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  Discussion on Epilepsy
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 1999 - 5:43 am:

Hi Dr O
If you remember mine is the horse with epilepsy and has 30 tablets of phenobarbitone daily. She had a fairly substantial seizure sixteen days ago which was disappointing to both me and our vet as she had had a quiet life since she started on the tablets about 6 months ago. It came after a weekend of two shows (she was very overexcited at the first one, more settled at the second) and had upset feed times. She obviously sails much closer to the wind than we thought and I doubt she will ever be able to reduce her dose, much less come off completely.
When I went to feed her this morning (mornings are the riskiest time for her) she wasn't herself. Normally she dives into her hard feed but she just picked at it and peered back over her shoulders several times ( I've seen her do this several times lately). After just a few mouthfuls she moved away from her feed looking distracted. I thought she was going to start a seizure but nothing happened. She pawed at her bedding half-heartedly so I started thinking about colic but after a couple of minutes she perked up and pushed me with her nose meaning she wanted something. I gave her back her feed and she ate it up fine. She was supposed to go in the paddock today but I kept her in and left notes asking people to check on her for me. I also left a note asking a friend to run this by our vet who will be on the yard scanning tendons later today. Do you think that this distracted behaviour could have been a very mild seizure, a bit like petit mal in children? For some unknown reason she has nearly all her seizures in the winter months and I'm worried that she has broken through the artificially raised seizure threshold and now needs to increase her medication a bit. I hope I've given you enough detail and not too much flannel!
Thanks for your input.
Helen

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 1999 - 7:07 am:

Hello Helen,
It is hard to say whether a small seizure or transient mild tummy pain. The two might look very similar: a far away look and not responding normally to the environment around them. Keep records and the answer may become clear with time and experience.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 1999 - 7:19 am:

Thanks Dr O for a speedy reply, I'll make a note of exactly what she did. She has never had colic in the 4 years I've had her even when she got out one night and ate every livery's breakfast! But - the vet came out twice in half an hour at the weekend to two horses which had gone down with it and the weather here has suddenly turned from mild and wet to frosty, which he thought might have been a factor. She did pass some gas a couple of times while I was there this morning, and stamped her hind feet and lashed her tail as though a fly had bitten her, but that isn't particularly uncommon behaviour for her. Horses, they are so much trouble!

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 1999 - 9:07 am:

Hi Helen,

They are so much trouble... but they also are so much else!

They keep us alert!

Hope everything turns out good for you, in any event be thankful that you had a chance to get near a horse at all!

Good luck
Claudette

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 1999 - 9:14 am:

Thanks Claudette - I only worry because I love her so much! Good luck with your new horse, I hope being by Impressive doesn't bring any problems. Have you noticed that horses always go sick just as you are going to work in the morning or going out in the evening? Their timing is perfect!!
Helen and Cara

Posted on Thursday, Oct 7, 1999 - 11:08 am:

Hi Dr O again - just to let you know that my vet thought it sounded more like a passing belly ache than a seizure. She was certainly very grumpy with me in the morning when I undid her rug to check for bloating (you should see the bruise where she bit my arm!) which was quite out of character. She's fine today! Thanks.
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