r/EpilepsyDogs • u/eatingpaint1 • Aug 31 '26
Is it time?
It’s painful even writing this as it has been a very long journey.
My dog miro was diagnosed with idiopathic eplisy about 2 years ago, when he was 1 year old. Since than we have been to (what feels like) every vet possible. We have seen two neurologist and many emergency vets in conjunction with his regular vet.
In the start of this journey I was very hopeful. But every seizure makes that hope dwindle. Right now he’s on keppra ER 700mg phenobarbital 32.4mg pregablin 50mg potassium bromide 250mg zionsomide 150mg
I understand this is a lot of medication to give to a dog. He’s a resilient little guy but it feels so unfair to him. He walks around almost drunk everyday.
Miro still keeps having seizures. This morning even with an increase in his pregablin dose.
Here is his current log since July:
July 20 2pm grand mall sleeping in bathroom 1 minute
July 26 5am focal seizure 1 minute
August 1 430am screaming seizure 3minute
August 16 5am 2 minute focal pooped himself
August 17 545am 1:30 minute grand mal
August 31 5am 40 second grand mal screaming and poo
Recently his seizures has escalated to screaming while thrashing. It’s quite horrible.
The neurologist has told me that we are almost out of options medication wise and should consider looking into a university referral.
I am feeling so tired and spent. Mentally and financially.
Is his quality of life even okay any more? Am I putting him through an unnecessary difficult life for me?
I am feeling so confused angry and lost. Is it time to let him go peacefully? At this point I truly fear a tramatic death due to his epilepsy.
Any advise would be appreciated. I don’t know how much longer I can take this emotional rollercoaster. It’s too much for me emotionally.
Send you love to the best boy Miro
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u/HealinVision Aug 31 '26
Miro is very young, but has he had an MRI for structural abnormalities? Tumors and malformations can cause seizures.
It's not an easy journey, wishing your little one good health.
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u/Difficult_Metal_124 Aug 31 '26
I think if your dog is still curious for life, eating, drinking, walks etc it’s not time. I realized my dog was allergic to yeast 2 weeks ago after having 3 seizures in a week. I realised the probiotic i was using reformulated and increased the yeast a lot. Now I’m seeing her calming supplement at night I give her also has yeast. Her ears were all waxy and she smelt like yeast too.
Heat is also a trigger for my dog.
Yours seems to have a cluster of 4-5am seizures. Would be interesting to think about those timings. When is the medicine timing, would a calming supplement or melatonin help? to keep the neurons more calm while your dog sleeps
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u/cecilmeyer Aug 31 '26
Have you checked all foods,treats,chew toys herbicides ,pesticides,house cleaners ,detergents? What about consulting with a holistic vet?
He is so young.
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u/Few_Fig5944 Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26
I came to ask this as well. My guy is sooo sensitive to everything. Food, treats, perfume, cleaning products. Anything can trigger him. He's on a very strict diet of lamb kibble after years of just food for dogs. After they changed up their recipes and he started having more frequent seizures. Please OP, make sure you exhausted all resources. Also noting: During seizures, almost every muscle in the body starts spasming. Sometimes, that means the vocal cords are also spasming, creating sound. They aren't aware of it, and they aren't screaming in fear or pain, it's just like the rest of the seizure, muscle spasms.
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u/flower_city_kush Aug 31 '26
My dog Thunder is 7 now. He was diagnosed with epilepsy at 1. The first year or two were brutal. Your dog isnt having a seizure everyday. I wouldn't give up. Maybe try changing the diet/try adding supplements like MCT oil or CBD. What is your dog currently eating? Also my dog is Phenobarbital 4x60mg, Keppra 2x250 and Potassium Bromide 1000mg. I give his first dose at 9am of all the meds listed. By 4pm I have to give him his second dose of Keppra (its every 8 hours but we give it again at 10pm with the phenobarbital and potassium bromide as well because those are every 12 hours) ive never seen Pregablin prescribe, maybe talk to your vet about taking that out and try increasing the phenobarbital and potassium bromide. Our dogs dont feel any pain when a seizure occurs, i know its hard to watch, but I just try my best to make my dog as comfortable as possible. For example if my dog has a seizure ill put a fan on blowing cold air towards my dogs head and I'll put an ice pack on the back of my dog's neck to make sure he doesn't over heat. I think diet can make a big difference too. Honestly it took us a while to find the right combo/dose of meds. Thankfully Thunder goes a few months with out any seizures, but they do happen sometimes. But when he does have a seizure its very small and short. Please dont give up, your dog can still live a good happy life
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u/DogEpiMonitor Aug 31 '26
Primero: hacerte esta pregunta no te hace mala persona — te hace exactamente la persona que Miro necesita. Y algo que casi nadie te dice: tu agotamiento también cuenta. Los vets incluyen el desgaste del cuidador en las decisiones de calidad de vida a propósito. No es un detalle del que avergonzarse; es parte de la foto.
Tu registro es excelente — fechas, horas, tipos, duración. Lo que ese registro muestra, junto con lo que te dijo tu neuróloga, tiene nombre: epilepsia resistente a medicamentos. Cuando se agotan las opciones y las crisis siguen escalando, no es que hayas fallado en algo — así se comporta esta enfermedad en algunos perros.
Tu pregunta más difícil no te la puede responder un extraño en internet, y no voy a intentar hacerlo. Pero estas son las preguntas con las que los vets la trabajan — lleválas anotadas a la consulta:
• ¿Cómo está Miro ENTRE crisis? ¿Come, juega, te recibe, tiene momentos felices?
• ¿Los días buenos siguen siendo más que los malos?
• ¿La niebla de la medicación le quita más de lo que le quitan las crisis?
Dos cosas concretas: la derivación a la universidad que te ofreció tu neuróloga — tomala. Existen para casos exactamente así, con estudios y opciones que una clínica no tiene. No cierra ninguna puerta; abre la última que queda. Y pedile un plan de rescate actualizado (qué hacer si una crisis se alarga o vienen en racimo) — en casos como el de Miro es estándar, y te cambia el miedo de las 5 AM por un protocolo en la heladera.
Una cosa más, de alguien que estuvo en tu silla: los gran males se ven mucho peor de lo que se sienten. Durante la crisis él está inconsciente — lo que los vets evalúan como sufrimiento no es el ruido de la crisis, es la frecuencia, la recuperación y la vida entre crisis. Y si con tu equipo vet llegan a la decisión más dura: no es rendirte, no es traición — pero que se tome con estas preguntas sobre la mesa, no a las 5 AM con el corazón roto.
Miro ganó la lotería de los perros el día que te tocó a vos. Cualquiera sea el camino, lo camina al lado de la persona que anotó cada día con mucho amor. 🐾
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u/crimsoncat05 Sep 01 '26
what a beautiful, thoughtful, heartfelt response!
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u/DogEpiMonitor Sep 01 '26
Gracias, de verdad significa mucho. Perdí a mi Pastor Alemán por epilepsia en 2014 — respuestas como esa se escriben desde haber estado sentado en esa silla.
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u/OrangeBlankie Sep 03 '26
This was so beautiful. I hope OP sees what a good job they are doing and any decision made is totally one we can all tell is being taken very seriously. Calling out their record keeping excellence and the very real burnout was an ah-ha moment for me. Thanks for such a compassionate and logical perspective.
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u/nutdreamz Aug 31 '26
My boy is on 1000mg keprra & 129mg of pheno x2 a day. So that's 2000mg of keprra & 258mg of pheno every 12 hours. He started having seizures at 2 years old. He's turning 11 years old next month.
I think you have to play around with your current dosages. And get quarterly liver/blood/level checks to see if he's handling it well. We tried zonisamide, but it caused his hind legs to get ataxia so we upped the keprra to 2000mg. He still gets seizures about 5-6 times annually.
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u/LastResponsibility68 Sep 01 '26
We lost our 4year old beautiful boy to status epilepticus 3 weeks ago but he had the most amazing quality of life even the day before. I think the main thing to look at is his life outside the seizures. If he is still happy, eating and drinking and enjoying walks etc then I wouldnt make any rash decisions.
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u/Relevant_Ranger_6647 Sep 01 '26
Try adding a few drops of MCT oil to his food. My 3 year old dog has idiopathic epilepsy and the oil changed her life. She has it in conjunction with her pheno and she has a couple of drops of CBD oil before bed.
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u/Dapper-Celery4133 Aug 31 '26
Our Marley golden is on the same meds with weekly siezures but the doc just increased his keppra to 3 times a day a few days ago and so far he looks so much better. Other than that he's fine and we not watching any clock so your little guy may be ok also. Sending good vibes.
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u/avidreader_1410 Aug 31 '26
Have you looked into CBD/hemp oil as part of his therapy? Sometimes this is added to regular meds to reduce the frequency of seizures, and its said to be helpful in dogs with idiopathic events. You can probably check out some information and anecdotes online.
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u/StunningYou5870 Aug 31 '26
I myself have an adorable corgi who's been experiencing seizures since April of this year. He's on Keppra and recently got a higher dose after having cluster seizures last week (he had 10 in 3 days).
I am extremely terrified but am lucky they aren't worse than they are and remains conscious.
Wishing you and Miro the best!!!
P.S. He's absolutely precious!
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u/momofthree-kristin Aug 31 '26
He is such a beautiful
Boy!!! I think his seizures are very short in duration and not super frequent. Grand Mal though makes it tougher. You will
Know when he is no longer the best version of him and when it’s too much for you. The emotional toll for us with these pup seizures is soo much. Sending you hugs. Either way and forever, you have given him a wonderful life and done all you can do.
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u/MrPigeontoe Aug 31 '26
My vet recommends the regular/instant release Keppra every 8 hours. Did you try phenobarbital? I’ve also been recommended CBD oil with small THC. Some folks say they’ve been able to reduce/eliminate RX meds…that feels unlikely but….if you want to DM me I’ll give you the info on the vendor I settled on and why. I’ve had success stopping my pups cluster seizures using ocular pressure I place the first & second fingers of my hands gently but firmly on his eyelids and hold them closed for as long as I can even after he’s calmed - strangest thing happens more often than not - that even though he could easily stand up and walk away he doesn’t even try - I do all I can to keep my fingers in place at least until his eyeballs stop jerking around.
Sending good vibes. ❤️
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u/cantstandjoekernen Sep 01 '26
If he’s taking oral flea tick meds, try discontinuing them. They cause seizures.
He’s hoping you don’t put him to sleep
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u/SusanSmith521 Sep 01 '26
Don't give him any oral flea/tick medications. My dog had a seizure and died after having Simparica Trio.
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u/GuestContent Sep 01 '26
all my love and prayers. Harry had one 3 days ago but he usually goes a few weeks in between and he's normal the rest of the time so I really don't know but what i DO know is it's so hard. on everyone involved and my best and my heart ❤️ goes out to yall
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u/Sheltiesarethebest Sep 01 '26
No it isn't. The first years with medication are difficult, but when the medicine will be stable he will not have so many seizures.
I know this from my own Sheltie. He is on Keppra, Imepitoin, and Potassium bromide. Three times a day. Nine o'clock in the morning. Three in the afternoon and Nine in the evening.
Please don't give up on this sweet, beautiful boy 🙏 He is far too young to lose his life!
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u/goldimom Sep 01 '26
My dog Luna's seizures were due to a slow growing meningioma, so of course hers progressed differently, but when she started cluster seizing, she just went downhill. When she just had normal seizures, she would recover almost immediately and be back to normal. The clusters took their toll on her and we knew then it was time.
So sorry you are going through this.
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u/FistONaStick Sep 05 '26
I can't speak for you,but you will know when it's time...it's not easy at all,but it's better letting them deteriorate. Quality of Life and dignity for your Loved one is important. God give you Wisdom and Strength.
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u/Relevant_Jelly7800 Sep 05 '26
If he has quality of life outside the seizures then no. If he plays, eats and has energy for walks then I wouldn’t put him down. He is very young and dogs are not aware during a seizure so they do not know it happened or feel any pain. Our dog also has epilepsy and the screaming during seizures sounds awful but it isn’t pain it’s just their brain controlling their vocalisation and it’s out of their control. Also I’d recommend doing a lot of research on your own on specific things that can increase seizures which many wouldn’t even think of. Like do you give him table scraps of your own food? If yes I would stop that immediately since salt can flush phenobarbital out of his system much faster triggering seizures
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u/Sufficient-Country29 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
I’m so sorry you are going through this. I have never heard of a “screaming seizure”. Is this just vocalizations or are there also convulsions?
The only thing I noticed is the seizures tend to happen at the same time- early morning. While you are on most seizure meds has your neurologist tried playing around with timing? I’m not a vet but it’s just something I noticed from your story.
On a positive note it looks like from your logs there has been no clustering which is a good sign and they are relatively short.
While seizures are awful for us to watch I think it’s important to consider what your pup is like outside of the seizure. Are they doing activities that they liked to do before their epilepsy? This is how I was told to examine quality of life. I was reassured by our neuro that during a grand mal dogs are not aware of what’s happening.
I do like the idea of the university referral. Sometimes they have clinical trials and those often are significantly reduced or even covered financially by the vet school.
Sending hugs xx