Understanding Your Pet's Diagnosis: Seizures

With help from Dr. Gena Silver, MS, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology), we hope this video provides you with answers and information about your pet's recent diagnosis.
00:00 Intro
00:16 What is a seizure and what does it look like?
01:17 Your detailed description of your pet’s episode can help us confirm the diagnosis
02:09 What causes seizures?
04:04 What are the next steps for confirming my pet’s diagnosis?
05:06 Aside from seizures, what other signs might indicate whether my pet has epilepsy?
06:10 What do we learn from the results of the MRI?
06:34 What is the goal when prescribing medications for seizures?
07:25 What medications are commonly used to treat seizures?
13:46 Do I have to bring my pet to the hospital every time they have a seizure?
14:35 Will seizures shorten my pet’s life?
16:13 What should I do if I miss a dose, or forget to give it at the right time?
16:24 If my pet has seizures, can I leave them home alone?

[@ianbarnes8593]

Thank you for an excellent presentation, very good information delivered in a clear and direct manner. In my experience veterinarians are not always good at explaining things to owners. I’ve been living with my springer spaniel’s epilepsy for four years now, he started seizing just after turning two years of age. His condition is idiopathic; confirmed by MRI and Spinal Fluid pathology. An initial dose of 60mg Phenobarbital controlled things well for twelve months. Seizure duration and severity were reduced but the frequency stayed around the same; around one a month. However, the frequency started to increase and he started cluster seizures, now, four years into the illness, he’s on 120mg Phenobarbital and 500mg Keppra and we’re losing the battle. Multiple seizures in a day over several successive days and has just had his first episode of Status Epilepticus. 51 seizures so far this year and it’s mid July. He had 44 in total last year. Libromide caused severe side effects and we had to withdraw that hence now trying the Keppra. No good outcome for my boy I fear.