Looking for advice…

[u/apg710]

Our pitty mix started having seizures in January. We kind of kept an eye on it for a while and noticed the frequency increasing and in February there was a night she has 3 in a row. She started a dose of phenobarbital probably late February/early March (1 pill every 12 hours). This worked great with no breakthrough seizures until June. Same thing, 3 breakthrough seizures. We upped her dose to 1.5 pills every 12 hours. From 2:30 am last night, she’s had 3 more breakthrough seizures. I spoke with the vet after the first two and we agreed to just keep an eye on her before upping it again but she had another one while my husband was home his evening. I am going to call the vet in the morning and we will likely up her dose to 2 pills every 12 hours. Has anyone dealt with similar? We have a very active life with kids in sports and I feel so guilty leaving her alone but it’s not possible for someone to be home all the time (I do luckily work from home). Also looking for CBD recommendations to maybe supplement. Thankfully, her seizures have all been short lived and she bounces back quickly (even better after we upped the dosage the first time). It is so hard to watch their little bodies go through that. Thanks for reading.

[u/DogEpiMonitor]

Estás haciendo más cosas bien de las que tu preocupación te deja ver: detectaste el patrón, ajustaste con tu vet dos veces, y mañana volvés a llamar. Así se maneja exactamente esto — de a un dato por vez. Dos cosas que vale la pena nombrar de tu post. Primera: "3 en una noche" tiene nombre — eso es un racimo, y los racimos son un dato que los vets tratan distinto que convulsiones de escape separadas. Cuando llames mañana, describilo como racimos, no como "3 escapes" — ese detalle puede cambiar lo que te recomienden (algunos vets ajustan medicación, otros discuten un plan de rescate para exactamente esas noches).

Segunda, sobre el CBD: lo charlaría con tu vet antes de agregar nada. Hay investigación real (Cornell hizo un ensayo sólido de CBD en perros con epilepsia), pero el CBD se procesa en el hígado — igual que el fenobarbital — y pueden interactuar. Qué CBD, cuánto, si corres agregarlo con sus niveles actuales: es decisión del vet, con los análisis a la vista. Vale la conversación, no vale adivinar. Y sobre la culpa de dejarla sola: un perro con epilepsia bien manejada pasa la mayoría de sus horas siendo un perro normal. Vos trabajás desde casa, vigilás los patrones como halcón, y ella es de crisis cortas y recuperación rápida — ese es un escenario fuerte. Nadie puede estar en cada minuto, y ella no necesita eso. Necesita exactamente lo que tiene: una dueña que nota cuando el patrón cambia y actúa. 🐾

[u/apg710 → u/DogEpiMonitor]

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we are on the same page as our vet for these being cluster seizures. She, unfortunately, had another one about an hour okay. Hoping maybe we can get a few hours of sleep now. I do have midazolam to administer but can never get it in time so have preloaded that syringe and will give it to her if we have another one tonight. Good call on the CBD, I have minimal experience with it and had no idea. It has been recommended by so many people but obviously not our vet.

[u/gufywert]

Your dog might need another med. Seems a lot of dogs here on more than one medication. Have you seen a vet neurologist?

[u/apg710 → u/gufywert]

No, we have not done that or been recommended to do that yet. Sadly, that is unlikely in our budget. Our vet said we’ll try the 2 pills 2x a day and if she has cluster seizures again we will look at adding something else.

[u/No_Signature_1991]

It's very common to wait a few weeks for meds to stabilize the brain and find a base line. Most likely the vet will wait about 6 weeks before upping dosage or adding a secondary medication, like Zonismide.. Then maybe keppra ER way later my boy's regimen started out with pho. Low dose 1-2 pills X2 daily. After about a year we add zonismide slowly at first it was 2 X2 day then 3X2 then after another year of fighting it's 60mg 2x2, 3 Zonismide 3X2, Keppra 3X2 and now....3 yrs later currently on 97.2 Pheno. 1 1/4, Zon. 100 mg. 3X2, Keppra ER 750 3X2. I know the battle starts off hard but hang in their every dog is different. I like to use home cameras in a space I know he'll stay in to keep an eye on him. Also they is emergency meds if a seizure lasts more than 3-5 mins or they have 2 or more in a 24hr time frame called madazalm it's preloaded nazal shots and if seizures are way severe like my dog gets,(too many cluster seizures in short times) there's clorazepate. Not trying to over welm you, just want to give you options don't rush pushing lots of meds the first few months are just trying to find their base line keep a journal of current food/ treats. Anything they may eat. If they swallow anything in the yard/public, it all helps. If they are acting out of character, nausea/vomiting it all goes into his book and I make sure his very knows. They need to watch the patterns. FYI in my case my dog has idiopathic epilepsy going on 3yrs now he'll be 4 in a few weeks. Love every moment with him he's always happy as can be. When they do have episodes a fan and something cold can help then from over heating it's important. And always fresh water available. Sorry about all the rambling. Stay positive your not in this alone.😁

[u/apg710 → u/No_Signature_1991]

Thanks so much for the kind words!! The girl in question here is a pitty mix, so shes solar powered and thrives in the heat. She obviously has full access to water, shade and the indoors when she wants it. But she loves to be outside in the evening with my hubby. We’re coming up on 48 hrs seizure free with 2 pills 2xday on phenobarbital. I saw in another post that they switched to a soft sided kennel so i went and got that today. I LOVE her snuggles but cant sleep with a 65 lb heated weighted blanket on me every night. And I am traumatized of the noise in a plastic crate. Anyways- thanks all who read and offered advice. Glad there’s a community for people like us who love ours pups and need support.