Hello again, I'm very excited about all the responses I've been
getting about the use of zonisamide for cats. I wanted to reply to
give some more details on the study. here are some things for you guys
to think about in the meantime while we are still waiting on approval
of the this project.
requirements:
1. diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy (meaning that seizures can't be
due to other diseases such as viral, tumors, infections, etc); because
of this, ideally cats will have a normal MRI and spinal tap performed.
pending our trial approval, we may be able to offer financial
assistance for this aspect of it.
2. owners must have a WRITTEN seizure log for the past 2 months prior
to starting the zonisamide showing at least 2 seizures per month and
maintain a log during the study
3. ideally each cat will be evaluated by the neurology service at
Cornell. As this may be difficult for some to do, as long as your cat
is evaluated by a board certified neurologist, we may be able to
coordinate through them and have your records faxed.
4. routine blood work (CBC, Chem, U/A, and zonisamide level) will need
to be obtained at 0, 30, 60, and 90 days.
5. no changes to other seizure meds (ie phenobarbital) dosages can
occur in the 2 months prior to starting the trial and during the trial.
I know that all of these requirements may causes some problems for
some of you, but please understand that when performing clinical
trials, it's crucial to have some degree of consistency in order to
prove a drug is effective or not.
as discussed, we are hoping to get the approval and hoping funding
within the next 2 months. Hopefully, most of you will be able to make
it up to Cornell to be evaluated. if you can't and still would like to
be a part of the study, please see if there is a board certified
neurologist in your area that we may be able to work through.
look forward to working with you all!
David
While I'm interested to see if zonisamide might be a more reasonably priced, easier to use seizure medication, I don't want to put Milk through an MRI and spinal tap - at our own expense! - or a trip to Cornell - my son went to lacrosse camp there, and it was a nine hour trip. With the pitiful mileage my car gets, it would cost hundreds of dollars just for gas. To say nothing of the wear and tear on the world's most frightened little white cat.
Nothing's ever simple.
