Epilepsy

[Guest fluffymonster]

Hiya fellow Refuge posters

 

I am new here so apologies for asking for your advice on my very first posting.

 

I am really asking for some information about my parents' rescue dog(Ollie) who is three years old. Although he is not mine I frequently look after him and he has been staying for the last two weeks as they are away on holiday.

 

Ollie basically has epilepsy. It has been getting worse and he has had a few increases in his meds. Just over two weeks ago the vet told my parents that Ollie's routine blood tests revealed that the epilepsy drugs were now causing liver damage (always a possibility) and obviously we are all upset. I am basically wondering if there is anything we can do to help. He is fitting more often (bad one today but has been checked over by the vets and is ok). In between fits he is his normal bouncy self although the last few days he was walking and looking quite unsteady on his feet. The vet told me today they think it was the prodromal phase and he is now looking lots better. He has also been unsettled in the night which could of course fit with the prodromal phase hypothesis. They did check him thoroughly today since he took so long to come around properly and because of the odd behaviour over the last few days but he was declared fine.

 

I really want to find out more as I don't want to necessarily get despondent about this yet. I wondered if any of you have experiences of this or know people who have epileptic dogs. Ollie is currently on 2 x 250mg Epilease a day (new addition to his meds) and 2 x 45g Epiphen daily. He has been on the epiphen for at least 18 months. I have read that milkthistle can help protect the liver on an American website so would welcome any experiences with this remedy. I did suggest a referral to a specialist but was not sure if I was grasping at straws.

 

I really appreciate any advice people can offer or hearing of others' experiences with dogs who have epilepsy.

 

Thanks and apologies for the long post.

 

Fluffymonster and Ollie

[Rachel]

Information on Milk Thistle for dogs with epilepsy can be found here.

 

Our epileptic white Shepherd Aramis (33kg) has Milk Thistle tablets once a day. We give him half the recommended adult human dose. More information on him and other general info on epilepsy in dogs can be found on various threads here.

 

If you want any more info, please just shout.

[Mrs Mop]

Were any tests done on her to see if they could find the cause of the epilepsy?

[raceylacy]

Hi Fluffymoster

 

My advice would be to seek the advice of a Homeopathic vet before you start introducing other things such as Milk Thistle yourself. A Homeopathic vet will work alongside the conventional vet and will be able to introduce homeopathic remedies alongside the AED's. The HV will also know the correct dosage and administration.

 

In our case we went to Richard Allport with Skye (now at The Bridge). Sadly we lost Skye to Epilepsy - he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy - in other words 'Cause Unknown'. I recall having a conversation with RA re giving Skye Milk Thistle and he was very dubious about introducing yet another medicine, albeit homeopathic because it was another thing for Skye's system to cope with. At that time (last year) tests were showing that Skye's liver seemed ok.

 

Skye was eventually on the maximum dose of both Epiphen (Phenobarbital (sp?)) and Potassium Bromide (Gentrix).

 

When we took him to RA he was given Homeopathic Remedies of Agnus Castus, Tarantula, Phosphorus and one other which I can't remember . He also prescribed supplementation of Epitaur (contains taurine etc as it is believed that the brain becomes dehydrated after siezures), he also had Co-Enzyme Q10 daily.

 

A HV will look at the whole picture. In Skye's case RA went from the angle of 'upping' Skye's immune system so that it could better cope with the fits.

 

My regret is that we didn't go down the HV route sooner and therefore that is what I would advise your parents to do - it did make a difference. but I do think it unwise under the circumstances for you to try and self-diagnose (and that's not meant to sound rude ) - get a HV to make the decisions .....

 

If google 'Homeopathic Vets' you should be able to find the website where there are listings of HV in the UK.

 

Good luck and hugs being sent - I know how awful epilepsy can be ....

 

Sandra

[ReikiAnge]

Hi Fluffymoster

If google 'Homeopathic Vets' you should be able to find the website where there are listings of HV in the UK.

 

British Association of Homeopathic Vets

[Muriel]

You'll find a Homeopathic Vet here...

http://www.bahvs.com/

 

http://www.trusthomeopathy.org/trust/tru_over.html

 

Agnus Castus and Milk Thistle are herbal rather than Homeopathic, but a good Holistic Vet like Richard Allport is qualified in Homeopathy, herbal medicine, etc, etc........

 

As raceylady has said, you really need a Homeopathic Vet to take a look and advise for your dog as every dog is different.

 

All the very best, I'll send Reiki if he wants it.

[Guest fluffymonster]

A massive thank you to all of you for your kind and very helpful replies.

 

Funny you should mention a homeopathic vet as I also suggested this to my parents but they were a little unsure. I have just asked my vet to refer me to a homeopathic vet as I feel it may help with my bunny's melanoma. I will point them in the direction of this thread and hopefully they will see that other people have found them to be very helpful.

 

Rachel, thanks very much for the links with regards to milk thistle, much appreciated.

 

Mrs Mop, no tests were done to establish the cause of the epilepsy. I will mention this to them, thank you! If I am honest I am not a major fan of their vets but I think that is more to do with their care of bunnies rather than dogs.

 

 

RaceyLacey, I am very sorry to hear that Skye is now at the bridge and I really appreciate you sharing your experiences. I know exactly what you mean about self-diagnosing and you did not sound at all rude, just sensible!! Thank you.

 

ReikiAnge, thanks very much for the link to the homeopathic vets sites, I will have a look right now.

 

Muriel, thanks also for the links. I would very much appreciate it if you could send reiki, I am sure he would appreciate it. People have done this for my bunnies before and I felt it really did help.

 

You are all very kind and I really do appreciate your replies. I will send the link to this thread right away to my parents so they can see all that you have said.

 

Thanks

 

Fluffymonster & Ollie

[matty]

phyllis croft foundation is also a good place to check out loads of info do a google search cant do links sorry

[Kerrio]

I also had an epileptic dog - though with her it was an old-age onset - not young - which changes the perspective somewhat.

 

The vets did prescribe a "liver cocktail" drug to help with the liver failure - and we used milk-thistle as well. Can't remember the name of the drug - will wrack my one brain cell - it was expensive and I remember sending the left-overs to Tailends once Hobo passed on.

 

There was also a very good forum somewhere which was for canine epilepsy - again I no longer have hte link - but try googling "canine epilepsy" and you should find loads of stuff.

 

Good luck

[Yantan]

I found this site useful when George was newly diagnosed with epilpesy Guardian Angels

 

for you, your parents and especially Ollie.

 

Marion

[Guest fluffymonster]

Thanks for your helpful responses too Matty, Kerrio & Yantan, they are greatly appreciated.

 

I will check out all the links/information.

 

Ollie says thanks too for your kind wishes and hugs.