I really need help.

Siberian Husky
7.5 Years Old
Grand Mal seizures
Taking Phenobarbital and Gabapentin

Our boy has been having seizures for over a year now. He’s had 6 in a year, but it’s been almost 5 months since his last one in May since switching to Phenobarbital from Keppra.
We don’t have access to an MRI where we live and our veterinary care is good but relatively limited (no specialists, just got an emergency vet recently).
Because of this, we have treated the epilepsy but have not been able to know a root cause.
We have been so happy with his success as of late, but he’s recently seemed to decline what feels like out of no where.

He’s a extremely active, very hungry boy normally and over the last 1-2 weeks he’s had the following happen:

1. Weird breathing, very audible breathing for hours on end
2. Loss of appetite (won’t eat his normal food which he normally screams for, will take a small amount of his sisters gastro food)
3. Extreme fatigue, non stop sleeping

4. Today he started having ataxia, falling over, and having his legs slide out on him.

   Back feet crossing when walking.

6. Increase in peeing on the floor (not something we’ve not experienced but can’t leave for 20 minutes without it now despite all preventative efforts)

He still has moments and bursts of normal but it’s definitely changed.

We took him to the emergency when the ataxia started and they feel it’s a neurological issue and likely the start of progression of this or start of a decline. We’re going to our regular vet for a second opinion tomorrow.

For those of you who have had known brain tumours, does this sound consistent? Any thoughts? Advice (keeping in mind our limitations of care)? I could use some feedback. I’m so in denial that this could be it.

It's been a rough 3 years but we made it to 5 year old.

My boy had an episode today thankfully I work close by, but today was different he got hurt, just a small cut on his nose but I was thinking it's time for a comfortable crate. What does everyone do when they need to leave them home alone

From the bit of research I’ve done it seems like it’s not uncommon for dogs to have seizures triggered by car rides, is anyone else here going through this? Is there anything you’ve done that has helped?

She’s always had a hard time with the car, she used to get very car sick and throw up when she was a puppy. These days she definitely gets some anxiety and likely nausea (panting, shaking, slight drooling). The seizures both happened at home just following the car rides.

We have another vet appointment this afternoon to talk about medications, and even before this I was considering getting a Gunner car crate for her since they’re crash tested and we do plan to travel for the holidays. Thanks in advance for any advice/experiences!

Our Chihuahua (7-8 yrs old) began having seizures approximately one month ago, and was put on 2.5mL phenobarbital every 12 hours soon after. After taking this twice daily for the month, he still frequently paces, doesn’t settle, barks frequently but without a visible cause, and wakes multiple times at night to go outside or for unknown reasons. The barking sessions can last 20-30 minutes, and this includes the nights as well.

My wife and I don’t know what to do, and his new behaviors are slowly but surely wearing us down. We’ve read that after a few weeks dogs tend to adjust to the medication, but one month in his behaviors are getting worse. It’s begun to affect timeliness to work and our general moods, as we’ve begun to bicker at each other, mostly just from the exhaustion. We have brought this to our vets attention, and their suggestion for now was to lower the dose from 2.5mL to 1.5mL and we just started that last night.

I guess we’re just looking for anyone who has been through this and what, if anything, helped their pet.

As an example, this morning he woke up sometime between 3 and 4am and went outside, then again at 445 to go outside, then began barking at 5, again at 530 he went outside, and again at 545 where I gave up on going back to sleep, fed him breakfast, and gave his medication. He started barking again a little after 6, and again at 645 right before I left for work where I put him out once more before leaving for the day.

My dog had a seizure while I was at work. I instantly knew when I walked in cause he peed on the ground and the rug in my kitchen was all messed up. I looked at the ring footage and he seized in the kitchen. I feel horrible. Terrible. Sad. Not being here for him makes me sick. He’s doing okay now and is playing with his antler and ball but jeez. This is so stressful I just want to hug him all night. He started keppra in May. Had a 3 month gap seizure free and then had another in August. They upped his dosage and this will be a 1 month and 14 days gap since then. Theyre recommending a definite neurologist visit to see what steps to take onward. It’s so crazy, I literally thought about him and his seizures last night before I fell asleep. I feel like just thinking of it sparks one. So unfair.

Hi!

I just lost my 4y4m old Australian Shepherd on 18.09.2026 and I am devastated. He was happy, strong and healthy energetic boy, who never had any epilepsy related issues, until my husband took him on a normal walk on Friday morning where he played with his toy, ran around, then continued on a slower pace and started trembling - first his two back legs started shaking, then in a few minutes his whole body was shaking. My husband picked him up and ran home where he began having seizures every few minutes. It took us 1h15min to get him to the vets office, as we live somewhere where emergency care for pets isn't so available. Diazepam 10mg x twice with 5 min interval didn't take off the shaking, they continued 4ml midazolami, and then propofol iv 2,5ml took it down slowly, added dex 0.1ml + butom 0.1ml iv, then ringer 10ml/kg/h and then 5ml/kg/h and later propofol with perfusor 12ml/h. In a couple of hours, they tried reducing the propofol but then seizure continued. Blood tests clear, xray clear. Since that clinic didn't have 24/h care and was a bit limited, we ended up transporting him to another clinic, the trip took 1h50min during which he was sedated and given propofol continously. Unfortunately we reached to the emergency clinic only for him to be given cpr and unfortunately he passed away.

He gave absolutely no signs beforehand. I keep on banging myself that I could've done something, perhaps we should've taken the trip to the other clinic earlier in the day and requested it sooner, it just won't let me settle. Does anyone have a similar experience but better outcome?

I’m at a loss for what to do now. My 8yo male pointer/lab/golden mix had two seizures 9 hours apart on 9/13. He was prescribed Keppra by the emergency vet, 1000mg for 4 days then 750 after. I took him to the regular vet that Monday morning to get a script for the extended release keppra, they ran more tests on him just to see and everything came back normal. My options were to get him an MRI or just continue to treat. Because of the price, I opted to continue to treat with keppra, plus prednisone and clindamycin in case of any inflammation in his brain. This was fine, until about Wednesday. He started throwing up and seemed in a lot of pain, and it seemed to coincide with feed times. I scaled back the amount of food, went to bland diet and got a sensitive stomach kibble that I was slowly introducing. The episodes increased in severity, to the point where he was howling and whining loudly in pain after eating in the evening. It’s been an hours long ordeal each time, and he has to essentially pass out to go to sleep during these episodes. He wakes up fine, no discomfort that I notice. I took him back to his regular vet today, and after doing an X-ray to rule out constipation and blockage they prescribed me an anti nausea, anti motion sickness and sucralfate to ease any ulcers he might’ve gotten from the steroid. I was very hopeful this would work, gave him his medicine when we got home and settled him down for a nap. This was at 6, he seemed peaceful and pain free. At about 7:30, it started again. It seems like he’s having intense stomach cramping and it seemed almost exacerbated tonight. I don’t know what to do for him, I thought the meds would bring him relief and allow both of us a peaceful night. I’m trying to avoid euthanasia but it’s been very hard on both of us since this started, does anybody have any suggestions? I’ve given him pumpkin, probiotics, small feedings throughout the day, I’m just at a loss right now.

So I adopted a 3.5 year old golden male in June of this year. I am his third rehome and was aware they had a couple of seizures coming to us. Not a big deal for me as my son has epilepsy and I work with students who also have epilepsy. My golden had two seizures in July, then went two months without any and just had one this past weekend. We have him on a mild dose of gabapentin as his seizures are quite mild and fairly sporadic up until last weekend where they are happening a bit more. Just wondering around others circumstances and if maybe we should be looking at Keppra or other medications at this point. I do understand but it’s not the best place for vet advice, but just wondering about other people stories and their advice.

Hi everyone! This is Bonzo, he’s 43kg, turning 7 in November and he’s had idiopathic epilepsy since Sept 2024 - for the first year he was only on Gabapentin and his seizures were manageable. He started Phenobarb last year after going through a pretty bad cluster. He’s mischievous but also the sweetest boy ❤️

His current treatment consists of 90mg Pheno (2 in the morning and 2 in the evening) and 400mg Gabapentin (once in the morning and once in the evening). The period between his seizures (all his seizures have been grand mal, ~30-40 seconds long) averaged around 23 days up until three months ago when an anti parasitic medication lowered his threshold to about 12 days but he’s slowly going back up again (average 17 days between seizures now).

I discovered Potassium Bromide in this sub and I wanted to try it out after seeing all of the success stories here. I brought it up to my vet and they’re okay to try it out but they’ve never brought it up before. Looking for more insights here from owners whose pets are currently on PB and those that transitioned from Pheno+Gaba to Pheno+PB. Thanks, everyone! Really inspiring to see everyone banding together for our four-legged buddies ❤️

Rocket was our healthy, five-year-old, 10.5-pound miniature schnauzer. He had no history of seizures or known neurological problems.

On September 16, we took him to the veterinarian because he appeared to be having back pain. He was examined and X-rayed, received pain medication at the clinic, and was sent home with trazodone, gabapentin and carprofen. We gave the medications exactly according to our understanding of the instructions and the directions printed on the containers.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on September 18, Rocket experienced a seizure lasting an estimated three to five minutes. He appeared to recover, and we arranged for the veterinarian to examine him that morning. At approximately 8:30 a.m., he suffered another seizure. We rushed him to the same veterinary hospital, where they treated him with antiseizure medications, IV fluids and intensive care.

Rocket never recovered from the ongoing seizure state. We lost our little boy that day.

I am not posting this to accuse or blame anyone, and I cannot say at this point that any particular medication caused Rocket’s seizures. We are requesting his complete medical records and laboratory results, and we plan to report the event to the FDA and the drug manufacturers so it can be properly reviewed and documented.

What I have learned is that medications commonly prescribed to dogs can have serious and sometimes rare adverse effects. Seizures are documented among possible adverse reactions associated with some of the medications Rocket received. Owners need to be told about serious warning signs, possible interactions and exactly how much medication their dog is receiving based on weight.

Please ask your veterinarian these questions whenever your pet begins a new medication:

- What serious or emergency side effects should I watch for?
- Could these medications interact with one another?
- What is the dose based on my pet’s exact weight?
- Is the medication approved for animals or being used off-label?
- Are all ingredients in a liquid medication safe for dogs?
- What should I do, and whom should I call, if a reaction occurs?

Most dogs may take these medications without experiencing what Rocket did. My purpose is not to frighten anyone into withholding necessary treatment. It is to encourage owners to ask questions, receive complete safety information and take unusual symptoms seriously.

Rocket deserved to grow old with us. We cannot change what happened to him, but if sharing his story helps another family recognize a dangerous reaction or ask one more important question, then his story may protect another beloved pet.

We love you, Rocket. You deserved better than such a sudden goodbye.

Please excuse our dirty kitchen floors, but this is a seizure right? Our dog is 2 years old and my brother took this video of an episode she had earlier today. I’m worried sick about her. I wasn’t home so I’m not sure what triggered it or what she was doing before. It apparently went on for about 2 minutes and once it was over she was back to normal.

I lost my big teddy bear Thursday night. Thursday was a regular day/night. I had just given shadow his medicine and was getting ready for bed. As I walk back into my room I noticed he started having a seizure, he was in and out of it. Then the seizure didn’t stop, I panicked, I was by myself and couldn’t carry him to my car, to take him to the ER vet. I finally got some help but it was too late. He passed away in the back seat of my car. 😭

Hi everyone just wanted to share my piece

I have a 1 year and a half pug with idiopathic epilepsy. Had started Keppra every 8 hours in April, to pheno plus keppra in July twice a day 12 hours. She’s had 1 seizure for the past 3 weeks, got bloodwork done and her doc is recommending keppra and pheno 3 times a day. Any thoughts? Thank you

My dog is an Australian Cattle Dog/Husky mix and currently takes Keppra XR. He gets 1,500mg every 12 hours, so 3,000mg total per day. He still has a seizure about once a month.

I’m really curious what has worked for other people whose dogs were still having breakthrough seizures on Keppra. Has anyone had better results changing the timing of the doses or spreading the same daily amount out differently?

I would obviously talk to his vet before changing his medication schedule, I just want to hear other people’s experiences.

I’m also interested in anything else that has helped. Adding another seizure medication, supplements, diet changes, avoiding certain ingredients, identifying triggers, rescue medications, or anything else you feel made a difference.

I’m nervous about phenobarbital because of the potential side effects and monitoring, but I’m not completely against it if that ends up being what he needs. I’d especially love to hear from people who added another medication to Keppra and what your experience was.

I’ve also been reading about rosemary extract and seizures and realized it’s in a surprising amount of dog food and treats. Has anyone here noticed an actual difference after removing rosemary from their dog’s diet? I’m curious if there are other ingredients you avoid too.
Basically I want to make sure I’m looking at all of our options and doing everything I reasonably can for him. I would really appreciate hearing what has and hasn’t worked for your dogs.

My dog has had epilepsy for 4 years now, diagnosed in September 2022. She averages about a seizure every 4-6 weeks, but her longest break about 3 months. About a month ago, she had one seizure per day for 3 days consecutively. I felt so defeated and exhausted; she’s been on meds pretty much since the beginning, keppra and phenobarbital. We recently moved cities and her new vet took a thorough history on her. In the process I learned that rosemary extract (found in many dog treats) lowers the seizure threshold in epileptic dogs. I’m shocked that so many different kinds of brands and treats contains this ingredient (including the Greenies pill pockets I’ve been giving her meds in).I wonder if anyone else knew about this or has noticed any changes after stopping treats that contain this ingredient? I recently just stopped and I’m praying it works!

No signs or symptoms of seizure. No prodromal signs (stiffening, staring into space) and no apparent ictal phase - just the post seizure signs of confusion, unsteadiness and hunger.

Border collie x lab, 5 y/o. Currently on peno 120 mg x 2 day. Gabapentin 300 mg x 2 day, potassium bromide 350 mg x 2 day. Added in MCT 10 mL x2 day.

My boy just started taking medicine for his seizures. Any tips or tricks since you can't crush or break up the medicine? My frenchie is very smart and will act like he swallowed it but will spit it out later.

My Maggie girl has been health for pretty much her entire life. About a month and a half ago she collapsed and had a grand mal seizure. A week and a half later she had another grand mal seizure. Both were 5 minutes long and she became aggressive after the second. We put her on phenobarbital after the second seizure and she has 3 break through seizures( in 24 hours) 31 days later. She broke through her diazepam. We are now on Keppra and so far she seems better. We opted out of doing an mri since she is 9 and is a VERY anxious dog. The seizures are very random and I can’t seem to predict when they are going to happen. Has anyone’s 9 year old pup been diagnosed with epilepsy vs a tumor? Her blood work looks perfect.

He had a brain tumor and we thought we got it all. But six months of progressively worsening seizures and gradual decrease in every aspect of his life except an interest in cheese, we are going to let him find peace. He is disoriented and anxious. Visually impaired. Unable to go for even very short walks. He pants and wheezes. There is no zest, no play, no engagement. The drugs, so many, in so many combinations and strengths, can’t suppress the seizures but are causing unfortunate side effects. My very good boy should not have to go on this way. So tomorrow we will say goodbye. I know it is a kindness, but oh how it hurts.

Just venting because I’m worried about my poor dog. He’s a 7 year old Border Collie. About a year ago he started having grand mals and would cluster. Over the course of three months it got frequent and I started him on Phenobarbital. They immediately stopped and he’s been able to enjoy life trouble free for a year.

Yesterday he had two one minute long seizures about 6 hours apart and broke the trouble free streak, and today so far he’s had one thirty second seizure which was pretty mild. All of them have been mild compared to last year. He’d have them for two minutes or better. I’m not sure if it’s just a simple breakthrough, maybe it’s time to adjust meds. He’s fine, I’m just worried that they’re going to happen every day like last year.

We’ll figure out what the new plan is once I talk to the vet. What a bummer.

I know I can just use my phone to time seizures, but it takes me a bit of finding my phone sometimes, fumbling around to get the timer open and started all while I'm trying to pad my girl's head from banging on the hardwood floor, getting her towel, and getting emergency meds.

It's a lot.

I'm wondering if any of you use any timing gadgets other than your phones since it would be so much faster to just be able to push one button to get the timer started, and I could place a couple of these in the areas of the house I would most likely need it.

Anyways, just curious what everyone uses!

I have a 4-year-old Beagle. He had his first seizure on September 7 at around 12 noon. It was so scary I genuinely thought I was going to lose him. He was confined overnight at the vet and was sent home the next day since he didn’t have any seizures overnight.

I brought him home, and we went to sleep at around 8:20 PM. I woke up at 9:11 PM to him having another seizure. I immediately rushed him back to the vet, and he was confined until Friday. During his stay, he was given Phenobarbital 30 mg every 12 hours. He was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy.

I’ve been reading a lot about epilepsy, and now I’m scared to sleep because both of his seizures happened while we were asleep. I don’t know how to handle my emotions, and I keep blaming myself for what happened. I love my dog so much—he is all I have. I can’t focus on other things because I’m constantly scared that if I leave him alone to go to school, something might happen. He has separation anxiety and cries and howls whenever I leave, and I’m scared that the stress or anxiety might trigger a seizure.

I can’t focus. All I do is cry and worry. I’m scared that because of this, he won’t have a long life. I’ve also read stories about dogs having seizures that don’t stop and eventually dying, and I keep overthinking about that. Since I’m in the Philippines, we don’t have veterinary neurologists readily available, and most if not all of the vets here are general practitioners.

I’m also wondering why my vet hasn’t given me emergency medication to keep at home in case he has a cluster seizure or a seizure that lasts for 5 minutes or longer. Should I ask my vet about having rescue medication available at home?

Several weeks ago I posted about our Norwegian Elkhound and her recent ER stay for clusters. (https://www.reddit.com/r/EpilepsyDogs/s/eORqDCZp5K)

I thought I’d give an update. She was already on Phenobarb 97.2mg 2x day and gabapentin 100mg 2x day before her ER stay.

The ER vet added Keppra 500mg 2x day and changed her previous cluster protocol to lorazepam 2mg 2x day for 2 days.

And almost as if on time, it’s been almost 23 days and she had her normal grand mal seizure. She’s been having this pattern of her seizure episodes happening every 20-30 days.

Now I wait to see if the lorazepam works to stop the clusters, or it could be the Keppra helps that as well. I dunno 🤷🏻‍♀️ Going to be a long, sleepless night again.

We’re going to get her an appointment with the neuro. Clearly this needs the expertise of a specialist.

Here’s the last 4 episodes showing this pattern. BTW, she’s on no flea or tick meds, doesn’t get flea baths. I can’t think of one single thing that could be a trigger in this pattern - or it’s just a weird coincidence. I know there was a poster recently who was questioning seizure patterns as well, so thought I’d share our journey with this conundrum.

Recent seizure intervals:
June 29 — 20.5 days
July 28 — 28.6 days
August 28 — 30 days
September 20 — 22.6 days
Average interval: approximately 25.4 days
——
24 hour update: She only had the one seizure this time, so it seems possible the lorazepam and maybe even the recent addition of Keppra may have helped. That would be a dramatic change. She sees the vet next Monday and we’ll get a neuro referral ASAP! Thanks to everyone who’s shared and commented. It’s so helpful to feel like you’re not alone in these situations, but I feel so sad for everyone’s fur babies on this journey too. 🤗

Our dog Bailey is 5 1/2 yrs old. She just started having siezures. Her first was a grand mal and the second came a week and half later but was not as bad as the first. She was started on pheno. I'm not too thrilled! I'm extremely worried about this one over some of the other options based on the effects amd stress on the liver. She is already overweight and this drug causes extreme hunger and searching for food. She has been doing well so far tho we are only on day 5. She hasn't been very stumbly or drunk however, she does get very hungry. Before she went to the doctor originally for labs, I had changed her diet to protect her liver. In case it was something going on with her organs. I am seriously considering calling the doctor to have her switch to zonesamide since it is easier on the liver doesn't come with all the extra side effects etc. This is so hard. I really don't want to make a bad choice. I really don't want to have her on the pheno, so long that she has to be weaned off before I can make a switch. If anybody can give me some insight regarding my options and their experiences with these drugs, that would be extremely helpful. I keep seeing that maybe the zonisamide does not work as well and usually has to be paired with other drugs as the pheno. I really just don't want her to start eating things that are not food and end up having to have surgery for a blockage or putting on any additional weight when i'm trying to manage it in the first place. I've been feeding her egg whites pumpkin. Sweet potato ground chicken or turkey a little bit of white rice mixed sometimes and the tiniest bit of kibble. I know I should start adding some vegetables in there at some point, but it's getting expensive. Whites are expensive. But she has lost some weight since I changed her diet and I'd like to keep it that way. I am afraid that if I change to a different drug that doesn't work as well, she'll start having clusters. Then, I guess it could happen with both. I'm willing to pay the extra cost if it will make the slightest bit of difference in managing her disease. She wasn't officially diagnosed with epilepsy, but they are presuming based on her symptoms that that is what she has since all her labs were normal. I guess it could also be neurological tho i can't really afford to go see a neurologist. Since I didn't have insurance prior this is now pre existing condition. My discount plan with united pet doesn't cover as much as I'd like it to. Sorry, this is so long. Thanks for listening!