A question for anyone who has a dog with idiopathic epilepsy..

..my Sherlock was diagnosed with this earlier in the year, and was also prescribed phenobarbitol as a medication. Now, that stuff is a barbiturate, and used over longer periods of time, can cause liver damage. As you can imagine, I'm none too thrilled about him being on it, nor am I too thrilled at the prospect of him being given potassium bromide either.

I've heard some positive things about giving dogs magnesium to help reduce seizures, because apparently, a lack of magnesium can be what CAUSES the seizures in dogs. What I'm looking for, is anyone who's actually tried this, or any other method of treatment that doesn't involve barbiturates.

I should mention at this point that I don't believe in homeopathy, and so things like Bach's Rescue Remedy and their ilk, aren't going to be something I go anywhere near. They're simply water and sugar, and I'm not risking my dog's health giving them a placebo. I've heard the 'well it works for me/my dog/the queen' too many times to count, and I inevitably end up getting nowhere.

My thanks in advance for any input. I've been asking various people, I like to get a wide feedback berth.

 

Firstly that is sad for you to have a dog with this or any problem. I've dealt with a dog with diabetes in the past and it was not a happy thing to see.
Only last week I heard that to much magnesium causes kidney problems but I have not looked into it,
and you must be the rare person who has mention homoeopathy and Bach Flower remedies, and I agree that they are for me, just down right not on.

 

I'm sorry your dog has this. My sister's dog has epileptic seizures, too.

I don't know about alternative remedies. I would be reluctant to try them. Seizures do damage to the brain. Each time they have a seizure there is a little damage done to the brain.

My sister's dog was on both potassium bromide and phenylbarbitol to begin with. She had a tiny one in October of that year. By Christmas, she had three in three days. That's been about 4 years ago now. Since then, she rarely has them.

Over time, they were able to take her off the potassium bromide. Then, they slowly lowered the level of phenylbarbitol. She was able to be at 2 (I'm thinking of the measuring dropper they use). When she started having clusters again last year, they worked it up to 4 and now she is stable again.

She gets checked twice a year for any signs of organ problems. She has been fine so far.

I can say that the medication has its positives and negatives. She walks around a lot now. She roams the house. But, her demeanor is so much better. She was really skittish and jumping before the phenyl. My feeling is she senses this weirdness in her body and was responding to it. She's much more relaxed on the phenyl.

I'm not crazy about giving dogs (or myself) drugs unless necessary. But, I think in this case, I would be wary. I would at least want to work with the veterinarian so as not to put the dog at more risk. Can the magnesium level be checked by your Vet? If it is low, is it possible to give the dog magnesium and lower the phenyl slightly and work with it that way to see if the magnesium makes a difference?

Good luck! I know that it is no fun when our dog has a chronic disease.

 

I hear about a lot of people using homeopathic nosodes in place of dog vaccines. Whilst I'm not necessarily big on vaccinating my dogs every year (it's not always necessary into adulthood), I certainly wouldn't use homeopathy in animals, especially since I know it's just water and sugar. I've heard arguments where the animals don't know it's a placebo, so how would they know to pretend to be doing better? The answer sits with the person administering them, it's THEY who see so called 'improvements', not the animal projecting them. If you know you're dog is ill, you notice every single tiny detail either positive, or negative. So it stands to reason that you'd be looking for improvements in ailments with homeopathy, and not paying much attention to negative things, if you were a strong advocate for it. You'd be more likely to blame issues on tiredness and the like. None of that sits well with me, and so I will actively tell someone they're extremely foolish for using it.

And that was longer than it was meant to be, LOL

 

I think around six weeks after Sherlock was started on Epiphen (the brand name for pheno), he had some bloods taken for testing. They came back fine, but he hasn't been tested since, so he is due a workup. I've been doing some asking around, and have discovered that as much as Epiphen can cause liver damage, it DOES help a massive amount especially if it's combined with magnesium and vitamin B&C. Vitamin B in dogs, can help alleviate upset stomachs, whilst Vitamin C, helps with absorption as far as magnesium and anything else is concerned. Naturally, monitoring the intake of magnesium is necessary, and you administer by the weight of your dog.

It's been suggested that I add some magnesium to his dosage, as well as some vitamins, and see if that helps. It's generally quite dangerous to take an animal off Epiphen without some kind of backup (i.e; the magnesium) because it will likely increase seiziures and as you rightly said, seizures cause brain damage. The other thing that's been suggested to me, is tryptophan. Sherlock is a very excitable and bouncy dog, and so combinations of magnesium, tryptophan as well as vitamins B&C, can instill a sense of calmness in animals. It's actually very good for animal and humans in general.

This is all a lot of information to take in, but my reason for asking around, AND sharing the information I've been given, is because it's important to me to know my dog is going to be OK, and to give others the opportunity to take something away from it. One of the people I've spoken to, is a very well educated dog behaviourist and also knows her canine biology as it were. I never just ask one person though, I want to draw from different sources.

So we shall see how this goes. If it works out well, you'll know because I'll be gushing it all over here!