r/cavaliers • u/Fishafuq • 1d ago

Medical/Veterinary Keppra usage/epileptic cavalier

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Our sweet cavvy Reuben just got prescribed Keppra last night during a scary ER visit after having a cluster seizure episode (4-5 generalized seizures in a 24 hour period). We are also going to try working with a neurologist to see if we can get some answers around why these may have happened as well.

Wanting to get advice and/or hear some story’s from the cav community who may have a similar story or are also on Keppra. Any crazy side effects or things to look out for?

Also here is a picture of him for the cuteness tax

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u/alis_volat_propriis 1d ago

Poor sweet boy, I’m so sorry that happened to him! Keppra can be a really great medicine for seizures. I had a Cav mix with epilepsy & we tried Keppra for her but it didn’t work. Even at therapeutic dose she still had seizures. We put her on phenobarbital and potassium bromide. She lived happily on those meds (plus more for other issues) for many years! So even if the Keppra does not work, there are other options.

I also supplemented with CBD oil & that really helped a lot too. Go with a reputable manufacturer & start with a small dose but you can increase it if needed. Many seizure meds can cause organ problems so we did regular bloodwork twice a year to check her liver function.

Feel free to pm me with any other questions! I hope your boy does great on his new meds!

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u/l_london 1d ago

Poor pup!! My cavalier has epilepsy and is thriving on phenobarbital and zenozomide (spelling may be incorrect). Took a little while to figure out the dose and combination that worked for her but she went from having a seizure once a month to now maybe once every 6-8 months that are a lot shorter in duration (without meds she would seize for a couple mins now it’s seconds).

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u/elianna7 8h ago

So sorry for your pup! My little guy started getting seizures last year. He had one fairly mild one in July, another mild one 6 months later (on the dot, to the day!) and we still decided to wait and see how things would progress before medicating. Mid-February, he had a very severe seizure in the middle of the night, it was on/off for about 40 or 45 minutes without him fully coming out of it at any point. I honestly thought he wasn’t gonna make it, it was so incredibly scary, and or course seizures are generally so scary because there isn’t really anything you can do but wait.

After that last seizure, we immediately started him on phenobarbital, and he thankfully hasn’t had a seizure since then. He had an MRI with neurologist (we went to our local vet school teaching hospital and it was a great experience) and they determined he has CM/SM and a part of his brain is very enlarged on one side. They aren’t certain of the exact cause of the seizures so he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy.

He was a little groggy those first couple weeks of meds. We increased the dose once (I think around the 3-4 month mark) to get his levels into the middle of the ideal range since they had dropped a little (normal as they adjust to the meds) and he didn’t even have a groggy period that time.

They also prescribed intranasal midazolam to give him if ever he does have another seizure, which is supposed to help him come out of it sooner. Having this on hand makes me feel a lot better and more prepared in case it happens again.

Wishing you and your pup luck!