[Zookeeper]

I have a good friend with a shitzu that has had some seizures and been prescribed Phenobarbital. My friend hasn't given her the meds yet because she's read so many horror stories about PB on the internet.

I know some of you have beagles that have the same issues and was hoping you could share your thoughts on the meds with me. Though we had a poodle that took meds when I was a kid, I don't recall much about the side effects. Any help in reassuring my friend would be appreciated.

 

[beaglesmom]

I have several friends on Beagle Bay who have used pheno for seizures for their dogs. I have no first hand knowledge of it, tho it's usually successful in preventing further seizures - at least for a while. Sadly, one of our assistant managers had her dog pts on Friday - when the seizures could no longer be controlled. However, I've known of beagles where this treatment was successful for years.

I found this website with information about side effects, etc. Hope it's helpful.

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/phenobarbital.htm

 

[Erin]

One of the things we tried for Daisy's episodes was Pheno. We don't know what's wrong with her but because the vet was at her witts end, she decided it was possible Daisy's problems were related to seizure activity. We put her on pheno because the vet said it was often used and had very little side effects. We had Daisy on one dosage for two weeks and the max dosage for a few weeks as well. It didn't help her problem (we kind of figured it wasn't a seizure) but we didn't notice any side effects for the time she was on it. However, I'm not sure what long term side effects could occur.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Our Spook is on phenobarbitol, and it's been very effective for controlling his seizures. He's been on it for a couple of years, and has shown no side effects. Our vet insists on bloodwork every 6 months to check the phenobarbitol levels in Spook's system. As long as the level isn't too high, the dosage is okay.

Spook started with 64.8 mg a day, but we've gradually decreased to 32.4. So far, he's doing okay on the smaller dose. The decrease had to be made very gradually, however, because a too large decrease suddenly can and, probably would, bring on seizures. While I was working on the decrease, I felt like I needed a degree in mathematics.