Help For Larry

[Guest Pandasmom]

Hi all. Some of you may remember Larry. We adopted him as a puppy. I don't get on much as we are really busy but I need some advice. In July Larry started having seizures. He was put on phenobarb and seemed to be doing ok. We have had to adjust it several times tho as he was still having minor seizures. Now he has been put on potasium bromide as well and is still having seizures. When he starts having them we have to give him valium to knock him out so they stop. We can't afford the $1800 to do a complete workup to get a complete diagnosis. Each month we are spending close to $200 for meds and blood work and office visits. He takes 7 pills a day and the valium every few weeks. Several weeks ago he was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism. We have that under control now and he is starting to lose some of the weight that he gained with that. He has always been around 62 lbs. He was at 77 at his highest and is now down to 73. We are working on getting the rest off. The vet said that since the hypothyroidism is under control and he is still having seizures then that can't be related. The vets are stumped as to what to do next and so are we. They have said that it may come to a point that Larry will be so drugged up to keep the seizures at bay that he won't be the same dog and we may need to consider putting him down. He will be 4 in a few weeks. We haven't had enough time with him. Does anyone know of an organization that helps with vet bills so we could get him a proper diagnosis? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[TheFullHouse]

How long has he been on the Potassium Bromide? The reason I ask is because it can take up to a month for the Potassium Bromide to build up in his system to help control his seizures. If that doesn't work there are other drugs out there that you can try.

 

How old was he when he started having seizures?

 

Here is a website with some very good information on seizures. It will also give you alternative drugs to try. Realistically, at his age, you could do a complete neuro work up on him just to find no cause at all. That's usually the case in dogs between the ages of 3 - 5 years.

 

Try this website and if there is anything I can help you with, please let me know. My Saint suffers from seizures but with medications we have had them under control for 6 years. I would also get my meds through a regular human pharmacy. Saint's medication costs us $21.00 a month.

 

 

Epilepsy Site

Edited October 28, 2010 by JillysFullHouse

[MP_the4pack]

Where do you get your meds? If they are human meds you can get them for WAY cheaper at Costco or Walmart.

 

My Pearl was on 21 pills a day (8 different meds) for her heart disease. If I went to any regular drug store, it would have cost me $400/month. Costco was $60/month. HUGE difference.

 

I hope this helps some.

[Tallgreydogmom]

I have two greyhounds with seizures and on thyroid medicine. They are on Phenobarbital and KBr. I have the vet write a scrip and get my medicine at Wal-mart, even the KBr. We still have break thru seizures.

 

Where are you located? There might be someone near you also dealing with seizures.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Tallgreydogmom

[Guest Pandasmom]

Larry was 3 when all this started. I feel better knowing that it can take a month for the Pot Bromide to take full effect. He has been on it for almost 3 weeks now. I will ask the vet for a script and go to Walmart. The medications I can deal with it's the blood tests all the time to test his liver and thyroid. Thanks for all the help. We are in southeast Kansas. Only 2 vets to choose from and the lady at the one I go to is pushy and tells me horror stories of other dogs. I totally don't need to hear that but the guy doc who works there is semi retired and hardly ever there. I refuse to go to the other place in town. Long story there. Thanks.

 

Talgreydogmom: How often are yours having break through seizures and what is the severity?

[TheFullHouse]

Once you get him stabilized and get the seizures in control you will only have to take him in every 6 months for blood work and it shouldn't be that expensive. If after being on the Potassium Bromide you still don't see an improvement, please check out the other drugs on the site I gave you. You can try Keppra, although more expensive, it may work for him. I know how difficult it can be and how hard it is to watch but if you get him under control, it will so be worth it.

[IndyandHollyluv]

This is so sad. Hope you are able to find a way to help sweet Larry. Give your pupper a hug for me.

[Guest sheila]

I don't know if this will help, but there is a Vet College in KS. Perhaps they might have some kind of program that could help Larry at a reduced cost. Couldn't hurt/might help to check it out. Here is a link to their website.

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/vmth/index.htm

[Guest zombrie]

My last foster who was just adopted suffers from horrible seizures and we were also told that he should be put down because they were so out of control. Every two weeks he would have cluster seizures (4-9 in 24 hours) but we didn't want to give up on him. We gave Keppra a try and then he had cluster seizures once a month. That was still too much - so Potassium Bromide was added almost 2 months ago now and his new family says he still hasn't had one.

What I am trying to get at is that it is trying different drugs and doses to find the right thing for him. Also, as money goes, Costco has amazing prices for the medications

[Guest Pandasmom]

I don't know if this will help, but there is a Vet College in KS. Perhaps they might have some kind of program that could help Larry at a reduced cost. Couldn't hurt/might help to check it out. Here is a link to their website.

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/vmth/index.htm

 

Thanks. They are the ones that I would have to take him too and the cost is $1800. There is no Costco anywhere near me but Waklmart might have a better price than the vet. If all this still doesn't work I'll ask about Keppra. Thanks.

[Batmom]

Several weeks ago he was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

 

 

Phenobarbitol causes thyroid values to show up as low on most tests. If he isn't truly hypothyroid -- and if he wasn't before taking pheno, he probably isn't now -- the supplementation could be complicating his medical condition.

 

 

[Guest lynne893]

Good luck and stick with it. Is there a local greyhound group you can speak with about the costs and for moral support? Also, maybe they could give you a loan that you could pay off incrementally?

[Guest Pandasmom]

Thanks all. We are going to stick it out with the phenobarb and KBr for another week or two and then if things aren't improving then we will try the Keppra. Supposedly there is a pharmacy in AZ that specializes in compounding drugs for dogs and they have it for really cheap. Shipping was really reasonable also. You all make me feel so much better when things look bad. I will try and get on more often. Here is the number for the pharmacy in AZ.

 

Diamondback Drugs

866-646-2223

[Tallgreydogmom]

 

 

Talgreydogmom: How often are yours having break through seizures and what is the severity?

 

One has gone years without a seizure. The other one is 13. She can go for months without a seizure then have them every month for awhile. They are usually just mild seizures. Last week with the full moon she had a cluster of 5 seizures. It took her about a week to recover from them. She is fine now, prancing around like her old self.

 

We don't have a lot of blood work done. Give him plenty of time to adjust to the medicine. Months and months I would say. Try to look for a sign (aura) that something is going on. If we can catch it we give her something to chew on or sit and play with her to try to move the mind on. You really just have to hang in there with them.

Best of luck