Epilepsy – Balance Over Fear

The first encounter with epilepsy in a dog is a stressful and dramatic experience for most owners. They arrive at the clinic "as an emergency", looking for a diagnosis, confirmation, treatment. This is where the disappointments begin.

Proving epilepsy as a diagnosis turns out to be a difficult task. Physical evidence is found in only about 15% of cases.

The diagnosis is made by ruling out the other suspected causes of the "seizure".

Epilepsy is a disturbance in the conduction of impulses in the brain. There are several forms; the most typical presents with sudden, uncontrolled and repetitive ataxic movements with or without loss of consciousness.

Epilepsy cannot be cured, but it can be controlled. A key factor in choosing therapy is the frequency of the seizures.

Traditionally, therapy starts with phenobarbital. New drugs are constantly being tested and introduced. Over 20% of animals do not respond to the standard initial regimen.