| dc.description.abstract | Summary
Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common diseases in feline neurology.
Phenobarbital is the most frequently used anticonvulsant for feline epilepsy, but
many other drugs have been already tested.
Objectives: The objective of the present work is to analyse peroral antiepileptic
treatment options for cats, compare different drugs, regarding their efficacy, side
effects and application frequency.
Materials and Methods: The encountered literature is critically concerning its
strength for evidence (type and evidence of literature, and in case of studies, type,
number of patients, observational period). Additionally, reference lists were used to
find related records, respectively primary literature about feline epilepsy and diverse
anticonvulsants.
Results and Discussion: Fifteen drugs are currently described in the literature
against feline epilepsy. Regarding their pharamacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, side effects and clinical experience, the authors recommend phenobarbital,
zonisamide, levetiracetam for clinical use in epileptic cats. The use of bromide,
diazepam, carbamazepine, propentofylline, taurin, gabapentin, pregabalin and topiramat is conditionally recommended. Primidone, phenytoin and valproic acid are
not recommended. The information about anti-epileptic therapy in cats is based
on expert opinions, case reports (Class IV) and a small number of prospective and
retrospective studies (class III). Not a single Class I or II study (placebo controlled,
randomized, double blind trial), describing the clinical efficacy is available. Furthermore, the small number of cats, insufficient observation time, simultaneous
administration of different anticonvulsive drugs and missing comparative studies
cause an additional decrease of evidence. In conclusion, the treatment of epilepsy
in cats is based only on weak evidence. | en_US |
