when our little guy started with seizures (grand-mal clusters ) weve had
to go as high as 6 (64.8) in a day. However hes had liver problems and
has been put on 2-250 mg pot bromide and 1/2 phb a day and we only use
more phb to knock him down to keep him from going in to one contiues
seizue!

(jen lynn) said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

when our little guy started with seizures (grand-mal
clusters ) weve had to go as high as 6 (64.8) in a day.
However hes had liver problems and has been put on 2-250
mg pot bromide and 1/2 phb a day and we only use more phb
to knock him down to keep him from going in to one contiues
seizue!

How big is your dog and how long has he been on Potassium
Bromide?

When you say continuous seizures, do you mean clusters or
status?

Sorry to sound like the Spanish Inquisition, but I'm just keen
to know.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

hes a 20 lb red min pin. and he does clusters. usually has 4 to 5 in a
row then another one 1 to 4 hrs later. hes been on Bromide since January

(jen lynn) said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

hes a 20 lb red min pin. and he does clusters. usually has
4 to 5 in a row then another one 1 to 4 hrs later. hes been
on Bromide since January

Thank you for the response. What do you feed him? (Including
treats.)

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 22:27:22 -0500, (jen lynn) wrote:

hes a 20 lb red min pin. and he does clusters. usually has 4 to 5 in a
row then another one 1 to 4 hrs later. hes been on Bromide since January

Will your vet give you liquid valium for rectal administration?
Clusters are extremely dangerous, as I'm sure you know, and a teeny
dog like a min pin can overheat his little brain in no time. Best
protocol for them is rectal valium to break the clusters, then oral
valium (or valium derivative, such as clonazapine) over the next 24-48
hours. One of our epileptic greyhounds had such severe clusters that
he was getting IV phenobarbital to break the clusters toward the end.
The epilepsy list and site are very helpful, if you're not already on
it.

Mustang Sally

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

Will your vet give you liquid valium for rectal
administration?

Good suggestion. Jen, if you go this route, get the
valium/diazepam in the glass ampules (which you load into a
syringe when needed). Unless stored in glass, liquid valium
doesn't have much of a shelf life.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 27 Mar 2006 16:12:04 GMT, Rocky wrote:

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

Will your vet give you liquid valium for rectal
administration?

Good suggestion. Jen, if you go this route, get the
valium/diazepam in the glass ampules (which you load into a
syringe when needed). Unless stored in glass, liquid valium
doesn't have much of a shelf life.

Depending on how often it has to be used, preloaded plastic syringes
work well. Refrigerate, IIRC. There's a limit to how much vets will
dispense at once anyway, and a Min Pin isn't going to need a huge
amount, so storage is probably the least of her problems.

Mustang Sally

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

Depending on how often it has to be used, preloaded plastic
syringes work well. Refrigerate, IIRC.

I can't remember the exact shelf life, but I believe it's under
a year, so yes, if it has to be used often, this is OK. Plus,
for many, the convenience of administration outweighs shelf life
- as long as the supply is replaced at a proper time. Luckily,
I've never had to use it, even though Rocky's litter brothers
died from status complications.

There's a limit to
how much vets will dispense at once anyway, and a Min Pin
isn't going to need a huge amount, so storage is probably
the least of her problems.

My concern as to storage is people using a non-effective dose.

Anyway, since I'm only 15 minutes from a 24 hour vet, the advice
I've been given is that if status occurs it's better to get
Rocky on IV phenobarbital than to administer rectal valium. I
keep the valium on hand for out-of-town trials.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 27 Mar 2006 16:56:51 GMT, Rocky wrote:

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

Depending on how often it has to be used, preloaded plastic
syringes work well. Refrigerate, IIRC.

I can't remember the exact shelf life, but I believe it's under
a year, so yes, if it has to be used often, this is OK. Plus,
for many, the convenience of administration outweighs shelf life
- as long as the supply is replaced at a proper time. Luckily,
I've never had to use it, even though Rocky's litter brothers
died from status complications.

We used it pretty close to monthly with Spencer, so neither shelf life
nor storage was a problem. I suspect that most dogs that routinely
cluster would require rectal valium more than once or twice a year.

There's a limit to
how much vets will dispense at once anyway, and a Min Pin
isn't going to need a huge amount, so storage is probably
the least of her problems.

My concern as to storage is people using a non-effective dose.

Anyway, since I'm only 15 minutes from a 24 hour vet, the advice
I've been given is that if status occurs it's better to get
Rocky on IV phenobarbital than to administer rectal valium. I
keep the valium on hand for out-of-town trials.

That advice might work for you; it wouldn't for a lot of other people.
Once off the racetrack, Spencer never had a single seizure; he
clustered each and every time he had seizure episodes, and his longest
interval between seizures was 52 days. He sustained brain damage from
the first seizure episode he experienced after we adopted him because
he went into status on the way to the emergency vet. The emergency
vet did not have liquid phenobarbital, and a valium drip throughout
the entire weekend slowed the seizures to partials but did not stop
them. We used liquid valium per rectum many, many times, though we
eventually began taking Spencer to our vet, who at the time had a
specialist on staff and had liquid phenobarb on hand, every time he
had a seizure. But not all emergency vets have liquid phenobarbital,
and I'm sure that most are not experts in treating seizures. There
are also a lot of places in the US where an emergency vet is much more
than 15 or 30 minutes away (ours is 30). If your dog clusters, a 15
minute trip might be OK; if he's in status, 15 minutes is too long.

Mustang Sally

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

Anyway, since I'm only 15 minutes from a 24 hour vet, the
advice I've been given is that if status occurs it's better
to get Rocky on IV phenobarbital than to administer rectal
valium. I keep the valium on hand for out-of-town trials.

That advice might work for you; it wouldn't for a lot of
other people.

Which is why I'm careful in my phrasing of any advise which
could be construed as medical.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.