hi everyone
i'm looking for some advice/ reassurance here.
i have 2 dogs, a staff cross (potentially collie) bitch and a collie cross (potentially alsation/german shepherd) boy. the boy's epileptic, has been since around 6/7 months old. he's now 2 1/2 years old.
my bitch is the friendliest, sweetest dog you could ever meet, loves kids, other dogs, would quite happily go with a perfect stranger etc lol my boy was the same, until he became epileptic and started on phenobarbitol. he changed immediately to a nervous, aggressive to everyone on the street, really difficult dog. apparently phenobarbitol was banned for use in humans as it caused aggression? (my friends mum's a mental health nurse, she told me that).
he's a totally different dog in the house though, very friendly & sweet, loves my 7 month old son to bits etc. he quite happily allows my mum in, and one of my friends he goes nuts for 10 mins or so, seems to realise it's her, and is fine. anyone else is a no-go. he WILL NOT tolerate it. he also "zones" in & out, at times it's like he's not really with us at all.
i got a phone call last week regarding his recent blood tests informing me that
- the phenobarbitol levels in his blood seem fine, so they don't understand why he is still having seizures. one possibility is it might not be epilepsy at all, it may in fact be a brain tumour, but they will never know as they can't check ( why, i don't know, i mean, surely there are scanners etc).
- the liver function test was bad news. we expected him to have some scarring due to him not being able to take the potassium bromide to stop his body processing the phenobarbitol so quickly (it makes him excessively sick, so he's vomiting up the phenobarbitol before it gets to his bloodstream, which means he has more seizures, so it's pontless) but it's way worse than expected. the vet said the "normal" amount would be about 120, his is at 570.
he was already on an extremely high dose of phenobarbitol (120 mg every 12 hours) and shouldn't really go any higher, but the vet has told me to raise the dose to 150 mg every 12 hours, which i have done. i've to stop immediately and take him up if he becomes unconcious, is unable to walk, or continues to have seizures (as he'd have to be pts). they did say to give him a week on the seizure front though, as it could take that long for the higher dose to enter his bloodstream properly. he had 1 seizure within the week-long period.soon though (the longest they could give me to hope for was 2 months) this higher dosage won't be sufficient, and he can't have any higher, so he'll have to be pts.
i have noticed a change in his behaviour though. people can walk past the house (even with windows open), people can chap our door etc and he doesn't care. on walks, people can walk right past (previously he would try to drag me across a busy road to get at someone who had the cheek to walk on the other side) and he either ignores them, or wags his tail & tries to smile (hindered by the basket muzzle, which we hate, but advised to use one incase he goes to the "other world" & snaps at someone. he has never, ever bitten anyone, btw, even without a muzzle on). before we got the vet's phonecall, i would have been overjoyed that he seemed to have turned a corner, and was now a pleasure to walk etc, but now i'm worried that the dose is to high & is doping him up, or that after all the seizures he is now so badly brain-damaged (not a nice choice of words, but that's what the vet calls it) that he's not got a clue. i know i probably seem mad, worrying my dogs being "too friendly" but i know my dog & this is not him. it's like he's had a personality transplant.
basically, i'm wondering if this is normal, or to be expected, or a sign of something not being right etc. also, how to make sure his last 2 months (if we're lucky enough that he'll have that long) are the best ever, for him?
please note, as far as the vet is concerned, he is not suffering, he is perfectly happy. i wouldn't drag it out, i love my furry babies very much and would rather pts than allow them to suffer. i'm just so upset to think that soon, he won't be here any more. and he doesn't have a clue, as far as he knows everything is hunky-dory.
sorry this is so long, i've tried to cut it down without editing out important background info, etc