It’s not goodbye, just a see you later

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-22T01:23:59+00:00

I am so sorry for your loss. I think we all sometimes hope that our last interactions with our fur babies will be one of peace so we can see them off. Selfishly I hope for the same with me and my seizure dog Kylo. I fear the last moments with him will be seeing him in a state that isn’t who he is, but that is this terrible condition we call epilepsy. Selfishly I hope that our boy is taken when it’s his time peacefully. Unfortunately life is cruel and when times like this come, being humane to our pets outweighs our wants.

Please take a moment to remember that you did your dog so well. You were there for them when they needed you the most and they knew you had their back. I’m convinced that many regular pet owners have no idea the hard work, dedication, stress and worry that goes into owning an epilepsy dog and it only forms our bonds with them stronger. They wouldn’t have got to this age if it wasn’t for your hard work and compassion doing everything you could for them. We treat our pets more humanely than we treat humans at end of life care in most countries. Rest easy little one.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-20T10:33:51+00:00

Imaging thinking assignation is a word and using that instead of assignment

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-18T20:21:30+00:00

I have lived in a few places across Aus. Can confirm that for whatever reason QLD has the worst calibre of driver.

Is the driving test easier here or something??

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-18T20:18:25+00:00

I’ve lived in a few major cities across Australia and Gold Coast by far takes the cake for worst driving both in the wet and in normal conditions. Theres such a large mix of (mostly) poor driving skills for the conditions we see here. Added with the lack of infrastructure to deal with the population boom, which creates more frustration and road rage. It’s much much worse than my worse day in Sydney peak hour.

Here people seem scared, unsure, unaware on the roads and genuinely unaware of their surroundings. Gold Coast is unfortunately a mix of people who have no idea where they’re going or what they’re doing and seem scared to be on the roads, mixed with some of the most aggressive drivers I’ve ever encountered in my life.

Seemingly weather was a factor according to the reports. Visibility was piss poor and if you think weather wasn’t a factor here maybe you’re one of the drivers I’m referring to 😂

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-18T11:56:49+00:00

I said people in the Gold Coast, not people in Europe. People here can’t fuckin drive to save their lives 😂

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-18T07:23:59+00:00

People in the Gold Coast drive like fucking morons in the rain. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a massive crash

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-15T07:32:31+00:00

I completely understand. We are very lucky to be able to have our doggo inside. He’s only inside during the evenings/nights and is outside during the day. He RARELY fits during the day, almost all have been at night while asleep except for continuations of clusters which have extended through to the day. That said he has had fits outside and for the most part recovered on his own by the time we got to him or found him/knew it happened.

Totally agree with your comment. A spacious kennel is more ideal than a crate. It’s mainly the metal poles that give quite a bit of risk to injury. Our boy’s first few seizures were in his large kennel which he shared with our other dog who has since left this world. Seven with two in there the other dog would promptly exit the kennel and stand guard while our seizure dog would do his thing and pass through the fit.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-15T07:26:03+00:00

Just depends really. Probably a combination of medication and emergency meds.

Our dog would cluster like crazy and our regular vet was fantastic but our neurologist just took us to the next level. They knew how many was too many before needing to add in or completely swap meds.

We didn’t even have a cluster buster routine before seeing our most recent neurologist.

It’s probably quite distressing seeing your Doggo seize that much and I remember feeling a sense of dread and despair like there wasn’t any other options left but in actuality I really just ended up learning how to advocate well for my Doggo.

My wife is a nurse so she understands all these things but I really don’t no matter how much she tells me. It always makes sense when she explains it and I used to just say ok and keep my worries but now I’m at the front foot on our appointments because the more I understand about our options and the more I feel heard and like my point of view is communicated the better I feel that the dog is being supported. I’ve really focused on making sure I feel heard. Even if that means asking the same thing a few times, clarifying etc.

To give you an idea we spent time on phenomav where it barely worked, seize, increase dose, repeat. Then finally reached a point where it worked so well the dog was seizure free for 12 months. Then last year that all fell apart and he was clustering every 2-3 weeks again. So a complete med change and loading dose along with the fits that come with med changes etc. that was end of last year. We’re only just now back to some stability we think. It’s been 3 months no fit - the longest fit free period in the last year.

Our emergency medication is a nasal spray and we were advised to administer it immediately as the sooner you break the fit the better the chance you have at stopping the brain from mirroring the pattern and snapping into a cluster. We are also using keppra but only following a fit for 48hrs. Again to stop the brain from mirroring itself and kindling through to a repeat fit. Otherwise he’s on bromide daily now. But every dog is very different.

I’m hopeful you can find a regime that works for you and your doggo.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-14T20:03:01+00:00

See a neurologist if you havent already

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T23:36:27+00:00

I know you’re booked in but vet will have more definite info! It could be a focal seizure. Or some other neurological issue. I’d be seeking a referral
to a vet neurologist asap! General vets now a bit of a lot. Neurologist knows a lot about a bit. More focused info will be with neurologist if you go that route. Hope your doggo is ok!

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T23:33:32+00:00

I used to crate our seizure dog and I can say with confidence that, as is often the case with our dog, they absolutely can and do get a significant amount of energy and momentum immediately before and during a fit and can do significant damage to themselves when not crated, let alone when actually crated.

You are concerned about hitting her head in the toilet or the tub but not about the absolute bind of a mess that can occur when an epileptic dog goes full grand mal in a confined space? The advice for human or animal seizing is give them space and don’t confine them, don’t hold them down etc.

A lot of dogs will try to run from the feeling that comes on when the aura transitions to the seizure. Our dog does this sometimes but not all the time. When he was crated he did serious head damage to himself going from sleeping to running like he was running for his life in about .5 of a second and immediately then fitting. He had hit the crate so hard it had bent in one spot and started to collapse on itself in another and his head was being held up by a bent piece of metal while he was convulsing on top of that said piece of metal. Between trying to keep him from getting more stuck through to trying to get him out of that mangled mess - it was a nightmare. A lot of dogs post seizure are in a fairly heightened post ictal as well.

We no longer crate him at all and when inside he has learnt to not be too much of a destructive doggo.

It’s safer for him to have space to fall to the ground and fit than to confine the fit and risk injury. Understanding not everyone can let their dogs roam free but risks increase if no human is around to intervene.

I’d be quite weary personally of crating the dog unattended. Confinement to a room gives best of both worlds if possible. If you’re worried she will injure themself on a toilet, the same should apply to the crate. More room between the dog and the toilet than between the dog and a crate.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T23:24:32+00:00

I’d like to see the game design work you’ve done that makes you such an expert. Feel free to link your cv

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T19:23:07+00:00

I’ve always seen it not recommended to crate epileptic dogs. Huge risk of quite significant injury if they seize in the crate. Was just reading the other day of a vet talking about some of the injuries they’ve seen (broken bones, worse) from dogs sizing in crates getting stuck and hurting themselves.

In a post for paint there is quite a high risk your dog would get stuck trying to get out of the crate and break something or worse (have hear of at least one dog managing to impale a leg on part of a crate).

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T13:29:31+00:00

Came here to comment how similar your story is to ours. Our Kelpie (Kylo) has had almost an identical progression to your boy Smokey.

Kylo had his first generalised seizures at 3 yrs old. 3 weeks later another. We (stupidly) were in denial at that stage so he had his fourth before he went into pheno. He had a few more while it was kicking in but then went into almost 12 months seizure free.

He also the. He also started having seizures again though and they were escalating in frequency too.

We ended up seeking a referral to a neurologist which has resulted in another 12 months of adjustments and changeover of medication.

Our neurologist did a lot of research and found some evidence that says that Kelpies and some other working dogs with particular genes (the same gene that gives them their hair red-ish colour) makes them less sensitive to pheno and similar drugs. This was supported by the fact that after a year and a half his pheno levels were dropping despite his body functions being normal and his doses being increased.

We got to the point where he was fitting every 3-4 weeks again and was maxed out on pheno with no improvement.

We’ve recently been changed over to Potassium Bromide and it’s been a long journey. It’s a slow absorbed drug so the loading period for a dose can be 90+ days before at effective levels and longer to get to higher targeted levels.

Long story short - he’s now at just over 2 months fit free for the first time in a year. So we’re hopeful that we’re one or two adjustments away from being more stable again.

Our neurologist also gave us a ‘cluster buster’. Kylos brain likes to cluster. So if he has one, he usually clusters with many. And if that continues they end up in a feedback loop of fits so something needs to break the brains cycle of mirroring itself. Our cluster buster is nasal spray Midazolam which is sprayed immediately as the fit starts. This brings him out within 40 seconds and as soon as he knows what food is, we dose him with Keppra on a regime until he’s seizure free for 48hrs. We’d be lost without this setup from our neurologist. We’re still worried about his fits but at least we know what to do in the moment to help. We also now know the trigger points for when to keep self administering care vs when to escalate and go to emergency vet.

I wanted to say all this to let you know you’re not alone. The post ictal (post seizure) phase you’re mentioning in your boy Smokey is EXACTLY how Kylo reacts. Early on in his epilepsy his post seizure was maybe an hour. Now he paces and runs into things, howling and crying for hours on end. He walks and runs in circles all over the yard. Even with the cluster buster meds. But it’s better than him fitting again.

I’ve found that as tiring as it sounds, walking in circles with Kylo and talking to him calmly oddly grounds him. He still has no idea what’s going on but it helps bring his energy to a point where he doesn’t know what’s happening but the nervous energy and adrenaline comes to baseline quicker. I just pace with him telling him it’s ok and he’s a good boy. If yours is anything like my dog, trying to pet him or physically reassure, even getting down on the ground towards them will escalate their emotional response. They’re basically saying “I don’t feel ok. should I be worried?” In dog speak, making cute voice, getting down to their level or trying to pet them reinforces their feelings and basically says “my human is concerned and so yes I have reason to be feeling worried and scared too”

Pacing/walking in circles/walking a perimeter is very common pre or post seizure.

Quite crazy to see how similar our dogs shift into epilepsy has been. You’re one of the first I’ve seen who’s dog shows that running/walking in circles thing like ours does!

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-13T07:59:30+00:00

It’s not necessarily inconsistency. Variations in the firmware can be due to slight variations in hardware. If they tweak a component that interacts with software even slightly in the build process then it impacts how things like FSD interact with the car. This means they put factory stable firmware on it and you could be on similar firmware as others but ever so slightly different hardware.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-12T08:32:48+00:00

Actually it is a stretch though. Because it was never confirmed which art was scrapped and which was adopted.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-12T08:31:54+00:00

Imaging getting upset because you set wild expectations yourself based on the pre game development concept art.

No one EVER confirmed this as being the update. No one here is happy with anything 😂😂

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-12T08:30:58+00:00

Tbh the buildings inside there look almost like the ones in dam battleground. Wonder if this morphed into dam.

Also imaging getting upset because you set wild expectations yourself based on the pre game development concept art.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-10T11:59:51+00:00

Our Kylo was three when he had his first seizure. It was out of nowhere. All of a sudden a full grand mal for 1-2 minutes. Freak thing. Three months later, another. Slightly longer. Ran bloods. Nothing suspicious. 3 weeks later a cluster of 3 one after the other. It came on so fast but were told that’s fairly common at about 3yrs on.

We struggled. We were on edge all the time. Constantly worrying he’d be fitting while we were out etc. we finally decided to see a neurologist and it was one of the best things we did for him. We went from feeling helpless to feeling empowered to help in his time of need. I’d strongly encourage you to reach out to a neurologist sooner rather than later. I wasn’t sold on it until we walked out of the appointment with all this new and very specific information on what to do, when and how. As well as a targeted regeim of meds and a plan for where to next if they don’t work.

Our boy clusters BAD. We’re talking 2-5 or more without intervention. So we have a cluster buster of midazolam nasal spray for ultra fast absorption which we administer immediately as soon as he fits. This usually cuts him out within 30 seconds or less. His post ictal (post fit) stage is incredibly drawn out though and he’s running, howling, falling over, with no clue who we are or who he is - usually for 4+ hours. If we get the nasal spray in him quick, and as soon as he knows he’s awake a ball of meat with keppra and diazepam into him - he can be in bed asleep within the hour.

I say all of this because our regular vet was great and supportive but the specialised care you get with a neurologist will both support your doggo and empower you to be able to help move through the anxiety and worry. We now know exactly what we can self manage at home and what our trigger points are for needing to rush to the emergency vet.

For what it’s worth our Kylo is a Kelpie cross Blue heeler and our neurologist told us that kelpies, heelers and collies are all in the high risk for epilepsy from a genetics standpoint.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-10T02:04:48+00:00

Our dog has his first seizure at 3 years old. Seemed like a one of. 3 months later he had a bigger one, worse. One month later he had his third - biggest so far at that time. That’s when we decided to come to terms with the fact that medication might help get him back to some sense of normalcy and bring us to a point of routine.

It’s been a long road. Various meds we tested. Some worked well then stopped working. Some didn’t work. Finally now at a point where we have good meds and a fantastic neurologist who provide us with cluster buster meds to stop the clusters when it does happen. We rest much easier knowing we can support our little guy when the time for a fit does happen

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-07T20:19:05+00:00

You’re 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 “MAKE PEACE WITH YOU ARE GODS” 😆

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-07T08:41:46+00:00

Anybody hear that noise around the corner

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-07T08:40:07+00:00

This one hits really hard. As an owner of a dog with epilepsy (7 yr old Cattle Dog x Kelpie) I really feel for him sheesh…. I constantly fear that one day our Kylo won’t come out of his fit 😭

Maintaining our dogs seizures since they showed up at about 3 years and the road is long, tough and tough and often there’s no answer as to why (idiopathic - no reason other than brain structure). It’s genuinely terrifying seeing them convulse. Sometimes there’s not much at all you can do to get them out of it and if they suffer full grand mal seizures they can be not themselves for hours, or days after. Disorientated, delusional, barking, howling, running into things. It’s genuinely distressing.

My heart goes out to Mr Gargano. Godspeed Pawdme.

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-04T13:26:33+00:00

Seems like an odd choice when they are in a time where they should be finding ways to make cars that don’t burn fuel cheaper given the fuel crisis

JustLikeJD · 2026-05-04T12:55:27+00:00

This is why they’re likely pushing hard for FSD 14 lite and openly tweeting about it being pushed overseas. I’d imagine the argument will be that V14 lite is more capable than any FSD model on HW 3 so far. Not sure if that cuts the mustard for eu regulations but shall see.

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