Having A Pet With Epilepsy: What You Might Not Think Of

Finding out your pet has epilepsy can be stressful. You are so worried about how it will affect your pet’s life and the new changes you will have to make, you might not think of these extra steps to take. Having 2 dogs with seizures I had to find these tricks out the hard way. 

Medication

If your dog has chronic seizures, they are probably on some sort of medication for it. Each bottle comes with about 30 days’ worth. I have found it helpful to get them a week in advance before running out. When I first started getting Hades medication I never put this into much thought. During his second bottle, I noticed he was getting low on Friday night. I counted it out and he had just enough for Monday morning. If I only had enough for Saturday or Sunday, he would have missed some pills since their vet is not open on weekends. With that close call, I learned to start getting his pills a week ahead. Also, if your dog is anything like mine, they start to outsmart the pill pockets(our whatever else I tried to sneak the pill in) and know how to spit it out when no one is looking.  

Doggy hotels

When you go on vacation, you have to be cautious about where you bring your pet. When making a reservation at a dog hotel make sure they can give your pet their medication. Some places might not be able to give it every 12 hours, as many medications suggest. Another thing to keep in mind is having enough of the medication for your pet while staying at the hotel. If you are worried about them running low, just call your vet and let them know you need your next bottle early because you’re going on vacation. 

Pet camera

As someone who overthinks everything, I did not want to leave my dog’s side when I first learned about the seizures. If I had to go anywhere, for even 30 minutes, I had to have someone come and watch my boys. After a few weeks of this method, my sister suggested to me to get a pet camera. Having a camera now, helps me keep an eye on them and see if they have a seizure while I am gone. 

Adjusting the medication timing

There might come a time when you need to adjust the timing of your pet’s medication. When I first started Hades medication, I gave it to him every 12 hours at 9:30. Now I give it to him every 12 hours at 8:30. Since the medication needs to be every 12 hours, it might be a little tricky adjusting to a new schedule. What I found works best is adjusting it a half-hour at a time. So if I gave my dog his pill at 9:30 am, I would give him his pill at 9 pm that night. The next morning I would give it to him at 8:30 am and keep going until I am at the time I want. Adjusting it only 30 minutes at a time is what I found to be the safest way to do so.

After learning from my own experience, I found these tips to be extremely helpful. It might seem overwhelming and stressful at first, but with time it will just come naturally. 

Hades & Zeus