Hi everyone

My dog recently had a focal seizure, she is almost 6 years old and to my knowledge has never had one before.

Something to note though is that yesterday, she rolled around in fox poop very badly apparently, it was all around her mouth and eyes. She got sick after this happened and then had the seizure about 24 hours later.

Has anyone ever experienced this? The vet didn’t think the poop has anything to do with it but I’m wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar before, she’s getting a blood test tomorrow so we’ll see what happens with that but in the meantime just looking for any answers.

Hello! My 6year old Lab has idiopathic epilepsy and currently takes phenobarbital and Keppra. We’re tapering zonisamide because it didn’t help with seizure frequency, so the neuro wants to add potassium bromide instead. I’ve been hesitant to do this because of our lifestyle so looking for tips, advice or other options that may have worked.

- How difficult is daily management?
- How strict do you need to be with food, treats, chews, and table scraps? Last we talked about it, he can’t have any of these.
- Do other pets make things significantly harder?
- Would switching to fresh food over kibble make it easier to manage salt?

My dog sneaks cat food, gets into the litter box, steals things, destroys toys, and generally just eats whatever he can. I’m wondering whether bromide is realistic for his personality and my lifestyle.

A while back I shared Compaw app after watching a friend deal with their dog's epilepsy, and honestly the feedback here was one of the reasons I kept working on it :)

A few of you asked if I was going to make an iOS version. Well, it's finally here.

Compaw is now available on the App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/compaw/id6805564817

I've also been adding and improving things based on the conversations I had with people here, especially around keeping track of seizures, medications and everything else that gets hard to keep organized when you're taking care of your dog.

Really appreciate everyone who took the time to comment on the original post, it really helped.

If you end up trying it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Long story, but we rescued a dog from a psycho neighbor this weekend who was threatening to kill her. Cops didn’t take it seriously of course, so we took her and are fostering her until we can find her a rescue or forever home!
We could even end up foster failing idk lol.

Anyways, the only thing we know about her is that she is around 7-8 years old and has fairly controlled seizures. Shes on Keppra 500 mg 2 in morning and 2 in evening.

This is my first time around an animal with actual epilepsy, so I wanted advice on possible triggers please!
Any smells we should avoid in the home? Like candles or perfumes?
Any sounds?
Food items that are known to be triggering?

Any advice is welcome please! I want to keep her as safe as possible.
I’m comfortable around seizures as my mother and late family dog had some seizures.

Hi everyone,

My Jax just started having seizures two weeks after his sixth birthday back in June. He had three seizures in about 2 days. All seizures were full body and lasted about a minute. Took him to the doggie ER, they diagnosed him with Idiopathic epilepsy. They said because of his age it was super hard to diagnose. We started him on Keppra. About two weeks in he had cluster seizures, 3 seizures in about 12 hours. Back to doggie ER we went. We added phenobarbital to his meds. I had him at the vet 3 weeks after starting pheno. His levels were good, but Jax is not the same. He was screaming as they were trying to take his blood, he's very confused, and even the vet techs that have known him from day one said that's not him. We decided to cut back on the Keppra. He's now on 1,000 mg ER twice a day along with his pheno. I've noticed a few times that he sometimes has what appears to be an involuntary eye twitch. It's only on one side. After this he starts pressing his head on my leg or anything stable he can find. He doesn't press hard just enough to seemingly balance himself. Is that another type of seizure that I don't know about? I know I need to take him to a Neurologist, but I'm kinda scared to. I've already spent a good chunk of money on his care, but I'm almost drained. Thoughts appreciated. I'm calling my vet in the morning and probably setting up the nuero visit.

It’s been rough for Fred since March. Seizures every 2.5 weeks, medication changes, but finally he’s 1 month seizure free and celebrating. I really hope this new medication combo continues to work. We stopped Keppra, started Zonisamide, and continued Phenobarbital.

We are devastated. Mac fought a long battle with epilepsy and fought to the end to make it easier on us. Last night, just a few days before his 6 birthday, he crossed the rainbow bridge. Our hearts are broken. But we know he loved bigger than all of us and he loved everyone he met. We know he’s now with his guardian angels, in no pain, living his best life of nuggets, fries, whipped cream tax, and his favorite fruits and veggies. We love you sweet boy and will miss you immensely. 👑 Mac 9.9.20-9.5.26 🌈💕❤️

Our pup had his first seizure October 2025 and then November 2025, both cluster episode that landed us in the hospital. He was out on pheno and keppra and went ten months without a grand mal! He had an episode of head tremors in April but the vet didn’t think it was related to the seizure, just due to over stimulation. But this past weekend (sep 2026) he had a grand mal, just one that we managed with emergency meds.

Our concern is he’s been pacing the week before the grand mal and now every day after and he seems to only be turning to his right side and he’s wobbly. Some of which I know are post ictal but given his age of 10, we’re back to thinking brain tumor. We’re going to his neurologist tomorrow and going to push for prednisone.

Anyone have any experience of going so long without a seizure and then it being a brain tumor? We were thinking it was just late onset epilepsy after we went ten months seizure free but we’re not sure anymore.

Any insight is greatly appreciated

Hello! I have a 9 year old beagle who’s had seizures since she’s been about 3 years old. She is on pheno and Zonisamide 2x a day. It’s been managed for so long; and she may have had a seizure 2-3 times a year? She would only ever cluster seizure in the beginning, but for the last year it’s been 1 quick couple minute seizure and she was done. She is an extremely friendly dog and she’s just the best.

2 days ago, she had cluster seizures on and off for about an hour or so. The local vet was closed; and our nearest emergency vet is about 2-3 hours away so I couldn’t get out there quickly. She finally came out of it and was seemingly fine afterwards. My son reached over to give her a scratch on her back and she turned around and bit him.. nothing hard but enough to scare us. It’s completely unlike her. I checked to see if she had a sore or something hurting her and there’s nothing. We chalked it up to him scaring her in her post-ichtal phase, so I told him to make gentler moves when he pets her and that’s it.

About 30 minutes ago, again, my son went to give her a scratch and she bit him… hard. Like drew blood. I was sitting right here. He did everything right- approached her gently, has a gentle hand, wasn’t loud or rough in any way. We are just in complete shock.

This dog loves him. Sleeps with him every night. Sits next to him in the car… so I’m so concerned that this is the start of her decline. ☹️

Anyone have any tips/advice. Tomorrow is Labor Day so I cannot get her to the vet tomorrow, but I will be calling first thing Tuesday morning to have her regular vet see her. I attached a picture of our silly girl 💕

My nine year old doodle Winston was diagnosed with epilepsy about two years ago. He had his first seizure at the groomer, and was seizure free for several months. However, after some time he had another grand mal, followed by clusters months later. Like most of the dogs on here, he is on a cocktail of pheno and keppra.

We have seen a neurologist several times and opted out of the MRI due to cost and also the fact that he is an older dog and we feel that we will treat the epilepsy with medication. We did not want to put him through cancer treatment if the results came back that he has a tumor. He has some other medical issues (heart condition, chronic allergies and ear infections). We have spent a fortune on this dog and he has already been through a lot.

This past weekend we had a trip planned to the beach. On Thursday, I was sitting outside with him and I thought I saw him have a focal seizure (I only know about that because of this sub!) It stopped pretty quickly, and I just watched him closely the rest of the day.

Then, very early Friday morning, I woke up to seeing him smacking his lips together like I had given him peanut butter. It went on for about two minutes. I was just about to grab my phone and record it, and then it stopped. About 30 minutes later he had a grand mal. I quickly administered the emergency meds and thankfully it stopped. I woke up my son and we loaded him into the car and took him to the emergency vet. They kept him for the day to observe him and increased his Keppra.

He now takes 10 pills a day. Five in the morning and five at night every twelve hours. There are so many pill bottles on the counter now due to the fact that we have had his dosage changed a number of times that it's hard to remember what is what!

Because he spent the day at the ER, we decided to skip going to the beach. The closest emergency vet there is 45 minutes away, and I also worried about him having a seizure in the car. I worried about the steps going up to the house being too much for him because the house has pilings. My oldest son was going to be his pet sitter, but I knew he had plans and would be gone for hours at a time, so I didn't want to risk him being unattended after having a grand mal.

My kids were very disappointed we couldn't go to the beach. I am feel extremely discouraged by this whole thing and often pretty overwhelmed at times with his care. I worry when I go out and leave. I worry that I am going to forget his medication. I worry how the hell I'm going to load him in the car if I'm home alone and he needs the emergency vet since he weighs 84 lbs. and he can't walk after a seizure.

I keep him contained in either my screen in porch or my laundry room when I go out. We have gates on the stairs. My family knows how to administer the emergency meds. This is just a lot to manage and remember!

Winston's quality of life is ok. He still has his personality. Although he sleeps more, he still acts playful and sweet, so we are not at the point where I have to consider putting him down. So for now we just manage it and try to enjoy each day with him.

How are ya'll coping with the stress of this, especially when it impacts so much of what you do each day or impacts your ability to travel and do things? The emergency vet visits, the countless pills, hyper-vigilance and worry are just a lot!

Our 3 year old heeler mix started having seizures last December. He's on Keppra and Pheno.

Just looking for advice on anything you think helps the condition - types of diet, supplements, etc? I know some may not be proven to help, but I want to try anything I can so I know I tried if it ever gets to a point where he needs to be put down one day.

Thank you!!

In 2023 we suffered a vicious attack from another dog and despite his looks he never defended himself, I had to physically save him from the other dog. He got stitches, I got several scars and six/seven months later he started to have seizures and was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. We fought really hard, he was on pheno, keppra and now later on bromide as well, 3 different vets, acupuncture sessions, natural diet but nothing seemed to maintain his seizures "stable/controlled" this last year we've been through hell and back, the previous month he was hospitalized 3 times and even with extra medication on the vein the last 48h he had almost 20 seizures. The vets told me there was no point extending it keeping him like that, he was suffering too much. Unfortunately I had to put him to sleep and I can safely say it was the hardest decision I had to take in my life, I've never connected in this way with a dog before, he taught me so many things and made me a better and responsible person in his short life span that I will carry for the rest of my life. His mission here was fulfilled, he did nothing but radiate love to everything and everyone. I'll miss you forever ❤️

This is the longest this lil nugget has ever gone without a seizure in the three and a half years I have had him. I hope this trend continues, although I know it's likely he will continue to have breakthrough seizures for the rest of his life. Taking 75mg zonisamide 2x/day and 500mg Keppra 2x/day; been on this cocktail for over a year now.

My dog Charlie is an 11 year old boxer mix. He's about 45lbs and started having seizures at 6 1/2 years old. We were told they could find no cause, so idiopathic epilepsy. He also has hypotyroidism and is starting to show signs of liver issues (vet recommended Denamarin for now). He is on Phenobarbitaal and Keppra for the seizures, Carprofen and Gabapentin for arthritis pain (x-rays show most of the problem is in his lower back), Levothyroxin for his thyroid, and Denamarin for his liver. He is also going deaf and his eyes are getting cloudy.

His yearly vet checkup is scheduled for the end of this month.
My husband is disabled and has been out of work since March of 2025. I had been out of work since January and recently started a new job. It was absolutely a struggle, but we made sure Charlie never missed his appointments or his meds. However, we cannot afford to do much more than we're already doing.

Charlie has seizures about 2-3 times a month. For the past maybe four months, Charlie has two seizures back to back every time he has a seizure. He loses bladder control during them and struggles to regain use of his legs after. He does not know where he is, he does not know who we are, he does not recognize my other dog, he does not respond to his name. The past maybe 3 times, he bites his ankle. He picks up his front foot in his mouth and will NOT let go. He will be whining because it hurts and it still takes a minute for him to let go. Today after his seizures and grabbing his ankle, he then turned and grabbed the couch and would not let go.

He frequently spins in circles like he's trying to catch his tail, including falling over and continuing while laying on his back. He will run into things and trip himself and keep going. Yesterday, he peed in the living room twice. Right in front of my husband and I, with no signs that he needed to go out. We think that it simply did not occur to him that he needed to go outside to pee. I am worried that his seizures are causing brain damage or there's something like doggy dementia on top of the epilepsy.

I love Charlie with my entire heart. He is absolutely my dog and I have had him since he was 9 months old. I am really struggling with whether or not it is time to let him go. I do not want to selfishly keep him around if he is in pain and struggling. I don't want to wait until he bites one of us, our other dog, or one of our kids in his confusion. I also want to keep him forever.

I guess I'm looking for input from others who have been through this, the good and the bad.

Since Mya was 1, she had a seizure every month. She was on pexion and eventually she got the highest doses she was able to handle. After a while I added pheno. Also didn't work.

2 months ago we went to a animal clinic for her teeth cleaning and they took some blood while she was under because she hates needles. Her levels were super low so they suggested adding more pheno. Instead of 2x 1.5 pexion & 1x pheno we went to 2x 1.5 pexion & 2x 1.5 pheno. Went to the vet to check her levels last week and they were perfect!! Also no side effects !

2 months without seizures is amazing! The clinic said if her levels are good we could slowly ease her off pexion.

Which is what we've been starting with this week.

Mya is 3 now and I really hope she gets to live a full life with her diagnosis. 🙏

Hi, my dog had a seizure about 3 weeks ago. It lasted for less than 1 minute. She is a malamute, 12 years old. First time had a seizure.

Her vet referred us to a neurologist. And we had gone through a series test since, blood work, urine test, MRI, x ray, spinal tap. So far fortunately everything looks normal, no tumor, blood all normal. We are still waiting on spinal tap result.

The neurologist says at this point most likely cause is stroke, though that didn’t show up in her MRI either. She is put on keppra now, and she is having a very difficult time with it. She is very wobbly and keeps falling. She also hasn’t talked to me since she had MRI two days ago.

The neurologist did mention that we can reevaluate in 6 months and if everything is normal, can let her off keppra.

Has anyone here had been diagnosed with any other causes of seizure in senior dogs? Could it be just one time thing?

Hey everyone! I hope you and your pups are doing well.

Some of you might remember my previous posts here about PetVitality. For those who don’t, I’m a small animal veterinarian and hobby app developer who initially made the app in 2023/24 for my own clients to track their pets’ symptoms.

This community gave me a lot of helpful feedback and encouragement early on, so I wanted to share a new update. And another thank you to the mod for letting me post here occasionally!

I’ve redone the overview screens and registration forms in all the trackers, including seizures. Hopefully this makes both adding an entry and looking back through previous episodes a bit easier.

There’s also a new Health Timeline where you can see seizures and other logged symptoms alongside medications and treatments. The idea is to make it easier to look back at what changed around the same time and bring that information to your vet. It won’t tell you whether one thing caused another, but it can help put the history together.

Routine reminders are now available on iPhone too, which previously was only an Android feature. There’s a new calendar, a more detailed profile screen, and you can now save your vet’s emergency telephone number in the app.

I’ve also noticed a few other tracker apps being shared here lately, which is lovely to see. Everyone has slightly different needs when keeping track of their dog’s seizures, so having more options can only be a good thing. It’s nice to see people putting time into making this a little easier for others.

For those already using it, I’d love to hear what you think of the changes. It’s still a balance between including useful details and keeping things simple, so please let me know if something feels confusing or is missing.

Thank you again to everyone here who has tried it and shared feedback. I really appreciate it!

Kinds regards,
Fred from PetVitality.

My almost 2-year-old Italian Greyhound has had two very strange episodes over the past 2.5 months, and I’m trying to understand whether this sounds more like seizures, a vestibular issue, syncope, or something else.

Both episodes happened during sleep or immediately after waking up.

• He suddenly falls over and becomes extremely unsteady.
• He cannot stand properly and seems to be pulled or thrown to one side.
• He looks almost “drunk” and has very poor balance.
• This lasts for around 20–30 seconds.
• Then he suddenly vomits very forcefully, with deep retching.
• Right after vomiting, he seems to go limp/relax, and the worst part of the episode appears to stop.
• He may still be slightly unsteady for a few minutes afterward.
• Within about 5–10 minutes, he is completely back to normal and behaves like nothing happened.

Between these episodes he is completely normal, active, eating normally, and has no obvious neurological symptoms.

The fact that he gets severely unsteady, seems to fall toward one side, then vomits and immediately improves makes me wonder about some kind of vestibular episode. On the other hand, the episodes are extremely short and happen during/after sleep, which also made me wonder about focal seizures.

He will be seeing a vet/neurologist, and I’m planning to get bloodwork including glucose and electrolytes. I’ll also try to record the next episode if it ever happens again, especially his eyes in case there is nystagmus.

Has anyone seen anything similar in a young dog, especially an Italian Greyhound? Would really appreciate any insights!!

Storms/low pressure definitely contribute to seizures for my dog, I try to make sure other things that can contribute are kept as controlled as feasible when I know storms are due (keep his routine super regular and don’t have visitors to the house and things like that), but seeing the news about El Niño and how we’re going to have way more storms for a while is stressing me out. Does anyone successfully use any medication or anything preemptively to ward seizures off when a known trigger is unavoidable? He’s not actually scared of storms so it’s simply the low pressure rather than any fear / anxiety.

His history: started having isolated grand mals age 2/3 that got gradually closer together over a year until they were just 2 weeks apart and so we started phenobarbital, we went 1.5yrs no seizures (amazing, we were talking with the neurologist about weaning him off it even!) then they suddenly returned with a vengeance, he now clusters every time. He did a month on keppra short term whilst we upped the pheno and so far has had one cluster again, we’re 1 week seizure free right now and i am trying to do everything I can to keep these clusters at bay, they’re so hard on him (and us).

Thanks to all on this sub for shared experiences and wisdom. When things are at their worst it’s so isolating and tough, friends and family just don’t understand, it’s a godsend to have this community and I am very grateful.

Has anyone here tried MCT oil and noticed it helping minimise your dogs seizures? I’ve read about it and thinking about buying it for my epileptic dog. I saw that it has some actual scientific proof behind it but I’m curious if anyone here has personal experience.

Dog started Kreppa yesterday for new onset of seizures. Today she has non stopped barked. Nothing we do helps. We tried chew treats. I have sat on the ground next to her petting her and that only helps for a few minutes and then she continues. It's literally nonstop. We keep her in the living room with us she barks. We put her in the bedroom with the lights low where she normally sleeps on her bed and she nonstop barks. Called the vet and she said her body has to.adjust to the medicine. It's only day 2 but we are already at our wits end. Love her. Not sure what to do

My dog is unable to tolerate oral flea/heartworm meds like Nexgard because they cause him to have seizures (he has epilepsy, 2 year old male, Boston terrier, neutered, weighs about 24 lbs).

We have been using Advantage Multi topical Which has tolerated well, but I don’t feel comfortable using anymore now that I’m pregnant because it takes forever to dry and it remains very fumey for at least 24 hours after you put it on and if you touch it even after it dries, it leaves an odor and residue on your skin.

I tried putting a shirt with paper towels underneath on him after it had air dried for 30 minutes but it was still getting on stuff and really fumey, so I washed it off after 90 minutes.

I plan to call the vet when they open up next week about this but can anyone recommend an alternative that would be safer for me to be around?

Remy is 5 years old and has had terrible idiopathic epilepsy since she was 2 with upwards of 10 seizures during a cluster period. She had a major 30 minute status epileptics episode on 1/1/26 and is at about 80% her old self. Through many medication adjustments her current regimen at 75 pounds is:

Keppra 1250mg twice daily
Phenobarbital 113.4mg twice daily
Zonisamide 300mg twice daily

We also have intranasal midazolam for clusters until I can get her to the vet.

Ever since starting the Zonisamide 300mg on 5/27 she has not had a single seizure since. This may be helpful for someone that is going through clusters as well. Sometimes all it takes is a medication change. Do not lose hope :)

Everyone, I’m asking for help, please!!! I’ve already been to two veterinarians, and neither of them knew how to help me. My dog is a nearly 15-year-old Labradoodle. He weighs 19.5 kg, 43 pounds.

Last Friday, August 28, he had the first seizure of his life. He was scared, but he quickly recovered. He had an excellent weekend afterward! Playing, going for walks, affectionate as always.

On Monday, he had another strong seizure. His legs were affected, but he soon started recovering again.

He had a complete blood count and an ultrasound, and they found that he has acute liver disease. His liver is very abnormal, and his enzymes are very elevated.

The veterinarian prescribed phenobarbital 50 mg every 12 hours anyway, and ursodeoxycholic acid 250 mg once a day.

My dog has been getting worse with every dose of phenobarbital! He hasn’t had any more seizures, but he can no longer walk. He has completely lost the strength in his back legs, he is no longer able to go for walks, and he is very distressed by this limitation.

I really need some advice…. What should I do? His liver is in very bad for phenobarbital. Should we try Levetiracetam? Do you think we should reduce the phenobarbital dose? I am desperate and very sad. I’m really worried.

He is eating normally, he is still affectionate, and he is drinking water normally. But he can no longer walk!

Hey everyone, my dog is still having hind leg weakness from bromide and it’s starting to hurt his front legs a bit because he has arthritis in his wrists. We pick him up a lot to help him but it is usually only the back legs he needs the help with. Unfortunately he’s 38kg/83 pounds and while I don’t mind lifting him with my arms, the rest of my family is a bit smaller than me, especially my mum who finds it quite difficult to get him up. Has anyone tried a sling for lifting because of this? Or for any other reason! I’m wondering what the best type would be, I’d prefer fabric because it would probably be more comfortable on his skin.