Seizures In Dogs

When my dog Barney was 3 years old he experienced a seizure.  Never seeing one in a dog this first time episode was frightening. 

I then found out that some dogs have seizure problems.  The vet told me to watch him to see if he has any more seizures.   Barney had a second seizure about two weeks later and finally a third one a week after that.  The vet then put him on Phenobarbital as he said he would need this the rest of his life to prevent seizures. The side effect is that Phenobarbital may be harmful to the dog's liver so every six months he would need a blood test for his liver to make sure it okay.

I found out there is another med called Potassium Bromide which also controls seizures in dogs.  And Potassium Bromide does not do harm to the liver.  I found that most vets always prescribe Phenobarbital because (1) is is cheaper and (2) it is usually more effective at controlling the seizures.   However, in many cases Potassium Bromide would be effective.  And if it costs double the money, who cares if it is effective and not in danger of damaging the liver.  It would be worth it.   There are some vets that do prescribe Potassium Bromide, so you can check with various vets to find the ones that use this.