Lafora epilepsy

[Jordan]

As some of know Domino has been having seizures. All blood tests drew a blank to a medical reason and new diet to rule out allergy has made no difference so far, in fact things have gotten worse.

Domino is now having seizures every time he is at rest, whether morning noon or night. I have recorded what happens on video and shown it to the vet. He was going to discuss it with someone and get back to me. Well today when I got in there was a phone message from the vet wanting me to phone him back but he mentioned he thought Domino had a condition called Lafora... a form of epilepsy.

Anyone heard of this???

[Dani]

I dont know anything about different illnesses,sorry 
I hope that this is something that can be treated so you and Domino can get this sorted and get on with a normal life with no worries,must be so stressful to see him having seizures 

[Kimmikins]

I think I've heard of it in humans? Not sure if the canine version is the same. I hope it's a treatable condition and gives domino some relief from the seizures,poor thing.
If the vet mentions anything that you're not sure of when you get home,either make a note and call him back,or you can ask here (via PM if you'd prefer) I've got a degree in Pharmacology (drugs/medicines) my OH is a paramedic and my best friend is a vet.
Thinking of you both!

[PetGoodsOnlineltd]

Jordan Im really sorry to hear about Domino i hope that you manage to find a remedy for him so that his seizures can be cured.

[Jordan]

Well i've spoken to the vet and did some research and if this is what Domino has then its not good news.

Lafora is a rare hereditary condition caused by a faulty protein in the brain that allows too much carbohydrates in the nerves causing the jerky reaction. ( I hope i've got that right!) Its a progressive disease so seizures will worsen and over time cause problems with mobility, blindness and dementia. Domino has the Hypnic form which affects him at rest.

There is a test can be done to confirm this diagnosis but it has to be sent to a lab in Canada at the sick childrens hospital where this disease was first discovered and costs 200+ Canadian dollars. Vet recommended changing his diet to a Hills BD on prescription food once hes finished the hypoallergenic bag hes on. Theres also a drug can be tried if the Hills doesnt work... Keppra Levetiracetam.

(Do you know what this is Kimmikins???)

What do you think would be best course of action? Is it worth getting the test done or just move onto the new diet when hes finished the one hes on and see if it helps. Things have definately gotten worse in terms of frequency so the disease is progressing whatever it is!!

Heres some links to the condition for anyone thats interested.
 
www.canineepilepsy.co.uk/VetRecource/laforadisease.htm

[Kimmikins]

Keppra is the brand name for Levetiracetam, which is an anti-epileptic drug (AED). It's one of those drugs that works...but nobody really knows how or why. It is known that it doesn't work in the same way as other AED's, and that may be why they've suggested it for the Lafora hypnic variant.

As for what to do, it's a toughy. How long would the test take to get the results? And how long do they expect to have to wait to see if the new food is having any positive effect? Are they in any way confident that the medication would make an immediate and noticeable effect? These are the questions I'd want to ask before making a decision. If there's no massive benefit in going for the Keppra i.e. if the food has as much chance of helping, then I'd go with the food and only do the test if this failed to help with the seizures. If they think that a diagnosis followed by rapid switch to the medication will start to help with the seizures sooner, I'd go this route.

Is Domino insured?

[Adrianne]

fingers crossed for the best it can be xx

[Dani]

Oh gosh,my heart goes out to you hun . . . . .  everything crossed here that whatever decision you are going with will work out ok for your boy,is he in pain with the seizures ? Big hug for you 

[sparks01]

poor domino we hope the diet works for you and things get better

[marykay]

Oh Jordan my heart goes out to you too,I just truly wish you and Domino a hopeful future.Marykay

[Jordan]

Thanks for the good wishes everyone.

Kimmikins ......Thanks for the info and questions I should be thinking of asking and yes Domino is insured so i'm hoping prescribed diets are covered.

Dani.....i dont actually know if Domino is in pain as such but he gets disturbed by them if you know what I mean.

Things seem to have progressed quite quickly in the 8 months i've had him, hope it doesn't continue at this rate. Quess i'll be seeing a lot of the vet ........Never seem to be away as it is, poor Domino has had one thing after another.

[baileysworkworld]

Hi Jordan,

My friends dog has Epilepsy and he is one of the worst cases vets around here have ever seen. He was fitting every day but he is currently controlled by management and medication.
He is a large retriever x and he is on a drug called 'epifen' as well as 'Keppra', and lots of supplements. He was on 6 epifen a day before he was on the keppra. The only problem is that if a healthy dog is on epifen, it can cause seisures if the dog is then taken off. The have managed, over 2 years to drop the epifen down from 3 am and 3 pm, to 2 am, 2pm one day, then 2am and 1pm day two. This pattern at the moment is working, he also has 2 keppra per day, given with the epifen. He is currently (touching lots of wood) having many, many months with not fits then unfortunately may have up to 10 or more in the space of a few days and will then have to go in to the vets and be on intraveinous drugs to break the cycle.

If you want her number or email address to have a chat with someone who has probably the best understanding of this condition (I am afraid even most vets don't really understand this horrible thing) just let me know.

Best wishes, hope you all hang in there!!!!!!!!!

[Jordan]

Thanks Lizz, I shall keep this in mind and if things do progress it would be good to have some advice from someone dealing with this first hand. I hope your friends dog continues to improve on the lower doses. There was no mention of any other drug other than Keppra for Dominos type of epilepsy. Does your friend know what causes her dog to have epilepsy?

[Jordan]

Update on the hypo allergenic diet.

Cant say there has been any change to the seizure activity and with only another week or so to go till the bag of food is finished I doubt there will be an improvement, so now, with the possibility of Domino having Lafora disease, we move on to introduce yet another new diet of Hills BD (brain diet). The vet has to order it in for me so might be another week before we start on it and hopefully it will show some positive results with the seizure activity (and not cause Dominos colitis to kick in again)

[sparks01]

Fingers crossed for you this works
I really feel for you and domino