Canine epilepsy

[Marge]

Have any of you ever had an epileptic dog?

We got two rescue Dalmatians in March. We have had Dals before so we know the breed well. These are great dogs, good natured, very mellow, not at all the Dalmatian stereotype (everybody thinks Dals are hyper and high strung). We are very happy with them.

Shortly after we got them, the female, Daisey, had a seizure. Turns out she is epileptic (or has a seizure disorder of some kind). Our vet was having us treat her with potassium bromide. She recently had a couple of fairly bad seizures two days in succession so now she is also on phenobarbitol. (Which supposedly controls seizures pretty well but can damage the liver so the vet was trying to avoid having to go to it.) Apparently from what our vet tells us dogs with epilepsy actually do quite well, so we are hoping for the best. She is a very sweet dog.

 

[JenniferO]

Canine Epilepsy

Canine Epilepsy

Marge:

If you can control the seizures with the potassium bromide, I would recommend that avenue rather than the phenobarbitol. We have had two cocker spaniels in our family with "idiopathic epilepsy" meaning the doctors don't know what causes it. One dog was treated for approximately six years with phenobarbitol. She died of liver failure at age 13. Now, you might say age 13 is a ripe old age, but it's still hard when you know that what you gave her caused the death. The liver failure was hastened, in my mind, by the use of Rimadyl for only a few weeks following ACL surgery. There is an express warning about using Rimadyl in dogs that are also on phenobarb. The vet was ignorant or didn't read the drug circular that comes with the Rimadyl and failed to supply the literature to my mother, who owned the dog. As a result, one of the sweetest cocker spaniels ever to walk the earth died within two months of the addition of the Rimadyl.

As a result, my own cocker spaniel, Molly, age 8, who has had increasing frequency of seizures in the past three years, is now on potassium bromide, 2 ml per day. We do really well, as long as we don't forget the daily dose. I usually put the liquid into a small bowl of chicken broth which masks the intense "salty/bitter" taste. She thinks her "soup" each night is a treat. Molly has also had ACL surgery this past December. I refused the Rimadyl.
With trepidation, I gave her Metacam for about a week post-surgery. After that, we just went with Vetrin canine aspirin. I couldn't risk the liver failure.

 

[JenniferO]

Here's more info for anyone interested on the dangers of Rimadyl. Even used alone, it's dangerous. In my opinion, Pfizer's doing a great cover-up that's criminal. Don't get me going on this. http://srdogs.com/Pages/rimadyl.html


Here are sites I found very useful on epilepsy:


www.homevet.com/petcare/epilepsy

www.canine-epilepsy.com

www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com
(especially about phenobarb vs. potassium bromide)

 

[epstns]

Marge,
We had a mixed breed dog (cocker spaniel and terrier) who was epileptic and had damaged kidneys. He was given daily medication (sorry, forgot the specifics -- was 25 years ago) as well as "K-D" prescription kidney diet food. He did very well, and finally passed away from several serious strokes at age 15 or 16. As long as we maintained his meds, he was a happy pup. Still miss him. . .

 

[hensylee]

I had a tiny chihuahua. One night he went into convulsions - scared me to death. We thought he was dying. Vet told us epilepsy. Husband (dr) rxed dilantin and we decided on what cc dosage he should have. I gave him that med daily for about 7 years - he finally outgrew it and never had another seizure after about 5/6 yrs of them. Died of old age.

 

[Yaps]

My Dads small mix was caned by a grouchy neighbor once, nearly killed her. She had epilepsy from the blows.. she stayed medicated and died a very old dog, so yes..they can get tonsilitis, allergies( Solomon, my avatar he has allergies, takes benedryl for them), dogs gotta love em

 

[Tom F.]

My cousin used to be the co-owner of a Yahoo group on canine epilepsy and continues to work with people who face this. Her name is Judi and you can E mail her at "[email protected]". Please feel free to write to her, I am sure that she can pass on some useful information.

 

[Marge]

Marge:

If you can control the seizures with the potassium bromide, I would recommend that avenue rather than the phenobarbitol. We have had two cocker spaniels in our family with "idiopathic epilepsy" meaning the doctors don't know what causes it. One dog was treated for approximately six years with phenobarbitol. She died of liver failure at age 13. Now, you might say age 13 is a ripe old age, but it's still hard when you know that what you gave her caused the death. The liver failure was hastened, in my mind, by the use of Rimadyl for only a few weeks following ACL surgery. There is an express warning about using Rimadyl in dogs that are also on phenobarb. The vet was ignorant or didn't read the drug circular that comes with the Rimadyl and failed to supply the literature to my mother, who owned the dog. As a result, one of the sweetest cocker spaniels ever to walk the earth died within two months of the addition of the Rimadyl.

As a result, my own cocker spaniel, Molly, age 8, who has had increasing frequency of seizures in the past three years, is now on potassium bromide, 2 ml per day. We do really well, as long as we don't forget the daily dose. I usually put the liquid into a small bowl of chicken broth which masks the intense "salty/bitter" taste. She thinks her "soup" each night is a treat. Molly has also had ACL surgery this past December. I refused the Rimadyl.
With trepidation, I gave her Metacam for about a week post-surgery. After that, we just went with Vetrin canine aspirin. I couldn't risk the liver failure.

Our vet wanted to stick with just the potassium bromide and only added the phenobarbitol reluctantly. We know about the liver problems, so while she is on it she will be tested every three months or so to monitor what's going on with the liver.

Never heard of Rimadyl but will remember in case that is ever mentioned for this dog. I think our vet is very good and I can't imagine that she would overlook something in the literature! 13 would be a good age for a Dalmatian. Our first Dal died at 14 and the other two made it to 12.

I have read some breeds have epilepsy more than others. Dals are one of them, as are cockers & a number of other very popular dogs. I wonder if it has to do with their popularity itself. Do breeders engage in too much inbreeding because there's a market for these breeds?

We don't know much about the background of these two dogs, and nothing about their parents or sibs. Of course Dals are one of the breeds that ends up in shelters a lot -- people get them because the puppies are so darn cute or because the kids have seen "1001 Dalmatians" and beg for them --, and then they turn out to require a lot of care & attention.

Jack was a stray. Daisey was listed as an "owner surrender." We called the shelter to see if we could contact the former owner for any information about her medical history. We were told that the owner let her run at large. When confronted by animal control for about the fourth or fifth time, he advanced on the animal control officer with a flagpole! At which point the police were summoned & warned him if it happened again she would be impounded. He said, "Take her now." The police wanted to know if she had had her rabies shot. The owner said he had never taken her for ANY shots. (Her estimated age is two to three years old.) Some people should not have dogs.