epilepsy in dog, anyone any experience?

[overthemill]

there is a dog in rescue which I have fallen in love with. He has epilepsy and is therefore difficult to rehome. I am seriously considering rehoming him (ie have arranged to take afternoon off work to drive the 2 hours to see him!).

BUT wondered who here has any experience of having a dog with epilepsy? I need to know the practical, day to day things involved: do's and don't's. I have done masses of research on the internet now so feel I understand much more but need the low down from MNers!

we have 3 kids: 12, 16 and 18. Loads of little furries and another lovely, friendly dog (same breed). I work part time and they would be alone part of the day 4 days (2 days hardly at all and 2 days longer ) and I believe this is ok so long as it's not all day every day.

I simply can't bear the thought that this lovely dog is being passed over because of his medical condition...

are u on fb?

look up vallhala mn she is a longer term fosterer to an epi dog. she can point u in some good directions.

i fell in love with an epileptic dog at a rescue but as i have very young children (all under 12) we werent suitable for rehoming him. he was a golden retriever. from what i gather, the medication can be very pricey.

i think the meds would be £150 ish if buy online (vets have to give a prescription plus 2 repeats) so not too bad for us - we could manage i think

is vallhala on fb?

Yes she uses the nme I gve erlier (my phone keys don't work)

£150 is expensive. What sort of meds are they? My JRT had epilepsy meds and they cost us around £8 per month. It was all the blood tests that took up the money but the rescue should already have paid for those. They need doing periodically but you should have time to save up for those.

Up here they are around £60 for the regular blood tests, more for scans etc.

Often rescues will continue to pay for the meds and you foster the dog on a long term basis rather than adopt outright (this is what ours does for older or ill dogs)

ooh that is interesting, thank you. I priced it up at biggest dose of drug eperphen which is what he is on at moment. the rescue doesn't help out with costs. we are not rich by any means but always seem to find teh money for our animals!
going to call our vet for info and advice too

my vet says £22 pm max drugs (from them so i'd get it cheaper online) and £40 ish 2 x a year for blood tests

what I'd like to know is the day to day implications of epilepsy - do I need to stand and stare at the dog, or treat as 'normal' except when having a seizure?

any behavioural issues associated with epilepsy?

I had a large dog with epilepsy when on meds she was fine. From time to time vet had to adjust dose and while everything settled down we would have 1 or 2 weeks where she would have seizures. You will learn how to look after your dog , I don't recall it being a big deal in terms of time or any more restrictive than a healthy dog.

You get to recognise the signs and the dog can be very tired and confused after a episode. Just needs reassurance , water and a quite place to recover.

my dog had epilepsy, and eventually i couldn't leave him alone in the house in case he had a seizure.

it all depends on the dog, how bad his epilepsy is, how frequent his seizures are, how well he responds to medication.

i'd be wary of leaving him in with the other dog. it's possible they could panic & attack him while he's seizuring- again, it depends on the dog.

do look up val on fb, or failing that, google poplar farm rescue kennels ( which is who val will advise you to contact).