Readers Respond: Living with a dog or cat who has seizures

Seizures may be caused by numerous things: poisons, skull injury, brain tumor, viral and bacterial infections, congenital malformations, heat stroke, parasites, fungal infections, low blood sugar (diabetics), and so on.

By doing a physical exam and blood work, many causes can be ruled out.

Seizures where a cause cannot be determined are termed "idiopathic epilepsy."

Do you have a dog or cat with seizures? Please share how you found out, how you cope, and tips to help others with epileptic pets.

zonisamide

I just recently started my Jack Russel on Zonisamide for her seizures. It has turned her into a totally different dog. Usually a happy attention hound, she now just mopes around, doesn't want anything to do with us, zombie-like. Don't know if I'll continue this treatment.

—ratdawg2012

Ms

My Italian Greyhound began having seizures @ 1 1/2 years old. His always lasted 10 min! Grand Mal! Finally I have got them down to about 3 min & less frquently w/LIQUID Potasium Bromide 1 1/2 Ml 2X day & 30mg Phenobarbital 1 1/2 tabs AM & PM. since his have become MILD now I can give him pulverized 5mg valium w/a few drops water via mouth & his stop in 3 min! I hold him & constantly talk with him Petting him so he is not afraid. I have seizures too & I am not scared. I usually sit on floor w/him & put him between my legs & talk softly comforting him till he gets up! I treat him like any other normal dog otherwise!

—Guest Judi B

Keppra not enough

Nigel started seizing again, once or twice a day. Neurologist added zonisamide, 150mg twice a day, and upped keppra to 375mg three times a day. No seizures in 3 days so far, and minimal side effects. Will keep you updated!

—Guest Nigel

Beagle with idiopatic epilepsy. Pls Help

We have a severely epileptic dog (beagle) He is 23kg, he currently takes 325mg of Potassium bromide twice daily and 120mg phenobarbitone daily. He has maybe three weeks seizure free and then has multiple seizures over a couple of days leading to status epilepticus. Last night he had 8 seizures in 6 hours. Diazepam is n't working to stop the seizures. Generally he goes into the vets to be sedated under a general for a day. Has anyone a similar experience? His prognosis currently appears grim. Has any one had any success with alternative/complementary medicines? We are now adding in Gabapentin and switching to BARF diet. I fear that he may end up having to be put to sleep. Please help

—Guest Victoria Sandford

Starting Keppra

Nigel, my 4 year-old Aussie, began seizures a few months ago, progressively getting more frequent and intense. Horrible to watch. We decided on Keppra because of the lack of side-effects. 250mg, 3x a day. Hoping Keppra works alone. Will keep you all updated.

—Guest Nigel

Accidental dosage of 10 MG Diazepam

25 lb Corgie got a 10 MG by accident, has opp reaction, ran around for 1/2 hr. Vet said it was OK, normal dosage for 25 lb dog. Said metabolizes in in hour, dog is still agitated but getting better. He seems to be doing OK, heart rate is up, but I have no doubt he will be OK. He is one year old. If your dog gets some and you can gauge him to make him throw up right away, it's best to do so.

—Guest John

Seizures & Hippocampal damage

Crystal is a 5 YO DSH Female who has had Grand Mal Seizures for the past 6 mos. MRI indicates Hippocampal Necrosis, she is taking 15MG Pheno every 12 hours for 4 weeks and 125 Mg Keppra every 8 hours for the pat 10 days. No seizures noted since Keppra was started. We are very hopeful she will continue to live out her life in comfort.

—Guest Dave Charleston

Gran Mal

We just adopted a 10 week old beautiful Siamese kitten. Unfortunately, he suffers from multiple gran mal seizures a day. Each one seems worse than the last. We found out from the vet that he was riddled with hook worms when we got him. They have treated him for the worms, but not the seizures yet. Watching him go through this on a daily basis is just hurting us so much. We are struggling to decide what to do. Tcbritt

—Tcbritt

Liquid Valium used-stops seizure

Plz ask your vets about using liquid valium administered anally during the onset of a seizure. Make sure it is not stored in a plastic container as this may decrease the strength & effectiveness of the medicine. This works wonders, stopping the seizure & seems to prevent a second.

—Guest DogLover

Seizures

Gidget is still on Phenobarbital, down to 1 1/2 pills in AM and PM, plus the Potassium Bromide, 1/4 pill in AM and PM. She seems to be doing much better. You just never know. Hubby still takes care of her when the seizures do come on. I try to keep her surroundings calm and praise her for the good things she does. She was a rescue sheltie, was not socialized at all. Had never been outside to feel the grass under her feet, but instead was a companion to a woman 90 years old who just let them do their business on papers in the house; she has come a long way in the three years we have had her. She is special.

—Guest Mona

My Autumn

I rescued a wirehair dachshund several years ago. When she was about 10 she awakened us (she slept in the bed with us) having a seizure. The next morning we were off to the vet. He said to just watch her. Four nights later it happened again. The vet put her on 1/4 gr of phenobarbital. She's now 12 and gets the pill twice a day. I just put it in her bowl of kibble and she gobbles everything right down. We've been doing the phenobarbital level testing every six months as advised. After reading up, I've learned that liver damage doesn't show up in the levels until it's possibly too late. I'm going to approach our vet with the idea of bile acid testing as well.

—Guest Diana

husky seizures

i have a 7yo husky she has seizures i have noticed that if i keep her environment calm as in not alot of motion or people around her no yelling etc. she does great her diet is awesome now no more table scraps just her dog food and treats when she is good which is alot haha. i love my babygirl she is like a child so after seeing her having seizures i made sure to remember what was going on at that time so far so good i pray. we all love our dogs. does anyone have any other tips on controlling seizures, my vet told me that she is not eligible for medication because she doesnt have enough seizures she suppose to have more kindof odd.

—Guest dorothy hussey

Dog Seizures

My Sheltie, Gidget, started having seizures in April of 2011; she was put on Phenobarbital every 12 hours. Worked for quite awhile, but now in the past week has had three seizures in two days. Took her to the Vet; he upped her dose of Phenobarb to two twice a day and added Potassium Bromide every 12 hours. I just worry about her so much; hubby has to tend to her when she starts with the seizure, I just cannot handle it. I just hope she does not have a brain tumor or something.

—Guest Mona

seizures

i have 2 cats that i adopted they both have seizures been through all kinds of tests they are on the pheno they still have episodes both different it is a work in progress i comfort them during their seizure and am constantly cleaning up after them,i noticed the seizures began after i had them fixed. first little facial twitches then kinda dazed and confused which then turned into convultions. we are hoping that the medicine works we just put them on pill form instead of the liquid hope for the best i will never give up i have alot of cats that i love very much but these 2 are my special babys their names are apollo and zeus and they are about 7 months old and have had a hard life already i will do everything in my power to make them comfortable.

—Guest patty

Keppra

About 2 years ago my JRT started having head trimmer seziures we took him to a Vet and put him on Phenobarbital after seeing my dog struggle in and out of moods and dizzyness lazy, vomiting ect I did my own reaserch. I put him on 3 Keppra pills 8 hours apart . I noticed a hugh change and the seziures were about 3 a month that i witnessed . After 2 years I just went down to 2 pills a day seziure free for 3 weeks and a much more active dog. Soon to try to stop all Keppra slowly. I want to share my story because Keppra alone WORKS. God bless all

—Guest Roger