My dog's seizures are controlled. Should I wean off pheno? Is vet bloodwork standard?

Question

Seymour has had seizures since he was about two. He’s been on many combos of meds. With all prior meds he had cluster seizures approx once a month. Since his recent mix of 32 mg phenobarbital and ten ml of Potassium Bromide, he’s had a single mild seizure in the last 10 months. The addition of the PotBro coincided with this improvement. Can I ween off the pheno? Also my vet is insisting on bloodwork to keep filling the Px. Is this standard or am I being coerced into expenses to keep him healthy? Pet's info: Dog | Boston Terrier | Male | 5 years and 11 months old | 18 lbs

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) · Accepted Answer

Your vet is absolutely giving you good medical advice to request intermittent bloodwork for your pets safety with anti seizure medication. Monitoring blood levels of these meds can be important as well if loss of seizure control occurs to know whether to adjust doses or add another medication (such as Keppra). You will have to speak with your vet about weaning or changing meds, but if seizure control is acheived we do not typically change or wean unless side effects occur. It sounds like it has taken some time to find a good combination for him so i would not rock the boat. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

My dog's seizures are controlled. Should I wean off pheno? Is vet bloodwork standard?

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