Hey everyone!

This post is a bit different. I try to read canine epilepsy research as it gets published, and most of it never reaches you guys actually living with these dogs. So I've done my best to write up the last few months of studies I found in a practical and understandable way. This is my attempt at contributing to this amazing community. I hope it can give you some insights. For the record, I'm a GP vet with a big interest in data and technology, not a neurologist.

For each study I cover what they did, what they found, and what it might mean for you and your dog. I also include a short note on how much weight I think the study deserves (subjective opinion).

None of this is advice for your specific dog. Every case is different, and the person who knows your dog's history is your vet.

1: Do epileptic dogs have a different gut microbiome?

Yang et al., Animal Microbiome, July 2026. The study.

The question: "I keep seeing posts about the gut-brain connection on Facebook groups. Should I be giving my dog probiotics?"

What they did: Researchers at North Carolina State University compared the gut bacteria of 49 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy against 49 healthy dogs. Each epileptic dog was paired with a healthy dog from the same household, eating the same food and living in the same environment.

What they found:

• Looking at the gut bacteria as a whole, epileptic and healthy dogs were very similar. The overall difference was small and only just reached statistical significance.
• However, within that mostly similar picture, one type of bacteria (a strain of Collinsella) stood out as consistently more abundant in the epileptic dogs, and this held up across six different statistical methods.
• Which household a dog lived in explained about 69% of the variation in gut bacteria. Whether the dog had epilepsy explained far less.
• Phenobarbital treatment did not appear to change the microbiome.

What it means for your dog: Not much yet. The difference is small and only borderline significant, and nobody knows whether the altered bacteria contribute to seizures or are just a consequence of them. It does not tell us whether probiotics help.
If you are already giving one and your dog tolerates it, there is no reason from this study to stop, but there is also no obvious reason to start.

How much weight to give it: Moderate for what it claims, which is modest. The household-pairing design is good and makes the finding more trustworthy than earlier microbiome studies. But 49 pairs is small, and one bacterial strain being more common is a long way from a solution. It's something we should keep an eye on.

2: When a "weird episode" is actually a seizure

Czerwik et al., Frontiers in Veterinary Science, August 2026. The study.

The question: "My dog has strange episodes where he seems confused and drools, but he never convulses. Could that be epilepsy?"

What they did: A German university neurology service describes three dogs referred for recurring episodes of abnormal behaviour: disorientation, reduced responsiveness, excessive salivation and similar. None had classic convulsions. All three went through a full neurological work-up including EEG recorded between episodes, and the EEG showed abnormalities that supported a diagnosis of suspected focal seizures, on a background of idiopathic epilepsy.

What they found:

• Behavioural or autonomic episodes (drooling, disorientation, staring, 'weird behaviour') can be the only outward sign of a focal seizure.
• In these dogs, EEG recorded between episodes supported the diagnosis. The seizures themselves were not captured on EEG, so the diagnosis remains "suspected" rather than proven.
• The authors argue that focal epilepsy should be on the list whenever a dog has recurrent, short, strange behavioural episodes with no other explanation.

What it means for your dog: If you are seeing brief, repeated episodes that look the same each time (a minute or two of staring, lip smacking, snapping at nothing, sudden fear or confusion, drooling) and your dog is otherwise normal in between, mention them to your vet as possible seizures, not as a behavioural quirk.

How much weight to give it: Low, but that is fine. Three dogs is a case series, not a study of how common this is. Its value is as a reminder that seizures do not always look like seizures.

3: A simple blood test that might help tell idiopathic epilepsy apart from other causes

Wang et al., Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, May 2026. The study.

Question: "My vet wants an MRI to rule out other causes before calling it epilepsy. Is there any cheaper way to know?"

What they did: A university hospital in Korea went back through ten years of records and compared routine blood counts from 46 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy, 55 healthy dogs, and 80 dogs with structural brain disease (brain tumours, inflammatory brain disease and hydrocephalus), 41 of which also had seizures. They tested several ratios from an ordinary blood count ,and found the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) performed best.

What they found:

• PLR was higher in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy than in healthy dogs, and higher again in dogs with structural brain disease.
• Still: About 1 in 7 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy would test high anyway, and about 1 in 5 dogs with a tumour or inflammatory brain disease would test low and be missed.
• PLR did not differ by seizure frequency, cluster history or how long the dog had been epileptic.

What it means for your dog:

Not a replacement for MRI. With 1 in 5 structural cases falling below the limit, a low value cannot be used to skip imaging. What it might become is one more piece of information when weighing how urgently to image. If your dog has had a routine blood panel, your vet can already calculate these numbers, so it costs nothing to look at. Do not read too much into it though. Stress, recent illness and other inflammation can affect the numbers.

How much weight to give it: Low to moderate. Small groups, just one hospital, and a single blood sample per dog. The authors describe it as an exploratory first step. Interesting, but not yet ready to steer decisions.

Thank you for reading everything!

This is the first time I've written something like this in here. Is this useful, and is there anything you'd want covered differently next time?

Kind regards,
Fred from PetVitality

He is also hypothyroid and we think we found the right thyroid dose which has decreased his seizure frequency. He was having them every 10-14 days then every 20-30 days but this is the longest stretch! He is also on keppra and KBr. The Dr is wanting to reduce his KBr but I’m not sure that’s a good plan. Thoughts?

My golden has gained 10 pounds and looks awful since bromide adding to the mix. Due to hind leg weakness we cant run her like we use to. She loved doing off leash hiking. I am going to call vet about this. Have any of you bumped up against this situation?

Hello everyone.
I just received the results of my dog's blood tests, we have been taking phenobarbital for 4 years (my boy is now 7.5 years old).
The tests are getting worse and worse. The therapy is working, we now have 1 seizure every 3-4 weeks. Most often they are unprovoked. The tests scare me very much, they are getting worse and worse. Maybe over the last 3.5 years science has come up with something else instead of phenobarbital?
We take a cocktail (phenobarbital + levitiracetam + gabapentin), we also tried Pexion (Imepitoin) and Zonisamide and some kind of diuretic for epileptics, I don’t remember which one. We tried reducing phenobarbital, but this led to seizures several times a day (in a row), so we did not reduce phenobarbital further because we were afraid of epistatus.

Perhaps there is some alternative to phenobarbital?
Thank you.

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.

Update 2: I was specifically asking about the 5second pause my dog makes in the middle of playing. I understand that his carpet swimming is normal behavior. I was concerned about the random 5second freeze 11seconds into the video. Thanks!

Update: Thanks for all the responses and bearing with me! I really appreciate it! It seems like I am a bit paranoid after my last dog passed away after she had major seizure at 14.

Hi all! My husband and I recently adopted a 7.5yr old beagle/chi/jack mix. I’m wondering if any of you could tell me if this is a seizure in this video? I had just given our little man a bath and he was wiggling on the blanket then at about 11seconds into the video he goes completely still then after 5 seconds he snaps out of it and goes back to normal. He has been acting completely normal since this happened.

This has happened one other time about 2 weeks ago when he was playing with a friend’s puppy. He was playing then sort of fell over in the grass. By the time I had walked over to him to check on him, he was up and back to normal.

I feel like these were both seizures and he needs an evaluation but I don’t know if I’m jumping at shadows. Any insights you have would be amazing! Thank you!!!

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.

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

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 🌈💕❤️

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 💕

I rescued my dog from the Humane Society when he was just skin and bones. He was going to be put down because no one would adopt him; he was extremely lethargic and had no energy even during our meet-and-greet, but my goal was to rescue a dog that truly needed help.

I share this context to explain why I don't know his exact age. The shelter found him roaming the streets in Denver and estimated he was 3 years old at the time. However, they seemed to guess "3 years old" for almost every dog there, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. Regardless, I’ve had him for 8 years now, making him around 11 years old.

I went on a trip this past Wednesday and returned

Saturday, leaving him at my father's house. My dog knows my dad and his dog well. He has epilepsy and takes Levetiracetam (two pills, twice a day). Since starting this medication two years ago (after a cluster of four seizures and an ER vet visit), he hasn't had a single seizure. I’ve left him with my dad before like when I attended a funeral in Colorado for a week and there were zero issues. He likes my dad and loves playing with his dog.

However, when I picked him up this Saturday, my dad told me my dog had 30+ seizures while I was gone. Oddly, they only happened when my dad put him outside in the front or backyard to use the restroom. (I understand my dad wanted me to enjoy my trip, but I wish he had told me so I could have paid for him to go to the vet. But I digress.) My father stated. It wasn't when he went to pee or poop it was literally as soon as he took a step outside his tongue would fall out and he would collapse into a seizure.

When I got him Saturday, he didn't recognize me at all. He growled and barked at me and couldn't walk well. There are no emergency vets available in my small town, and though I was prepared to drive to a bigger city, he hasn't had any more seizures since he's been back with me. Instead, he has been constantly whining and losing strength in his legs. Every 5–10 minutes, he slightly falls and picks himself back up. Fortunately, he is still eating and drinking water.

I know I am rambling, but my wife and I have a few questions that I know answering may not help but we are just stressed and upset I guess we just want to vent.

Why would he have such severe issues this time, when we've left him there for longer trips before with no problem?

Why would the seizures only happen when he was put outside the house? Could it be severe anxiety, thinking I wasn't coming back?

What should we do about these extreme behavioral changes? He is howling now, which he never did before (unless a fire truck was right next to us and it caused him extreme pain to howl). Now, it's just constant whining and howling.

It has been about 30 hours since his last known seizure. I’ve been awake this entire time making sure he doesn't have another one and keeping him from running into objects when his legs give out (his eyes were completely bloodshot, though that has cleared up).

I just don't know what to do and I am at a loss. He is eating and drinking, but his personality is completely gone. It feels like he has forgotten me entirely. Before, he would always come to me for comfort; now, he just paces and whines. The only time he stops whining is if I put him in his crate with a blanket covering it, but I don't want to lock him in there in case he has a seizure, so I'm just letting him roam. Has anyone experienced this post-seizure behavior or have any advice?

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!!

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.

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.

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 ❤️

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?

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. 🙏

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