Things are not going well for Wolfgang

Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of Wolfgang and hope things get better with him. 

Sending positive vibes for Wolfgang and you.(((hugs)))

Medication regimens for epilepsy can take time before the symptoms you are seeing get better.  Most epi dogs have the pacing, behavior changes, etc. and yet some of them do well, some don't, so don't be hasty in your decisions with a dog that has only had a few seizures.

Have his thyroid function tested perhaps.  It's a relatively cheap test, and hypothyroidism can lead to seizures in some dogs.  http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/Thyroid.htm  So can kidney failure, also a possibility in an old dog.  Dogs affected by Lyme/Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever have been known to have seizures, so if your dog hasn't been tested, you may want to do that, too. 

If it turns out that none of those things are at the root of this, still have a look at these pages before you lose hope: http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/

Good luck, and I hope that you can get your dog back to a good quality of life.

 We hope for a good and productive medical consult for Wolf.

Stacita

dysplasia, for which he'd started receiving accupuncture,

Not sure what sort of vet you used who did acupuncture, but did you know that acupuncture and the Chinese herbs are THE BEST place to start for seizures??

Very often the Chinese herbals can lessen (or even elminate) the need for pheno or potassium bromide.  My Kee Shu was an epi dog (and I've had other pretty significant experience as well).  The Chinese herbs (and they use some Western herbs as well) are actually much stronger than you'd think and if you have a vet who is a good herbologist the results can be incredible.

Your vet may do acupuncture but not be acquainted with the Chinese herbs. http://www.tcvm.com is the Chi Institute and on the left is a locator.  This isn't untested -- the U of Florida at Gainesville not only teaches acupuncture as part of their vet school curriculum but the herbology as well.  It's pretty cutting edge stuff.

If you want to email me I'm happy to share all I know -- I can help you pick a vet where ever you are (you want a vet who is *very* experienced -- not just at basic acupuncture for pain, but for the neural stuff as well).  You may also want to discuss this with your acupuncture vet -- they may know someone to recommend if they aren't well versed in the herbology aspect.

There are a LOT of things that trigger seizures -- and often a "regular" vet is going to look for something physical -- but it's more apt to be environmental AND strange tho it may sound, a TCVM (traditional Chinese veterinary medicine) vet is going to be able to tie things together differently.  Things like what time of day the seizures occur, etc. -- it's really incredible how they can pinpoint things that another vet may miss.

I was with Megan (SLR2meg) and Pirate when Pi was having his exam by Dr. Xie at the Chi Institute -- and as Dr. Xie examined Pirate he made the comment that Pirate's liver was a little off.  Meg was pretty surprsied because YES, it was known that Pirate had some liver issues.  And then the vet looked at her and said "and ... I bet his seizures are between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., right??"

Megan gulped and said "Yes, usually around 11:30 p.m!!!!"  But that is, according to Chinese medicine, typically the time a liver-related seizure would occur.

That's MERELY an example (and other organ-related seizures would be at differen times -- this was JUST an example of how Pi's manifested). ; My point is that they can put together seemingly unrelated things that you wouldn't even dream might be involved and wow -- suddenly they've made sense of it. 

Feel free to contact me if I can help.  I know full well how incredibly scarey this is.  Megan, also, is a really really GOOD source (you can use the "contact"  button next to any of her posts to email her or I'd forward them to her if you wanted).  Glad to help in any way I can!

Callie

Thanks to all. We started out working with a holistic vet who is trained in TCVM, and she consulted her teacher about Wolfgang. But the pattern of seizures was coming closer. Unfortunately, he had a lot of behavioral changes too, which is why I started PhenoB before the seizures got worse. I did note that all of the seizures were about 1 1/4 hours after eating. None of the foods were the same. He was also allergy tested using the surrogate method.

 Wolfie'd gone from being a happy, confident dog with excellent social skills, to a fearful dog, easily startled, who carried his tail low. It's only gotten worse since the Phenobarbital. He lacks all social graces and has lost housetraining. This is a dog with such great skills that he prevented fights between other dogs, had exactly one housetraining indicent in his life as a six month old "rescue" from homeless people, and stole more than one roast, particularly by barking at "something" so I'd look, and then stealing the roast. He's always been a dog that loved everyone, but had an eye out for bad people or dogs. He's afraid of everyone now, pretty much except me.

 Before all of this, Wolfie was a Daddy's boy, but dad makes him fearful now. Dad moves a little too fast and Wolfgang doesn't want to play.

 He's gained about a half a pound, but unless he paced off two pounds, it's not enough to account for the increased calories he's getting. Three weeks ago, Wolfie was at the low end of his weight range and hungry, so I upped his caloreis quite a bit figuring that if he gained weight, that was a pretty minor problem.

We had his Pheno levels tested today, so should get the results within a couple of days. I finally made the decision that if his blood work doesn't reveal overly high PhenoB, then he'll go out to UC Davis. I am opposed to doing radiation/surgery if he does have a tumor, but he deserves an opinion by a neurologist. There are other speciality vets in the area, but I don't know them, and I've been to Davis with another dog.

They can be annoying, lacking in compassion, etc., but they sincerely try to save the animals entrusted to them, and they aren't concerned with profit margins in the way some veterinary corporations can be.

 Again, thank you ALL for the support. I don't get here much any more, but I so much appreciate being able to share my fears with people that care.

Stacita

We started out working with a holistic vet who is trained in TCVM, and she consulted her teacher about Wolfgang. But the pattern of seizures was coming closer. Unfortunately, he had a lot of behavioral changes too, which is why I started PhenoB before the seizures got worse. I did note that all of the seizures were about 1 1/4 hours after eating. None of the foods were the same. He was also allergy tested using the surrogate method.

I'm curious -- they didn't try him on any herbals at all??

It's very distressing to me that a lot of the TCVM vets aren't using the herbals -- it's such an enormous help.

But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do -- best of luck to you!

Good luck with the vet appointment.  I just recently adopted a cat on pheno and we are still trying to sort of the cause and if this is going to be a lifetime medication for her.  I know its a different animal but for what its worth she also paces and eats tons. 

 Thanks so much.

 Right now, everything is saying that Wolfie has at least one brain tumor.  Dogs of his age don't get seizures.

 It is what it is, and I'd take him all over again in a heartbeat.

 well, all i can do is send good thoughts for your boy.  I undersstand you not wanting to do radical things to pronlong his life a few months.  I made that coice myself several years back and never regretted it.  i just gave my Irish setter the best 10 weeks of his life, the time i had left with him.

so again. good thoughts, ibes coming your way.

 I am so sorry to hear about Wolfgang, and you will be in my prayers. Don't know if this will help at all, but rosemary is supposed to be a trigger for seizures, and it's in so many dog foods. (((hugs)))

Stacita

Dogs of his age don't get seizures.

A brain tumor may be the most likely problem, unfortunately.  However, damage (viral?) to the brain/blood barrier is thought to be able to cause seizures at any age.  This kind of damage can cause too much of two non-essential amino acids, glutamic and aspartic acid, to enter the brain and can be managed by diet. 

See http://dogtorj.com/

"These two neurostimulating amino acids play a major role in epilepsy, migraines, insomnia, ADHD, autism, fibromyalgia and numerous other neurodegenerative diseases. It was not hard to see that the food sources of these amino acids - grains, dairy, soy/legumes, and nuts/seeds - were also playing a major role in the manifestation of these common medical conditions."

Wolfgang's Phenobarbital levels were normal.

 We decided to knock it down a bit and he's done better. At least he's  not whining.

 We are going out to UC Davis.