seizures
We love him so much and need to get him well. Thanks. |
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| so sorry Jacky is unwell, hopefully someone will be along soon to help...x |
| From what I understand there is no magic bullet for idiopathic epilepsy. You can monitor him closely and get him back to see your vet tomorrow if he doesn't have any more seizures, but if he has another and especially if they increase in terms of length of time you should consider taking him to the emergency room. I took care of an epileptic dog for a while and my great fear was always status. His vet gave me a liquid form of valium to keep on hand as I recall for emergencies, but that was just to buy me enough time (hopefully) to get him to a vet. Besides status, every seizure he has predisposes his brain to have more so when he starts having clusters you really want to break that cycle.
That said, what has probably happened (fingers crossed) is that his phenobarb needs to be adjusted. It can take a while with any dog to get them at a level where they are controlled. Then they can go months or years without having another seizure (you hope), just to have a break through seizure and then the meds need to be adjusted again. Some people don't like giving phenobarb due to the side effects (potential liver damage - that's one of the reasons, in addition to monitoring the levels of the drug in his blood, you'll be wanting to do regular bloodwork to screen for liver function) There are other drugs, there are other combinations of drugs. I THINK most vets start with phenobarb because it is fast acting relatively speaking. Once you have the seizures under control you can start playing with other drugs, other combinations and some times if you're lucky even weaning your dog to lower doses. I don't think ours is one of the breeds where epeilepsy is frequently terribly hard to manage, so that may be some good news. When you have time, you can check out the OESCA health website www.oeshealth.org and scroll down to look for seizures and seizure research. There is some interesting information there. Also, once things are settled, please consider participating in the OESCA health survey http://www.keysurvey.com/survey/211252/2567/ (This goes for everyone, not just people who have OES who are experiencing health problems -- to truly represent the state of the breed in terms of health as many OES owners as possible need to participate) Finally, and again down the road when you have him stabilized, please consider donating a blood sample and a copy of his pedigree (if known) to epilepsy research (see the OESCA health site and contact the website manager, Amy Spaeth DVM - her e-mail address is on the site - for help with this if needed. If possible, talk to his breeder and encourage him or her to donate pedigrees/blood from close relatives as well. They need a number of families of affected dogs in order to identify genes responsible for this disease so that breeders can reduce or ideally eliminate their risk of producing this in the future. For now your main focus has got to be getting him stabilized. I understand the fear and helplessness of seeing your beloved dog thrashing around. It is one of the most awful things you can witness. Talk to a vet and get his meds adjusted as needed and hopefully that will get his seizures back under control. It probably won't be the only time he experiences breakthough seizures, but hopefully he will be one of those cases that turn out to be easily managable. 
Kristine |
| Our old english sheepdog was only 7 months when she had her weekend of seizures last may, she had 3 in a 24 hour period. Our vet put her on phenobarb 45 mil. 2x per day. We have not had one since. knock on wood. We are also beginning to take her down in dose since she has done so well. I was very worried when this happened, especially since she was also diagnosed with very bad hips. She is doing very well and we love her. good luck |
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