Epilepsy is a diagnosis of exclusion which means that in order for anyone to diagnose your dog with epilepsy, they need to rule out all other causes of seizures. This is done by ruling out all metabolic causes of seizures such as liver shunt or other medical reasons and it is also done by ruling out all other causes of seizures resulting from brain abnormalities. You can only rule out brain abnormalities by doing an MRI and a Spinal Tap. Although expensive to rule the other problems out, it is really important to do so that you are treating the right condition.
Our dog Teddy has epilepsy. He was placed on medication after we videotaped his fourth seizure. We sent the video to his neurologist who confirmed what type of seizure Teddy had and we immediately placed him on medication which he will be on for the rest of his life and we scheduled him for the MRI and spinal tap to rule out brain abnormalities that might be causing seizures. Once Teddy's doctor determined that the brain and cerebral spinal fluid were normal, he told us that Teddy was an epileptic.
Teddy is on a drug called Zonisamide every 12 hours. It has no side effects to the liver or other organs the way some of the older drugs do.
Good luck.
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