My dog "Porter" is a 13-year old, 47 lb. border collie-lab mix. He's in excellent health and loves to hike and play. We've spent our lives together outside and we're very close.
Three days ago at 10:00 PM, he wandered out from his bedroom and had a massive, 4-min. seizure on the living room rug. It was absolutely horrible to see. I called the vet and they said to come in the next morning. At 1:00 AM, he had another major seizure. The next morning at 8:00 AM he had a third grand mal seizure before I took him to the vet.
Each time the seizures were similar in intensity and recovery. It took him about 30 min. afterwards to stop pacing, panting, stumbling, and looking very confused until he finally recognized me and settled down a bit.
We went to the vet and they did blood tests and took x-rays. There was a slight liver abnormality but nothing else bad. The vet prescribed 48.6 mg of Phenobarbital which I administered at 11:00 AM that morning.
It's now been 48 hours and he hasn't had another seizure. He is, however, uncoordinated and his hind legs are weak. He sometimes stumbles or walks slightly sideways, he seems to react strangely to noises, and is in general acting slightly odd. Once outside, his gait seems more normal and his energy improves. Now for my questions:
1) I'm aware of the side effects of Phenobarbital, but do they/can they start very soon after the med is started?
2) Even though the effect of Phenobarbital takes 1-2 weeks to be work effectively, does it/can it start working a little right away?
3) Is Porter's lack of seizures likely unrelated to the Phenobarbital at this point?
4) Could his behavior and lack of coordination be related to the seizures and not the Phenobarbital?
I want to believe that the Phenobarbital is working, but at this point I'm still very nervous about the whole situation and worry that the worse is yet to come even though the seizures have stopped.
Thanks in advance.
Three days ago at 10:00 PM, he wandered out from his bedroom and had a massive, 4-min. seizure on the living room rug. It was absolutely horrible to see. I called the vet and they said to come in the next morning. At 1:00 AM, he had another major seizure. The next morning at 8:00 AM he had a third grand mal seizure before I took him to the vet.
Each time the seizures were similar in intensity and recovery. It took him about 30 min. afterwards to stop pacing, panting, stumbling, and looking very confused until he finally recognized me and settled down a bit.
We went to the vet and they did blood tests and took x-rays. There was a slight liver abnormality but nothing else bad. The vet prescribed 48.6 mg of Phenobarbital which I administered at 11:00 AM that morning.
It's now been 48 hours and he hasn't had another seizure. He is, however, uncoordinated and his hind legs are weak. He sometimes stumbles or walks slightly sideways, he seems to react strangely to noises, and is in general acting slightly odd. Once outside, his gait seems more normal and his energy improves. Now for my questions:
1) I'm aware of the side effects of Phenobarbital, but do they/can they start very soon after the med is started?
2) Even though the effect of Phenobarbital takes 1-2 weeks to be work effectively, does it/can it start working a little right away?
3) Is Porter's lack of seizures likely unrelated to the Phenobarbital at this point?
4) Could his behavior and lack of coordination be related to the seizures and not the Phenobarbital?
I want to believe that the Phenobarbital is working, but at this point I'm still very nervous about the whole situation and worry that the worse is yet to come even though the seizures have stopped.
Thanks in advance.