Keppra dosage

My 9 year old 14 pound shih tzu poodle has had mild seizures since the age of 4. He has a low dose prescription for 24.3mg per day of phenobarbital to control it. He recently underwent a wellness visit with a new veterinarian. I keep a log to document the frequency of his seizures of which he typically has every 4 to 8 weeks apart. The new vet told me his seizures are too frequent and prescribed a new therapy using Keppra with a dosage of 250mg 3 times daily. I’ve been reading a lot about Keppra and came across a few dosing charts. The charts seem to suggest 20 mg/kg, PO, tid (equates to 5 to 10mg per pound 3 times daily). I’m a little worried. Is 250 mg 3 times daily too much for a 14lb dog? Gizmo thanks you.

Hello!   In the interests of openness, I am not particularly familiar with this drug, or in a position to advise you on drug dosing, I'm afraid, because I am not your vet.  I have done the sums you outline myself and can see why you were surprised.  Sometimes vets give unexpected dosing with very valid reasons, eg connected to not splitting tablets,  but mistakes do sometimes happen.  It does sound as though a call to your vet or their emergency equivalents to have them double check would be a good idea: always better to check too many times than not enough.  Please do let us know what they say.