My dog has mild, infrequent seizures. Should he take medication?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rocco. I typically start seizure medications when the seizures are occurring every 4-6 weeks. I will also start meds if the seizures seem to becoming longer in duration, most intense or if the pet is having difficulty recovering from an episode. I hope this information helps!

There is no need to take her to emergency care unless she has a seizure that lasts 5 minutes or longer. Then she needs to be taken in right away. Keep a diary of when she has a seizure, note the time it starts and ends and the time of day. Give this to the owner to be taken to the vet when they return. Should the dog have many (more than 5) seizures in a day, take her to her vet for adjustment of medication.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. I recommend contacting his veterinarian. He will likely need to start another medication to control his seizures. Phenobarbital, potassium bromide and zonisamide are common choices. However, your veterinarian will know his medical history and which would be the best choice. Being able to have his seizures better controlled will improve his quality of life. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Frannie. When seizure frequency reaches every 4-6 weeks, I will commonly start anti-seizure medications. Every time a dog has a seizure, they become more likely to have another one. I would discuss starting her on a proven medication with her veterinarian. There are a variety of them such as phenobarbital, zonisamide, potassium bromide, levitiracetam, etc depending on her case specifics and medical history. There is even a prescription diet that can be fed in addition to medications to help decrease seizure activity. I hope this information helps!

I always recommend blood work to start with in any dog that started having seizures. There are a few things that could be diagnosed on blood work that could cause seizures, such as liver disease, kidney disease, electrolyte abnormalities, and infection. If the blood work is normal. Your vet will likely recommend that you continue to monitor Harley for seizure activity. Some dogs will have a seizure or two early in their life and never again. But some develop epilepsy that needs to start on medications. I generally wait to start medications until one of the following occur: -many seizures clustered together -seizures that are severe and cause bodily harm -the pet does not recover within 45 minutes after a seizure (should be tired, but otherwise normal) -seizures are occurring regularly (ie every month or two) Here is an article you may find helpful: https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/seizures-1/

12 seizures within 20 hours is a large number of seizures. Also the length of the seizures at 5 to 9 minutes is extreme. This does certainly point to a serious problem in the brain and likely to a tumor. Make sure to take your dog to the vet on Monday to adjust the dosage/add other medications. If the seizures last longer than 5 minutes , use the diazepam your vet gave you and if the seizure does not stop with the diazepam, you need to take Murray to an out of hours vet or ER right away.

There are different seizure medications and some work better than others for different individuals. I would recommend discussing different medication options with your veterinarian for Tyson. Some of the more common medications are phenobarbital, KBr, and zonisamide. Some dogs also require a combination of medications. Also, if recent blood work has not been done it should to make sure nothing has significantly changed.