Accepted Answer

I am so very sorry your dog is having problems. Idiopathic epilepsy can be very frightening to watch as well as very difficult to treat. Please make sure your veterinarian is checking the blood levels of the various seizure medications she is taking. Sometimes dogs can be taking this medications at an 'average' dose but when we actually look at the levels of the drugs in that individual's system, the drugs aren't present in a therapeutic dose. So the first thing we need to do is to make sure she is receiving the proper treatment. If the drugs are in her system at a therapeutic level, sometimes the addition of other drugs will help control the seizures. Clorazepate is an example but there may be others with which your veterinarian may be more familiar. I am concerned about the acute onset of the seizures. Usually idiopathic epilepsy has a more insidious onset ... in other words, it comes on gradually. I would recommend that a complete blood panel be run on this dog ... EVERYTHING ... this includes all of the chems, thyroid, as well as auto-immune panels. If you have access, I would also recommend that a CT scan be run on this dog ... maybe even an EEG. This is a challenging case ... I believe that further diagnostics such as I've suggested will help your veterinarian develop a more efficacious treatment plan. You're going through a really tough time right now. I hope things turn around soon!!!

Expert:	LouA
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:
Answered:	6/14/2008

Dog Veterinarian

20+ yrs experience in vet medicine, special interest in Sighthounds, successful Agility competitor