Our dog turned epileptic

[eddiewagner]

Oh boy, our shepherd zerbo has some troubles. Problems with the liver that got him epileptic cramps. What a bummer. Last night he collapsed right next to my bed. Hope he gets better. I think He found something poisonous and ate it. Poor dog....

[Martinp]

Eddie, we had an epileptic cat, Stevie, she was having 2 or 3 seizures a week.The vet prescribed Phenobarbital (no jokes), and said that the medicine would significantly shorten her life. she lasted 23 years. pets are funny that way.
good luck to you and your pal

[MrCairo46]

Sorry to hear. I had a Saint Bernard that had them also and phenobarbital was prescribed also. Soon as she progressed, more and more phenobarbital was required. I also learned that doctors had revisited treating seizures with high fat diets. Try safflower oil and even cuts of fat as treats daily. Here is a link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...First_Do_No_Harm

A ketogenic diet.
Hope it helps it helped our dog live about 2 years longer. SadlySaints only live 8 to 12 years

[ASC67]

Good wishes sent for Zerbo, I hope he recovers !

[Bongocaster]

Years ago I had a lab mix pup (around 9 months old) that developed epileptic seizures. We tried conventional and holistic/alternative vets but the seizures kept coming and started getting worse and more frequent till we finally had her put down at the local SPCA. The person at the pound said that she had seen older dogs successfully treated but that had never seen puppies that got epilepsy when young treated with any success.

Best of luck.

[mickeydean]

My cocker developed seizures when he was 10. Turned out much money later it was a severe allergy to beef. Switched him to duck and fish and he lived to be 19 seizure free.

[idjster]

Good thoughts and prayers for your canine family member. I know it's hard trying to help a sick animal…

[Bongocaster]

Oops forgot to mention that the woman at the SPCA also said that she usually saw that older dogs did respond to treatment. The more positive flip side.

[ce24]

Our cat did that....turned out she ate a baby aspirin that I dropped......poison to them kitties......we changed her name to Twitch!

[ROADMAN]

our Jack Russell has had seizures since he was a puppy.....on average maybe 2 a year , the vet says they could prescribe him medication but only if they become more frequent so when they happen we just hold him and try to soothe him till they pass....freaks the wife right out

[eddiewagner]

Thanks guys for the good words. Lets hope for the best.

[jhundt]

oh no! not my little friend the big black dog... boy I sure hope everything is all right with him.

[rghill]

My old Aussie Shepard mix had seizures once a week or so. It was not fun when it happened, though he came out of them and back to normal shortly.

We had left for vacation once, and forgot to tell the neighbor who was checking on them about his episodes. She was a little bit freaked out when we returned.

He lived to be about 12 and was a complete bastard until the end.

The other day, I found my old Black Lab was having one of the same seizures, but I have never seen him do that before. Poor old guy! Seems OK now.

[Dave1234]

Our Lab started having fits after being hit by a car. We managed for five years, but eventually she kept having grand mal fits, which she could only recover from if sedated completely. We lost her 3 years ago, worst decision of my life.......hoping you have a happier ending.

[Rich_S]

We had an epileptic Dalmatian (always thought that was a great name for a band) who lived to be 13, on phenobarb for the last 10 years of her life. She rarely had seizures when she was on her meds.

[newrider1969]

My Jack Russell has had seizures for about 8 years. The phenobarbital worked well for quite awhile on its own. He did act a little dopey until he got used to it. He then started having seizures again more regularly and the vet suggested giving him potassium bromide as well. It has worked really well with no side effects. He very rarely has seizures now and at 11 years old is still full of pep. I hope your buddy gets better soon.

[eddiewagner]

Thanks again. It all does not sound too carastrophic. I guess the black monster will be alright. I keep you informed.

[birddog01]

One of ours started having siezures about 3 years ago near 5 years of age.
The vet also prescribed Phenobarbital. He's near 50lbs and it was 30mg in the morning and 30mg at night.
A couple years ago we started writing them down on the calander to track the frequency. About a year go they did some blood work and bumped up the doseage to 60mg morning and night.

Last year he had a total of 16 for the year, down a little. More bloodwork just recently and everything was where it's supposed to be but they added Zonisamide 100mg also morning and night.
I think it has cut down on the severity when he has them and possibly the frequency.

Fortunately Phenobarbital is not very expensive and our vet will call it into a pharmacy of our choice and we get it pretty cheap.