laram
Well-known member
My baby was diagnosed with sm about 2 years ago (I posted about him a bit then). He was really bad at the time, but a low dose of prednisone every day has given him a normal, happy life back (albeit with a food obsession). He's only had one breakthrough pain episode about a year ago and almost no scratching.
His liver counts etc. have been fine so far (the last blood tests were 6 months ago). But in the past few months, some of his coat has turned very blond and dry. So I've been considering switching him to Gabapentin. Is Gabapentin a lot easier on the liver than prednisone? Does it cause any damage to the system in the long term? It's very difficult to get here in Finland, so I may try to order it from the UK if they accept prescriptions from abroad.
Anyway, my actual question was whether seizures are a common symptom of SM? I've noticed lately that Sammy's been scratching a bit again, and today, after jumping off the sofa, he suddenly started 'seeing things'. It was exactly like there were a couple of flies around him. He was jumping and staring and chasing and determined to find them. It was bizarre and frightening. Then I noticed one of his back legs giving way occasionally and thought it must be connected to the SM. Does this sound like a seizure to you? Has anyone experienced anything like that? Would Gabapentin help (I've heard it's used for epilepsy)?
Thankfully he didn't seem to be in pain, just excited. He actually wagged his tail at me when I asked him what was up. And eventually I managed to snap him out of it with the promise of treats Trust Sammy to care more about food than his hallucinations!
His liver counts etc. have been fine so far (the last blood tests were 6 months ago). But in the past few months, some of his coat has turned very blond and dry. So I've been considering switching him to Gabapentin. Is Gabapentin a lot easier on the liver than prednisone? Does it cause any damage to the system in the long term? It's very difficult to get here in Finland, so I may try to order it from the UK if they accept prescriptions from abroad.
Anyway, my actual question was whether seizures are a common symptom of SM? I've noticed lately that Sammy's been scratching a bit again, and today, after jumping off the sofa, he suddenly started 'seeing things'. It was exactly like there were a couple of flies around him. He was jumping and staring and chasing and determined to find them. It was bizarre and frightening. Then I noticed one of his back legs giving way occasionally and thought it must be connected to the SM. Does this sound like a seizure to you? Has anyone experienced anything like that? Would Gabapentin help (I've heard it's used for epilepsy)?
Thankfully he didn't seem to be in pain, just excited. He actually wagged his tail at me when I asked him what was up. And eventually I managed to snap him out of it with the promise of treats Trust Sammy to care more about food than his hallucinations!