Pretty good chance we are going to have to put our four year old Rottie on Seizure meds. Any experiences with that? The good and the bad, please.
tks!
Our rottie was put on phenobarbital for idiopathic seizures, but it took a heavy dose to stop hers, they were really bad ones, lasting several minutes and leaving her like a zombie for a while after those.
The first one was so bad, it took our vet half a day to get them under control and had to use fluids to help her get stabilized.
Later we found from 11 in her litter, 4 had severe seizures.
I hope your dog’s seizures are not that severe and they can get a good handle on them.
My little rat terrier had light ones at two, we had her on that same medication for two years, then tapered off and she, now 11, has not had any again.
Every dog is different, but for most dogs, with the right medication, they are not a problem at all.
Our vets told us the protocol for medication is if a dog has more than so many, then medication is indicated, if not, after a while, medication can be tapered off.
Let your vet and how your dog does guide you what is right for your situation.
Pheno is usually the first go to because 1) price, 2) only have to give twice a day 3) lasts in system longer, so if you miss a dose, won’t be a huge problem. Many dogs end up needing something added to that. Potassium bromide is usually next, although a lot of vets are now trying zonisamide or Keppra. I personally don’t like Keppra as much. It’s a thrice a day med, half life is much shorter, so missing a dose can precipitate a seizure, and it’s expensive. Plus the overall efficacy is not what everyone makes it out to be. I do prefer zonisamide if bromide isn’t helping.
The side effects of all of them do include sedation, but they usually “grow out” of that.
Keep in mind the end result of anticonvulsants is not to completely stop the seizures, although that might happen. It is actually to prolong the amount of time between seizures. If your pet is having seizures daily, getting them down to once a week or less is considered a win.
Good luck.
We have almost completely gotten away from starting with phenobarbital. It has more side effects and requires monitoring liver values. Our neurologists all start with zonisimide now, then add in Keppra or potassium bromide if needed. For many dogs, zonisimide alone seems to work better than phenobarbital alone.
Also, keppra is available as a generic and in an extended release so you don’t have the cost and dosing concerns that used to be prohibitive.
We had a chocolate lab who started seizing.
We started with phenobarbitol as zonisamide was not available in Canada at the time and Keppra was expensive given her size. It didn’t do the trick and we added potassium bromide. The potassium bromide caused severe hyperphagia that made her and us miserable (she would be up pacing, crying, constantly begging for food, trying to eat anything she could get her mouth on outside and inside) so we ended up finding a neurologist who practiced in Canada and the USA and was able to get us a script for zonisamide and keppra that we could fill in the US were it’s less expensive. The phenobarbital does have side effects not their organs and we were starting to see that in her bloodwork. If you do go that route they will want to run those tests regularly to see how the dog is managing.
Our Pom has been on phenobarbital for about 4 years. We were monitoring her occasional seizure when she had 3 within a 2 hour period. We took her to the emergency vet and they medicated her. She gained weight until we put her on a diet last year. Her bloodwork is fine. Once in a great while we notice that she seems a little out of it.
Its very cost effective and it works (at least for us)
Thanks all!
Yes, our Rottie had her first seizure in August. For a few months they were about one a month. Then in December she had two within 24 hours. January nothing. Then earlier this week 3 within 24 hours. We have started her on Zonisamide. Its come down in price. We got a 30 day prescription from Kroger for $30.00
Haven’t seen any changes in behavior except she is a tad more “cheeky”. No seizures since, which that isn’t that unusual. However, she has still had a few, what I call, mini seizures. That’s when she jumps up from a sleep in a sudo panic to another room. Then stops with that dazed look on her face. In that past, sometimes that meant a seizure would occur at a later time, sometimes it didn’t. So for now, we are just watching.
