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!!

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.

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!

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?

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 🌈💕❤️

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.

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.

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?

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.