Seizures???

SabrinaSabrina
edited November 2008 in General
My Boyfriends family dog Shelby is having repetitive seizures.

She has had 5 seizures in the past month. The first time she had two in one day and since they have been singles. She acts very odd for a few hours or maybe days before and acts dazed for about 12 hours afterwards. The vet has come up with no answers as to why she is having them. Except that she has a hypothyroid condition which may or may not be connected to the seizures. She has had her food switched and is now on thyroid medication.

The vet has told us that the seizures may be scary however the chances of her dying from one or becoming ill from one is extremely small.

The vet now wants to put her on Phenobarbital which has serious side effects like kidney and liver disease which can lead to death along with others. The medication can also cause seizures if the medication is ever stopped. I am also concerned with any side effects it has on the Shelby's personality.

So my question is in your opinion should we use a potentially harmful drug to cure a problem that is inconvenient and scary however has a small chance of actually hurting her.

Opinions and Personal Experiences Greatly Appreciated! Thanks!

Comments

  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    Brandon can probably help you out since he has personal experience with Nemo and seizures...however, he is out of country at the moment. I'm sure there are others as well that can help out in the interim.
  • kwyldkwyld
    edited November -1
    How old is Shelby?
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Shelby will be in my thoughts. Hopefully someone here can help her out.
  • SabrinaSabrina
    edited November -1
    She is two years old last September, unfortunately she was breed by a backyard breeder.
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    I would keep a log of the episodes and behavior for a bit to see if they increase of decrease or if the episodes are related to anything in particular. The pattern and circumstances can give you a better idea what you want to do. See how things progress after thyroid meds and diet change after one or two months. Also look to see which type of flea and tick meds the dogs are on. Any chemicals should be suspect on hyper sensitive dogs this includes house hold cleaners, fertilizer, etc. There is no real answer why they occur the best one can do is be proactive in omitting pollutants that could be a problem or diet and tracking the duration and length of episodes before making the decision on phenobarbital. I think once the dog is on pheno they can not be randomly taken off of it.

    Here is a forum and link info maybe that may help until Brandon gets back.

    http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=9892
    http://dogs.about.com/cs/disableddogs/p/seizure.htm

    Snf
  • SabrinaSabrina
    edited November -1
    Thanks, she isn't on any flea meds. It gets cold up here so the fleas die down by october. I think the last time she was treated was August.

    No chemicals are used for the most part. They did use fabreeze however they have stopped.

    I really think it's hereditary. So my question is would you drug the dog to stop the seizures and risk harmful side effects or would you let her have the occasional seizure and not risk her liver and kidney's?
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    I don't know how much help this is, but this is my experience:
    My mom's dog is 15 years old, she's a rat terrier and has had seizures for as long as I can remember. They were not very often, but they came in clusters. She'd be free for a few years then have a couple in succession over a month or two. We had the option of giving her Phenobarbital as a preventative (a daily dosage) but since they were clusters, we would just give the PB to her during the onset, after one seizure to prevent them in progress from becoming a cluster. I do'nt know how much help the PB has been to her, but my mom stopped giving it to her when she turned 12 to help her liver/kidney function. She hasn't had a seizure in about 2-3 years either. So its hard to say what helps and what hurts with a dog her age at this point.

    Hachi was a shiba I cared for and she had 'air biting' type seizures. They'd never been diagnosed because unless we get it on film, its relatively impossible to explain. She had a neuro scan and it was determined that she had no abnormality. We were told to try to keep her calm and less stressed, but she was a damaged skittish fearful dog so that was a near impossibility! So its more maintaining an appropriate atmosphere for her in hopes that it diminishes the chances of her sort of seizure to happen again.

    So I guess its a question of how harmful it is for her, how frequent they occur, how old she is, her health and how she can tolerate treatment (preventative or otherwise).
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    Well it depends on the results of the log I was keeping. If the dog is having very frequent grandmal episodes and its quality of life during episode recovery is really bad (uncontrolled defecation, lack of coordination, paralysis etc) I would certainly consider medication that would bring that down. There is more than one thing that possibly can be looked into but it requires a discussion with your vet.

    The decision has to be weighed against what is occurring and the risks. No easy answer....I know.
    Look at the links to give you a better idea.

    Snf
  • MommyofNikoMommyofNiko
    edited November -1
    I cant help you but I hope that it gets figured out. How traumatic for all of you.
  • TeamLaikaTeamLaika
    edited November -1
    Did I miss the age of this critter? Is this a young dog (1-4 years)? If everything else is ruled out (toxic, metabolic, etc.), young dogs are often diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. An older dog that starts seizuring has a much more guarded prognosis...this is often secondary to a brain tumor.

    Ask the vet about Potassium Bromide instead of phenobarbital.

    Phenobarbital cannot be quickly withdrawn. Even normal dogs that are given phenobarb will seizure if administration of the drug is suddenly ceased.

    Dogs can have a really decent quality of life for many years on anticonvulsants. There are supplements like denosyl and marin to assist with the liver (SAMe).
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    What Sarah said is spot on. In young dogs you want to rule out liver shunts (young as in pups), or other liver illnesses. Cysts and tumors may develop in the liver that lead to seizure activity, which you can find using ultrasound. Blood work to check for liver functions and kidney functions is probably easiest. If that's all normal, there can be a metabolic cause (diabetic seizure), a brain tumor, poisoning or other unknown cause. Dogs may live their entire lives happily with occasional seizures of unknown cause. Phenobarb is totally beneficial if your dog would otherwise be disabled by the seizures.
  • TeamLaikaTeamLaika
    edited November -1
    Clinical Trial: Is phenobarbital or potassium bromide associate with pancreatitis?

    University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine

    Note that the patient need not live near Madison, or even in the state of Wisconsin. Blood samples can be mailed to the lab.

    Eligible patients: Dogs with epilepsy PRIOR to initiating therapy with anticonvulsants.
    Study pays for some therapeutic drug monitoring as well as 4 months of anticonvulsant drug for each dog.

    Visit for more info:
    http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/data/news/pancreatitis.html
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