The American Beagler Forum

My beagle Mikey (3 years old) has to have medication every 8 hours to control his seziures He was found in the woods as pup starving to death. I took him. He is a really sweet boy. Lately he cries a lot, falls down a lot and b angs his head and soils his bedding. I know I am facing having him put down
but I want a mircle. I will take him for blook work and a liver function test tomorrow.
I love this little guy so much. thank for your opinion. Jean

Jean, I guess now you know why he was left in the woods...

I'm no vet, and Doc S can come in and give you better advice, but...what kind of medicine are you giving him every 8 hours? Phenobarb? Dilantin? Both? I have a beagle/rat terrier who came to me with epilespy and on meds. I treated her for years with phenobarb. She had at least one seizure daily, even on the phenobarb. Seemed to me the phenobarb would work better than that, so I decided to take her off her medication altogether to see exactly how severe her condition actually was untreated, and if it was bad enough I was going to put her down. Off the medication, her seizures now occur about once every 3-4 weeks. I have no explanation for this, neither does the vet. Her "help" was found quite by accident.

In my admitted ignorance, I have come to the conclusion that her system had become so reliant on the drugs that if I missed her dose by a couple of hours, she would seize. I started noticing the pattern and times of her seizures and they were mostly occuring within an hour or so of her due dose. ??? 5-7 pm each night, this dog had a seizure. I took her off the meds, she had a couple of seizures the days immediately following, then they just sorta diminished in frequency.

I'm not saying this will be the case with your hound, as there are always varying degrees of epilepsy, and not all seizures are attrubuted to epilepsy. Seizures can have a multitude of origins, including trauma or injury to the brain. If nothing significant shows on his bloodwork, you might consider taking him off the meds before you put him down. It's a Hail Mary tactic for sure, but if you're looking at losing him anyway, it might be worth a try.

Thank your for your reply.
He is on phenabarb. He is at the highest level he can have for his size or so says his vet. Dr. J. told me there would come a day when the meds would no longer work. And we would be facing a difficult decision.
I knew Mikey had seizures when I took him. The person who found him went to colorado for two weeks on business and I kept Mikey for her.
she took him back, but realized she could not cope with him and was going to have him put down. I went to her house and brought him home with me. It took several months to get him to a level that would mostly control this seizures. He went nine months without a seizure . then he had grand mal seizures two morning in a row. 10 days later he had a petite one. that was sept. 27. thus far he has not had another one.

We will commonly use potassium bromide in conjunction with phenobarbital for seizures. The dose of phenobarb is generally cut in half thus sparing the liver, and the treatment efficacy is usually increased dramatically. I am by no means a neurologist, but there are many other newer and safer drugs also coming into play these days as well. So, whatever is happening you do still have many options to explore. May even wish to entertain the idea of referral to a veterinary neurologist.
Best of luck,
Doc S

BTW Bev...are your dog's seizures at all related to the times Ralph has to thunk her on the noggin???
Doc S

I will pass this info on to Mikey's vet. I do appreciate your opinion. I am willing to try whatever is necessary to help Mikey.
Jean

Doc S wrote:BTW Bev...are your dog's seizures at all related to the times Ralph has to thunk her on the noggin???
Doc S

ROTFLMAO. Actually, Sydney has given up that honor to the springer spaniel that managed to worm her way into this household. You gotta admit, though, Sydney is an odd duck. Maybe the seizures caused the brain injury caused the seizures caused the personality disorder caused Ralph to thunk her on the noggin...

But then what is Ralph's excuse?????
Doc S

BTW...Sydney still SCREAM at everyone when they come to the door?

My beagle boy Mikey's tests showed a high phenobarbital level of 34. his liver tests was good. His vet , as you said, wants to include potassium bormide in Mikey's treatment. Dr. J and and I are looking for a resource for the potassium bormide that does not cost an arm and a leg. do you have anything to offer along these lines? I value your opinion. Jean Tyson

Doc S wrote:We will commonly use potassium bromide in conjunction with phenobarbital for seizures. The dose of phenobarb is generally cut in half thus sparing the liver, and the treatment efficacy is usually increased dramatically. I am by no means a neurologist, but there are many other newer and safer drugs also coming into play these days as well. So, whatever is happening you do still have many options to explore. May even wish to entertain the idea of referral to a veterinary neurologist.
Best of luck,
Doc S

We have been 'scripting out the potassium bromide to one of the local compounding pharmacies. Might price shop that way??? Best of luck.
Doc S

Doc S wrote:But then what is Ralph's excuse?????
Doc S

BTW...Sydney still SCREAM at everyone when they come to the door?

LMAO, yes she does. She stands on them and bays like she's treed a squirrel.

There is no excuse for Ralph.

Doc S wrote:We have been 'scripting out the potassium bromide to one of the local compounding pharmacies. Might price shop that way??? Best of luck.
Doc S

Mikey started the potassium bromide last Monday. He started losing coordination a couple of days later. Now he can not walk or stand up. He has always had a small problem keeping his balance. Mikey is on the potassium bromide twice a day. I talked with Mikey's vet about Mikey's problem and he said to reduce his potassium bromide to one a day. And let him know if this helps.
I hold Mikey (weights 26.4 pounds) when he eats so he doesn't eat like a chicken. I also hold him to drink water.
Also Dr. J ordered the potassium bromide from a pharmacy.
Also just a tip. I order Mikey's Phenobarbital from Drugstore.com Dr. J writes a prescription and it is on file with this internet drugstore. Drugstore.com puts "Mikey (canine)" and my last name. The cost for 300 pills is about $13 plus shipping. I was paying $13 for 90 pills at a local drugstore.
Thank you for your help.Jean

Did your veterinarian lower his phenobarb dose when beginning the KBr? It sounds as if he is basically sedated, a common side-effect of anti-seizure medications. When I have started KBr therapy on dogs, I generally cut the phenobarb dose in half. Decreasing the KBr dose as your doctor did sounds very appropriate.
Doc S

Mikey was left on his full dosage of phenobarb 64.8 three times a day.. He is doing slightly better with only one KBr a day (given at night). Last night I gave Mikey half a phenobarb. he has tolerated that change thus far.
I owe you a big debt. I thank you for your time and caring about a beagle in north Georgia.

forgive me if you received most of this message last night

Jean

Jean,
Got your PM, but hadn't had time to reply as of yet. Glad to hear he is doing better.
Doc S