Zonisamide for Seizures

[serenamlambe]

Hey everyone -

So, I know there must be a couple people on this forum with epileptic dogs. My question is, has anyone ever used zonisamide as a treatment? My little Keely is currently on phenobarbital and Keppra (not even going to try to spell the genereic form!), but the vet is looking into zonisamide for us. My concern is that it's not available in Canada and would have to be imported from the USA. Anyways, if anyone has experience with this drug, I would love to hear how it went. We'll get it if we have to, but I am scared the supply is going to be unreliable, which might even be worse for Keely.

Thanks,

Serena

[growler~GateKeeper]

No experience with it, but wish you luck & just bumping the thread

[serenamlambe]

Thanks for the bump, Growler. We ordered the zonisamide from a pharmacy in Arizona yesterday and it was $50 for 6 weeks worth, plus $30 for shipping. I hope it works! If it does, we can start ordering more at once to cut down on the shipping cost. I would still love to hear if anyone's had any experience with this drug

[Rgeurts]

We never got past the phenobarb, so I don't have anything to offer except good wishes and prayers that Keely will respond well to it!

[serenamlambe]

Thanks Robyn! And thanks a million for the info that you emailed me.

[Rgeurts]

My Pleasure, Serena! I just hope you can find something useful for Keely

[Jetera]

Hi Serena,
My Portuguese water dog just had zonisamide added to his drugs. He's on pheno and keppra too. Have you had any success and been able to always get the prescription?
Thanks

[serenamlambe]

Hi Jetera!! So glad that you were able to find my thread. My dog, Keely, is currently doing very well on the Zonisamide. She'll be three months seizure free on Monday (), which is the best period of seizure control that we've had since she's been three months old. She's nearly two right now. She hasn't had a seizure since two days after she started the Zonisamide.

We haven't had any problems getting the medication. Our vet sends in the prescriptions to Diamondback Drugs in Arizona, then they call us to confirm, get a credit card number, etc. They are shipped by FedEx and FedEx calls us to confirm when they have reached Canada. We pay them approximately $11 plus taxes to get them cleared through customs, but you can do this yourself if you want. Either way, you'll need a copy of the prescription. We can get only a three month supply at a time, but that has been okay for us thus far.

For us, the Keppra did not work very well. Keely had a two month "honeymoon period" where she had no seizures when she first started taking it and, then, her seizures started to increase to one a week - the worst it ever was. We decided to stop the Keppra and start the Zonisamide. We've been extremely pleased. No side effects that we can tell and the cost has been manageable. Meanwhile, our dog is only eight pounds... Hahaha.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm glad to be able to compare notes with someone, honestly!

[serenamlambe]

Hey Jetera -

How are things going with the zonisamide? Just thought I would check in.

Serena

[ChocolateLove]

Hi Serena...We live on Vancouver island in B.C. After talking with my vet I have been searching for a way to get some Zonisamide for my lab and came across this thread. He is currently on Phenobarbitol and Potassium Bromide. Happy to hear some success stories with Zonisamide. Is your dog still on it and doing good? Have you have any trouble getting the Zonisamide from the States?
Thank you, Tara

[IrkaC]

Hi Tara,
We live on Vancouver Island also. Our vet has said that zonisamide is not available in Eastern Canada. We are at the moment using only keppra generic.