Lady was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy at age four, right after I adopted her. She's been on phenobarbital for almost nine years now. I've given her Milk Thistle almost since the beginning. She just started to show elevated liver values so I have decreased her dose by 10% and am now home cooking a liver friendly diet for her.
At Kati's age is is unlikely you are dealing with idiopathic epilepsy which is true organic epilepsy. Seizures in dogs under one year old and older dogs are usually symptoms of another disease or condition.
As Yorkieluv said, it is important that Kati have bloodwork done. I'd recommend a complete geriatric blood profile. Also make sure she has a thyroid panel done as thyroid imbalances can cause seizures.
Here are the most common causes of secondary epilepsy:
Causes:
The cause can be anything that disrupts normal brain circuitry:
~ Idiopathic Epilepsy, meaning "no known cause" and possibly inherited. This is also referred to as Primary Epilepsy. Check history or pedigree and make sure your veterinarian has looked for possible underlying factors. Seizures caused by underlying factors are referred to as Secondary Epilepsy.
~ Congenital hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
~ Hypothyroidism (low thyroid function)
~ Infections causing brain damage (such as canine distemper, cryptococcosis)
~ Ingestion of toxins (such as lead paint chips, insecticides)
~ Brain tumors
~ Portosystemic shunts (improperly routed intestinal blood vessels bypass the liver - one of the body's important waste-product detoxifiers)
~ Vaccinations
causes_&_treatment