CEN

Anybody out there dealt with bromide toxicosis? How long does it take to clear? We are dealing with pretty severe ataxia and sedation. Raven's dose was lowered a month ago but we have not seen much improvement.

I haven't been on the site for a long while and I see that this is an old post- hopefully it will still be helpful. My Aussie boy was poorly controlled on phenobarbital, and we finally reached the maximum dose before he crossed over to blood levels that could lead to liver damage. We added potassium...

Raven's ravenous hunger tapered off but it took several months- it was the last side effect to disappear. So you may find that it gets better! In the meantime, go carrots!

Jen and Raven
4 yo Aussie

Hi Michelle, I've never owned a picky dog, so a pill wrapped in cheese has always been received as if it were a gift from the gods. In fact, I just put unwrapped pills in my dogs' food bowls with their kibble, and they inhale the pills along with the kibble... (I do occasionally check the bowls to m...

Hi, Epilepsy is hard, but for 2 out of 3 dogs, there is a good chance of control (no seizures or just one or two per year at most). Of course that means that 1 of 3 will have a rougher time, but as the folks on this forum can tell you, there is still plenty of life and love even with epilepsy most o...

Pam, I had to put my Aussie on KBr after it became clear that the phenobarbital wasn't going to work (it did initially, but he began clustering even after we raised the dose). So, we added KBr early January this year. It took almost month for the full range of side effects to show up, and it took ne...

I thought I should post an update. The side effects (incoordination, excess thirst and hunger, inability to focus, pacing behavior, inability to make it through the night without a potty break) began to subside about 2 weeks ago and now are nearly gone. We are continuing to drop the phenobarbital (n...

I don't do agility with my Aussies, but we are very active, running, walking, playing ball, and I have been doing training classes for fun that include coordinated activity on the part of the dog. Raven was really wobbly at first on phenobarbital, even though the dose was low and led to blood levels...

Hi, Do you feed twice a day, so you're seeing seizures during or after strenuous activity after a long time without food? Maybe something about blood sugar levels going on? If he's doing better exercising hard earlier in the day (while breakfast is still in his system), that might suggest some suppo...

Hi all, Raven had four seizure events in December, including two cluster seizures. We started him on potassium bromide at the end of the month on top of the phenobarbital, which had leveled out at 25 mg/ml in his blood (the highest I'm willing to go to protect his liver, and which has had little imp...

It isn't easy, but our dogs are only one aspect of our lives and our responsibilities, even if a very important aspect... I leave Raven at home frequently while I work. He stays outside in the yard, which is very securely fenced, and he has a warm bed on the porch for inclement weather. This takes c...

Hi, We seem to be headed down a very similar pathway with Raven, our 3.5 year old Aussie who just threw his first cluster seizure two weeks ago and had another psychomotor seizure last night. His phenobarb dose is about at maximum recommended levels at this point (raised right after that cluster sei...

Hi, I worked for several years at the National Pesticide Information Center, and one of our jobs was to make sure when people called in to report adverse effects from a pesticide that it got reported to the right place. If you haven't already done it, would you consider contacting Pfizer to let them...

Hi Bonny, Well, we just upped Raven's dose of pheno to 120 mg a day (for a 43 kg dog) because Raven was having these weird, sort-of pre-ictal episodes that look like he's hallucinating that something is attacking him. Sometimes they turn into recognizable seizures, sometimes not. So, we're raising t...

Hi Brian, My understanding is that phenobarbital can cause permanent liver damage if the dose goes too high. My vet is aiming to keep Raven's blood levels at or below 20 micrograms per mililiter. We began dosing him with 100 mg per day given in two doses, which resulted in a blood level of 15 microg...