Thanks Elaine

Some will remember that the late Snorri-dog (another BC) was also epileptic, he presented with it when he was a little past his 3rd birthday and lived with it until he was over 10.

His meds (Phenobarb) were prescribed on the basis of his weight, until we discovered that he could cope well on half the dose.

He used to get the human variety of Pb until the bl@@dy E.U. interfered and prevented vets from prescribing human meds for animals (supposedly to stop residues from getting into the food chain, but, IMO, anyone who eats dog or cat deserves all the residues they get ). After that, he had to have epiphen - same stuff, but in a different pack and 8x as much!

We used to give him his pills in a bit of spiked sausage, for which we set an alarm; eventually, he came trotting up whenever he heard the alarm go off!

He had 7 years of happy life on his meds - see my Dogsey article, the pic is of Snorri-dog rampaging on a local beach, enjoying himself to the full.

You will achieve this with Cassie, and end up wondering why you were quite so worried! Best wishes!


Snorri

Thanks for that Snorri. We know it's just a case of getting the meds right. It's just hard to watch isn't it? I've read your article and it certainly helped Cassie's so good at taking her meds. She just sits and waits patiently when they're due. She must know they are for her own good.

It is, indeed, bl@@dy awful to watch - the first time Snorri went off, I thought he was dying! But I learned to cope, and be able to stroke him on his way back to consciousness. He used to make a bit of a mess, too (bowels and bladder giving way), but it wasn't his fault, so we just petted him back to "normality", regardless.

Cassie will never know what's happening, but she may well be a bit confused when it's over - just let her wander about a bit and regain her sense of place, then she'll be fine.

Snorri

We were the same. I wasn't home for the first one. John was here by himself but she had a second one on the night and I was absolutely hysterical

You're right though, we learned to cope too and I was able to get her on the floor yesterday with a towel under her head and stroked her and talked to her the whole time until she responded.

Cassie hasn't lost bowel control yet so that hasn't been too bad but as you say, if it happens, you deal with it

That's what we've been doing is just letting her wander around and sniff the familiar places afterwards then she generally lies down on the kitchen floor where it's cool for a while. We just keep an eye on her to make sure she's safe and it isn't long before she's back to her normal tail wagging self. Tired but ok.

Thanks again Snorrixx

Sorry I missed this, I can only imagine how distressing it will be for you and John, Cassie too of course. Poor girl, I hope she's doing ok and you get the meds sorted soon.xx

Thanks Janet. It is distressing but moreso for us. Cassie doesn't know anything about it so that's a blessing. She's doing fine now. She's full of beans tonight and currently asking for more markies! I'm just about to post a couple of pics. xx

Chester our st bernard has epilepsy. He has had it for about two years since he was 15 months. The first year whilst we was getting the medication sorted was the hardest now he's doing really well - 3 months fit free -. Chester takes Gabapentin, which I get from Boots on a private prescription, He has a very large dose due to his size - 3 x 300mg three times a day. Aswell as 7 phenobarb 60mg twice a day and 3x1000mg elilease in the morning. The cost of the Gabapentin came down from £138 per month to £37 per month recently so its not to bad if you don't have insurance. Chester has also had the MIR scans etc done at the animal health trust in Newmarket but they didn't show any cause. Chester needs to go to the vets when he starts to fit as he cluster fits and needs an I/V drip to stop them. Just hang in there, it will get easier.

Thanks very much