My dog's epilepsy medication isn't working. What are my options?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I do not think that you are being selfish at all. You care about him which is good. It is common for dogs with epilepsy to eventually need more medications added to their anti-seizure medication protocols. There are several anti-seizure medications that can be considered including phenobarbital, potassium bromide, Keppra, zonisamide, among many others. I would encourage you to discuss with your veterinarian about other anti-seizure medications. Often times dogs with epilepsy respond favorably to other medications. Good luck and have a great day!

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!

Hello there and thank you for using Pet Coach! There are multiple anti-seizure drugs available and some with less side effects than others. If Bailey is on Phenobarbital, Keppra may be a good option for him as this particular drug has fewer side effects and I find that it is less harsh on the liver. Switching to a different drug with less side effects will certainly help. You can also talk to your vet about prescription liver diets in addition to the Denmarin. Hepagen-C is a veterinary product that is over the counter, which we use at our clinic in conjunction with Denamarin or Denosyl. Your vet can also perform a Bile Acids test to determine how much function of the liver has been lost. A scan would certainly be recommended and there are sedative combinations and drugs that we can use that will not trigger seizures, as they are anti-seizure drugs that we use to control seizures. I would still recommend an ultrasound, but talk to your vet about the different drugs that can be used to prevent seizures while sedated. I hope this helps! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any other questions or concerns that you may have. I am also available via phone or text consultation if needed. Please remember to rate this post as helpful or not. Thank you!

I'm sorry to hear that Frank is having this problem! I agree that it's concerning for him to still be having cluster seizures, even on a combination of different meds. I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian about the next recommended steps from here (possibly a dosage adjustment, or a different/additional medication such as zonisamide or gabapentin), or requesting referral to a specialist for further evaluation to see what else can be done.

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.

I'm very sorry to hear that your dog has epilepsy! If he has severe or frequent seizures, then he definitely does need to be on prescription medication to help control them. Legally, we cannot prescribe medication for any pet without first doing an in-person exam, so this is not something that can be done over the internet. So I'm afraid there's really no alternative except to take him to a veterinarian in your area to be seen, so he can be started on medication to help control the seizures. There is no reason that this should need to be a particularly expensive visit - most vets are very willing to work within the budget you have, as long as you let them know that you have financial constraints. If you don't think you can afford even the cost of the office visit +/- some basic lab work (which may be recommended prior to starting on meds), you could try calling your local shelter or humane society to see if they have any resources available to help pet owners in your position.

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know this is a very scary time. There are multiple causes of seizures. I'm not sure how old your dog is, but in dogs under 5 years old who are completely normal in between seizure episodes, epilepsy is the primary cause of seizures. In older dogs it could be inflammation, a brain tumor, and infection or problems with the organs (particularly the liver). I always recommend blood work first to look for any problems there. If the blood work is normal, the next step is to evaluate the brain by doing an MRI. If blood work has not been done, I would highly recommend it. If problems are found in the blood work, then you should treat that. If everything is normal in the blood work, I would recommend starting seizure medication. Some dogs will have seizures very infrequently like your dog started out. Those dogs don't usually need medication. But when they become more frequent and are clustering (multiple in a 24 hours period) then I would definitely recommend medication at this point. There are multiple different seizure medications to choose from, so talk to your veterinarian about that. Many times the seizures will be manageable with medications, but it takes consistent medication multiple times per day and blood rechecks for the drug levels. Honestly, some dogs will be very difficult or impossible to control and will continue to have seizures despite being on multiple medications. So to answer your question, yes, there is something you can do to help your pet and based on the number of seizures he is now having, he needs to be put on medication. I hope this helps!