Canine Idopathic Epilepsy
This diary was inspired by Roxy’s Diary. We’re wishing her and her human mum and dad all the best.
Last Observed Seizure: “Resting Peacefully Now”
Overview
Event Log
Posts
Comments
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Final Update: May 9, 2012 - We had to put Foster down this morning.
Words are inadequate to express how much a dog can add to one’s life, how they so deeply become members of your family, how much unselfish love they give and how deeply it hurts when you lose them. There’s never enough time even in the best of times — we had the joy of Foster for only a little over five years and it wasn’t nearly enough.
But letting him go was the right thing to do — he was in bad shape and needed the quality of mercy that love holds. The seizures were turning into cascade events that were extracting a terrible toll on him. We loved him dearly.
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Overview: Foster was adopted from a rescue organization in January 2007. He’s a Basset Hound/Golden Lab mix and was born on October 23th, 2006 and passed away on May 9th, 2012 — 5 years, 6 months, 17 Days.
He seemed to be a perfectly healthy happy puppy and young dog until he had his first cluster of seizures on May 25th, 2009.
Foster has been diagnosed as having Idiopathic Epilepsy and this is a diary of Foster’s and my journey trying to cope and find solutions to his reoccurring seizures.
Perhaps someone’s going through a similar situation will find some solace here in knowing they’re not alone.
Background: I had one puppy for a short while growing up but there were issues severe enough that my father ended up putting him down. My father wasn’t a hard hearted or cruel person, but in those days it was a different situation and often dogs with issues were quickly dealt with. I tried adopting a couple of puppies from a pet store when my children were young but they both died from Parvo. It appeared to be an issued with the store but it took me a long time to get over watching those two little guys die.
So here I am in my second half of life with Foster being my first “real dog.” I’m sure you can understand my huge level of attachment to Foster–he seems to return that sentiment.
That doesn’t mean there’s not hardships or conflicts and we (I) hesitate to leave him along. I’ve (we’ve) already cancelled out of a number of events/vacations this year–adding another level of stress.
I’ll be updating the major events and making individual posts below as new events occur. Hopefully one day soon there will not be any new events to report and we can resume a more “normal life.”
We do have another adopted dog in our family, Maggie. She’s a mix but definitely is a large part of some type of “sight hound.” She was born on March 22nd 2008– 4 years, 1 month, 26 days ago.
I’d love to hear from others who are having or have had similar experiences…feel free to comment!
| Date | Event | #Days Since Last Event | ||
| 20120509 Morning | Taken to Vet and in loving mercy peacefully put to rest | |||
| 20120508 9:30PM | 2 Grand Mal Seizures followed by others throughout the night and next morning | 23 | ||
| 20120416 8:15AM | Transferred to Normal Vet Office for observation | |||
| 20120415 10-11PM | Taken to Cabarrus Emergency Vet Clinic – Given 2 doses of Valium – Stays overnight | |||
| 20120415 11-12PM | 2 Grand Mal Seizures at Emergency Vet Clinic | 0 | ||
| 20120415 10-11PM | 2 Grand Mal Seizures enroute to Emergency Vet Clinic | 0 | ||
| 20120415 6-9:30PM | 5 Grand Mal Seizures | 0 | ||
| 20120415 12:00PM | 1 Grand Mal Seizures | 0 | ||
| 20120415 9-10:30AM | 3 Grand Mal Seizures – Given 60mg of Additional Pheno one time | 34 | ||
| 20120311 | Initial 120mg of Phenobarbital, w/60mg daily | |||
| 20120311 | At least 5 Grand Mal Seizures | 1 | ||
| 20120310 | At least 3 Grand Mal Seizures | 1 | ||
| 20120309-Early AM | At least 1 seizure – Unobserved | 8 | ||
| 20120301-Early AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 14 | ||
| 20120216-5:15PM | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20120216-1:30PM | Seizure – Unobserved | 0 | ||
| 20120216-Early AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20120207-Late AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20120129-Early AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 10 | ||
| 20120119-Early AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 6 | ||
| 20120113-Morning | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20120104-Aftnoon | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20111121-Early | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20111121-Early | Grand Mal Seizure | 17 | ||
| 20111130-5:10pm | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20111130-2:15pm | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20111130-Early | Grand Mal Seizure | 17 | ||
| 20111114-15 | Blood work and X-rays for rear knees | 1 | ||
| 20111113 | 3 – Grand Mal Seizure | 1 | ||
| 20111012-8:30pm | Grand Mal Seizure | 9 | ||
| 20111013-8:30pm | Grand Mal Seizure | 1 | ||
| 20111012-early am | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20110823-afternoon | Seizure – Unobserved | 8 | ||
| 20110815-09:00 | Seizure – Unobserved | 9 | ||
| 20110806-Early | Seizure(s) – Unobserved | 28 | ||
| 20110625-09:30> | 4 Grand Mal Seizures | 14 | ||
| 20110625-21/23:30 | 3 Grand Mal Seizures | 4 | ||
| 20110621-12:38 | Grand Mal Seizure – Unobserved | 0 | ||
| 20110621-early | Seizure – Unobserved | 14 | ||
| 20110607-20:10 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20110607-18:15 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20110607-PM | Seizure – Unobserved | 1 | ||
| 20110606-Late PM | Seizure – Unobserved | 0 | ||
| 20110606-Early AM | Seizure – Unobserved | 13 | ||
| 20110524-AM | Possible Seizure – Unobserved | 2 | ||
| 20110522-AM (early) | Seizure – Unobserved | 11 | ||
| 20110511-PM | Seizure – Unobserved | 8 | ||
| 20110503-5-6AM | Seizure, 1 perhaps 2 | 18 | ||
| 20110415-early AM | Seizure | 21 | ||
| 20110325-22:35 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20110325-22:25 | Grand Mal Seizure | 11 | ||
| 20110314-Afternoon | Grand Mal Seizure | 13 | ||
| 20110301-06:xx | Grand Mal Seizure | 13 | ||
| 20110216-21:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20110216-21:15 | Grand Mal Seizure | 2 | ||
| 20110214-23:30 est. | Probable Seizure | 41 | ||
| 20110103-21:30 | Probable Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20110103<04:00 | Probable Grand Mal Seizure | 21 | ||
| 20101218 | Reduced Pheno. to 0mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. | |||
| 20101213-17:35 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20101213-8:45 | Grand Mal Seizure (Medium Severity) | 0 | ||
| 20101213-8:10 | Grand Mal Seizure | 1 | ||
| 20101212-12:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 29 | ||
| 20101204 | Reduced Pheno. to 30mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. | |||
| 20101120 | Reduced Pheno. to 60mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. | |||
| 20101113-19:25 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 1 | ||
| 20101112-21:35 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 0 | ||
| 20101112-20:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 53 | ||
| 20101101 | Reduced Pheno. to 90mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. | |||
| 20100918-12:35 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 1 | ||
| 20100918-22:55 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 0 | ||
| 20100918-16:05 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 102 | ||
| 20100817 | Reduced Pheno. to 120mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. | |||
| 20100719 | Vet-Blood Test-Liver Lvl & Pheno/KBr Lvls all OK | |||
| 20100606-21:20 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20100606-21:12 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 12 | ||
| 20100525-21:12 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 1 | ||
| 20100524-20:06 | Grand Mal Seizure (medium severity) | 62 | ||
| 20100421 | Reduced Pheno. in last 6-8wks to 150mg/day, Kbr still at 1440mg/day. Foster much more alert and active. | |||
| 20100323-08:35 | Grand Mal Seizure | 51 | ||
| 20100131-20:15 | Single Grand Mal Seizure (Medium severity) | 59 | ||
| 20090106 | Vet-Blood Test-Liver Lvl & Pheno/KBr Lvls all OK | |||
| 20091203-15:30 | Seizure (unknown severity, did not observe) | 18 | ||
| 20091115-20:21 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20091115-20:10 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20091115-20:04 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20091115-19:36 | Grand Mal Seizure | 28 | ||
| 20091018-17:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 38 | ||
| 20091012-08:00 | Reduced Pheno. to 180mg/day, KBr still at 1440mg/day | |||
| 20091005-08:00 | Reduced Pheno. to 210mg/day, KBr still at 1440mg/day | |||
| 20090924-11:00 | Vet-Stable Lvls—Phen. 240mg/day & KBr 1440Mg/Day | |||
| 20090923-09:00 | Vet-Blood Test-Liver Lvl & KBr Lvl | |||
| 20090916-08:00 | Potassium Bromide (KBr) Loading – 1440MGx3/day -5 days | |||
| 20090911-18:00 | Begin Natural no-grain dog food. | |||
| 20090910-11:00 | Call Vet. | |||
| 20090909-20:15 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090909-20:00 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090909-17:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 7 | ||
| 20090901-08:43 | Grand Mal Seizure | 9 | ||
| 20090825-10:00 | Vet-Phenobarbital to 240mg/day | |||
| 20090824-09:20 | Vet. Visit and Blood Test | |||
| 20090822-18:45 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090822-18:30 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090822-18:20 | Grand Mal Seizure | 9 | ||
| 20090812-06:30 | Two partial seizures | 2 | ||
| 20090809-18:00 | Vet-Phenobarbital to 180mg/day | |||
| 20090809-11:55 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090809-11:30 | Grand Mal Seizure & Partial Seizures | 0 | ||
| 20090809-11:15 | Grand Mal Seizure | 18 | ||
| 20090721-2340 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090721-2315 | Partial Seizures | 0 | ||
| 20090721-2300 | Grand Mal Seizure | 37 | ||
| 20090629-0900 | Vet. Visit and Blood Test | |||
| 20090613-1300 | Started on Phenobarbital – 120mg/day | |||
| 20090613-1040 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090613-0930 | Grand Mal Seizure | 18 | ||
| 20090526-0920 | Vet. Visit and Blood Test | |||
| 20090525-1900 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090525-1400 | Grand Mal Seizure | 0 | ||
| 20090525-0930 | First Grand Mal Seizure |
May 9, 2012 – We had to put Foster down this morning.
Words are inadequate to express how much a dog can add to one’s life, how they so deeply become members of your family, how much unselfish love they give and how deeply it hurts when you lose them. There’s never enough time even in the best of times — we had the joy of Foster for only a little over five years and it wasn’t nearly enough.
But letting him go was the right thing to do — he was in bad shape and needed the quality of mercy that love holds. The seizures were turning into cascade events that were extracting a terrible toll on him. We loved him dearly.
April 15, 2012 – Thirty-four days was a wonderful run but the seizures return with a vengeance having 3 Grand Mal Seizures in about an hour and a half. I gave Foster an extra 60mg of Pheno during the last seizure to try and break the “chain.”
By Sunday night the count reached 9 Grand Mal Seizures with no signs of stopping. We loaded his limp body into the back of the SUV to transport him to an emergency vet clinic. Upon arrival they put him on valium to knock him out and give his brain a chance to reset. There were two seizures in the car on the way to the clinic and two more after he arrived — a total of around 13 major ones and perhaps a few more minor ones we failed to notice.
Foster stayed in the clinic over night and the next morning was temporarily blind and totally disoriented. He walked liked he was trying to get away from something all day and night Monday — scared, whimpering and bumping into things. It’s only now, Tuesday, he’s starting to seem like himself and is calm enough to lay down and rest.
This is the second major cluster seizure event of 9 or more seizures in the last 2 months, he almost didn’t pull out of this one. Bonnie and I spoke to the vets at the clinic as well as our regular vet and they agree if he continues to experience this level of seizures having him put to sleep might be a greater act of love then to keep trying to save him.
March 11, 2012 – We’ve just had the worst weekend/series of seizures ever. Between Friday and Sunday Foster experienced at least nine Grand Mal Seizures we know of and there may have been more during the nights. On Sunday, today, Foster spent the whole day walking. It was like he was on speed and couldn’t stop. I had no idea he was even capable of walking for that long with his weight, short legs and ligament problems. Finally I made him lay down and as soon as he went to sleep he had a series of four strong seizures and still seemed to be in that cycle. The only way we could break it was giving him Phenobarbital again. We gave him 120mg initially and now have him taking 60mg per day. I guess the walking was an attempt on his part to keep the seizures at bay. We’re going to try and keep the Phenobarbital dose as low as possible.
January 13, 2012 – We seem to be back on the 9 day, single seizure schedule again. I’m giving Foster Pet Alive’s Ease Sure supplement which seems to make the recovery period much shorter after a seizure — no proof, but just our experience with it for about 6 months and many seizures. On this Foster’s mental state seems a bit better…tail wagging brighter.
November 26, 2011 – The x-rays of Fosters rear legs/knees confirmed that there was some type of degenerative ligament disease in perhaps both knees – surgery was recommended. However, we’ve decided not to pursue that at this time for a several reasons. First, it’s a procedure requiring up to 12 weeks for a full recovery per leg and would be very hard for a dog of Fosters build and temperament to cope with especially with frequent seizures. Second, the cost may be between 3-4 thousand dollars per knee — we love Foster dearly but we just can’t afford that. Third, Foster’s not an overly active dog even at his best and we’ve read reports of dogs recovering and living good lives just by letting the injuries heal naturally…no, they are never 100 percent but they can have full and mobile lives. If things don’t go well…then we will have to know when it’s time to make a much more difficult decision.
November 14-15, 2011 - I took Foster to the Vet for blood work and to see about his left rear leg which he’s be favoring for over a week now. Foster was put to sleep so x-rays could be made and while it’s not clear what is going on there’s some type of problem with possible both his rear knees. The Vet originally suspected a torn or partially torn ACL ligament which would require surgery and an extended recovery period.
November 13, 2011 - It’s been a rough weekend with one Grand Mal Seizure last night followed by three more today.
October 12, 2011 – I’ve dropped the ball on listing Fosters seizures. He’s had about four between my last entry and now — on average about every 9-14 days. Almost all of them have been single seizures and he’s recovered quickly afterwards. They’ve also mostly occurred at night so we only find the wet bed the next morning.
July 09, 2011 – Foster had 4 Grand Mal Seizures within a space of about an 1 1/2 hrs beginning a little after 9pm. This really took a lot out of him. Each time he has seizures the question comes up about should he be back on Phenobarbital, but Bonnie and I agree that the way he was when he was on it, drugged/sleeping all the time and not able to hardly get around because of the associated weakness in his hindquarters, is worse overall then the seizures. The honest truth is he may not last as long off of Phenobarbital with these more frequent seizures but at least it will be a real life in between them for as long as he does. If it was me that’s the way I’d want it and I think he would too. There’s not perfect answer here.
June 06-07, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime in the early morning. I only knew because of wet bedding and that Foster seeming a little tired. After this long of being with Foster and his seizures you start to get a sixth sense about when they happen. Another unwitnessed seizure probably occurred late on June 6th…more wet bedding. Three more seizures in the PM on the 7th, two of them observed to be Grand Mal severity. This is the worst series for some time. Very tired and discouraged at the moment.
May 22, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime in the early morning.
May 11, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime probably in the afternoon. It must have been a fairly mild one as physically he seemed fine but his bedding was soaked.
May 03, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure, or possibly 2, occurred early AM — the last one possibly between 5:00 and 6:00am. Again, physically he seemed fine, perhaps just a bit unstable, but his bed was very wet. A totally different pattern now that he’s off Phenobarbital. The seizures are:
- coming closer together but they are not the huge cluster-seizures they once were; and
- Foster recovers much quicker from the seizures with less side effects and his quality of life between the seizures is much better — he’s more alert and much more himself and is physically more stable.
I still hold that for Foster removing him from Phenobarbital was the right call.
April 15, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime in the early AM. It must have been a fairly mild one as physically he seemed fine, perhaps just a bit unstable, but his bed was wet.
March 14, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime in the afternoon.
March 01, 2011 – An unwitnessed seizure occurred sometime in the 6am hour. I don’t know if that was the only one, but no more have been seen to follow as of yet.
February 16, 2011 – Two Grand Mal seizures at 9:15pm and 9:30pm. These plus the one seizure two days ago (Feb 14th) make the three Foster usually has. These were medium duration but fairly intense.
February 14, 2011 – Foster probably had a seizure last night while sleeping in his bed sometime between 11pm and 12am. We only can estimate this because his bed was wet this morning and we thought we heard Maggie barking around that time. However, she sometimes does bark at other things at night so we didn’t get up to check. I guess that shows you how accustomed we’ve become to the seizures. Foster seemed fine this morning and we did our usually walk. Except for the wet bed we’d never have known.
January 03, 2011 We believe Foster had a seizure today while we were at work. He was acting a little strange this evening, although he ate well, and when it was time for them to go to bed I discovered his bedding was damp like he’d had a seizure and lost bladder control. Luckily we had spare bedding to put him on while we washed and dried the other. This whole log is only those we observe…I’m sure there were others not seen. Another seizure about 9:30pm…he had went to bed and again didn’t see the seizure but clear after effects…walking, panting, etc.
December 13, 2010 Two more seizures at 8:10am and 8:45am. The first was a full Grand Mal Seizure and the second was a much minor one. He again lost control of his bladder during the first seizure so washing time for his bed once more. He recovered fairly quickly with little loss of senses. This makes three which has been his pattern of late, except in reverse order of this cluster…previously two on the first day and one on the second. Another major Grand Mal Seizure at 5:35pm. This time Foster lost some of his senses and took a long time to recover. So this is four counting yesterdays.
December 12, 2010 A Grand Mal Seizure at 12:30pm this afternoon while Foster was sleeping in his bed in the sunroom. He again lost control of his bladder so it was washing time for his bed. He recovered fairly quickly with no loss of senses.
November 12, 2010 A Grand Mal Seizure at 8:30pm this evening while Foster was sleeping beside my chair in the living room. He lost control of his bladder so it was time to bring out the carpet cleaner. At 9:35pm another slightly milder seizure occurred. Foster recovered quickly from both seizures, a good sign. I don’t believe there’s any collation between these seizures and the recent reduction of Pheno. to 90mg/day. As per his recent pattern of seizures, a single seizure occurred the next evening, 13th November, marking the end of this cluster event.
September 19, 2010 Another Grand Mal Seizure shortly after noon today of moderate severity. Foster was again laying on the back deck when the seizure started. I don’t know if he was asleep or awake but I suspect asleep. Hopefully this will be all of this cluster.
September 18, 2010 – Foster had a Grand Mal Seizure this afternoon at 4:05pm. He walked it off for a while but had all his senses. There were possible signs he may have had some level of seizure activity earlier in the day but I didn’t observe anything specific. Another seizure struck at 10:55pm while Foster was asleep on the back deck. This one too seemed medium to mild in severity.
Wow, 102 days since the last seizure…I hope it’s that long until the next one(s)!
August 20, 2010 – Another episode of Foster not eating for a 48 hours. Yesterday on Aug, 19th, Foster refused to eat. However, this evening he began eating again. Gave him suspension and coating medicine.
August 8, 2010 – Foster wouldn’t eat last night and I found indications in the yard that one of the dogs had tossed-up their food perhaps the night before. I’m logging this to keep track of any possible stomach problems related to what was mentioned in the previous entry, July 30, 2010. I gave Foster some suspension and coating medicines the boarding Vet had provided when we picked Foster up.
July 30, 2010 – During a short visit to the beach last weekend, Foster and Maggie were boarded. While there, Foster had problems with a little vomiting possibly containing a small amount of blood. The boarding Vet thought it may be related to irritation from taking KBr in tablet form. Since returning there has been no further issues so I talked to our Vet and decided to keep things the same — using KBr tablets.
June 6, 2010 – We noticed that Foster had seemed a little out of it during the evening and the first Grand Mal Seizure struck at 9:14pm while he was asleep in the living room. While walking off the first seizure he was taken by a second and more severe Grand Mal Seizure which left him with some senses loss and required a long recovery period of pacing.
May 25, 2010 – Another single Grand Mal Seizure tonight at 9:12pm. Again it began while Foster was asleep in the living room laying just beside where I was sitting. It was about the same severity as yesterdays. Certainly not the worst I’ve seen him have. Initially he seemed to physically recover fairly quickly afterwards but he did remain under a cloud of slight confusion for a while. That may be from having had another seizure the previous day. This is the first time Foster’s had seizures two days in a row so it appears we’re off on another adventure.
May 25, 2010 – It’s been one year since Foster had his first seizure. I’m thankful for the amount of control we’ve managed, reducing them these last 6 months to a single seizure once about ever two months.
Maggie and Foster
May 24, 2010- Foster had a single Grand Mal Seizure at 8:06pm this evening. It only lasted about 30-40secs and he recovered fairly quickly afterwards. He didn’t lose any of his senses and only needed to walked it off for a short period of time. He was sleeping, out of my sight, in the living room when it began and Maggie alerted me to the situation. While I comforted Foster she laid nearby quietly watching. Those two have a close bond. And so the counter resets once again.
April 21, 2010 – Over the last 6-8 weeks I’ve again been slowly lowering Fosters Pheno. prescription level from 180mg/day down to 150mg/day. It’s made an amazing difference in his alertness level, he doesn’t sleep all the time now and I can see the old Foster in his eyes again. I’ve also been taking Foster and Maggie for walks in the neighborhood regularly and they’ve shifted their eating habits from twice a day to once per day which seems to have resulted in some weight lost for Foster — a very good thing as he’d gotten up to 88lbs which was too heavy for such a short dog.
We’re leaving soon for a week long vacation in Florida. This will be our first real/longest vacation since January 2009, before Foster began having seizures. We’re boarding him and Maggie, with all the doggie luxuries, and I have my fingers crossed all will be OK.
Foster seems to have some some rear hip problems now which we may have to investigate a little later. I begun him on a PhyCox suppliment. It’s said to be a natural source of phycocyanin that has proven health benefits. It is recommended to support joint mobility and healthy bone structure, as well as to help reduce inflammation and discomfort due to normal daily activity. Many people have reported good results…we’ll see. That’s all Foster needs is another medical problem. 
March 23, 2010 – Foster had a Grand Mal Seizure this morning at 8:35am. While he was walking it off in the house I found the capsule of KBr I’d given him last night laying on the floor — I guess he’d “cheeked it” and the spit it out when I wasn’t looking. Missing that dosage may have triggered the seizure but then it’s also been 51 days since the last seizure so it could of also just been time for another one.
March 22, 2010 – Happy Birthday Maggie! Maggie, our other dog (see photo below) is two years old today. That means she’d be considered fully grown. Her and Foster are best friends.
January 31, 2010 – We had a record going and I thought we’d break 60 days but it didn’t work out that way. Foster had a single Grand Mal Seizure of medium severity while sleeping beside my chair in the family room. At 59 days it’s by far the longest he’s went between seizures since he began having them last May — I’ll take it!
January 08, 2010 — Foster’s Vet. did the full workup on Foster blood. KBr levels were good and Pheno. levels were at the lower effective limits. Liver readings look good so we’ll stay with the current 180mg pheno., 1440mg Kbr dosages for now. It was discussed possibly reducing the pheno. lower down the road — it’d be great if we could get him off the pheno. eventually. All the other blood test looked normal/healthy as well. Foster also had all his annual shots and all.
December 03, 2009 — Foster had some type of seizure event this afternoon. I did not observe the seizure but did witness the after effects of constant pacing and disorientation.
November 09, 2009 — We boarded Foster and Maggie at a local Vets and got away for a short weekend. Foster was fine and didn’t have any seizures while we were gone. This is the first time the wife and I have gotten away together overnight since the seizures began this past May.
October 23, 2009 — HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOSTER…3 years old today!
October 18, 2009, 17:30 — It was a nice run of 38 days but Foster had a seizure this evening. He was laying beside my chair and I looked down and he started doing the strange muscle curl to one side he does and then quickly went into a full Grand Mal Seizure. The seizure lasted a minute or a little less and it took him another 30-45 seconds of laying still before he raised up. He did the walking/pacing thing for close to an hour before he finally laid down and rest. However, he seemed to have full awareness for this hour, which is a good sign. As far as I know he didn’t have any further seizures during the night. I’m not going to raise the Pheno. dosage at this time. It’s about balance and quality of life as well as Foster not having seizures.[/learn_more]
Hi Earl,
Hang in there. You are not alone either.
Mary and I will keep you and Foster in our prayers.
Rest assured, Mary is in tight with Saint Frances.
Todd
@Todd: Thank-you Todd and Mary! I appreciate you thoughts and prayers.
Hi there. Sorry to here you’ve met up with the blasted seizure monster. It’s a whole world of frustration, confusion and fear. Having been going through this for only a year myself I have a lot of sympathy for all us dog lovers who are going through this experience. It’s not at all pleasant but the periods between each event and the friendship of such a trusting companion go a long, long way to justify the continued battle. Because that’s what it is. I hope you find a balance or some trigger to stave off the seizures.
Going away and leaving them behind is always a worry. Now my kids are at the age were they can be responsible and have been witness to the seizure and the clean up process a number of times it does make it easier. But every time we get to 28 days life kinda goes on hold and sadly you look forward (probably not the right wording) to getting through the next one because you know you at least have another 28 days or so without one.
I’m pleased you found my site worthy of mention. Goodl uck and drop by any time.
@Roxy the Rottie – Thank you for the comments. There are so many varying views on seizures and what possibly causes them, as well as possible treatments, but it was wonderful finding a personal journal sure as yours that gives an insight into living and fighting them on a day-to-day basis. It let us know that everything we were experiencing was not unique. Just knowing that was a great help. Best of luck, Roxy. We will continue to follow your status.
Was glad to hear you got away even for a weekend. What’s even better is you found a someone that would take Foster. It seems as soon as you say the word epilepsy most kennels think its contagious.
I’m helping veterinary tech student with a school assignment about canine epiliepsy and am interested in Foster’s story. When you visited the vet on 5/26, what blood tests did the vet perform? Did s/he provide a diagnosis? If so, do you remember what it was? Did the blood tests reveal a problem that resulted in the prescription of phenobarbitol on 6/13?
hankyou for sharing this infrmation. We hop Foster is doing well.
@Will Hutchinson – Hi Will, I don’t know exactly what was tested on 5/26 via the blood test. As far as the results I was told that everything looked normal. The prescription of phenobarbital was the result of Foster being young and there being no other obvious causes of the seizures. It was decided it was Idiopathic Epilepsy. A little background, this vet. has treated Foster since he was a puppy and has 20+ years experience including many cases of Idiopathic Epilepsy. He also conferred via phone with another local vet. who specializes in these type of cases and his recommendation was to start the phenobarbital. Sorry, it’s not much specific information. That’s one of the more frustrating things about this issue.
In my experience it’s very easy for a vet just to say idiopathic, because it means nothing. The blood tests initially are to rule out the obvious stuff general liver function, white cell count etc. Unless you have access to funds, such as insurance a vet isn’t going to dig too deep into the cause and waits for another symptom to present before proceeding.
I know if I had insurance the vet would be “kerching!” let’s do a £3k MRI, then call in an epilepsy expert at £250 per hour. Without the depth of diagnosis the easy answer is treat the symptoms with epiphen and/or potassium bromide.
I’m betting the vet didn’t even talk about alternative foods? You found that out yourself, right?
@Roxy the Rottie – You’re right on all counts! It was through research on the Internet that I switch to a no-grain natural food source. I can’t say in Fosters case it has made any difference in his seizures but some have reported success.
What strikes me is just how close together you get your seizures. With ours we can go 24 hours between them, but usually 3-4 hours apart. I’m not sure what is best. Getting them over and done with quickly in one day or not. But with them so close together you don’t get any chance of a propper recovery from the last one.
Either way it’s a particularly cruel ailment and I really hope the change of diet helps. A guy I work with said of it’s monthly occurrence “seeming like some chemical build up over time that needs release” whilst not medically based is a fair description of how it seems. Hopefully if it is something in the food the change will prevent the build up.
@Roxy: So far Foster has never had a cluster last longer then about 12 hours and usually will only consist of 3 Grand Mal seizures with perhaps some partial seizures in between. Also, Foster has only lost control of his bodily functions once. The worst we normally have to clean up is foamy saliva. I’m very thankful for both of these things but I know these patterns could change anytime.
The hardest part of having the seizures so close together is that the after-effects build. After the last major cluster, and the last seizure, Foster was for all purposes “blind” for close to an hour. He couldn’t stop pacing and was walking head first into walls, chairs, etc. I followed him around the house for that hour physically guiding him around obstacles until he regained a bit more sense of himself.
I like the analogy or the chemical build up. I’ve often thought of it like a coil spring that is slowly being wound tighter and tighter until it finally reaches a breaking point and wildly unwinds. I’ve noticed on several occasions that Foster seems fullest of energy (most like his old self) a day or so before a cluster begins.
And a merry Christmas to you and yours. We had a great day and hope you all did too.
I’d take every day without as a bonus. Hope you break 60 days next time.
I, too, hope Foster has made it to 60 days and beyond. What a sweet looking boy he is.
Anita, thanks for your well wishes for Foster. He’s doing much better with the seizures then he was but has a few other health issues he’s struggling against just now. He is as sweet as he can be and is so good about taking his medicines.
Aargh! That’s so annoying. It’s the not knowing if the missing tablet is the trigger or not. But probably not. Just drives you mad when things are going so well.
We’ve just been through the 2 month milestone for the first time ever! We’re not giving anything any credit for why at this stage, and to be honest we don’t care what it is. We’re just happy to get there. Every day truly is a bonus.
All the best.
I don’t truly believe missing that one pill was the trigger for Foster’s seizure, but then who knows. It certainly made me feel bad for a while after I found the pill. I’ve since taken to wrapping his evening pills in a little cheese. I believe he swallows the whole thing whole — all I have to make sure now is I get all my fingers back.
I’ve been watching and cheering for Roxy. I hope there are many, many more “bonus days.”
All the best to you too.
All the best with your epi. I have a staffy that I rescued from euthanasia at the AWL, Queensland Australia last xmas. She was only 1&1/2 years old but had been surrendered, I’m guessing due to her epilepsy, and as a special needs dog they were unable to sell her. Luckily I happened to be there at the right time (was supposed to be fostering a cat!) and came home with my little girl Jess. Seven months down the track she is still going strong, we adopted her & made her officially ours in April.
Today we got blood test results (we did very comprehensive blood work) & thankfully she’s clear & in great shape on all levels, even the liver tests didn’t indicate anything outside normal levels – awesome news considering that she is on 2x50mg Phenobarbital (known as Phenomav in Australia).
Her serum levels however have fallen since April, 16 points under the starting of the desired range, so we are starting her on a loading dose of KBr tomorrow as I don’t wish to increase her Phenobarbital despite the great liver results. Hopefully in a month we can get her levels stabilised and get her off Phenobarbital in the long term. Luckily we have moved recently & finally found an exceptional local vet who has experience treating epi’s, and I believe Jess will be his 3rd current epi patient.
Fingers crossed our staffy doesn’t have quite such a hard time as your pup did while on loading doses, but I appreciate you sharing your experience as I will have more of an idea what to expect for the coming week. Our best record with Jess is around 2 months, and recently she broke a 6 week streak of no fits – probably due to the fallen levels of Phenobarbital.
I too have suffered the horror of finding a spat out pill the next day, after a fit the previous night. I now ensure she’s taken her Phenobarbital by giving her a small treat each time, one that she has to chew before she can swallow & that way I just check the floor to know we’ve succeeded. I miss the days when she used to think her medicine was a treat too!
Amanda, It’s wonderful that you’ve provided a loving home for Jess. I hope the Kbr loading goes well. It has helped greatly in Foster’s case. What before had been cluster seizures about ever 7-10 days to a single seizure about every 50-60 days. Thanks for commenting and sharing your experience. Best of luck to you. Earl
I have a female english mastiff with many many problems, hip dysplasia, calcification in her verterbrae, and three are fused together and on June 25, 2010 she had her first seizure and now has been diagnosed with epilepsy. She has had a total of three since then and I have been scouring the web to learn more about and found your blog. It was comforting to read your story. I am very anxious as I am leaving for vacation and am scared to leave her in the care of others. Luckily, my mother in law will take care of her and my neapolitan mastiff while I am gone, so she gets to stay at home.
Hi Jody, It’s certainly a helpless feeling having a canine pet with epilepsy/seizures — we all go through feeling that. My wife and I didn’t take trips or a vacation for almost a year after Foster began having seizures because we worried something would happen while we were away. At his worst he was having clusters of 3 about every 7-10 days but thankfully with medication it’s more like single seizures every 60 days.
Interesting about your mastiff having hip dysplasia as we believe Foster has a bit of that as well and are giving him a Glucosamine supplement (Phycox) which has helped. As for seizure meds, our Vet started with Phenobarbital but even as he increased the dosage the seizures continued to become more frequent. Only when Potassium Bromide was added is did we see a marked improvement. We’ve since be slowly reducing the Pheno. with no adverse effects and I hope to one day get Foster off the Pheno completely.
Best of luck to all of you.
Thanks, Princess is also on Phycox for her joint issues.
I read thru the comments, and my husband last night made the same comment, about it something building up inside her and then releasing but I can’t see to find any information about that.
Jody
It does seem like something builds and then the brain must do a reset but I’ve never found any supporting information either. Maybe that’s just a way we can relate to something that’s so hard to understand.
Happy Birthday Foster!
We have a present for you.
If you’ll send us your mailing address,
we’ll send it to you.
Hope you had a woderful day,
Todd and Mary Shinn
Todd and Mary, I hope you got my separate email. Thanks for remembering Foster’s birthday. It’s hard to imagine we’ve had him almost four years — four in January. He’s doing well. He’s alert and walking every day so he’s lost about 9 lbs of unneeded weight. I hope you two are okay.
Mr. and Mrs. Shinn,
Thank you so much for the wonderful Peanut Butter flavored treats. They are so good and I love them but mom and dad will only let me have a few at a time…I could eat the whole bag! I am also sharing them with my step-sister Maggie and she loves them too but I always get the first one.
I am doing well and it’s getting longer and longer between seizures. Dad takes me and Maggie out for a walk every morning, often before it even gets light. It is my favorite thing each day, except for eating of course.
Thank you again for the Birthday Gift. I’m a very happy dog because of nice people like you!
Foster Moore
I too have a dog with epilepsy but have not put her on Phenomav
SHE IS EXPERIENCING CLUSTERS ABOUT EVERY THREE WEEKS
Have ordered Vet Select which has come from America, started two days ago only to commence her 24hr cluster
Still giving her the Vet Select in the hope it has to build up in her system if seizures persist i will have to opt for the drugs
Has any one out there tried this natural therapy………….Di
Hi Diane, I’ve given Foster Vet Select but it was only after he started on the meds so I can’t say for sure if it helped or not. At that time Foster was having CLUSTERS every 7-9days and now he’s at 30-90 days. I do believe what has helped Foster the most is Potassium Bromide.
Hi Earl
Im at my wits end today feel depressed
Bronte is on her sixth day of vet select , i have noticed a calm and dullnes in her bubbly peronality today so i worry more
Your response makes me feel better
Are you giving Foster the full dose of Vet Select ?
The vet wants me to put her on Phenomav but i need to give this a little more time if and when she has another episode i will have no other alternative.
Looking forward to hearing more about Vet Select
Canine epilepsy is a very frustrating & depressing condition to have to deal with. I feel your pain.
I’ve now had my rescued epi staffy for over a year, and still don’t have it all ‘figured out’. Thankfully we have a fantastic vet who will actually listen to what we have to say, instead of jump to ‘let’s up her phenomav’. If he doesn’t know about it, he goes to his contacts who do and finds out for us. I literally turn & walk on a vet that says ‘up her dosage’ now, they either don’t know or don’t care enough for me to put my dog in their hands.
Dianne, I’m not familiar with Vet Select, so I can’t comment on the personality change other than it may pass. You probably want to give it some more time before jumping to another product, and please if you haven’t already, do research on Phenomav before using it. Most dogs will continue to have ‘episodes’ throughout their life, even once you have their epilepsy ‘under control’.
We’re aiming to get our epi off Phenomav once we get stable Kbr levels – her last test had dropped without explanation so 6 months later we’re still on Pb & Kbr….hence the frustrating bit, we don’t want the risk of liver damage!!! We’re yet to get a test back over theraputic levels for her Kbr, gone through 2 loading dose stages, and even had a phase of vomiting. I’m coming to the conclusion that Jess’ pattern is several fits in a short timeframe, followed by a long interval without (1-2 months).
You sound knowledgeable, but if you aren’t aware of it, have a look at the Guardian Angels canine epilepsy website. Google those words & it’ll come up. It’s about as helpful as I can be, other than share my sympathies as a fellow sufferer of this horrible, evil condition. Hang in there Dianne!!
Actually, are you in Australia Dianne? I just twigged what you were calling Phenobarbital, as it’s known in Australia as Phenomav after reading back to your previous post.
Hi Amanda
What are kbr levels ?
I know very little as i have not gone into detail with my vet about dosage and Pheno
She just said has to go on the phenomav
I’m not the sort of person the just jumps into things need knowlege!!!
Bronte seems a little better 21.1.11 just has a very quiet demenour about her, she is normally bubbly and plays alot with Charlie who is three years old.
Reading everyones thoughts i agree before the seizures she is very energetic and happy then the cluster happens .
The one thing that showed up in some of the bloodwork was she has very high triglicerides in her blood, so i have to watch her diet which of raw food only and no processed food.
Looking forward to a response……..Di
Diane,
KBR stands for Potassium Bromide, another drug that is widely used for seizures. It has been used for humans for years and is in many cases equally effective on canines. Effective dosage is measured by determining it’s level in the blood.
In my experience KBR has far fewer side effects then Pheno. but most Vets. seem to start with Pheno. and then add KBR if the Pheno. is less than effective. In my Foster’s case he was on both Pheno. and KBR but is now only on KBR. The Pheno did not seem to help him and made him sleep much of the time, gain weight and caused weakness in his hind quarters.
Diane, No, not the full dose. I’m using it now only as a supplement. I don’t think in Foster’s case that Vet Select would of ever stopped the seizures…but each dog’s case seems unique. Most medicines used for seizures have side effects and after two years of living with Foster’s seizures we’ve reached a point where him having seizures is a fact of life. For us it’s about trying to manage them so there is as much time between them as possible and balance the treatments so he has a good quality of life during those normal periods.
Our Vet. while very caring, was incline to go the medicine route and wanted to keep increasing the dosage hoping to stop the seizures. When we reached a point where Foster was laying around much of the time drugged I stopped that cycle and have slowly worked him off Phenobarbital entirely. The Vet is supporting this now. With just KBR Foster has a happy, active and normal life between the seizure visits and instead of days we can often expect months of normal.
It’s terribly stressful at first dealing with this situation but I’m thankful Foster is with us so we can give him a good life even with seizures. We’re all lucky in that regard to have each other. Always happy to communicate and share. Good luck with Bronte!
Hi Earl
Thanks for your support…………..Di
Bronte is feeling a little better today will give her four capsules of Vet Select today as she seems a little lethargic
Hi Earl
Could you please forward any information you have on Vet Select
Diane
Diane, I don’t have any additional information beyond what you can find by doing a Google search.
Thankyou Earl
Bronte has been taking Vet Select for 9 days
First 5 days was very lethargic now puts herself to bed each night at 7pm
Not interested in following me around just seems to tired after 7pm
Was stressed one day so i gave her the drops quitened her down straight away amazing
Would like to follow through with her progress with you in the hope we can help others will that be ok?
All the best……..Diane
Diane, of course. I’d be interested in hearing how Bronte does. I haven’t noticed Foster being lethargic from the Vet Select, of course he’s been taking other medication that also has that same side effect so maybe I wouldn’t notice. I look forward to hearing from you again. Best to you as well.
Bronte says
Alls well at home no siezures been taking Vet Select now for 7 weeks skin condition has gone and i’m feelin good
Mums happy but she still sleeps with one ear open ,she says it’s like having babies again you never shut down
Love to all from Bronte
Bronte, that’s wonderful news and I can understand about Mums keeping one ear open…I do that all the time now.
We’re cheering for your good results to continue. Thanks for the update!
Foster and Earl
There back Monday 7.2.11 6.30 am again at 6.30 pm , 9.30 pm , 2.30 am , and again at 6.30am 24 hours of torture for my little girl
It was horrible nothing i gave her seemed to help so much for the Vet Select
Now she is going through a week of extreme exhaustion , i thought the Vet Select was making her drousy but it is exhaustion after that many siezures. Now the phenomav can’t seem to bring myself to ring the vet as yet but i must i don’t want her to have to go through this all again .I don’t think she has the strength it’s heartbreaking . Our Bronte is treated as one of our big family with all family members treating her with love and respect it should not happen to her or any dog but especially Bronte we care so much for her
If anyone has any advise on my next step it would greatly appreciated
Diane & Bronte
Diane,
I’m so sorry for both you and Bronte that the Vet Select didn’t help. I can only tell you that this all sounds familiar in it’s a path I well remember traveling. I believe the Vet is the only way from here. In addition to talking to the Vet about phenomav also ask him about Potassium Bromide (KBR). It’s a substance used for years in both human and canine seizures with less severe side effects than Pheno. Our Foster started on Pheno. with little effect until KBR was added. Since then I’ve worked him off the Pheno. completely with the seizures being “controlled” by the KBR. One danger of Pheno is liver damage. Blood liver levels have to be checked regularly with pheno.
One thing you’re going to have to get your head around is that in many cases there is no cure for seizures. Our Foster still has seizures every 30-100 days (see table on this page) and that may never change. Medication can help to control them but in many cases you just have to learn to live with them. The good thing is they say the pet is not in any pain or even aware of the seizure at the time. They are left weak and disoriented immediately after for a while but seem to recover.
For me, there came a point when I realized the seizures where not going away so I decided we’d make the times between them as healthy and fun as possible. Of course since no one knows what caused them to begin in the first place I’m forever hopeful one day they’ll stop. But as we approach two years that’s not been the case yet for Foster.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and Bronte. I appreciate you keeping us informed. I always hope someone will find an answer.
Earl
Thanks for your support Earl were off to the vet today, have all the info on KBR
Bronte seems to be back to her old self today……….it’s crazy
All the best to you and your family especially that special one ( Foster )
Update Bronte
Been on Phnomav for 6 days 30mg , she only weighs 8kg
Was expecting her to be lethargic but she is the opposite enrgetic , hearty appetite barks tooooooo much this all makes me very happy
Hoping she doesn’t crash…………Di
Diane, it sounds like Bronte is handling the Phnomav well so far. It’s always a wait and see game but I’m cheering for you.
Hi Amanda and Earl
We think Bronte had a seizure yesterday 26.2.11 but didn’t see it she was outside chewing on a bone , she did the panting and walking thing for about a half hour and was back to normal soon after. Seems well but the skin condition has returned ???
All the best puppies tooooooooooo…..Di
Glad to hear you guys are doing well there Dianne.
Unfortunately the beast that is epilepsy means they all ‘crash’ sometimes. All we can do really is be there for them & hold on for the ride.
My epi broke her 2.5 month fit free spell this morning. It was an unusual fit for her, she was even vocalizing, which she never has done previously. She seemed very concious during the fit and had a very fast recovery also after the usual confused pacing. Come to think of it, she didn’t fall over or run into anything once either.
I’m expecting a follow up fit tonight or tomorrow, and about 1-2 a week for the next month or so. Seems to be her cycle, particularly when she has a ‘different’ fit to usual.
Ironic that I was laying in bed thinking to myself that we need to get blood tests done for both her medications. Hopefully her Kbr levels have come back up again so we can start dropping off the Phenomav (Pb).
I was just re-reading all the comments after I posted above. What struck me is there’s been no mention of what everyone’s doing after the fits to help the dog recover, so I thought I’d share our ‘routine’.
Our dogs sleep in our room on their own dog beds – oh, first perhaps I should maybe mention that Jess is no longer an only dog. We got another Staffy, she finally has her companion puppy! He’s named Zach, and he’s just turned 7 months. He’s been a great influence on Jess, she no longer is a trembling mess under my feet during thunderstorms, she plays alot and is much calmer (she tends to the anxious/nervous side), and she has company while we’re at work.
Anyhow, back to the routine. When the fit starts (usually during sleeping hours), I run & grab the soft icepack I keep in the freezer for her while my partner makes sure she’s not banging her head or legs into anything that may cause injury. When I come back with the icepack (and doggy towel for the foamy drool), I apply it to her upper back – I’ve researched this online somewhere ages ago and ice is supposed to help them recover quicker after the fit. I can’t say for certain that it helps Jess, but either way it keeps her cooler (heat has been cited as a cause in some camps) so I continue using it.
Once she’s finished seizing we’ll make sure she can stand well enough not to topple down, and help her walk outside the house. From there, one of us will supervise her mindless pacing and the other will go & get a dose of food to help her recover her energy levels (low blood sugar levels also have been cited in some camps as being a possible trigger).
Jess is on a low fat premium kibble currently, 1 scoop morning & night (we do twice daily feeds to help with kbr irriation & energy levels). We cut all tinned dog food from her diet and we think that’s helped her. We haven’t gotten to the BARF diet stage as yet, mostly due to time constraints, however our dogs do get raw broccoli, carrots, zuchinni, pumpkin etc from time to time. They absolutely love frozen peas and also bananas. We give them occasional fresh meat – livers, kidneys, chicken carcasses, chicken necks, raw brisket bones from the supermarket occasionally….it should be more regular but we have to be very careful as Jess scoffs them without chewing properly since Zach came along.’
So into the kibble, we pour some honey. I keep a bottle of the pourable payless stuff in the cupboard at all times for such use. Also, we add Valium tablets to the mix, to help break clusters. It’s just the normal human valium in smaller doses – 5mg. This morning we gave her 4 tablets, so 20mg. Jess usually weighs around 27 kilos.
As soon as Jess is able to eat we give her the kibble, honey & valium combo. Supervise the eating as they are starving after the physical exhertion of a fit, and they will literally inhale their food & cause other additional problems.
This morning, as soon as she’d finished eating Jess put her head up, walked to me wagging her tail & was completely back to normal – usually she’ll continue wandering for a while after she’s eaten. I can definitely say that what we give her after a fit helps her recovery tremendously, and the valium has helped reduce her clusters every time.
I’d love to hear what other tips & tricks you folks may have!
wtb an edit option!!
a few things I wasn’t overly clear on:
the twice daily feeding is for helping Jess’ stomach not be irritated by the kbr medication, not irriated!! also wtb spellcheck! lol
We’ve had Zach for 5 months now, you can see some (ok tonnes) of pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76263686@N00/
The honey is to help sugar levels bounce back after the physical exhertion of a fit. you can also use some sort of ice cream in the states that has no preservatives (linked to triggers also!)
Oh, something else I haven’t touched upon is triggers with Jess. We know for a fact that cat poop does it (at least when they were eating canned whiskers brand food it did – not sure now), weed spray, thunderstorms pre-Zach days, being told off when she’s naughty – and sometimes she’s naughty repeatedly right before a fit…this morning for instance, she disobeyed my order to stay in bed 3 times and then went into a seizure. She definitely feels them coming on & tries to get close to one of us.
There’s more things cited on the website I’ve previously mentioned here. Rosemary, pine scented disinfectant…the list goes on & appears to be dog specific. Google is your best friend on this one.
Amanda, it was interesting reading your routines during and after seizures. I’ll share some of our experiences with Foster.
Usually when Foster has a seizure I stay with him and my wife gets a wet towel for cooling and clean-up later. I talk to him during the seizure but he doesn’t know I’m doing that…it’s for me. He always gets up to walk it off afterwards usually for only for 15-30 minutes but on a few occasions it’s taken over an hour for him to settle back down. At least twice he’s had a blinding seizure where he walks into things and has to be steered…not fun for an hour. This hasn’t happened since I’ve taken him off pheno. His trend has been a cluster of three seizures spaced out over one day and then perhaps a single one either a day before or after this cluster, then we’re good for another period.
With Foster taking only kbr now he recovers much quicker after each seizure. He’s alway’s thirsty and hungry once he finishes his walking. We’ve used ice cream a couple of times after the seizure as a “pick-me-up” and Foster is on a natural, low fat, no wheat, corn or preservative dry/kibble diet supplemented with natural canned food from a company called Blue Buffalo. He also get some home cooking, vegetables on occasion.
One thing I’ve noticed is that Foster seems to have an abundance of energy a day or two before the seizures. Something I kind of watch for now.
His current normal seizure cycle is somewhere between 40-60 days, however he’s recently went as long as 100 days and as short as 20 days. It’s always a waiting game.
Thank you for your valuable comments and insights.
Hi All
Interesting stuff
Thought i would share things i do
Diet raw meat only mainly lamb doesn’t seem to heat them up as much
Give them porrige once a week with an egg and low fat greek yogart they love yogart
Supplements Powdered kelp and powdered slippery elm from health food shop
Slippery elm puts a linning on there stomach and through the intestine also the yogart keeps the good bacteria in the gut
Dogs need good bacteria and bad bacteria it’s natural in the wild to eat rotten meat with all that terrible bacteria , they would also eat droppings from animals that are feding on there mothers milk with the good bacteria
And i forgot this buy the cheapest pink salmon in tins mix this with all the other stuff very good for them
I find this has helped keep the vet visits down as Bronte has had regular visits to the vet with vomiting but now doesn’t have any issues in this area Grated raw veg mixed through raw meat with low fat greek yogart and the supplements sometimes barley and brown rice Yum
Never use processed food of any sort
Keep a frozen block of ice on hand encourage them to lick this from time to time you will find they will often use this to keep themselves cool especially after siezures as they are always thirsty I use frozen peas wrapped in a tea towl after the siezures and place this on the back of the neck helps
Hope you find this helpful or maybe not…………….Heres to siezure free days………………god bless Di
With Roxy we also notice a period of hyper (probably the wrong word) activity before the seizures. She’s more alert and wants into things she’s not usually that interested in.
For us it’s strange days. The cluster seizures have reduced to one single seizure of late. There’s the usual wetting and slobber everywhere, but as a one off, every month or so, it’s manageable. We’ve changed nothing and the seizures just seem to change by themselves. From in the early days lots of seizures every 2-3 hours, with blindness, pacing, thrashing, to a single seizure with some thrashing. Certainly not as vigorous as it used to be, and certainly not as draining on us poor humans
Here’s hoping you and Foster start getting an easier time of it.
I’ve happily noticed that Roxy seems to be in a period when the seizures are more “manageable” and I hope that continues or even gets better for her. Foster seems to be on a 2 week cycle now and the last two episodes have been large/strong clusters. This is probably related or caused from us taking him off the Phenobarbital. Even so the wife and I both agree he’s better off it then he was on it. Even at a moderate dose he was not himself and had trouble walking with a weak hind quarters. He may be having seizures every two weeks now but the time in-between is good — quality of life and all. Thanks and our best to you and Roxy!
Me and my big mouth!!!
No sleep for 2 days since that post
Seizures every hour through the previous night – total nightmare.
Oh…I’m so sorry to hear that. Foster and I were holding out hope that Roxy was showing us there could be a light at the end of the tunnel…that wasn’t a train. Hang in there and all the best!
We went a few months without seizures but she had three within a six week period from Feb 1st to March 3rd, and the vet did not want to up the Phenobarbitol, as she is already on 300 mg per day. She weights 170 pounds. So our vet has now supplemented the Pheno with Gabapentin 800 mg daily, it is more expensive as I have to get it from a Pharmacy due to the size of Princess, but it seems to be working. If after six months seizure free, our vet feels we can remove her from the Pheno and just continue on with Gabapentin. It is the same Gabapentin that humans take but without the pain medication because dogs are allergic to it, it has dual purposes, one for seizures and one for joint pain, we have noticed a significant improvement in her walking so it is also helping with her hip displaysia. Thought I would share my experience with Gabapentin. She has been on it for one month. Thanks for all the helpful tips as well.
My heart goes out to each and every one of you, your strength and love for your dogs is commendable words cannot express my admiration for you all.
Bronte has been on the pheno since Febuary this year, she is showing some intermitant lameness and has some wied moments where she holds her head up and constanty licks it only lasts a minute or so but seems out of character NO SEIZUREs think i’m lucky
Had some blood work done a while ago vet suggested we up the pheno i declined , we need to go back agan for more of her drugs wonder what she suggests??????? this time
All the best thinking of you special people and special puppies……….Di
Hi Earl, i have an Australian Koolie called Bess who has just started to have seizures in the past 6 months, she is nearly 5 years old so im a bit perplexed as to why she is having them now. She has had 3 that i am aware of and the vet has put her on phenomav (100mg a day) so far she has been excellent! The only side effect she seems to have is with food. She just gobbles everything she can if i dont watch her!! I think she has put on about 3kg in the past 2 weeks.
Because she is a white Koolie, she is part blind & deaf and the vet is wondering if this has anything to do with the seizures…. im not sure.
I sure hope Foster dosent get any worse and my prayers are with you. These animals are a part of our families and to see them like this is heart breaking. Im hoping my Bess is under control now.. fingers crossed.
Thank you for sharing Foster’s life with us.
Shirl & Bess
Hi Shirl, It’s a total mystery most of the time why dogs suddenly start having seizures or in rarer cases stop having them. Foster was also initially put on phono… and slowly moved to much higher dose (240mg/day). A Increase in appetite is a normal side effect and Foster gained a lot of weight — which we’re still working at getting rid of. At his maximum Pheno. dose level the side effects became significant. I didn’t recognize the Foster I knew and loved in his eyes and he was having trouble getting around. I had to weigh the quality of life vs. not having seizures as often. On my own, and to my vets displeasure I must add, I worked Foster completely off Pheno. He’s taking Potassium Bromide now, but he’s also back to have seizures more often. The big difference is that between the seizures he’s himself and enjoying life, the seizures don’t seem as severe and he recovers from them quicker. It’s a tough call. I continue to try supplements and different diets hoping I’ll find a solution which works for him. It I do find something that helps I’ll post an update here.
I have my fingers crossed for Bess as well. I wouldn’t wish this on any dog or owner. Take some comfort that you’re certainly not alone in going through this. That’s the main reason I started this page.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Keep us updated on how Bess is doing.
Thank you Earl, it is comforting to know there are people like you out there to give support.
Like Earl I’ve taken the decision that Pheno isn’t a great idea to increase. In my case we’ve stuck at 120mg twice a day, but then Roxy’s a big dog. But she also has 4 x 325mg of KBr twice a day and if I’m honest, I don’t think anything is working. It’s just luck of the draw when she has seizures or not. In fact the longest she went was after I weaned her off all of the drugs. Not saying it’s right for everyone mind, but not saying it’s wrong either. She’s now been back on them for a year, but only because we’re totally clutching at straws. It’s such a frustrating condition.
As for the appetite, well Roxy went through a stage of refusing to eat at all. It was a battle for her to eat Chicken. Now though she eats anything and everything – and I do mean anything. She scoffed a box of 18 mini chocolate covered doughnuts to herself when we left them lying around. Now we’ve found there’s two things she can’t resist – chicken and doughnuts
We have had tremendous luck with gabapentin. Princess is an English Mastiff that currently weights 184 pounds. She had a couple of seizures in May and one in November but none since. We are holding out hope that we can take her off the Pheno completely and just use the Gabapentin. I do have to get the Gabapentin at the pharmacy it is more expensive then Pheno but she is worth it. Her current dose is 150 mg of Pheno and 400 mg of Gabapentin in the morning and evening. Her seizures have been much smaller is size and legnth and she recovers from the much more quickly.
Jody, that wonderful to hear and I hope you’re successful getting her off the Pheno. We’ve not tried gabapentin with Foster yet. Currently he’s only taking Potassium Bromide. He having seizures about every 10 days
but they are single seizures as opposed to clusters and much milder with quicker recovery. 
Getting Foster off Pheno improved his quality of life in between seizures. Foster weights about 90lbs and was taking 240 mg of Pheno and 1400 mg of Potassium Bromide at his peak medicine days. At that level the Pheno had Foster acting like a zombie in between seizures. Again…wonderful to hear that Princess is doing better…best of luck to you.
My family had a female miniature dachshund that started having seizures right after she gave birth. We thought that it had something to do with hormones, but it did not improve. Her seizures got more frequent and more severe. We did take her to the vets many times and our vet wanted to put her on pheno baritol. I did not want to put her on a drug that just made her sleep all the time. We tried a holistic approach which worked wonderfully for the rest of her life. We had to put her down last July due to Cushins. The magic pill was DMG which is just an amino acid. It took a while to get the dosage right, but once we found the magic amount, she never had a full blown seizure again. That was almost 11 years without an episode. She had one to two times that I thought she might be going into a small seizure, but they never materialized.
DDM, thank you for leaving a comment and information about DMG. I’m starting Foster on DMG…trying the liquid first but may switch to the pill form later…and hope that it will have the same results for him as it did for you. Again thanks!