Quote:
Originally Posted by bagofpucks
Thanks for everyone's replies!
redforever: He is groomed regularly and the groomer says his ears are clean, so I don't believe that is an issue, but those are good questions to ask. We check his ears regularly for abnormalities, but we haven't found anything so far.
Our game plan so far is to try everything else (diet etc) before we move to medications. Our biggest concern is most of the epilepsy medications are sedatives and he is already very quiet, almost timid. I think with a sedative he would be very lethargic. I am going to discuss benadryl with our vet as I have heard it can work well. I have also read about phenobarbital and that sounds like that will be our last step if the seizures get worse. Currently, our vet does not want to use medication unless his seizures are more frequent than once every three weeks or they are very serious, which I agree with.
Again, I am very appreciative of everyone's advice/experiences!
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Phenobarbital never affected my dog's energy level at all...but Springers are known for having a lot of energy anyhow.
The only thing I noticed was that she liked her food more and would eat more if I would have let her. It was not an issue though as all my dogs have always been on a regular diet with regular exercise.
Our Springer with ear issues would equate to a person having swimmer's ear. The ear is all wrinkly inside, like dried prunes, and dirt and wax is hard to remove from all the nooks and crannies. Consequently, they are more disposed to having fungal issues.