r/EpilepsyDogs

Hello, long time lurker who finally created an account so I could post here.

I have a 7 year old dog who was diagnosed with epilepsy at 4 months old, just two weeks after I adopted her. We had a couple years seizure-free, but they started again eventually. At first it was about once a month, and now it’s closer to every two weeks and usually a cluster of 2-3 seizures. We’ve tried different medications/doses, and at this point our neurologist doesn’t recommend adding more medications.

We also now have a 15 month old daughter, and lately I just feel completely worn down. It’s hard managing a toddler alongside an unpredictable dog. For days after seizures she’s extra hungry, has accidents in the house, and can be anxious/agitated. Recently she growled at my daughter when she seemed postictal/off, which scared me.

I feel more overwhelmed and exhausted than sad. I love my dog so much, but I’m struggling with the constant stress and unpredictability of it all.

For those of you who have managed epilepsy in a dog while raising young kids, how did you handle it emotionally and practically? And how did you know when it was time to say goodbye?

I tried to search the group but didnt see anything. Has anyone been doing tick meds at all? Im mildly concerned about topicals because he licks himself a lot (kinda like a cat). We used to do Simparica but im worried it will trigger an episode now since we stopped using it over the winter.

Hi there,
I recently informed our CKC (Canadian kennel club) breeder about our dogs tier 2 epilepsy diagnosis (he’s 2 years old) as our neurologist said it’s highly genetic. Our breeder said that they had never heard of this disease before. Out of curiosity, does anyone know what this means for the breeder? Are they not able to breed his parents anymore?

For the last 3 months, he has been unable to walk properly, and his hind limbs are not supportive at all. He struggles to stand and move by himself.

Our vet says the seizure medication may be causing weakness/sedation and contributing to his inability to walk. However, the vet also mentioned that to properly treat/manage the hip dysplasia and lumbar spondylosis, we may need to stop or reduce the seizure medication. The problem is that when we previously reduced/stopped the seizure medication, the seizures came back.

Right now we feel stuck between controlling the seizures and helping his mobility/pain issues.

Has anyone dealt with a senior dog having both neurological issues (seizures) and severe orthopedic/spinal problems at the same time?

• Were you able to balance seizure control and mobility?
• Did changing seizure medications help?
• Did physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, pain management, or supplements improve quality of life?
• At what point did you feel surgery, rehab, or supportive care was the best option?
• How did you judge your dog’s quality of life in this situation?

Any advice, similar experiences, or suggestions would really help us. Thank you.

My poor baby has gone through so much this last weekend. She is a pure bred cattle dog and turns 7 at the end of August.
I just joined this group yesterday in hopes to learn more about this and not feel so alone.
If there is any advice on what i should look out for in her starting new meds or just any advice at all would be appreciated. This is all so new to me and i am quite frightened.

I got home from work on Friday evening and she was so happy per usual that i had arrived back home, i heated up some dinner and we were on the couch together. Out of no where around 8pm she began foaming at the mouth, at first my dad and i thought she was choking so we moved her off of the couch, then she fell to the floor and started seizing for about a minute or so. it’s hard to tell how long it lasted because i was panicking since i had never seen anything like it before. Once she stopped seizing she was just breathing heavily for about 30 seconds than snapped out of it as if it never happened. It was the scariest thing i’d ever witnessed, I thought we were going to lose her. We rushed her to the ER and they took her bloodwork which came out normal. The vet told us it could be a one off or more may occur so to just monitor her closely. She ended up having another seizure pretty much identical to her first one at 9pm the next night. We took her back to the ER and they prescribed her Keppra, which she has been taking 3 times a day, 750mg per dose. She hasn’t had another episode since thankfully. The vet told me they recommended i get her an MRI and spinal tap given her age so we can rule out what’s going on. I got right on it and yesterday morning i took her to a neurologist to get an MRI and Spinal tap, the MRI came out clean, our doctor said her brain looks perfectly healthy and with the scan coming out good that it’s about a 90% chance of late onset epilepsy. She is a happy girl and has been very healthy her whole life, there’s never been any strange behavior leading up to this so that gives me hope. Now we just wait for her spinal tap results to come back which we should receive later this week. I am praying so hard for my girl. I have had her since i was 15 years old and she is my absolute best friend. All of this has been so scary but i would do anything for her and i know this will take some time to adjust too. She seems to be doing good now, a little less energetic especially since she was under anesthesia yesterday for her MRI, she’s been resting alot and i think her body is just getting used to her new daily meds.
Is it normal for her to be a bit more sleepy and out of it than usual? I was doing some research and it seemed like maybe her dosage may be high? but i’m not sure, she weighs about 56 pounds and takes 750mg 3x a day.

My 13 year old Aussie has been having infrequent mild focal seizures for a few years now but never needed meds. About 5 weeks ago he had a really scary episode where he was stumbling all over the place and couldn't walk and peed on the floor. A neurologist started him on keppra (750mg XR twice per day) but after further testing they now believe this episode was vestibular and was NOT related to a seizure. His neurologist said he can stop the keppra and when I asked about weaning she said he does not need to wean and can stop cold turkey.

Everything I read says that keppra needs to be stopped slowly so I'm a little nervous about this. Is it because he was only on for a month? Has anyone else stopped abruptly?

I recently adopted an 8yo puggle with seizure disorder, he is my first seizure pup. He is stabilized with Levetiracem and phenobarbital on a set schedule. My question is it possible to do a cross country road trip with him?

Title.

We have been going through different options for our little Suki for year now. We thought we had them down to a cluster a month, but the past 24 hours have been her worst. Saw 3 seizures myself, and we found two blood smears on the walls (from her tongue when she gets stuck at the wall before fully seizing). She is officially not the pup we knew at all and we are scared its time. We are running low on options and neurologists want a lot of money for another exam that we just don't have.

UPDATE: Thank you for all of your stories. I will say it has made the decision harder and a lot of discussions with my wife. Us having another dog that loves her to death makes it very hard too. But when I saw her cry for help this last time, I almost feel it a disservice not to help her on her way.. no matter how much it hurts

Hello! First time poster 🥹

My dog, Merlin, has been suffering from weird episodes for almost 2.5 years. The episodes last anywhere from 5min to a more usual 1h45m to as long as 3h for the most recent episode. They used to occur anywhere from once every 2–5 months, but the frequency is increasing and now I'd say they occur once every 1–3 months.

The episodes are characterized by what looks like full body nerve pain or a neurological event. At onset my dog will begin arching his back and then get extreme ataxia—like each paw/leg is unbearably uncomfortable. He will topple over. He looks stressed and sometimes terrified during these episodes and when it gets really bad he's almost like a flopping fish, craning his neck around as well. Usually around the one hour mark he starts to slow down a bit. He is able to lie down, and while he's still clearly in distress, he's able to have whole minutes of relative stillness before another wave of uncontrollable leg spasms/neck craning begins.

We have tried many the medications and have seen many specialists.
A short list of specialists/procedures run:

• MRI and neurological screening with two different neurologists
• CT Scan with neurologist
• two ultrasounds with two different internists
• Radiograph (x-ray) with general vet
• Blood tests galore (all standard panels)
• Urinanalysis

What we found from all these tests:

• No indication of obvious neurological disorder (though the neurologist suggested ruling out epilepsy by trying anti-seizure meds)
• No spinal issues in MRI
• He has a HUGE gallbladder (which both internists assured us is not the cause of his episodes and does not require any medication at this point in his life)
• He has a bit of an issue concentrating his pee (though medication gave him a lot of side effects)

Medications tried:

• Gabapentin 100mg/day and given at onset of an episode. Slowed him down, but does not end the episode (we have since discontinued use)
• Diazepam given orally at onset and rectally at episode onset and midazolam given intranasally at episode onset. These made him very woozy, but did not stop the episode
• Keppra (anti-seizure med that's slightly less hard on the liver, given his big gallbladder) given orally at onset of episode as an experiment to see if it would shorten the length once the med hits his system around 45m–1h in. Again, did not end the episode. Tried this for our most recent episode.

There are no obvious triggers, though they often (but not always) happen in the evenings between 5–8pm. They will often start while he's outside in the yard or sitting next to me while I eat dinner/wash dishes. He immediately runs to me when one starts if he's not already close by.

He also ebbs and flows between spaced out (lost in the pain or something that looks like that) and fully present. For instance, if a delivery happens during an episode he will make an attempt to run to the door.

This last episode was 3h and I noticed this time that he likes to push his legs hard into something while he's in the episode. I cradled him in my lap and rolled him back about 45° so he could push some of his paws into my legs and hands, which seemed to help a bit here and there before he'd need to flop around again and attempt walking. He does lose the ability to stand on his back legs for a portion of the episode. About 1h30m in he started lying down on his own and became much more present, though when he attempted walking he still had quite a bit of ataxia.

I'm very much at a loss, especially as I'm running out of specialists to see!! I welcome anyone with insight or ideas. Especially if your dog has experienced anything similar. We just want Merlin to be as healthy as he can—he's my best boy!! At only ~6 years old, I'd like to see what we can do for him with hopes that he gets to live a long happy life.

Thank you so much for your help and generosity of insight here.

I attached some videos of our most recent episode in progress. They are not easy viewing, so watch with care only if you're comfortable.

One hour in

20 min in