FAQ
Each patient is initially examined and the history and medical record is reviewed, followed by a conversation of findings and options. The consultation is about an hour long.
A neurologist is a specialist who focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Learn more.
An oncologist is a specialist who focuses on the treatment and care of neoplasia.
A Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner is a doctor who has received advanced training in pain management and is very skilled at interpreting the physical signs of pain, approaching your pet’s comfort with highest standard of care. Learn more on www.ivamp.org and www.aapainmanage.org
A Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist has backgrounds in physical therapy and veterinary technology. Learn more.
Epilepsy simply refers to repeated seizures. Seizures may occur as a one time event in an animal from a variety of causes, but only if the seizures repeat again and again over a period of time do we call it epilepsy. Seizures are a sign of brain disease.
Anything which damages the brain in a particular area can cause epilepsy.
Medication to control this kind of seizures usually works very well, although sometimes it can be a struggle and animals may need to be on multiple drugs
A variety of medications are used to treat seizures include phenobarbital, potassium bromide, zonisamide, levatiracetam, felbamate and others…
The correct dose of anticonvulsants is determined by examination, seizure frequency and severity, side effects of the medications and blood levels, if necessary.
Sometimes medication can keep you dog seizure free. However, often we are often aiming to decrease the frequency and severity! Often times one anticonvulsant is adequate, although some animals need to be on 2 or more. Dr. Kube is very open to alternative therapies to aid in seizure control and will talk to you openly about alternatives.
Rehabilitation may include exercise (ROM, stretching, balance, and weight-bearing), underwater treadmill, acupuncture, heat therapy, massage therapy, laser therapy, home care exercises.
Laser can be used to treat injuries, a variety of wounds, skin problems, and even fractures during the healing process.
In order to obtain diagnostic quality images, we need expensive equipment that requires regular maintenance to ensure it is safe. Also, unlike most MRI’s for humans, pets require general anesthesia to keep them still enough to obtain good images.
Once the problem area of the nervous system is determined, we will focus our MRI imaging on that area. We do this for a few reasons- most importantly to minimize time under anesthesia. Also, because our machine is owned by another company (AnimalScan), we are charged separately per scan (area of the body) for both the MRI and the interpretation. To do the entire brain and spinal cord would be 3 to 4 separate scans: brain, cervical spine, thoracic spine, and the lumbar spine.
We want to determine if your pet is healthy enough for anesthesia and there are no contraindications to doing so. Certain tests may be recommended based on your pets signs and symptoms.