Aggression and Epilepsy

[treyarch1]

My 3.5 y/o boxer starter having seizures periodically last August. They started increasing in frequency in January. They are all pretty short but he tends to have them in clusters of 3-4 over 24 hours. The vet prescribed phenobarbital twice daily in Late January. I gave him the dose for a few days, and it made him groggy and weird but I recognize that any brain chemical altering drug will do that until it balances out.

The issue that arose was that the meds increased his aggression. This is a common side effect that usually is manageable but my dog is a forever foster with me because he has pre-existing extreme aggression issues. I am a trainer and I’m helping him work through them. We are making good progress but while he was on the meds he attacked both of the friends he has managed to make in the past year and a half. The meds make him unpredictable and therefore dangerous even by dangerous dog standards. I took him off the meds for this reason.

I started using CBD oil twice daily with his meals because he already takes it for his anxiety and reactivity and I know there won’t be side effects. He has since a few bouts in February and March, none in April, one at the start of May, and one yesterday evening. The vet told me that once a month is considered good seizure control and I 100% fully would rather deal with seizures and risk him having complications then have to have him put down because he attacks someone unpredictably.

I feel confident in my choice but every time he seizes I worry that I’m neglecting him. I suppose I’m just here to see what other dog owners think or might do in this situation.

Tl;dr my aggressive dog has seizures and I’m opting for a holistic treatment because traditional meds make him more aggressive. Am I a bad dog parent?

 

[gdssldier]

@treyarch1 There is indeed research showing that CBD has some benefit for epileptic seizures (I believe the studies so far have been on rodents and humans, not sure about dogs). So, of all the ridiculous claims that people make about CBD oil, this one is the most likely to actually have some basis in evidence behind it.

However, THC is a known toxin to dogs, and this chemical is likely to be mixed in with the CBD during the extraction process. Please work closely with your vet to research what the likely dosage should be, what the side-effects to watch out for could be, and to obtain a chemical analysis of the material you are buying so that you understand exactly what it is that you are administering.

I would also strongly recommend that you keep a diary to monitor the symptoms if you are not doing so already. Being able to quantify your data is a godsend compared to the typical owner reports of "I think there were two 6 days apart. Or was it 8 days apart?" etc.