Hi all,

Im new on here (have introduced myself like a good girl on the introductions page )

Anyway - our Lurcher is 4 years old and was recently (3 - 4 months ago) diagnosed with epilepsy - he had a seizure (which we didnt realise at the time) in the garden and came in doors to after it had happened covered in saliva. We didnt know what it was - thought maybe he had been sick and rolled in it or something like that. We agreed (my boyfriend & I) to wait and see if it happened again.... Needless to say it did - he just collapsed one day in the conservatory and had a seizure - luckily my boyfriend was with him at the time so we took him straight to the vet. He put him on a small dose of anti seizure drugs - Epilease I think they were. Anyway - to cut a long story short he kept having breakthroughs on the drugs so more and more were added in. The vet has now told us that the prognosis isnt looking good and it is more than likely a brain tumour

He is on 16 tablets a day - consisting of Epanutin, Epilease, Mysoline and Epiphen. We are on the understanding that this is it - if he has a break through on this that nothing more can be done. We were offered a brain scan but a) we cant afford it and b) we were told that it more than likely wouldnt alter the course of treatment and even if they said they could operate it might not be effective and we dont want him to have his last days recovering from an op that didnt cure him.....

Has anyone else got or had a dog that has been on this mixture of drugs? Did they suffer any side effects? Our dog is unable to make it through the night anymore - he used to be the cleanest dog in the world but now has an accident every night - not sure if this is the meds or the illness (whatever it is)

Sorry - Ive waffled on a bit here but any help, guidance etc would be very much appreciated

Im so sorry to hear of your situation , i cant imagine how helpless you must be feeling , i have had no experience with eplilepsy or tumours ( i have a friend who is epileptic if that counts ) . i can only assume a lot of his out come will be down to getting levels of drugs right and keeping him compfortable , have a look on th e net about managing the condition and see if any one has had any luck with alternative remedies holistic aproach could help .

keeping my fingers crossed for you .
Andrea .

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We spoke to the vet last night and they are hedging their bets on it being a tumour

They can't / wont give us an estimated time scale so we are just going to enjoy our last days / weeks / months with him.

Its so sad - hes such a lunatic ! He makes us laugh every day - the other night he dragged a 2kg bag of potatoes from the kitchen to the lounge to play with!

Still - at least hes still with us

Thanks for your thought....

My heart really goes out to you and your sweet dog,
We had a cat who had a brain tumor and we took him down the surgery route,after seeing what he went through,the operations ,the recovery,the drugs only to be told 6 months later it had returned and he would have to be put to sleep and within that 6 months he was ill and on medication..we vowed we would never put a friend of ours through something like that again...i would make him comfortable with medications and enjoy the time you have with him and remember him the way he is than remembering a sick animal recovering from an operation only to lose him anyway like we have.
I know its a hard decision and i'm only sharing my experience with you not telling you what to do.
Good luck x

I know you arent telling me / us what to do... Thank you for your kind thoughts.

It is so nice to hear (not meant in a horrible way) from people who have been or are going through the same thoughts and feelings of complete and utter helplessness as we are. When you speak to non-animal people they kind of look at you as though you are a bit cuckoo for being the way you are.

It makes you realise you arent alone..... especially seeing as caring for a seriously ill animal can be a very lonely position to be in..... but I wouldnt have it any other way....

xx

Hows your friend doing?

Sorry 2 hear about your dog,i have an AB who suffers from epilepsy,she is nearly 3 now & we had to spend lots of time tryin 2 get her meds right,after a brain scan 2, 2 rule out anything else,luckly nothin showed up but it is a very costly condition but i have her insured thankfully.she is on a comb of epiphen & kbr ,have 2 keep an eye on her weight though,food 2 & she gets no treats for dogs,but she gets lots of fresh fruit &veg which she just loves.shes not had a fit in a couple of months now which i put down 2 her diet.found out about the food on this forum.VG.....hope your dog keeps well,marie.....sorry she was on epilese & i found it made her v tired all time.

I am sorry to hear about your dog, suffering with Epilepsy. I know someone who has a dog, with this problem and I don't know, if its any help to you but she said she uses Ice Cream, to help cool her dog down after she has seizures - Her dog, is quite big though so maybe its because she is a big dog where as a whippet is only little....

Hope this helps.

Take care
xxxxxx

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No seizures or toilet accidents recently thank goodness.

These last few days he has been full of life and back to the old bossie we used to know.... It comes and goes though - he has a few good days then is down and mopey for a couple of days.... But we can handle that - so long as the seizures stay away... If he has a seizure on this mix of meds - its definitely a brain tumour....

Thank you for asking

Thank you - I will bear that in mind. Hes a Lurcher (not whippet) so he is quite big - ice cream could help him... He will think all his dreams have come true - he craves human food at the moment and I honestly think he would kill for double cream !!!!

PS - you GSD looks lovely