Labrador Epilepsy

[ModreB]

We have a large Choc Lab boy, 11yo, who has been fitting since he was about 5yo. Large as in large for a Lab, not fat, pure muscle and not an inch of excess body on him. Normal for a Choc Lab who has lots of exercise. Great hip score, less than 6 on both. Exercise every day, long walk and access to big outside area. 2 other dogs, both JRT. We have a large garden with a designated dog place outside the door for them to do their business etc. Before they go into the main garden.

Fits range from petit mal absences, to full mal convulsions, loss of bowel and bladder, thrashing around until he destroys furniture etc, as he is so big and heavy, I cant get him into a dog place when he is fitting, as he is so heavy. But, Vets say that the effect of medication will outweigh the effect of the fits because they are infrequent and unpredictable. ISWIM. When we spoke to the vet, fits were about every 8 weeks.

Fits are getting worse, and having an effect on the other DDogs who are distressed when he is fitting. He fits about once every 6 weeks, alternating between big and small.

Do I now insist on medication, or wait and see.

[HoneyDragon]

A good friend of mine who isn't a member has read your thread and experience in this. I'll post what's she's said .....

[HoneyDragon]

in the opinion of this former owner of epi dogs, an 11 year old dog with fits which are increasing in frequency would benefit from medication more than he would not.
Vets don't like to prescribe meds because of the long term effects upon the liver but at 11 that's not such a big issue - sadly you're unlikely to be looking at the dog still being alive in another 7 years time so the meds won't have time to build up to that extent.
Better to prevent further fits/longer or fuller blown ones/more frequent ones than to wait and see imho and I would definitely be pushing for a small dose of phenobarbitol and regular blood tests.
She should be looking at prevention in her own environment too - no stress or over excitement for the dog, no pine chemicals in his environment, no additives, preservatives or flavourings in his food, no treats with any of the same in them and so on. And ffs don't let him near water... if he fits she won't be able to get him out.
Also, if the vet does prescribe, it's generally cheaper to get a prescription off him/her and buy the meds from a reputable UK ONLY online supplier like PetMeds than it is to buy from the vet surgery. I wish the OP good luck in controlling the monster which is epilepsy.

[Mylittlepotofjoy]

Defiantly medicate my 10 year old Irish setter is epileptic and is on epiphen and now diazepam. He is defiantly better with medication and has been on epiphen since he was 5 with no problems. He is now on diazepam as he has started having cluster fits ( more than 3 in24 hours ) without the medication he would be dead. One tip for bringing them round is hagg and daz vanilla ice cream in the mouth as they come out of the seizure , it puts Glucose back into their systems quickly and they start to come round quicker

[daisydotandgertie]

You could also post your questions on labradorforums.com - there is a massive amount of experience on there about epilepsy in labs. It would be worth asking there, I am certain.

[MitchellMummy]

Agree totally with Honey and Littlepot. I had a retriever who went on to medication at 2 years old and lived until nearly 13. I would definitely medicate. I'd always rather quality over quantity of years left. Good luck! x

[Clg199]

I'm surprised at the vet's advice not to medicate. Our 9 yr old greyhound has had petit mal seizures since he was 5 and has been on epiphen the whole time. The vet's thinking was that repeated petit mals can become grand mals so best to get them under control. He's needed his meds increased a couple of times to keep in the therapeutic range, but he's shown no sign of any side effects at all (apart from becoming slightly more gobby, but we can cope with that!)

As long as he keeps his meds stable (and doesn't secretly spit them out in his bed) you would never know he had epilepsy or was on meds. Hope you can find a good solution for your boy.