Faithful Companions, Competitive Obedience, Conformation Champions, Agility Achievers...a Conquerer Golden can do it all!
Epilepsy
There are two forms of Epilepsy, Primary and Secondary. Primary Epilepsy includes dogs with idiopathic, genetic, inherited, or true epilepsy, there is no concrete cause for the seizures. Secondary Epilepsy refers to dogs who's seizures cause can be determined (toxins, brain tumor, etc.). There are many different treatments available to help control seizures in dogs, based on your pets history and health status your vet may discuss one or several with you (even in combination).
Primary epilepsy: also known as idiopathic, genetic, inherited, or true epilepsy. There are no positive diagnostic findings that will substantiate the diagnosis. It is a case of ruling out every other possibility. The first seizure in a dog with primary epilepsy usually occurs between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. (Oliver, Seizures). However, a diagnosis of primary epilepsy is not proof of a genetic defect; only careful breeding studies could prove that. The breed, the age, and the history may suggest a genetic basis for primary epilepsy if there is a familial history of seizures.
Secondary epilepsy refers to seizures for which a cause can be determined, and there are many. In dogs less than one year of age, the most commonly-found causes of seizures can be broken down into the following classes: degenerative (storage diseases); developmental (hydrocephalus); toxic (lead, arsenic, organophosphates, chlorinated hydrocarbons, strychnine, tetanus); infectious (distemper, encephalitis, and others); metabolic (such as transient hypoglycemia, enzyme deficiency, liver or kidney failure); nutritional (thiamine, parasitism); and traumatic (acute injury). In dogs 1-3 years of age, a genetic factor is most highly suspected. In dogs 4 years of age and older, seizures are commonly found in the metabolic (hypoglycemia, cardiovascular arrhythmia, hypocalcemia, cirrhosis) and neoplastic (brain tumor) classes. (Oliver, Seizure). Dr. Jean Dodds has mentioned that seizures are also associated with hypothyroidism, which is a familial (inherited) autoimmune disease of purebred dogs.
Read more about canine epilepsy here.
**To date (2011) there has been one dog of our breeding diagnosed, at age 6, with idiopathic epilepsy which is currently being treated with Potassium Bromide. This course of treatment has reduced the seizures (which last on average 30-60 seconds) to one every 4-5+ months.