Epilepsy in Pets
By Prashant Jairaj
Epilepsy in your pet can often be difficult and emotional to deal with; it is one of the more common neurological diseases in dogs, although less frequently occurring in other pets.
When veterinarians are diagnosing an animal, he or she uses a process of elimination. If the vet can't find any other causes for the seizures, the animal is classified as having idiopathic epilepsy. Vets rely heavily on pet owners for a description of a pet's episode; if you have a pet with epilepsy, it is imperative to write down a detailed account of an episode as soon at it occurs.
Many of the common tests used on humans to diagnose epilepsy are used on animals as well. An MRI or a CT brain scan evaluates the structure of an animal's brain and can rule out abnormalities such as tumours. A spinal tap collects spinal fluid, and can rule out infectious diseases, or provide clues to other types of brain diseases. Toxin tests analyze the blood for the presence of toxins, but are usually used in conjunction with other tests, since a vet needs to know what specific toxins to look for.
Epilepsy is also often suspected to have a hereditary component; it is possible that mutations in certain genes can lead to an animal's neurons being more excitable than what is normal, and cross a "seizure threshold". Currently, definitive answers cannot be found, but early signs from the Canine Epilepsy Project seem to show that at least in certain breeds of dogs, there are patterns of inheritance of an "epilepsy" trait. In fact, in a recent issue of the journal Science, researchers have claimed to identify the gene responsible for a rare form of epilepsy (progressive myoclonic epilepsy) in dogs. The researchers are now working on a test to identify this gene in dogs, and it very possible that in the near future, this type of canine epilepsy can be eliminated.
If a pet has symptomatic epilepsy, then often the cause, like a brain tumour, can be identified and possibly treated, eliminating the seizures. More often than not though, a pet has idiopathic epilepsy, and treatments are therefore geared towards controlling the seizures. The most common treatment is antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); the goal of these drugs is to balance excitation and inhibition actions within the brain toward less excitation. It is important to realize that these drugs are not going to have the same effects on all pets; it needs to be individualized for a pet's specific needs, and this often calls for some trial-and-error and extensive consultation with your veterinarian to find out what works best. Newer antiepileptic drugs like Tegretol that work well with humans usually don't work well with pets. The problem is that dogs eliminate drugs from the body much faster than humans do; this means a dog needs to take the drugs more frequently, and the high price tag associated with the drugs often renders this impractical.
Most epileptic pets can have normal lives, so it is important for pet owners to focus on maintaining a balanced diet for their pets, as well as regular exercise (unless the cause of epilepsy is low blood sugar or heart disease). It is imperative that a pet owner also maintain the regular dosage, as missing even two dosages can have severe consequences; by planning ahead, a pet owner can make sure that he or she never runs out of the medication. By being conscientious and prepared, a pet owner can spend less time in dealing with the illness, and more time toward enjoying life with his or her pet.
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