research ongoing in the USA where you can send bloods in to help find a DNA marker in a hope to find the gene. Information can be found on the American St Bernard Clubs website & I urge people who have dogs that are still with them to send in blood to help this cause.

To watch your dog slowly suffer is in itself heartbreaking, & to loose them to such an awful condition is soul destroying!

Thanks for the advice. For now the vet says hes ok so Im just gonna cross my fingers and hope for the best

And we sent Barneys blood away yesterday for research so hopefully this will be useful. I've looked up up and the vet said there is no cure but there is no reason why he can not lead a heathly life she also said she is happy that hes on a low dose and shes gonna keep him on it

Great, Was his blood sent to the research clinic in the USA? They are the only place that is actively looking into Epilepsy in the St bernard & would be really helpful if it went to them

Hi Im not sure where it went they just said it would be tested for what we need then sent to a lab to help research I never thought to ask I was holding barneys paw not that he seemed to notice the neddle

awwww ....

It sounds like its being sent off to test the levels for his medications ... they need to run tests on the liver etc every so often to make sure that all is ok & that the meds are not messing up the liver. In the UK we cannot use blood for research (according to the AHT who does it) as it needs to be done under certain laws/licence/guidelines etc, which they dont have, so i dont know where it would be going, As i said, the only active research for epilepsy in saints is being done in the USA

Hope He's ok

hello!

glad you posted lisa

knew you would get some replies

cheri xxx

I've never experienced this with a saint but I do know that it is something that they are susceptible to.

Good luck, I hope Barney's meds work wonderfully and he gets many more years with you!

HI Lisa!!! I have two friends who have Saints with Epilepsy.. I saw you friended one of them today so you may ask her.

Hi Everyone just wanted to say thank you for your help. We got the results of the blood test from the vet on monday barney is reponding well to the treatment and is on a very low dose of the tables to control the fits so Im really pleased. Thanks again x

Great News!

Saint Bernards are the cutest but one of the biggest breed of dogs in the world. They need lots of care and saint bernard training .