He is going to see the neurologist on Wednesday (2 1/2 hour drive). His anxiety got bad again so the vet told me to stop the Keppra (this is why we had to stop the pheno). He's been off it for 3 days, and had two seizures yesterday and still has anxiety. We are worried there is something more severe going on as the severity of his anxiety has increased. Even after getting a shot of valium last night to stop the seizure he was still anxious all night long. And as you all know a screaming basenji is not a pleasant experience. It's hard to tell if the anxiety is due to the drugs or the seizures or from some underlying cause. He's never had these issues before. He is definitely not the same dog as last summer. I can't imagine having to sedate him for the rest of his life, and if he still was having anxiety 30 minutes after the valium, what is prozac going to do? Thanks everyone for your well wishes and support. I will keep you updated as to what the neurologist says on Wednesday.

thank you

Thanks for your post.
We haven't been able to figure out any cues as to warn us he will have one. I know that he's had a few, but he has them at night when we are sleeping. I'm a heavy sleeper and I have slept through the 4 that I suspect he has had since November. He never wets the bed, yet four times now he has. One of those time my husband happened to be just getting in to bed (he works nights and was home a little early that evening) heard some weird noises, went to investigate and thought that sid was choking because of his collar. But now we know he had just had a seizure. Just after New Years Sid had another one right next to me while I was reading on the couch. At that point I knew without a doubt that those mornings when he had peed his bed (and last week when he peed the bed) and the night the hubby thought he was choking were all seizures. Luckily he hasn't had any clusters of them. They all seem to happen late at night (as I usually don't go to bed till 11-12). The one he had next to me I think may have been a cluster, because he seized for a while then stopped for about 45 seconds and immediately seized again. Of course at the time I didn't think to time it, it seemed to last forever. I just stood there watching him almost fall off the couch.
He developed severe anxiety with the pheno, and he would fall over because his hind end was so weak. He would scream for HOURS after I went to bed. Nothing helped, I tried desensitizing him to the lights being off. I tried moving his kennel. I tried setting up a gated area with his bed. I even gave him benedryl. Nothing worked. We stopped the pheno and within 48 hours he was back to his normal self. So he's on Keppra right now.

Anyway, I was just interested to know of anyone with B's that developed it late in life. Sid turned 6 on Dec. 20th.
Thank you for your story. And no worries you didn't scare me I've dealt with epilepsy before. Just not with my own dogs.

Hello all!
One of my B's was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy a few weeks ago. He is 6. I was just curious if any of you have "older" B's that have epilepsy? We started him out on phenobarbitol but he had severe side effects so we stopped and put him on keppra, which takes a lot longer to build up in the blood stream. I believe he had one seizure since the switch (it was during the night, he peed his bed, he never pees his bed) so overall he is doing okay.
Thanks! It's been forever since I've been to the forum, I forgot I was even a member

My new B-boy…..Bramble, aka: Mata Hauri Blockbuster. He has really settled in with the other pups quite nicely! He has been back in our lives for about 2 months now (since just before Thanksgiving). Here he is with my sidling....

Sid on left, bramble right:

we use a dremel as well, about once every week or two, no more than two weeks though. I like to keep their nails trim and rounded. I basically check each of my pups over, clean ears and paws, and a couple times a week I brush their teeth. So I can tell pretty quickly if they need a quick run over with the dremel. I'm a bit obsessed with making sure my pups are free and clear of ticks/fleas, and that they have nice clean ears, and trim nails. But they stay pretty clean because of it, and No ear infections for my weim
kim~

For the most part the only toys that hold up in my house are kongs, the "plush" toys made for dogs who destroy do last for a few weeks, but thats about it. I get the "mean kitty" and "mad cow" dolls for them every so often, and there are these wabba toys that you can get that are made from recycled firehose material. They all have fun chewing and chasing these toys. I have a couple of "tough dog" toys that are sorta like fabric frisbees, that have lasted for almost a year! the squeekers have since died in both of them, but the pups still like to tug them around, and have me throw them. I keep a lot of recreational bones and such available in the house, and some cow hooves which take them awhile to chew on. But its hard to find good bones for them because they can not be beef. If I get them without any marrow, or any meaty material than we can have them, but otherwise we have to steer clear because my Masi is allergic to beef. So when I get marrow bones, I actually take all the marrow out, and wash the bones before they get them. It's sorta sad really, she loves them so much!
kim~

Daisy Duke, my ~ 2 yo Catahoula. We adopted her about 3 months ago from virginia through C.U.R.S. (Catahoula United Rescue Society).

Maserati, aka: Masi, my 1 yo Weimaraner. We adopted her last year when she was 10 weeks old, from a bad breeder who was going to put her down :(.

The girls together in a beautiful sit-stay

And the B-boys, Burrito (brindle, 7 mos and sid the red/white 1.5 yo)

The Pussy Incognito, aka: The Kitten. She's 5 1/2 yo, and we've had her since she was a very small kitten, she's still VERY small for a kitty!

Abner the EVIL kitty, he is ~7 yo, and we took him in when he was ~3 yo from a friend who couldn't keep him.

I do have two cockateils named Szechuan and Corky, and 5 ferrets: Goose, Czar, Akira, Boodha, and Meeco Cheeco. But I didn't feel like adding pictures of all them, I've added quite a few already

A very cute family you have

Unfortunately for me, my Weim masi, is allergic to beef, so I can't give beef based treats in the house, so for the most part they get all natural treats, and practically no store bought treats. They go crazy for frozen peas and icecubes. We feed a bunch of different foods, I like to switch around every couple of months or so between Solid Gold Wolf King (Bison and Salmon….no beef ;)), Canidea (turkey, chicken, lamb), and Innova (either the VO, or regular).

Luckily we have a large plethra of cultures moving into our little city, so there are some really yummy things at the grocery store to feed my guys, like chicken feet and fresh green tripe (the later unfortunately is from a cow). I was told yesterday that they had Lamb HEADS the other day!!! Needless to say I was all excited.

They don't get the very very special treats too often but they sure do love them when they do. I get them marrow bones too....I have to take out the marrow for masi to eat it unfortunately, but every so often we can get lamb ones from the butcher. If I could I would feed a complete raw diet, but I can't manage that currently, so they get supplemented raw/fresh foods with their kibble, and the Kibble is the highest quality available.

They don't get rawhide, but they get pig/cow hooves every so often. For some reason Masi can have have the hooves, I think its because they don't have any meat proteins in them, because hooves are made from the same thing that Hair is made from, technically its "dead". So, she can have those. I give them dehydrated chicken breasts, they like those, and Turkey/Lamb Jerky from solid gold. Pretty much anything dog safe they get to eat
kim~