Help please

[PINKZEBRA81]

Hello,
My dog Scruffy is 6 months old and was just diagnosed with epilepsy. the vet put him on 15 mg of Phenobarbital nad my puppy is just not the same. he sleeps a lot, stumbles around and falls time to time. He has also started pooping on himself. I noticed before he poops on himself he crys or whimpers. I just don't know if this is normal. Please give me your thoughts or experience with this, thanks

Tiffany

[UGAgal]

I wish I could offer some advice but I unfortunately have no idea on the subject or animals. But wanted to say I hope your pup gets to feeling better and that you do find the answers you seek. Good luck to you.

[brienzi]

hello @PINKZEBRA81 I'm not sure if your in the right place to get the advice you need, maybe a quick call to the vet is a good place to start..While their are many animal lovers here, including myself, I'd rather rely on their expertise in these matters than PR.
I like the name Scuffy, that's cute.....

[crucibelle]

That made me sad just reading your post, @PINKZEBRA81 . Please, please call the vet and tell him what is going on. Keep us updated, if you don't mind. I hope your dog is ok.

[billyboy1965]

Hello,
My dog Scruffy is 6 months old and was just diagnosed with epilepsy. the vet put him on 15 mg of Phenobarbital nad my puppy is just not the same. he sleeps a lot, stumbles around and falls time to time. He has also started pooping on himself. I noticed before he poops on himself he crys or whimpers. I just don't know if this is normal. Please give me your thoughts or experience with this, thanks

Tiffany

Aww man. You hit a soft spot in my heart. I love dogs. I've been through medical issues with dogs.

Remember, a 6 month old puppy is the equivalent of an infant child. The only advice I can muster up is to get a second opinion. If you can, get the medical history of the parents.

Really...please don't be offended...it hurts me to say this...consider the impact of test upon test of your beloved pet ~ if it's improving its quality of life or your hope that it is. I'm sorry to say that.

I am so sorry I'm tearing up as I type. Dogs are so stoic. Love. Give your dog love. That is the best you can do. Give your puppy as much love as you can. If it comes to it....I'm so sorry...you will know your puppy had as much love as s/he could possibly have.

And just maybe, you'll be loving him for another 13 years. I'm so sorry. That drug is not unusual for puppies with that condition. House training can take a year with any puppy. I wish you the absolute best.

[Good Apollo]

Ask for a weaker barb or smaller dose, perhaps?

[junk1]

i probably should not even try to suggest anything being that i ride the short bus , but how long has he been having the fits maybe you have an option to cut the dose in half to see how it would effect him or than again maybe as with people sometimes there is a period of time it takes for the body aclamated to the new medication. Either way i hope lil scruffy has a long healthy life and like @brienzi said call the vet and hit them up for the 411

*This post was auto-merged. The following text was added 2 minutes after the last post:*
@nopizza DOH you hit enter before i did i swear i did not steal your idea lol

[Tempted]

As a veterinarian I would say this is not normal. You need to take him back in either to your vet or a veterinary neurologist. They should also have given you a time table as to when they want to test the phenobarbital level. That said, if youre wary of the phenobarbital you could ask your veterinarian to switch to a drug called keppra. My second choice would be zonisamide. These drugs are more expensive but don't have any of the negative side effects. Phenobarbital is not a good choice in my book for a six month old dog since long term it damages the liver. So I would switch. But take him back to your vet to make sure something is not underlying the seizures.

[Squelix]

@PINKZEBRA81 ; If Scruffy is 6 months old its possible that someone else has started housetraining him. If he is crying before soiling himself maybe he is just desperate to find the door and get out to poop. Why don't you try picking him up (if possible) and running to the outside so he can go there? Maybe that will give him the idea that he can signal you when he has to go. Good luck.

[Good Apollo]

@Tempted isn't tramadol indicated for mild doggy seizures?? Or maybe it caused doggie seizures... Or maybe it just seized by customs never know with tramadol... But seriously.

[Tempted]

@Tempted isn't tramadol indicated for mild doggy seizures?? Maybe it was caused doggie seizures... Or maybe it just seized by customs never know with tramadol... But seriously.

@nopizza . If it is, the other drugs are much more effective. I have only ever heard of tramadol lowering seizure threshold in humans. We use a lot of tramadol for post-surgical And cancer pain in dogs. They don't get oral full mu opiates to go home. Abuse potential with owners is too high. Except for fentanyl patches in extreme cases.

To the op, if your puppy has only had one seizure, you may not even need to have daily medications. I usually only start daily if they seize more than once in 6 months. Also, with a young puppy there may be underlying congenital cause like hydrocephalus. Especially common in yorkies. What breed is the puppy?

[Good Apollo]

@Tempted so sad you have to limit pets medicine bcs of owner abuse. Of the meds. Only asked bcs I'm sure at least 2/3 of the members of this site have some tramadol somewhere... know what trams cause seizures in humans probably not the right thing for the poor doggy

[Perromaldido]

@nopizza .......conservative statement, lol ;-)

[Good Apollo]

@nopizza .......conservative statement, lol ;-)

I wasn't going to even write that bcs I didn't wanna generalize... Lol.

[EIT]

My dog suffered a strange neurological problem a few years ago. He could not swallow or drink water for several days. Vet was stumped. He started to be able to drink again and eat again a few days later. After returning from a week long vacation it appeared that one side of his head was sunken in. I freaked. Vet still had no explaination. He got better and his head shape returned to normal. Almost a year later I had a new, younger, and possibly more experienced vet who diagnosed what had happened just from his chart...it was a neurological virus...Moral of the story...GET A SECOND OPINION even if you have had good experiences with your current vet.

[Perromaldido]

I feel bad for suffering pets, since I was born I always had cats around and they really became part of the family, not to mention an ex gf who had a beautiful Husky dog and when she passed away she was relly shattered.....yet I can't help thinking of posts starting with my dog as SWIM or AFOF. Don't mean to to ne cynical, maybe it's just me because in the past I got to the point of ordering vet hydros....

[anielsen92]

I noticed my dog whimpers since he has been taking phenobarbital 60 mg for his seizures. I found that he walks back and forth from the back door to the living room over and over again. This is very important because I have read some people about to put their dogs down. Your dog is not pooping on himself. When he cries and whimpers that is him telling you he has to go to the bathroom. I have a Husky Mix and he doesn't bark at the back door like he used to, now he just walks back and forth and whimpers. He is basically telling you he has to take a poop... I observed my dog and he does alot of things different. Like is brain isnt working the same. Take him out when he whimpers or you will be cleaning up poop. Their mannerisms change.