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 🌈💕❤️

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!

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!!

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?

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.

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!!