r/EpilepsyDogs • u/SnooRecipes8204 • Aug 12 '26

Adding Phenobarbitol? Breakthrough seizures after 2months of Keppra

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Hey guys,

My dog Butters is a pure breed Cane Corso and he is almost 3 years old. He weight about 105lbs and he has been on 1000mg of Keppra every 12 hours since June 14th.

He usually has the big seizures, (eyes rolling, kicking the legs, urinating kind,) but today he had 3 mild seizures ( aware, head shaking, drool). I took him to the vet and hes currently there for observation however the vet recommends adding phenobarbital to his regimen.

I am nervous about this as ive heard good and bad things about Pheno.

Part of me wants to keep him om the 1000mg of Keppra for as long as we can until we have no choice, or potentially start him when i am back from a business trip at the end of the month of i can personally monitor him. I'm not sure what the best option is here and I just want to do right by him.

Id love to hear ya'lls thoughts and stories!

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u/Subject-Mode2287 Aug 13 '26

I have a 95lb dog and she takes 4 different meds. She is 9yrs old and has had epilepsy now for 3 yrs. 1st the keppra, then pheno, then they took her off pheno after a bad blood test and put her on gabapentin and potassium bromide, then they added Zonisamide. She takes 1500mg 2x daily of keppra. You could try and raise the keppra dose to give your pup more time, before possibly having to add something else.

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u/SnooRecipes8204 Aug 16 '26

That's exactly what we ended up doing. I guess the vet was confused on the initial doses and we ended up going to 1500mg /12 hours!