Hi Luca - Pereg was put onto Pb after having two very severe seizures in one day, a week after her first one. The dose was increased following another two bad ones in one day, just two weeks later. There was no discussion about neurological tests at that time, and it was only mentioned this morning as an action to be taken if she has more frequent seizures. The aim is to get her to just one a month.

I have garnered a lot of very useful information from an American forum for canine epilepsy which is connected to a major university - if the Yahoo support group is the one I am thinking of I did apply to join but withdrew my application when I received an email with all the rules of the group, including the instructions not to post until I had been a member for a few weeks etc, and then not to ask too many questions but to look it up in the group's search engine first. Thanks but no thanks being my feelings regarding that!

I get all the actual support that I need from Dogsey - and Dogsey has the great advantage of being fun as well as being supportive and full of fantastic help. Nobody here says not to ask questions but to look it up in case someone has asked the same question before!

KBr and Keppra are both available here but I have no idea of the cost. The Pb she is on is a human one, not the veterinary Epiphen, and my Vet wants to give Pb by itself, at the current dose, a fair chance to see how effective it is for Pereg.

I do not know if rectal Valium is available here - it probably is but I would not be physically capable of giving it to Pereg even if I had some. It really is a bit of a booger, but then it is not Pereg's fault that she is epileptic, is it.

And as the Dogsey folk know, I love her so very very much.

So sorry to hear that Peregs seizures are getting closer together.

With your devotion & love that you give her she is one lucky girly to have you by her side xx

So sorry to hear Pereg is not doing so well just now.
I hope it is just a 'blip' and things will go back to further apart.
I am so sorry I cant offer any help, but am sending hugs and vibes to you both.
xxx

I'm sorry to hear she's had another so soon. Just because one's come closer doesn't necessarily mean they all will though. I was having them every 2 weeks this time last year but haven't had one since 31st October. I'm always expecting a seizure since there's no pattern to mine so I can relate to that, it's not much fun.

I've had all sorts of tests done and all they've found is that I've got abnormal brain waves which is no help at all in treating the seizures but did rule out brain tumours, lesions and anything else that may be causing the seizures.

I really hope you can get Peregs seizures under some sort of control. For your sake and hers.

Thank you Sarah - your experience with your own seizures have gone a long way to helping me understand things. It is easy enough for me to read about and talk to other people with epi dogs but they just know what they see, as I do with Pereg, not how their dog might feel. Your description about feeling sore as in after a gym workout was far more helpful than reading things such as "my epi dog is so weak afterwards".

So it was just two weeks. So hopefully it will be longer next time.

And I coped, and I helped Pereg through the seizure and through the post-ictal stage, and we managed. Pereg and I. We are a team. Pereg and I.

And if dogs can feel love then yes, Pereg does love me. Of that I am sure.

I am also sure that she knows that I love her.

Pereg is my girl - epi or not she is still my girl and I love her.

This morning Dr Vadim, our Local Authority Vet turned up at ~8.30am to give her her yearly rabies shot. He had not seen her since last year but knew from our own Vet that Pereg was epileptic. I was expecting him but it could have been at any time, not this morning, and I told him Pereg had had another Grand Mal yesterday, and he assured me that the rabies shot would not affect her epilepsy.

I think I knew that as our own Vet had given her her yearly boosters when she was diagnosed.

The what ifs, the whys - there really is no point in asking, is there?

But I think I have almost made my mind up that I will not put Pereg through any MRI or LP tests. I just want her to be as happy as she is now, with yesterday's episode gone and forgotten, and today being another day of normality for both of us.

She has just had her supper/dinner/whatever you call it, and is now flonked down by my feet - her bum resting against my front wheel and her head towards the open doorway.

So relaxed and content.

And it makes me weep.

I'm glad it helps Malka. I'm always a little worried people may think I'm trying to hijack the thread or gain sympathy for myself or something. I'm not, I just hope that in explaining how I'm affected by a seizure that it goes some way to helping people cope with their dogs seizures. Especially about the pain some worry that their dogs are in while having one or after one.

Oh no Sarah - your comments are so much appreciated, bless you, and I am so grateful to you.

This is what I have never been able to garner from the specific canine epilepsy sites. Just what people see with no idea how their dogs might feel, and too many horror stories and those with tragic outcomes.

But no real acknowledgement that an epi dog does have physical and probably mental feelings.

I know that when Pereg comes out of a seizure, even if she is still partially clonic, her eyes focus and yes, she knows I am there and she can hear me. Whether she knows I am with her during the major clonic phase I do not know but am pretty sure she does.

In fact I am sure she does.

She might not be aware of what happens during the seizure itself, but she knows I am with her when she starts to come out, and that I will stay with her.

She knows. No question. She knows.

I love her so very very much.

That's what I mean, you can only see what your dog is going through. She can't tell you how it feels or what she goes through. No animal can. I know there's no guarantee dogs are affected the same way I am but at least I can assure you there's no major pain when I've had a seizure (except when I smash my head into concrete floors anyway ) and that my seizures are scarier for onlookers than me coz I know nothing about it. I would assume those things are the same for dogs. And at least Pereg won't be waiting and wondering for her next one like I know you will be.

And a dog with epilepsy is still a regular dog with feelings and needs and thoughts, they just happen to have fits