seizures

[cybeeb]

We have a cat named Tiger. When Tiger was less than a year old he started having seizures. We got him and his two sisters when they were about 9 months old. Neither of his sisters have seizures. Tiger is 8 years old. He has been on phenobarbital for all these years. His dosage has increased over the years. He hasn't had a seizure in about four years. We do notice side effects from the medicine (he has trouble keeping weight on, he paces a lot, thirsty).
Does anyone else have a cat with seizures and what are they treated with?
The vet has said there is not a lot of choices for cats with seizures.
Anybody got any suggestions for alternative treatment?

[Amber]

Prolonged use of Phenobarbitol, or doses being increased too much can cause problems later in life with liver function (liver disease). For this reason, vets often use Potassium Bromide alongside Phenobarbital to reduce the amount of Phenobarb being administered to the animal.

Mention it to your vet :)

[cybeeb]

Thanks,
will mention this to him asap!

[dandysmom]

I was completely unfamiliar with feline seizures, so did a quick Google; found what seems to me to be an informative link. There is a link on it to alternative treatments ...thought you might like to look at it.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/lowekamp/feline_epilepsy.html

[cybeeb]

thanks, will check it out!

[cybeeb]

I checked out that site and they suggest Potassium Bromide causes more problems than the phenobarbital. As the vet said phenobarbital is the drug of choice for cats with seizures.
Just wanted to know if anyone had personal experience with any other treatments.
Thanks for all the info.