Last month we received a letter with an important health update from the owners of one of our Litter B puppies. We immediately wrote to ask for more. The following is compiled from three letters from Elby’s owners, written in September and October 2010:
Elby is now having seizures. He had his first one in late April and has had 4 since, that we are aware of. Two of them just today. We had Elby in for blood work immediately after his first episode. Everything was normal. Our vet was very unconcerned, and did not suggest further testing, but said that if at some point we wanted to medicate him that we could discuss that.
Since April the seizures have happened about once a month. Not enough to put him through a myriad of tests and procedures, or to medicate him. We are considering diet change, but have been feeding him essentially the same thing for a very long time, so it seems strange that diet would affect him now. We will see.
Otherwise, Elby is indeed a happy, healthy, addition to our family. He is energy personified!
One of our sons has a female Golden Lab and they were puppies together. She outweighs him by 60 lbs now but they still play like pups. He is so excited when my son comes to visit, since he brings her and 2 small children. The Lab was a major facilitator in Elby finally getting his sea legs and heading for the water! She will chase anything in the water and he could not let her get his bouncy balls! The lab jumps off the dock and, with some trepidation, so does El.
We will be traveling soon to Virginia Beach with our great little traveler, to see our Navy son. They have a new baby and a 4 and 2 year old. They love El and he will be thrilled to see them. Then it’s on to NC where my daughter lives with her family – 2 more kids to play with – then on to FL. He will be happy as there is a dog park a block from our house and he loves to go there and chase his tennis balls.
I remember when they were tested for timid/aggressive behavior [as puppies], he was a bit on the timid side. He really is with other dogs. If we go to the park and another dog chases his ball, he will not go after it, or even approach the other dog if he steals it. He comes to me like I’m supposed to do something! At least there will never be dog fights! He is territorial and will bark if a dog comes into our yard, but if you let him out he is never aggressive. Really, really sweet nature, though, he won’t let you pet him! Scratch his chest or ears, but no petting.
Other than the seizures, he is very healthy with no other issues going on. Our vet loves him and is very impressed with him. He loves her and she, of course, has never seen a Kooiker before. He is a great ambassador for the breed.
Regards, Wendy
*** Epilepsy is one of the health problems that Kooikerhondjes are prone to. Seizures can have many causes and the diagnosis of epilepsy by a veterinarian is done by eliminating other possible causes.
*** Elby had one more seizure on October 24.
Hi!Greetings from England! I was interested to read about your Kooiker having seizures.We have a 3 year old Kooiker from a breeder in Holland,(we lived in nearby Belgium at the time), and he had his first seizure when he was 21 months old.This is often around the time of the first attack apparently. After 5 seizures and a blood test to eliminate any other causes, he was put on medication.Our Vetinerary said that a change of diet wouldn’t make any difference. He now has 60mg of Phenobarbitone twice a day,(he’s 44lbs) and hasn’t had any more fits since.Our Belgian veterinary said that it’s important to prevent the seizures as the more he has the more frequent they will become, and ultimately their mental capacity will be diminished! I’m not quite sure if that would be the case, but our vet seemed to think so! Other than this minor problem he’s very healthy and full of life. I would, therefore, suggest medication every time. Good luck! Debbie Pratt, owner of Archie, (registered as “Yorick Fahres Gave”)
Debbie, please can you contact the Kooikerhondje Club of Great Britain. We are trying to set up research into epilepsy in the breed, to do this we need DNA samples from affected dogs.
Epilepsy aside we would be very interested to know of Kooikers living in the UK that we hadn’t previously known about! I’m so glad Archie has responded so well to his meds.
Claire and the Valleyrise gang.
[...] her age, several of her offspring have had health concerns that most likely were passed on through her. Preventing the possible re-occurrence of these [...]