Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / January 2007

Hi, I am hoping from some input. I have been reading a lot of the posts
on this board.  Our baby, Shadow,  just turned 1 yr old 1 week ago.  He
is a full bred Siberian husky who has grand mal seizures that last
anywhere from 3-7 minutes.  At 9 months of age he had his first
seizure. One month later he had another, then started having cluster
seizures. He had a blood screening. From that the vet decided he had
epilepsy.  We tried him on Cholodin, which worked for 1 week. When he
started having seizures again, they advised us to supplement with
valium.  He started "twitching" around 20-30 times a day. We took
this to be seizures that were just being repressed by the valium.  The
vet agreed.  They discontinued the Cholodin and started him on
phenobarbitol.  They did disclose that this could cause liver failure.
We had his blood levels tested prior to the phenobarbitol being
started. 3 weeks later Shadow had another seizure.  The next day his
blood levels were tested and the phenobarbitol was at the "correct
levels."  They did advise that the phenobarbitol will not stop him
from having all seizures. Only to assist to lessen them.  Well, he
started having cluster seizures again.   They did increase his dosage
after this- twice more.  At the current time, he is on 60 mg of
phenobarbitol twice a day and 10mg of valium twice a day.  The valium
will be taken for 1 week to give the phenobarbitol a chance to get into
his system.  In another 2 weeks he will have his blood levels tested
again. The vet advised that at that point his phenobarbitol levels will
probably be at a near lethal dose.  If he has any seizures prior to his
blood level being tested again, we will have to take him to a
neurologist for a possible mri of his brain.  Once again since being on
valium, he has started twitching- what we took to be repressed
seizures.  We are wondering if maybe this is a side effect of the
valium, not repressed  seizures?  Have not found any indication of that
in my research. And am planning on calling my vet in the am.  Also
neither the phenobarb or valium make him groggy. He is at a normal or
more active level of activity.  He is very thirsty (normal). And a
bigger appetite (also normal). Which we are thankful for because he
does lose a noticeable amt of weight while have his cluster episodes.
In the beginning, he would be out of it for a little while, he would
not recognize us or his name.  He would stay down for a couple of
minutes.  We have to remove his invisible fence collar as he forgets
his boundaries. And he would be restless.  Now the seizures seem to
last longer and the aftermath is much worse.  Now the lack of
recognition lasts longer.  After the last 2 seizures he had, he could
not use his back legs, or make them work , and therefore not able to
stand up for 45- 1 hr after wards.   He is very clumsy - he walked
into a corner and did not know how to get out of it, and will run nose
first into very large objects.  He will walk in a circle around our
house or tables for a long time.   Not able to relax.
We are very worried about a brain tumor.  I would appreciate any input
from other members on their experiences or recommendations.
Please do not use this post to argue with each other about your
personal opinions.  I am hoping for some helpful input. Thank you so
much.