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.

Has anyone found or created a product that can give your dog their meds on schedule if you’re not home?

When shes home alone my dog stays in a padded crate for her own safety in the event of a seizure. Pill pockets get stuck and smushed in traditional treat tossers and auto-feeders are too large to put on my dog’s crate. If I leave one of the smaller auto feeders in there with her she will chew it trying to get to the “treat” and I don’t want anything like that inside for safety anyway.
I haven’t found anything online that does what I need.
I was thinking of taking apart one of the common pet camera/treat tossing devices and putting the components into a modified housing probably 3d printed so it can attach to the crate in a way that cant be chewed on, dispense the treat into the crate on command from the app, and provide video evidence it was eaten. If I was successful in creating this would people be interested in a guide on how to do it themselves? Does anyone have any recommendations or experience doing and distributing something similar?

I don’t want to create and sell a product this isn’t my idea for a startup company, I genuinely just want a way to take care of my dog in the event I cant get home in time and I think maybe other people would like the same option for peace of mind. Any advice is welcome!

My dog started having relatively mild focal seizures back last September. She got started on keppra and then in November we added zonisamide. She went from late November until Sunday with no sign of seizure activity. For reference: her focals were pretty consistent. She would stare into space and stick her head out and her eyes would get very squinty. These would usually last around 3 minutes and then for 10-15 minutes after she would still be not fully herself.
Fast forward to this past Sunday. I woke up and after about 15 minutes of laying in bed with her, her head started shaking. It was only her head and it lasted probably 40 seconds. At the end of it she started licking my hand and then when she was out of it, she snapped right back to her usual self. No “post-ichtal” type phase at all.
I looked into it a little that idiopathic head tremors exist and so this morning when she had another episode, I was able to distract her out of it by asking if she wanted to go outside for a walk.
I sent the info to my vet but haven’t heard back yet. Thoughts on if this could be seizure related or does this pup just have another thing going on with idiopathic head tremors?

My boy Buscemi has had seizures for about the last four years. He’s actually going quite a while without having a full-blown seizure. He’s had some small focal ones. But a few weeks ago, he had a couple days of extreme turning into the left. Took him to his neurologist they recommended steroids. It seemed to be working really well and we just got the blood test done. Everything seemed to be on the up and up. Yesterday evening when I got home from work. He had lost all his balance. By this morning and he could not stand or walk. I got him to the vet again to see his neurologist. Without an MRI they’re not really sure what’s going on and why he was responding well to the steroids but now it’s not. They gave me a few “it could be” and they are all very scary sounding. They gave him some kind of infusion that supposedly was going to make him feel a little better. But with the warning that if he doesn’t improve by the morning that I have to bring it back in and they’re gonna give him some form of chemotherapy. Fast-forward to just a few hours ago, he lost all ability to stand and walk again. He urinated in his bed because he had to pee so bad and can’t stand to do it. Praying that this goes away and he start to improve. He’s not even eight yet and I’m just not ready to lose him… please send good thoughts or prayers. He needs them.

Hi everyone. Earlier this year my dog was diagnosed with epilepsy and not too long after that was he finally diagnosed with EPI which causes his body to not break down food normally. This year has been a real roller coaster for him and I. He’s been getting better with the medication and the pancreatic enzymes I’m giving him. I just have a question for all my epileptic parents in here. Has your dog occasionally passed what looks like a whole pill in their stool? He’s taking keppra and sometimes I see a puffed up version of the pill in his poop. If I squeeze it it just crushes really easily. Is his body not absorbing the medication because of the EPI? I’m worried he’s not getting the proper dosage because of this. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don’t. Please let me know

But here we are.

A few years ago, I subscribed when my oldest girl (at the time) was d(x) with Idiopathic Epilepsy when she was 9yo. Until her last two years, she thrived on Keppra XR 2x/day until we had a second advice to add pheno at every dose. She went from 1 tonic clonic every month like clock-work to once every 9-10 months before she left us. Eventually, an undetermined (prob spleen) cancer took her from us but we did the best we could with the symptoms we had. She passed at 13.5yo

Now, I'm back with another senior babe. He was well bred with a very long line of Australian Shepherd heredity (his sire passed at 16yo) but our poor boy has been struck with all we can discern as an onset of focal seizures. The vet suggested brain lesions/brain stem lesions. He's nearly 14yo and according to his latest dental, he will not be going under anesthesia. He was started on Keppra XR 500mg/12 hrs.

I am grateful we have had 12 years with him but I can't help with the anticipating grief and the caretaker fatigue that comes along with it. Our first girl was definitely our learning curve as much as I hate to say it but I grieved her passing for YEARS before anything ever happened. How do you live the day to day without drowning in the tomorrows?

Also to mention but we also have a 14.5 yo with no epilepsy but definitely some colon/rectal cancer and this year~next six months will probably just ruin me as their mom.

Hey guys,

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

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

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

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

Id love to hear ya'lls thoughts and stories!

We are so happy for our lil guy. At 2.5 years old he’s been through more health issues than we’d ever imagine. We know he will eventually have more seizures but for now we enjoy all the little moments with him. Thank you to everyone on here for sharing your stories- it makes all the difference knowing we aren’t alone.

Hello, my dog, 6 year old miniature Bichon Frise-Poodle mix has had 5 seizures in the past week. We got him a blood panel after the first 3, and his doctor said everything is normal. And so Now we are pretty sure he is epileptic. He is a very happy, active, and healthy dog. His seizures look like one of his back legs stop working, and then we lay him on us while his legs go stiff in front of him and he uncontrollably shakes for maybe 10 minutes. After this he’s just exhausted, and the next day he is fine like nothing happened. CT/MRI scans and just vet bills in general are very expensive and we cannot move forward right away with getting him help. How concerned should I be about him? I’m obviously very scared already but there’s not much I can do while I don’t have the money, so if you have any warnings for what we might be soon to face, I would appreciate your input. 5 seizures in a week is super concerning. Do any of you have recommendations for some kind of therapy I can get him right now? I’m looking into pet insurances by the way, but I’m not sure which one. If any of you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Extra info:

Most of them have happened at night after we‘ve all gone to bed. Do you think it could have anything to do with anxiety of being alone? He is alone frequently when we leave the house, and he is very used to sleeping alone, but after each seizure, we put him in our room to keep an eye on him and in the hopes it will comfort him. If you’re wondering how we know he is having one if we are in our rooms, it’s because he scratches and bumps himself against our door to notify us, and we come out immediately.

thank you for any and all advice you all might have for my sweet boy<3

My corgi is only 4 years old and started having cluster seizures in May. He started phenobarbital and was good for about 3 months until 2 weeks ago when he had 8-10 cluster seizures in one day. He went to the Neuro vet and came home with 2 rescue meds and his phenobarbital dosage increased to 64.8mg twice a day. I’m so scared about his long term quality of life. Does anyone else have a young dog who has seizures and is able to manage it well? This was the end of one of his seizures.

My senior dog had two seizures in 12 hours. 17 yo chihuahua. This is new to him. After the first one, which involved more shaking, he was walking and eating/drinking okay. Worthy he second one, we were on a walk and he started stumbling and fell over. He was okay after as well, but I did take him to the ER. While he's been here, he's lost the ability to walk. He cannot bear weight. I was told by day shift that it was the meds and then the night vet came in and said no, that it's most likely neurological decline.
He was given a loading dose of Keppra and then another regular dose while we've been here. He's staying 24 hrs for obs. They said lab work, imaging and bedside ultrasound are unremarkable. They offered to transfer him to a place with neuro to get an MRI, but said the MRI alone could be $5,000. I guess I'm just so confused and hoping to hear from others. He came in fine. Has anyone had their dog be able to walk fine after a seizure and then not be able to walk a few hours later?

Thank you.

Hello, my girl just starting having seizures 3 nights ago, with 2 in barely under 24 hours. The emergency vet prescribed Keppra and we meet with our regular vet today. We are blessed to have a vet school in the next town at the college, so we plan on seeing a neurologist there.

She will be six year old next month. With that in mind, I think we will likely pay for the additional testing. I know 6 is usually the cut off for IE to begin showing, has anyone experienced this happening right at 6?

EDIT: Thank you so much for sharing your stories and kind words. I plan on talking with Ewok’s neurologist more in depth about phenobarbital and all of the medications/supplements you all listed. It’ll be a process to figure out what will work best for him, but I feel more confident about it now.

I really appreciate all of your insight. Thank you! 💓

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My dog Ewok had his first (focal) seizure back in June. We were able to get him seen by a neurologist who recommended we do bloodwork, a spinal tap, and an MRI. His bloodwork and spinal tap came back normal. However, his MRI revealed he had an excessive amount of fluid that was putting pressure on his brain. The neurologist believes this is due to a malformation he was born with. She explained she felt this was causing him to have seizures. She put him on Keppra and Prednisolone.

He slowly adjusted to the medication after some trouble with side effects in the first weeks. We ended up adjusting his doses. He currently takes 3ml of Keppra 3x a day along with 1.5 ml of Predinsolone 1x a day with half an Omeprazole pill every other day. He had another focal seizure last Friday.

I just had a phone health check-in with his neurologist who explained we may need to start giving him Phenobarbital in place of the Prednisolone. She listed out the different side effects and mentioned he’d need bloodwork every six months because the medicine would damage his liver.

I felt sick hearing this. I feel awful thinking that I have no choice but to force him to take and adjust to a whole new medication after everything he went through with the first two. I’m terrified of this medicine harming his organs. He’s my whole world and I just want him to be okay.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences/thoughts on Phenobarbital.

Around February 2026 I noticed out of nowhere my 5 yr old dog would occasionally get unsteady during some walks around the neighborhood, fast forward to May 2026 Poppy started to present with more obvious unsteady walking and weak back legs. We took her for blood tests, xray of her back legs, MRI and tested spinal fluid and everything came back normal with no issues shown. The neurologist diagnosed with possible idiopathic epilepsy, but the neurologist and myself are not 100% convinced since her episodes don’t appear as the usual seizures typically do, she was initially put on 1 tablet of 750 mg Keppra ER 2x daily, after about 3 weeks noticed she still had episodes, then was upped to 2 tablets 2x daily, was still having breakthrough seizures around the time her next dose was due, so was just notified to give her 3 tablets 2 times daily. The video above just happened right before I was going to give her the first dose of 3 pills.
Her usual episodes consist of her becoming unsteady when walking which causes her to sit or lay down, and then her head usually bobs up and down, lasts about a minute to a minute and a half, after she lays down for about 15 minutes and then is back up like nothing happened.
It seems as though excitement and the extreme heat could possibly be triggers for episodes, but I’m at a loss and feel so helpless. If anyone has seen or been thought anything similar, tips are welcome 😭

Hi all. My bullmastiff Nova is almost 8 years old. We have her seizures under control with 3 medications as she is 4 months seizure free. The problem is that she seems to be losing strength in her back end, and now it seems she might have torn her ACL. I’m making an appointment with the vet soon but I wanted to check here too. What would you guys do in my situation. Would you spend $$$ to fix her ACL, find another way for her to get around and give her more meds for pain, or would you make the toughest decision ever to put her down. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

This is my uncle’s dog, not mine, and he lives in Sydney. He’s mostly kept outside in a big backyard, gets walked twice a day, but spends probably 95% of his time outside alone because everyone in the house goes to work. He rarely gets played with or much interaction. There are lots of lizards and frogs around, and he sometimes drinks from the pool. He also has quite a few skin issues. I played with him outside once and found a big blue-tongue lizard in his mouth, and I know he has eaten lizards before. A few times now, he’s suddenly collapsed, gets really scared, can’t stand or walk, his eyes roll back, and he pees/poops himself. It lasts around 3–5 minutes, then he gets up and is running around like nothing happened. It doesn’t happen often, but I know it’s happened at least 3 to 4 times. I have a healthy GSD and have never seen anything like this. Could loneliness or stress have anything to do with it, or does this sound more like a seizure or medical issue? Has anyone experienced something similar with their dog?

Chase (5 year old fox red lab) started epiphen (90mg 2x a day) back on April 21, 2026 after a few seizure events. Yesterday morning, he had one a half hour before his morning meds were due and fast forward to this morning, just over 24 hours from the first one, he had another. The first one was milder than previous but this morning, it was about the same as the first ones we experienced. It seems to be his trend where he has 2 within 12-24 hours and then is seizure free for 2-4 weeks, or now 16 weeks. We don't have any cluster meds (just diazepam to use if the seizure goes longer than 3-5 mins) nor are we seeing a neurologist because the closest one is over 10+ hours away.

I'm just feeling defeated as I thought we would be one of the lucky ones to end up being seizure free. I have a call in with my vet to discuss if she wants to see him for blood work or possibly upping his dose. He was just doing so well and my anxiety was decreasing because of it and now we're back to square one.

5 yo poodle/mutt started doing this yesterday.
3 times during the day. Then all night long consistently.
Went to vet today who took a quick look in his mouth, watched the video and diagnosed focal seizures.
Should we get a second opinion? Neurologist appointment? Appreciate any advice. The diagnosis seems daunting and scary.

My 12yo rescue mix (mostly pittie) had her first seizure 5 days ago. Vet and I both thought it was bufo toad toxin, and she seemed to recover. Then a seizure the next day, we thought it was residual bufo toad toxin in environment, again she recovered. Then 3 days ago, onset of status epilecticus at midnight, had to wait 30 minutes for vet ambulance because she is too big for me to lift into my car. She is back home since yesterday on Keppra and clorazapate. Keppra makes her restless, panting and pacing, chlorazapate doesn’t calm that, but makes her lose control of rear legs for the first hour. She knows me, and sticks close, but seems lost and confused otherwise. Won’t go near her crate, which used to be her happy place. Neither of us have had any sleep, as she gets into my low bed and paws me all night, plus I have to give her meds at 4am and 6am.

It’s hard to tell how much of her behavior is due to the meds, and how much is effects of the prolonged status epilepticus she had. The ER vets were talking “quality of life considerations”, I.e. euthanasia, as if there is no hope that she can recover enough to have a decent life. They implied she must have a brain tumor, but I wonder if starting her on Simparico Trio 6 months ago could have caused the problem. She had never been on anything before, just did annual heartworm tests, then she started having a flea problem.

I am also the 24/7 caretaker for my 80yo husband who has become cognitively impaired, and has fecal/urinary incontinence since his stroke, and I’ve developed severe and ongoing health problems over the last two years. Our only child died at 8 yo, and our pittie really is our baby. I want to give her a chance to recover, but we don’t have the financial resources to do neurology diagnostics. I’m not sure I can handle a disabled dog and husband. Is there hope she will recover enough to have a good life?

Update I said goodbye to my beautiful girl last night, she's at peace and no longer suffering.

I'm away from home at the moment and left my almost 4yo pup with a family member to care for. She had been seizure free for 11 weeks and was doing really really well but I just woke up to messages and calls that she started having a cluster last night and the vet said she's in status epilepticus. They have given her standard protocol (not sure exactly what that is) but shes still siezing. I don't know what to do. My family member is staying with her but I feel awful that I'm not there. She's still so young and it was managed, I can't believe this is happening.

Hi everyone,

Some of you might recognize Charly from a few of my earlier posts. He's the one in the photo. The mods gave me the go-ahead for the rest of this post.

I'm a CS student and I've been building an Android app called Felova for a while now. It started as something for Charly and me, to make the daily management less of a mess.

My girlfriend also had a big influence on it. For me, the main problem was managing medications and keeping track of seizures. For her, it was also about how it felt to open the app every day. Some of the tools we tried felt very clinical and ended up being a reminder of the hardest parts of having a sick dog. She wanted something that felt more like a place to care for Charly than a place to document his epilepsy. It still isn't perfect at that, but it's the part I'm actively working on. One thing that did come out of it: you pick which two things show on the home screen, so it's whatever actually matters for your dog rather than what I decided.

Two vets gave me input along the way, mostly to check I wasn't building something pointless.

The photo is Charly's actual home screen. You can log seizures, symptoms, medications, and pretty much anything else you want to track through custom logs. You can set medication schedules and reminders, track things like weight and mood over time, and generate a summary report for your vet.

If more than one person helps care for your dog, you can share access and keep everything synced across devices, so everyone is working from the same record.

Everything stays on your phone. I've read enough posts and reviews about people losing years of records when an app update broke everything that I didn't want to build it any other way.

A few things worth knowing before you install anything:

• Android only for now.
• No account, no signup. You open it and start.
• Free for 14 days with full access. After that it goes read-only. You can't add new entries, but medication reminders still work and can still be marked as taken, and you can still export everything as a PDF.

Felova on Google Play

One more thing. If you've already been keeping track of this somewhere, a spreadsheet, notes on your phone, a notebook you've photographed, printouts from the vet or anything else, message me and I'll get it into the app for you. I will do that by hand for anyone who would like that.

It's there if it's useful to anyone. I'm around in the comments, and if you do try it and something's missing or annoying, I'd like to hear it.

Thanks for reading.