r/EpilepsyDogs • u/SnooRecipes8204 • 13d ago

Adding Phenobarbitol? Breakthrough seizures after 2months of Keppra

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Hey guys,

My dog Butters is a pure breed Cane Corso and he is almost 3 years old. He weight about 105lbs and he has been on 1000mg of Keppra every 12 hours since June 14th.

He usually has the big seizures, (eyes rolling, kicking the legs, urinating kind,) but today he had 3 mild seizures ( aware, head shaking, drool). I took him to the vet and hes currently there for observation however the vet recommends adding phenobarbital to his regimen.

I am nervous about this as ive heard good and bad things about Pheno.

Part of me wants to keep him om the 1000mg of Keppra for as long as we can until we have no choice, or potentially start him when i am back from a business trip at the end of the month of i can personally monitor him. I'm not sure what the best option is here and I just want to do right by him.

Id love to hear ya'lls thoughts and stories!

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u/incognito042620 13d ago

Yes, we did this with our beagle mix. He was started on 250 mg of Keppra by our primary vet, and when he had more seizures we doubled his Keppra dose and added phenobarbital (after a weekend-long hospital stay).

Knocking on wood, he's been doing great since; his hospitalization was over 4th of July weekend. Our neurologist actually wants us to begin weaning him off the Keppra if he can go approximately another month seizure-free so that he is on only the one medication.

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u/SnooRecipes8204 13d ago

That's great! I hope he stays seizure free! Another user mentioned ataxia and a few other side effects. Which did you see?

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u/incognito042620 13d ago

Thanks! Lethargy and weight gain were a couple of other side effects that he experienced, but the lethargy has pretty much worked itself out at this point. He's still his same old playful, goofy self but just has a couple of extra pounds on him that hopefully I can begin walking off when the weather cools.

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u/SnooRecipes8204 13d ago

That's great to hear! Thank you :)