i have an almost 3 year old (marvin) who has been on phenobarbital since about 6-7 months of age. marvin's seizures began the day after his neuter surgery. after many tests and an ultrasound (to rule out disease, parasites, liver shunt), he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy and prescribed phenobarbital.
marvin's seizure activity in the beginning was pretty frequent, often having 'cluster' seizures over a short span of time. once we started the phenobarb, he went about 3-4 months where he would average just a few seizures per month, but obviously decreasing in number and severity. in time, he could go months without a seizure, then maybe have one isolated event.
as of today, it's been 15 months since his last seizure (yay! ). at the 12 month point, we were told we could start very SLOWLY weaning him off of the meds (lowering it by 1/4 each 6 months) . he started at 12 mg 2x day in the beginning, lowered to 8 mg 2x day in november 2009 (still no seizures!), and in may we can take it down to 4 mg 2x day, etc. hopefully the end result will be no pills!!
has anyone here ever had a cat that was 'cured' of idiopathic epilepsy and stopped the use of phenobarbital?
i've been so hopeful and excited about the prospect of pill-less days for my li'l boy (and his li'l liver), and also for my bf and i who, for the past 2+ years have planned our days around being home at 8:00 am and 8:00 pm to pill marvin (who takes them like a champ, btw). even travelling away overnight involves a catsitter, which we would love to do away with. primarily though, my concern is for marvin's health and the effects of long term phenobarbital use on his liver.
i guess i'm hoping that there are other success stories out there. i realize that seizures in such a young cat many times doesn't bode well for a long healthy life, but everything seems to be going in the right direction here right now. with a good diet and tons of love, he seems as healthy as any cat i've ever seen.
marvin's seizure activity in the beginning was pretty frequent, often having 'cluster' seizures over a short span of time. once we started the phenobarb, he went about 3-4 months where he would average just a few seizures per month, but obviously decreasing in number and severity. in time, he could go months without a seizure, then maybe have one isolated event.
as of today, it's been 15 months since his last seizure (yay! ). at the 12 month point, we were told we could start very SLOWLY weaning him off of the meds (lowering it by 1/4 each 6 months) . he started at 12 mg 2x day in the beginning, lowered to 8 mg 2x day in november 2009 (still no seizures!), and in may we can take it down to 4 mg 2x day, etc. hopefully the end result will be no pills!!
has anyone here ever had a cat that was 'cured' of idiopathic epilepsy and stopped the use of phenobarbital?
i've been so hopeful and excited about the prospect of pill-less days for my li'l boy (and his li'l liver), and also for my bf and i who, for the past 2+ years have planned our days around being home at 8:00 am and 8:00 pm to pill marvin (who takes them like a champ, btw). even travelling away overnight involves a catsitter, which we would love to do away with. primarily though, my concern is for marvin's health and the effects of long term phenobarbital use on his liver.
i guess i'm hoping that there are other success stories out there. i realize that seizures in such a young cat many times doesn't bode well for a long healthy life, but everything seems to be going in the right direction here right now. with a good diet and tons of love, he seems as healthy as any cat i've ever seen.
