[Chloe Bear's Mom]

Hey Everyone, I hope someone on here as some advice/experience with anti seizure meds. My Little girl Chloe had a med emergency this week and has been put on Phenobarbital Elixir and Predisone..that being said it's prob best to give you guys the full story on what lead up to this..Sorry this is going to read like a book but here goes! Tuesday evening when I got home from work Chloe was not herself! She was acting like she had an upset tummy and was quiet and depressed crying out in pain when picked up etc....we took her to the vet and had her checked out and to our surprise the vet told us it wasn't her tummy but her neck! She had xrays done and they saw that she had compression in 3 vertebrae at the base of her neck, more than likely she has landed wrong when jumping off the couch, bumped herself running after a toy..basically a million different scenarios that could have caused it which has left us feeling so guilty not knowing how it happened. Wednesday lunchtime Chloe had a seizure, thank goodness I was at home! Wednesday afternoon the seizures became back to back..she was at the vets walking like she was drunk etc...anyhoo to make an extremely long story a little shorter she spent the rest of the week at the vets on meds and observation..no more seizures. She is to be crated or kept completely still for 4 weeks to prevent any further strain on her spine.

I got to bring her home Friday night and Saturday she has had diarrhea everywhere....looked online and its supposed to be a side effect of the meds. I am waiting on her vet to call me back on my emergency call but wanted to see in the meantime if anyone knows if this is normal when just starting out on the meds she has? And in the meantime anything natural that I could give her to help slow down the diarrhea...right now the baby is fast asleep.

 

[Chloe Bear's Mom]

Ok, Just got off the phone with her vet...was advised that it is likely due to stress of this week, the meds and/or the little ham I used to wrap her tablet up in (way to go Momma)...she is still eating and drinking which he said as long as she keeps that up we should be ok -I have pedialyte in her water..He said to give her 3cc's of pepto bismol and if it doesn't improve bring her back in tomorrow or if she starts acting lethargic etc to bring her in for an emergency appt....

 

[KayC]

Hello and Welcome, I don't have any info for you but I just wanted to send *hugs* and prayers for your little one. Please keep us posted.

 

[JillR]

My Australian Shepherd has been on phenobarb for the past three years to control his epilepsy. There are different kinds of seizures though he only showed on, grand mal. His seizures would last for 4+ minutes. The vet and I were very worried about brain damage, they were so severe.

I was very concerned about starting him on phenobarb. I was worried about quality of life. I was worried he'd be an eternally stoned-out lump and that's not him. A Jack Russell owner once looked at him and said "He's a little hyper isn't he?"

The first day on phenobarb was...okay, kind of funny. He was clearly stoned. I looked at him at one point and apologized for not having any Grateful Dead music but offered to play him some Pink Floyd if he wanted it. <g>

And he has had no ill effects. By the next day I couldn't see any difference in his behaviour at all. He just never had another seizure and his night terrors were gone. He had them from the day I brought him home.

His blood is checked to make certain his phenobarb levels are good and he gets his comprehensive twice a year. I feel it was well worthwhile to give him the phenobarb. I can't tell you how badly those seizures frightened him. Both of us. He had three before I could get him to his vet and I was afraid I'd lose him each time.

The vet thinks his epilepsy is congenital. He has no history of injury. But when I went through his AKC papers I was horrified to see how many brother-sister, father-daughter matings he comes from. Backyard breeder.

Just watch your dog and if the behaviour goes madly off tell your vet. The dosage may want to be adjusted.

 

[Chloe Bear's Mom]

Thank you Zoey's Mom for the support and JillR for the info...I am glad to hear from someone who has a pup that has been on the meds for a while, I can relate on how scary it is! I felt totally helpless! Chloe is acting drugged which I expected..The diarrhea is just one more thing I have to worry about...jeez when it rains it pours! Other than a little wonky she is acting ok...quieter but ok, she just wants to sleep when she isn't eating or pooping. She is on 1ml phenobarbital twice a day for 5 days then once a day for 5 days then every other day. Predisone is 1/2 tablet twice a day for 3 days then once a day for 3 days then every other day. She has a follow up appt Wednesday.

 

[Chloe Bear's Mom]

Update on Chloe....took her back to the vets this morning since the poops hadn't gotten any better and she was lethargic even more than when we first brought her home Friday night and she was drugged. She wasn't drinking or eating either this morning without me giving it to her by hand. The vet gave her the once over and prescribed her Nutromax Proviable paste and capsules maintaining it is a mix of meds but that the dosage is right for now, food and stress. I had to have my SIL watch her today since I couldn't have another day off work, (which since I have had 7-8 hours sleep all weekend I could have used it.) Anyway let's just call it magic paste! Chloe may hate it but my goodness what a difference tonight. She isn't as lifeless, she is more alert and eating and drinking..And no more diarrhea since around 2-3pm. We are still not out of the woods with the seizures or her neck but so far we have one thing checked off the worry list....Woo hoo!

There is one side effect though....she has BAD gas that stinks! :daisy:

 

[ExoticChis]

Welcome to the forum, I hope your little one gets better soon

 

[cprcheetah]

You could give her some probiotics or digestive enzymes that will help with the gas. As for natural treatment of Diarrhea, Slippery Elm Bark works wonders.

Zoey has seizures ocassionally, she had a cluster of some bad ones a few weeks ago due to being attacked by a pomeranian I had, she also has Hydrocephalus & possible epilepsy. My Vet (also my dad) wanted to put her on Phenobarb/Potassium Bromide, but so far I have chosen not to, as I really do not like the effects those have on the liver, and normally she doesn't have seizures all that often. I am giving her Taurine, Vitamins (B complex, A, C, E), Zinc, Milk Thistle, a natural (raw) diet, as some grains can cause/increase seizure activity, digestive enzymes, probiotics. I also have some homeopathic remedies to give her during seizures (Aconitum & Belldonna).

 

[JillR]

Update on Chloe....took her back to the vets this morning since the poops hadn't gotten any better and she was lethargic even more than when we first brought her home Friday night and she was drugged. She wasn't drinking or eating either this morning without me giving it to her by hand. The vet gave her the once over and prescribed her Nutromax Proviable paste and capsules maintaining it is a mix of meds but that the dosage is right for now, food and stress. I had to have my SIL watch her today since I couldn't have another day off work, (which since I have had 7-8 hours sleep all weekend I could have used it.) Anyway let's just call it magic paste! Chloe may hate it but my goodness what a difference tonight. She isn't as lifeless, she is more alert and eating and drinking..And no more diarrhea since around 2-3pm. We are still not out of the woods with the seizures or her neck but so far we have one thing checked off the worry list....Woo hoo!

There is one side effect though....she has BAD gas that stinks! :daisy:

My small chihuahua mix Diego is stinky no matter what he eats. You would not think a small dog could produce that much funk all on his own.

But Chloe sounds better and that's good. It's a struggle to get the meds right and the dog back to happy and then it's just a small bit of work to keep them well. Worth it.