8:05 AM. It started with a minimum of jaw-chattering, and I was expecting that there wouldn't be much foam, but his head and neck were soaked. This was very quick - maybe 40 seconds, but quite violent in the middle, when he was flopping around with his butt way up in the air. There was growling, but not as loud as before, I don't think. (I've managed to put all that out of my mind. ) He was laying on his side on the afghan, and his left rear claw got stuck in the yarn. (Which is relevant, I think, because just a few minutes ago, he got up from the window ledge and was limping terribly. Either he was limping because of the claw, or there's something wrong with his whole leg. It's alarming, whichever way. He walked like he'd had a stroke - his leg kept sort of folding in on him.) When the actual seizure ended, he laid there quite calmly. There was one large "jerk", but not the five or ten minutes of stuff that he used to do. He got down easily - without seeming uncoordinated - and went out and ate almost a whole can of FF. He was affectionate and wanted to rub and nuzzle afterwards.
I don't know what to think, or what to do now. When he had the first seizure the other day, I thought that maybe my adjusting the times of his phenobarb had finally caught up with him. (Instead of giving it separately at noon and midnight, a few weeks ago I started giving it with his Keppra at 10 AM and then with the Keppra again at 1:00 or 2:00 AM - just to cut down on the number of times I had to chase him around and shove things down his throat.) So, three days ago, I started giving him the 10:00 PM phenobarb again, by itself. I wouldn't think that that would make the difference, although, who knows? And now, do I try to increase his Keppra? He's getting approximately 3/4 of a 250mg pill (such a stupid oval shape for chopping in four.) I'm tempted to try to add 1/2 of that last quarter, but I'd never be giving the same dosage because of the shape - the top part is usually significantly smaller than the bottom. And the stuff is so expensive that I really don't want to waste any that I don't have to. Maybe I should try Karen's technique of using some sort of apothecary scale. I sort of hate to go right up to 250 mgs TID, for no particular reason other than that it seems like an awful lot. I wonder, too, if it has something to do with the phenobarbital. He's been showing a smidge of interest in eating lately - ever since I discovered that he likes the freeze dried Nature's Variety. He's not exactly "eating" when I put his food down, but he's taking longer to bury the bowl, and he does occasionally lick the stuff a little. Last night, I actually saw him eat five or six bites of FF. So maybe the phenobarb is having a reduced effect, both on his eating and on the seizure control? I hate to put him through more blood work - it's only been a couple of weeks since the last levels were done.
This is so upsetting. He was doing so well. It feels like we're right back to the beginning again. And I haven't learned a thing in the last year to make me think that I can deal with this any better now than I did then.
Enough whining. I guess I'll go and write to Karen and ask her about her scale and where she got it. I wonder if there's any function in trying to call the neurologist to see what he thinks.
Oh, and I've about decided that that wasn't a seizure the other day. Although maybe it was... Decisiveness, one of my best qualities. Anyway, there was meowing, and I've never heard him meow during a seizure, and the fur was sticky on his lower body, not near his head/mouth. Maybe Busy was just chewing on him again.
