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Author: Admin | 2025-04-27
Been used to treat aggressive behavior problems ( see Psychotropic Agents). Common adverse effects include transient GI distress, alopecia, sedation, and vomiting. Hepatic failure is rare. Use of valproic acid in dogs is limited because of rapid metabolism. Clonazepam:Clonazepam, unlike diazepam, can be used in dogs for oral maintenance therapy, because anticonvulsant tolerance develops less rapidly, the saturability of its metabolism reduces the elimination rate at therapeutic concentrations, and because it is more highly absorbed orally (particularly in micronized formulations). For maintenance therapy in dogs, it may be used alone at 0.5 mg/kg, tid, but it is best used as an adjunct to phenobarbital at dosages of 0.1–0.5 mg/kg/day. Diarrhea sometimes develops with clonazepam, but this may be avoided by starting with once daily dosing and increasing the frequency to three times daily over a period of several days.Carbamazepine:Carbamazepine is not recommended for use in dogs because of a rapid induction of hepatic enzymes that eliminate the drug quickly. Although plasma concentrations declined rapidly in dogs on a 1-wk regimen of 30 mg/kg, tid, one case report described adequate seizure control despite undetectable drug concentrations in plasma, possibly due either to an active metabolite or to a highly sensitive drug reaction. Carbamazepine has been used to treat aggressive behavior problems in cats ( see Psychotropic Agents).Clorazepate Dipotassium:Clorazepate dipotassium (0.5–1 g/kg, tid) has been proposed as an adjunct to phenobarbital treatment in dogs. Severe withdrawal symptoms, even lethal seizures, may appear after abrupt discontinuation of chronic clorazepate treatment, in spite of the relatively low tolerance liability of clorazepate. Administration of phenobarbital alters the deposition of clorazepate such that the amount of nordiazepam in circulation during each dose interval is significantly reduced. Adequate control of seizures in epileptic dogs, therefore, may require higher dosages of clorazepate when coadministered with phenobarbital. However, clorazepate may increase phenobarbital concentrations, resulting in adverse effects.Phenytoin:Phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin) is no longer recommended for maintenance use in dogs, cats, or foals because of undesirable pharmacokinetic properties. Its metabolism is too rapid in dogs, which reduces its effectiveness, and too slow in cats, which increases the risk of toxicity (salivation, vomiting, weight loss). In foals, phenytoin has erratic plasma concentrations. It may still be used in status epilepticus in dogs as a slow IV injection of 2–5 mg/kg.Mephenytoin:Mephenytoin, although related to phenytoin, has been effective in dogs (10 mg/kg, tid) because of a slower rate of elimination. It may be combined
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