Dear Dr. Audrey,
I have a 2-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who has seizures regularly. We give her 32.4 mg of phenobarbital twice a day as well as potassium bromide. I feel as if these pills don’t really do much but drain the life out of her. She’s always tired or out of it. I know they are suppose to control her seizures but she still has them and lately she has been doing this thing where her muscles will tighten up out of nowhere and she falls to the ground and then a minute later she’s herself again. I don’t know what to do. She’s the sweetest dog you’d ever meet as well. Do you think I should take her off of the pills?
Hi, I totally agree with you: Cavaliers are the most adorable little dogs! I don’t think you should take your little girl off her pills. They are probably preventing her from having even more seizures. Epilepsy can be tricky to manage, because we need to find a balance between stopping the seizures and, as you’ve described, causing too much sedation.
Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide are the most common medications used to treat epilepsy in dogs, but they can lose their effectiveness. There are other options for treating epilepsy in dogs; some of the human medications are quite effective. Before you change any drug doses, have a chat to your veterinarian about whether a change is appropriate, and what can be done about her tightening muscles and falling over. This too could be part of her seizure disorder.
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