Dog Epilepsy - Phenobarbital and Compound Potassium Bromide?

We have a beautiful sheltie / husky mix dog 8 yrs old - developed epilepsy at 2 1/2 years. She has always been on Phenobarbital and July 2007 had a seizure and didn't come out of - she was paralyzed for 3 weeks and after 1 week the vet told was telling us we should start thinking about putting her down because she had never seen it last more than a couple of days. After 3 weeks of daily massages, she began getting up slowly, walking sidewalks for few steps and falling down - she appeared drunk / disoriented. Next 2 mths she began to walk again although her front paw doesn't have stability but can walk & happy. Since few seizures and after more testing her Phenobarbital is at higher level / liver enzymes. Vet perscribed Compound Potassium Bromide and she 45lbs for first 2 weeks given 3mil, next 2 weeks which we just started 4mil and in another 2 weeks i0ncreasing to 5mils. Now having difficulty walking, getting up, falling over - like she did first starting to walking. Feedback..

I had a Belgian Tervuren that was on Phenobarbital and Bromide. When he was on a high dose of Phenobarbital he did appear very drugged up but his body did adjust to it after he was on it for awhile. After being on both for a while, he started to have weakness due to a spinal problem (he was about 12 years old then). The vet did research and since the meds had seemed to control his seizures, we slowly decreased him off phenobarbital and he then was only on bromide. He still went without any grand-mall seizures and lived for another year or so!Good luck!!!

Hi there,First let me say that I'm glad that you didn't opt to put her down right away :)The other thing is, is that you should have Diazepam to give you dog rectally in the event of another episode of status epilepticus. It can save her life... talk to your vet about this if s/he has not given it to you, ok?Potassium Bromide (KBR) is given in conjunction with Phenobarb because it does not build up in the liver, as does Phenobarb. It's safe, effective and can sometimes be used alone to treat seizures, even after using Phenobarb.The KBR will make your dog look and act "drunk". This is normal for about 1-3 weeks. What concerns me is the dosage that you're giving your dog. I'd recommend starting high, then go low. This is known as a 'loading dose'. Quite often we give a large dose, then cut down in a weeks time slowly. This gives the body a better chance of reacting positively to the KBR. Is it possible to ask your vet why s/he has not recommended this.How are your dogs liver enzymes? If they're increasing, then you really should up the dose to 5ml once a day for starters, then decrease eit to 3ml in about a weeks time.ADD: Feel free to email me if you like, I'm happy to help.