Epileptic Dog?

What Effects does Phenobarbital have on Dogs and Cats?

I researched this topic because our oldest MinPin Ginger (age 12) recently started having epileptic fits.  Picture below is of Ginger earlier this year before she began having epileptic fits. It’s hard when you’re holding your “baby” and she’s having a violent shaking attack.

If you’re dealing with the fits and an epileptic dog for the first time before you’ve seen the vet, you may find talking to your pet, holding her/him firmly and keeping her/him from hurting him/herself is helpful. This was my first instinct and seemed to work. Wiping her copious saliva with a wet face cloth was helpful in calming her.

Epileptic Dog Treatment

When we visited the vet we learned Phenobarbital is the treatment recommended by most vets. Side effects of this treatment which works by decreasing the neuron activity in the brain responsible for seizures.  However, in the process it disturbs other brain activities as well. Side effects include:

• Sedation.
• Lethargy.
• Increased urination, thirst and appetite.
• Hyperactivity or restlessness.
• Loss of coordination in leg movement.

We’ve seen all of these with Ginger and we’ve taken a week or two to get the dosage right because each dog or cat is affected differently by the drug.

Epileptic Dog Results

I’m pleased to report that we’ve finally got Ginger’s medication balanced and she’s doing OK. We rarely get any fits now and although she’s sometimes a bit wobbly on her feet she’s getting around.

The biggest learning has been that once she wakes up – if she starts wandering around you know she wants one of 4 things!

A drink

Some food

To pee

To poop

Ken Alston
The Healthy Pet Food guy

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