Owners who have not been through it tend to picture epilepsy management as a diagnosis followed by a daily tablet. The reality of the first six to twelve months is a lot of driving. Serum drug levels get checked repeatedly while the dose is being brought into range, side effects need reassessing, and a dog that is doing badly needs to be seen soon rather than at the next available slot.
In a city where the nearest neurologist is a two-hour drive, that cadence becomes a genuine burden and owners quietly start skipping steps. Columbus removes the excuse. A monitoring draw is a short trip, an emergency after a cluster is across town rather than across the state, and an academic hospital in the same metro also runs clinical trials that occasionally offset costs for difficult cases.
One thing that stays free regardless: the seizure diary. Date, time, duration, what preceded it, how long recovery took. That log is what a neurologist actually uses to make dosing decisions, and it is worth more than any single test.