[QUOTE=Muddiwarx] This, in itself, is a good reason for regular checkups and blood tests. Snorri-dog's latest set showed him to be fine, even after over 4 years of Pb

My vet was quite clear that medicating was a bit of a balancing act between the epilepsy and possible liver damage. However, liver damage is not a certainty, whereas more fits are. With his Pb, Snorri-dog has gone back to being a happy, fit wee lad, who enjoys life, instead of being one who spent too much time disoriented and confused.

One could argue interminably about whether or not he had any idea that he "wasn't quite right" (on balance, he wa probably unaware - which fits in with the perceptions of human epileptics I know), but he was always aware that something had happened which wasn't right.

Whilst the epilepsy itself is not fatal, it CAN shorten the lifespan, although I'm not certain of the exact mechanism (which my vary from dog to dog, anyway).

Even if his is a shorter life, at least it will be a better one. He's a lovely little dog, and he deserves the best.

Snorri

Yes but in this thread they are saying dont vaccinate, you are saying do, then test for titres. When I enquired i was told that whether a dog had been vaccinated or not didnt matter, you would only get a high titre count if the dog had been in contact with a disease it was vacced against, and the immune system memory cells were mounting a response to fight the disease. You cannot test for Leptospirosis anyway, so i cannot see the point of it.
Dawn.

No Dawn I am not the one who said vax, I said not to on the first page of this thread.


>>When I enquired i was told that whether a dog had been vaccinated or not didnt matter, you would only get a high titre count if the dog had been in contact with a disease it was vacced against, and the immune system memory cells were mounting a response to fight the disease. <<

If this were true how do they get a reading for rabies in UK?

Well the readings are so inconclusive a lot of the time, many dogs have had to be re- vaccinated, so if that is happening its proof of how useless it really is, I mean how many times should you re-vaccinate? Its only Rabies they test for, what about Lepto? because it doesnt illicit titres you cant test, this is a disease in this country far more dangerous at the present time than Rabies.

No they aren`t inconclusive Dawn, the test can only show the presence of antibodies, not memory cells. And I`ve heard of quite a few dogs whos tests have come back hifh so no need to booster.

People need to learn to understand how vax work & also what exactly titre testing is. What antibodies are, how they are produced, what memory cells are & the role they play.

Calling titre testing pointless & a waste of money when that isn`t true clearly doesn`t help people learn to understand. And thats the most important thing, so all this over vaxing can stop!

Here`s a good link explaining titre testing, vax & how it works.

http://www.fetchthepaper.com/read/06...th-options.htm

Lepto is bacterial, different to viral & they`re called serovars, don`t even think the vax in UK is for the ones causing the disease(think the vax used is for only 2 serovars) .
You can catch bacterial infections over & over cos the body only gets temporary immunity, one of the vax for it now gives cover for a year.

I hv a Basenji (13 yo) started its 1st attack 5 months ago
with monthly intervals, after 3 attacks I tried Omega3 oil
daily and so far no more attacks for the last 2 months. Every now and then she wud hv some muscle spasm, but
nothing as serious as the fit she suffered previously. I hope the Omega3 oil effect wud last and maybe some other dog owners cud give it a go. My dog is abt 12.5 kilos by weight, and my daily dosage at the moment is 1000mg (started off with around 500 mgs). If it doesnt work on Ur dog, at least it will give it a shiny coat. Best of luck.

Hi, can only repeat what the Lucky Star has said. My dog was on pb for three years with no side effects, apart from the first few days, when he was dopey and staggered about a bit. He still had small seizures about 4 or 5 a year. With help from the Canine Epilepsy Support Group we weaned him off the pb and he is now on tincture of skullcap and valerian, which, hopefully, has no side effects and is cheaper!! He has had one seizure this year in March (keep everything crossed for him) We keep him to a plain diet, no colourings and additives and try to keep him stress free. EG: make sure he knows he is NOT pack leader. Remember your dog is 'normal' most of the time, Although having never had a 'normal' dog I'm not sure what that's like all our dogs have always been a bit mental anyway. The CESG are very good and can give you a 12 step plan to help both you and your dog. It costs approx £10 for the year and you get updates and newsletters. He is now 10 years old and has more problems with his arthritis than his epilepsy. He has also had acupuncture for epilepsy and arthritis. He has Rescue Remedy straight after a fit to help him recover, also some honey on a rice biscuit or something to help boost his blood sugar. Since Brad has been on medication for epilepsy he has NOT had any vaccinations. Our other dog certainly won't be having anymore either as we nearly lost her after she had a terrible reaction to her first booster. Good luck with your dog. XX

I feel I ought to post an update on this thread as it's so old and things have moved on with respect to Loki, so I wouldn't want anyone thinking everything was hunky-dory after my last post on the thread.

After Loki's bad reaction to PB we decided to try potassium bromide, which I found out about through the Guardian Angels website. This has a better side effect profile and doesn't damage the liver; also it doesn't have to be given at exact intervals although it does take longer to build up in the system so fits are likely in the time it takes to reach threshold. However, our fit-free record is now 6 months and we've been able to decrease the dose so we are happy with that, considering he was fitting every 10 - 14 days at one point and we thought we'd lose him. We are currently at 20 weeks fit-free.

Loki is happy, healthy, extremely athletic and very, very active (LS collapses with exhaustion after yet another mammoth walk). We do have to watch salt intake because the chloride in salt can displace the bromide in the drug and reduce its effectiveness so most of what I give him is home-prepared. He is on a mainly natural diet with raw meat and bones etc. He still has his spoonful of ice-cream at night - one reason is to maintain his blood sugar levels but the other is because it's become a habit and he enjoys it!

I do wish we could have fought this without drugs but he was getting worse ... still, I live in hope.

Well, Snorri-dog is into 6 years fit-free, on phenobarb. His last siezure occurred when we tried to wean him off the drug - but at least, it proved he could do OK on only half the recommended dose. He first presented with epilepsy when he was 3, now, he's 9, and a seemingly healthy little tyke. He eats raw minced beef (supermarket "own brand") with a sprinkle of kibble, to which a tablet of SA37 multivitamin is added. We don't give him anything with salt, nor does he get anything with chocolate on it.He, too, was a bit dopey when he started on the Pb - this is normal, and Snorri has recovered now - his dopiness is the normal collie madness now!

Snorri