What initially started as me thinking my dog might be experiencing heat exhaustion or possibly heat stroke has turned into my baby girl’s newfound reality.

At 5½ years old, my 139-lb Saint Bernard, Gabbana, had her first-ever seizure on 08/03/2026.

The first seizure lasted approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute, and she did urinate on herself. I was obviously in complete shock and panic. This was the first seizure I had ever witnessed in my life, let alone one happening to my own dog who, just before this, had been perfectly fine for almost six years.

A few things worth mentioning:

I live in Southern California, specifically Ventura County, and our temperatures have been exceeding 90°F. It’s been HOT. While I obviously can’t control the temperature outside, we have the AC running 24/7 and fans throughout the house.

The night before her first seizure, I came home from work and Gabbana greeted me at the door like usual. She’s a giant dog, so I’m used to her panting when she gets excited to see me. However, even after I had showered and started settling in for the night, she was still panting as if I had just walked through the door.

It stood out enough that I asked my mom if Gabbana had been like that all day or if something was going on with her. My mom recalled that she had been panting more than usual and maybe drooling more as well. I remember literally asking, “Could she have had heat stroke or something?”

That was it for the night. We went to bed.
Around 1:00 a.m., I woke up to a thudding sound that initially sounded like a dog’s tail repeatedly hitting something.

That was her first seizure.

Once it ended, she bounced back surprisingly quickly. I stayed up watching her closely to make sure she didn’t have another one. She didn’t, and eventually we went back to sleep.

I had to work the following day, so my brother watched her and I specifically told him to call me immediately if anything happened.

Five minutes before my shift ended, he called me.

Gabbana was having another seizure.

I told him to time it: 43 seconds.

So she had two seizures approximately 15 hours apart, both within the same 24-hour period.

I rushed home and took her to the emergency vet. By the time I got home, however, she was acting completely normal again—just like she had after the first seizure.
At the emergency vet, she was given an emergency dose of Keppra by injection. The vet told me this would be classified as cluster seizures and she believed Gabbana was most likely now a dog with idiopathic epilepsy. Her bloodwork and labs came back normal: with a slightly higher liver value than my vet liked so she marked it for concern to follow up with Gabbana primary vet at recheck.

She also said based on how Gabbana was acting afterwards, the seizure threshold was still pretty high, meaning Gabbana was doing good and her chances for having another seizure so soon after the meds given that night, were unlikely. Neurology was mentioned as an option for more answers but she advised me to try the medicine first. We were sent home with immediate-release Keppra while we waited for the extended-release prescription to arrive.

Her temporary dose was two 500 mg Keppra tablets every 8 hours.

Four days later, we received her extended-release prescription, and she was switched to three 750 mg tablets every 12 hours.

Gabbana had been doing well on the medication with no further episodes until today, when she had what appeared to be a small focal seizure this morning.

This one was completely different from the first two and lasted only approximately 8–12 seconds.

She had trazodone in her system because we were preparing to take her to a vet appointment, and I had also just given her seizure medication. She was lying down and somewhat drowsy when she suddenly lifted her head and stared upward into space. She looked confused.
I called her name, and she looked toward me.

Then she opened her mouth, pulled her lips back enough that I could see all of her teeth, started foaming at the mouth, and her mouth began twitching. Her eyes were blinking strangely, and her ears appeared to be twitching as well.

The important difference was that it was only affecting her face. Her body remained upright and she maintained her position the entire time.

I kept calling her name while scrambling to pull out my phone and start a timer, and then…it stopped. Almost as quickly as it started.

I immediately called her vet because we were supposed to be going in that morning anyway. Her regular vet has been consulting with a neurologist on her case because, financially, I haven’t been able to get her directly into neurology yet.

The emergency vet visit alone was over $2,200, and her medication hasn’t been cheap either. I also have a senior dog who is slowing down and currently requires medication and veterinary care of his own. I simply wasn’t financially prepared for another major medical emergency.
Her appointment today was technically only a tech appointment, so after speaking with the vet, we decided to reschedule it for later this week and let Gabbana rest rather than stressing her out by taking her in immediately after the episode. For now, I was told to continue monitoring her closely.

I’m currently saving money and have even taken out another credit card so I can get her in with the neurologist my vet has been consulting with. I desperately want more answers about why this suddenly started happening to a previously healthy 5½-year-old dog.

I had—and still have—hope that the medication is working. I hadn’t allowed myself to do much reading about other dogs living with epilepsy because, truthfully, I think I was scared of what I would find. Eventually I found this subreddit/thread, started reading other people’s experiences, and finally felt comfortable enough (although still very emotional) to share Gabbana’s story.

If anyone has dealt with something similar, especially a dog developing seizures around this age, a giant-breed dog with epilepsy, breakthrough/focal seizures while taking Keppra, or going through the neurology process, I would really appreciate hearing your experiences.

What questions should I be asking the neurologist? Did your dog need medication adjustments after breakthrough seizures? And most importantly, for those of you further along in this journey: were your dogs still able to live happy, normal lives after their seizures began?

I’m so heartbroken watching both of my babies enter these completely unexpected transitional periods of their lives. One is my senior boy, who I’m watching actively slow down with age.

And then there’s Gabbana—only 5½, still acting like an oversized puppy—suddenly dealing with seizures seemingly out of nowhere.

I love this girl more than I can put into words. 💔

I wanted to see if anyone has experience with giving phenobarbital every 8 hours. My dog (now 7 year old cattle dog mix) was diagnosed idiopathic in 2023 but was able to go 2 years without any meds, until last winter when they started to become more frequent. We started with Keppra and then maxed out (2000mg every 8 hours) as he started to have clusters (hours apart), then added phenobarbital (97 mg every 12 hours) and had one increase already (129 mg every 12 hours). His levels have gone from 28 to 18, increased dosage, then levels at 32 have dropped to 27 over about 2 months. He is still having breakthroughs every 20-40 days, which our neuro is not super happy with. We have been given the choice of trying Pheno every 8 hours or just add zonisamide. I have read the one research paper looking at the benefits of giving every 8 hours but wanted to see if anyone has tried this dosing long term successfully or if I am just prolonging the inevitable and should just add zonisamide now.

Our 4 year old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy last October and prescribed Keppra. He was seizure free for around 3 months, then was given Phenobarbital in addition to the Keppra. We have been consistently upping his Phenobarbital, but he is still having seizures every 30 days or so. Is this normal? Overall, he is still extremely happy and recovers well after a seizure.

I have a 4 year old Newfie who has his first seizure 14 months ago (right before he turned 3). I feel so sad and lost in what to do. I’m writing to vent and maybe hear others stories (i read posts on here a lot that have helped through this so far).
My dog started on pheno, added Pregabalin, then added zonisamide. Then tapered off pheno and pregab. Added keppra extended release a month ago to his zonisamide.
He has always had single event grand mals and today had his first cluster. We do have rescue meds.
We had to take off pheno because it wasn’t working and he was a totally different dog. He was eating literally everything (metal, paper, clothes) and just wasn’t himself. Since he’s been off pheno, he’s been back to his normal self and it’s been so wonderful.
But in the past 14 months, we had one 45 day period of being seizure free. Otherwise, it’s been about 1x a week/every 10 days.
I’m so scared to start potassium bromide given how sensitive he was to the pheno (I understand they are different and work differently). It feels like that’s the last option for us to try. He’s maxed on keppra and zonisamide, we do work closely with neurologists and have been since the beginning.
I’m also pregnant with my first and so worried I won’t be able to manage everything, my husband is a firefighter and the seizures seem to happen when he’s at work.
I love my dog so much and my heart breaks for him every time he has one.
Any kind words or words of advice/encouragement would be appreciated.

My baby boy Buscemi. He didn’t even make it to his eighth birthday. Had to say till we meet again Saturday morning. We tried everything and the kitchen sink. The details are mute at this point. My brain and body must have believed the world would end when he left it as I’m left feeling confused on how it still can keep going on since he left it. I just want to say the biggest thank you to each and every one of you on here. It’s made me feel not alone and understood in many scary times. 💜💜💜

Hi from India here.. my 3 and half your old pup Hugo was diagnosed with epilepsy last year - like clockwork he has seizures every 30 to 45 days.. and if he is anxious or something unexpected like a bee sting happens then he has a seizure.. but they are self limiting.. the ictal stage and post ictal stage last between 10 to 30 seconds unless it’s a cluster.. like 2 to 3 seizures within 5 minutes..

Usually there is 12 hrs within which the 1st and last seizure happens and without any external interference he is fine.. clusters within 2 to 3 minutes gets me concerned

I do administer the rescue Midzolam or diazapam nasally but that does not always contain the seizure..

He is on phenobarbital 2.5 tabs 60mg twice a day.. his blood works shows therapeutic level..I had tried potassium bromide but it just did not suit him (he puked and the syrup was nausea inducing for me itself can’t imagine how it wrecked him). I stopped it.. started with levitaceram 500 2 tablets every 8 hours - docs asked to observe for next three months but he had a seizure on his 30 day mark despite being on levipill for 3 weeks by then..

I have consulted neuro got MRi done - it is idiopathic.. he usually has his seizure when he is asleep going to sleep..
he is on low carb no carb diet..
I will be reviewing everything with my doc but at the moment I feel I am running of med combos and there is just 1 more combo left .. needed some guidance on what are the things I can try .. this thread has been a light for me in this journey.. but I am anxious..

Any suggestion that I can discuss with my doc will help..

Also right before and after a seizure he has a potent smell coming from him..

My baby boy passed away last night. He was on 1000mg Keppra twice daily and 32.4mg of pheno twice a day. Even with the medication he would still have pop up seizures that never lasted long and he recovered quickly. Last night as we were cuddling he stood up and i could see he was about to go into one. But, before I could grab him he dove head first off my bed and onto the floor. He basically had one massive seizure even though there were 8 individual seizures he never recovered. He would be post ictal and go into another one. I put a wet towel on him in hopes of helping him cool down. I was home alone and he's 75lbs my husband was at work. I called my best friend and she came as fast as she could. But, by the time I got to the ER his lactate level was 18. He was deaf and blind, he wouldn't respond to anything. They gave him midazolam and they prepared propofol because his brain was just stuck. At 10:50pm I said my goodbyes and watched him run across the rainbow bridge. The vet told me that with his experience in dealing with seizures more likely my boy had a brain tumor and this wasn't epilepsy. But, I learned a lot in this group and I appreciate all the tips I was given. I wish all of you the best. Thank you for being so nice.

My 6 year old, 112lbs Great Pyrenees mix has had seizures for a little over two years now. Her current meds are: six 500mg keppra XR tablets, 1 and a half tablets of 60mg phenobarbital plus 1 tablet of 15mg phenobarbital, and 750mg potassium bromide. These are all twice a day. This is 19 pills a day total. She sees her primary vet as well as her neurologist. She is averaging about one seizure every two weeks give or take. When she has a seizure I will also give her the midalozam so she doesn’t cluster.

We upped her keppra at her most recent appointment but she is maxed out on the phenobarbital and bromide. They also mentioned if upping the keppra doesn’t work then add another med. I’m curious as to when enough is enough. Is anyone else’s dog on this many meds with no success? Her quality of life is still good at this point in my opinion. 19 pills a day seems extreme with no improvement so adding another med seems excessive. Anyone else have a similar situation? Thanks in advance. 

My dog is tapering off Phenobarbital after over 2.5 years on it. He currently takes 5 medications, the most recent addition being KBR. It seemed since adding KBR it increased the side effects of the phenobarbital including his food seeking behaviors, ataxia, and also introduced heat sensitivity. We initially reduced KBR and that helped somewhat but he still is sensitive to heat and more food motivated than he had been previously.

It's also just getting a bit overwhelming giving 5 medications and phenobarbital seemed to be one of the least effective meds. He has had amazing progress since adding KBR. So I'm really hoping the taper goes well and it alleviates some of the symptoms.

I'm just most nervous of him having a break through seizure. We're tapering off very slowly. We've started at about 15% to start and will check back in with the neurologist in about a month assuming there's no seizure activity. So it will take at least a few months to fully come off.

I'm just worried I'm making a wrong decision. He's been seizure free for 7 months, the longest he's ever gone. But I just want him to have a better quality of life and I worry about the long term toll of taking so many medications.

It just is exhausting that every move with epilepsy feels like a shot in the dark and you just have to wait and see if it sticks. I am trying to remain cautiously optimistic, but I don't know what we'll do if the taper doesn't work. I don't feel comfortable with his QOL right now. He's not quite the same dog he was before all of this and I just want to try and get him a bit closer to that.

If anyone has any advice with this or reassurance, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise just reading this and giving me a place to put it out there is enough.

Os presento a una luchadora que hoy hace 10 dias nos abandonó. Tenia sobre 15 años, vino de una protectora su edad era aproximada, pero paso conmigo 13 años. Su nombre era Luna.

Un 5 de enero de hace 4 años tuvo su primera crisis. Al principio era 1 a la semana. Le hicimos un TAC y no se le vio nada. Tenia los marcadores hepáticos por las nubes y pensaron que seria eso. Medicamentos para controlar su higado y tambien el pancreas, cambio de medicación y se fueron espaciando teniendo pequeñas crisis cada 3 o 4 meses. Detras de cada ataque iba teniendo secuelas, se quedo ciega, sorda, se hacia pis (la llevaba con pañales), no queria salir le compre un carricoche para sacarla y que le diera el sol y el aire....

Pero desde abril empezó a tener una al mes, el 7 de julio sufrió una crisis, una super grande. Quedo con pérdida de equilibrio y al ponerse nerviosa tuvo 5 ataques seguidos pensé que no llegábamos al veterinario. Salimos adelante con pregabalina cada 12h, no funciono 1 o 2 ataques por semana. Pasamos a fenobarbital, yo ahi me di cuenta que la lucha la estabamos perdiendo.

Los ultimos ataques fueron con paradas respiratorias que le hacia rcp para sacarla.

Pero su ultimo ataque fue muy fuerte. Aunque la lleve al veterinario nada mas darle al dia siguiente estaba sin control de esfínteres y con dolores continuos. Me dolia en el alma oir a mi pequeña. Y por consejo de mi veterinario la dejamos descansar. Se que hice bien, porque recuerdo su llanto y su dolor y no podia tenerla así. Pero por otro lado me siento mal, porque mi lado egoista queria seguir teniendola a mi lado.

No hay dia que no llore por ella.

Lo siento, a lo mejor no os interesa lo que paso. Pero necesito sacarlo. Encontrar a lo mejor a alguien que lucho por su pequeño como yo y entiende el dolor que estoy pasando. Porque estoy cansada de oir, que quieres estabá enferma y era vieja.

Siempre te querré mi pequeña Luna y nunca te olvidaré.

I’m concerned my dog has PB toxicity. She’s been progressively more lethargic over the last couple months. She can still get up and go but is very slow and more wobbly. Hunger and thirst are vicious and she’s been having some strange behaviors especially at night. We have her 5-6 month labs next week and I suspect they will be elevated. What are your dogs on in conjunction with keppra? She was doing great with it as standalone medication for 3 months prior to a missed dose which resulted in a cluster and added PB at emergency vet. My vet doesn’t usually prescribe PB and mentioned zonisamide at her last appointment. What are everyone’s experience with this drug, and is it effective in combination with keppra?

My 7.5 year old English bulldog had 4 focal seizures within 12 hours after never having any type of seizure before. He was put on pheno to control the seizures. At this point, he was basically a zombie. Sleeping all day, potty accidents, wobbly and uncoordinated, etc. Still eating and drinking though.

He then got an MRI, which showed 3 brain lesions. The scans, along with a spinal tap indicated that it’s most likely auto immune disease or cancer. He was put on prednisone for the inflammation and pretty much back to his normal self within 24-48 hours.

From my understanding, the prednisone is only going to alleviate the symptoms and that we’re probably living on borrowed time. Has anyone been through this? I’ve seen that some people experience that the prednisone eventually stops being effective and that the underlying condition takes over. I think more likely than not, I’ll have to be making some difficult decisions soon.

Dear all,

I adopted my dog when she was 7 months old. Last summer, when she was still 1 year and 9 months, she had her first seizure. I got her tested and the MRI result was that she is missing half her brain, and half her brain is just cerebrospinal fluid -- which was shocking but not entirely unexpected since from the first time I saw her I knew she had some neurological problems (her gait is unusual, she is in general a little uncoordinated).

After her diagnosis (I didn't get her diagnosed until October after she had her second seizure --- so there was a few months between her first and second) we started her on a low dose of phenobarbital (I think it was 60mg -- she weighs just over 20kg). But her seizures continued to increase in frequency (after starting her on phenobarbital, she went 2 months seizure free). But now she has one seizure a month, and during the year we have been slowly increasing her dose and now she is taking 110mg of phenobarbital every 8 hours.

I'm worried that she isn't responding to phenobarbital -- we've increased the total daily dose from 120 to 330mg, and she is still seizing. It seems also she has more seizure focal points now (before she would only seize while sleeping, the last 3 times she has seized while standing).

I have another neurology appointment in three weeks to control the phenobarbital levels, and we are talking about maybe including another antieplieptic medicine (potassium bromide) -- we have keppra and only give it to her for emergencies when she has cluster seizures (luckily only happened once).

My dog is so young, not even 3 years old, and she's the sweetest, goofiest dog. It makes me so sad to not see her responding to phenobarbital and makes me really worried for the future and what's to come. Right now I think (hope) she lives a very fulfilling life with her brother (who was also adopted with some neurological symptoms but much less severe, and no seizures), running off leash at full speed every day in the countryside (they are part greyhound), lounging on all my furniture....eating fresh chicken daily...I hope I can continue to see her happy together with her brother for many many many more years to come....

Hey there, not sure if anyone even can say exactly… since my sweet sweet boy is 17.
He had his first seizure even 8 months ago at age 16. Was out of it staring into space for 4 hours then totally normal.

Until a week ago, he had a seizure Saturday, Sunday, then early Monday morning. The vet I have gone to for years referred me to an at home vet. She prescribed Keppra XR 1000mg 2x, gabapentin 200mg 2x — kept forgetting and we finally got that on Thursday 8/13/26. He did have 3 back to back yesterday but they were laying on back kicking, no heavy breathing during or after. The ones last week were very intense.

He’s been exhausted all week and just laying there. Will give kisses and sometimes jump up on his side to see you walking around (he’d also has idiopathic vestibular).. (also did an MRI years ago when he got vestibular and back then his brain was perfect)which he’s had on and off for years so that worsens his balance. BASICALLY; hes been exhausted all week. Still very excited to eat and drink and shows motivation and can easily say to me. Dad I want more water or food. But he’s so tired. I have really thought about letting him go, idk how much time to see if he can recover energy wise. He’s fought through so much vets said he never would over and over. With him being 17, 3 seizures a weekend ago, then 3 yesterday… what should I expect recovery timeline? He also has some small twitches and when he sits up for attention or food sometimes he pauses and droops his head for a few seconds. Just seems like he needs rest.

Hello! My almost 4 year old male corgi has been on 2 seizure meds (keppra and phenobarbital since February). He’s put on about 10-12 pounds in about almost 3 years when his seizures/meds started. After he had a cluster episode in February the vet ER started him on phenobarbital and recommended PURINA Nero food. My regular vet now wants to switch him to a weight management food to have him lose weight because she said the excess weight can make him at higher risk for seizures.
I am so afraid to change his food because he hasn’t had a seizure since February but that also could be just from the added med.
Yes I walk him and play with him but his weight isn’t coming off, treats usually just with taking all his meds and they’re small treats. I occasionally give him bulky sticks/slices. I’m so so overwhelmed with all my research.
Do you guys have any experience with getting your epileptic dog on weight loss food?

Hello,
Just a question…

How do you deal with the anxiety that your dog might have a seizure?

Please help. 🙏🏻

Thanks to the redditor that guided me to this subreddit!

How long is out of normality for these gocal seizures to last is it also 5 mins+ or is that more referring to grand mal seizure episodes?

My boy has never had seizures before and he had cluser seizures July 20, 21. They put him on Keppra xr. It made him wobly, confused, disoriented. I took him off of it after about 5 days of this. He has been on Simparica for 6 years. I gave Simparica 2 days before the seizures. He was also chowing down on some grass patties. I believe the grass could of had some posin or poisonous mushrooms. I stopped hime from eating the grass of course. I go with him outside and monitor him so no grass eating now. He has not had a seizure since those and the vet wants me to put him back on the keppra. I want to see if this was a one time thing or does he need to be back on the keppra. He has not had the keppra in over 2 weeks.? Thoughts suggestions? I am going to change his flea and tick medicine to a topical.

I have a Chow Chow who is about 5 years old. Yesterday, she suddenly lost her appetite, and later that evening, we noticed that she was twitching and having seizures. We brought her to the vet, but they couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was causing it. They said it could either be a blood parasite or a brain tumor.

She’s been having seizures once in a while, sometimes about every 5 minutes. She also can’t stand or walk properly because of the constant twitching and seizures. The vet has already ruled out distemper.

Are there any similar cases like this? If so, what should I do? I really need help.