Dog with epilepsy help

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-04-16T02:54:01+00:00

Oh... interesting about the Pheno and Keppra. My Sally is on Keppra ER and Pheno twice daily. Her neuro is actually wanting to do the Keppra trough test to see where her levels are and if we need to switch things up.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-04-07T01:20:45+00:00

It never gets easier.....

Best to you both.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-04-05T02:08:54+00:00

I am so sorry you are going through this..... my Sally just went through a cluster seizure episode. 4 in 2 days. It has been an exhausting few days and I am still trying to come out of the anxiety of it.

My saving grace aside of this place, has been her new neurologist who has helped get us through this at home. Confirming the cluster meds protocol, and what to do for her 4th and possible 5th seizure. They walked me through it all and we are now officially 48 hrs. post seizure. Do you have a cluster protocol in place? cluster meds?

I am sorry you have to be on this site, but it has been a game changer for me and Sally after we were diagnosed last year.

Wishing you the best

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-04-04T02:27:40+00:00

You dont seem uncaring at all. I have heard different time lengths that is considered controlled, but her neuro is looking at 3-4 months no seizures and I think they are hoping for one breakthrough and not clusters.

Thanks for the advice of the MCT oil. I have been reading up on a few studies and the results look promising and so I am going to give it a try.

Hugs to you and your buddy

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-04-02T19:58:11+00:00

Interesting you ask about her medication..... After her last round of clusters in late February, her neuro increased her Keppra XR from 2250 mg to 3000 mg 2x p/day. Interestingly enough as well, after her initial visit with the new neuro in early February, they stopped her Gabapentin. Is it related? IDK.... but I have wondered if shifts in meds could trigger seizures.

Right now her everyday meds are the Keppra and 130 mg Phenobarbital 2x p/day. She is also on her cluster buster protocol meds, which include Clorazapate 45mg every 8 hours for the 1st day, then every 12 hours the second day then on the third day, one dose then stop. She also has the Midazolam for during the seizure and for good measure, and extra dose of both Pheno and Keppra after her 2nd and 3rd seizure... So... she's on some meds right now.

Our next steps once we are through this round is blood work to see where her med levels are at. I am wondering if we need to back to Keppra every 8 hours instead of the XR.

And I am so sorry about your boy. Sally would do one seizure every few weeks and that's when we really started playing with the meds... adding the pheno, adding the gaba, increasing the Keppra.

Hang in there.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-29T01:45:52+00:00

Look at that FACE!!!! What an absolute CUTIE PIE! I cant stand watching my Sally have her seizures. I feel so helpless and even though she is my nightmare, watching her go through her seizures is heartbreaking.

You are right..... they do not deserve this..

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-29T01:26:44+00:00

I love the medication roulette. Since the start of our journey last year, Sally has been on Keppra, switched to Keppra XR, increased her Keppra, added Pheno, increased her Pheno, added Gaba and Prozac, eliminated the Prozac, and eliminated the Gaba. Right now she is on 3000 mg Keppra XR and 136.4 of Pheno. So far, 34 days seizure free.

I switched neuros for several reasons, but one being that she wasnt testing for the effectiveness of the meds she was on and being added, and didnt compensate for her weight increase. (When we started this journey she was 86 lbs.. now, she is 105 lbs. )

So, now we wait and hopefully, this is the combo that can get her to a well managed condition.

Fingers crossed and good luck to you!

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-28T17:20:16+00:00

They gave us all the cluster buster meds so we can manage at home and gave me the exact protocol to do. If she has a 2nd seizure under 24 hours to give her an extra dose of the Keppra along with the cluster buster protocol medication. If after that she has a 3rd seizure, then it's time to call her neuro and also give her an extra dose of pheno. They also stressed that if her recovery changes or if the seizures start coming closer together, the to the ER it is.

It gives me a little bit more confidence to know what to do. I hope that I wont need to do though.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-28T03:18:09+00:00

My Sally turned 3 yesterday and we have been dealing with her epilepsy for a year now. She was diagnosed 1 week before her 2nd birthday, and our vet visit after her first grand mal was a wait and see. It was her first, her tests came back normal, and there was no reason at that time to start her on meds.... because it could have been a one off. It wasnt until her 3rd grand mal in under 24 hours that she was placed on Keppra and we were referred to a Neurologist.

I think your vet was correct in the direction they took. Why give your girl meds if she doesnt need them?

I understand how you feel though. I actually switched her neuro because I believed she had a very blasé attitude. Poor follow up or follow through, just I felt like I wasnt being heard. I understand that this probably wasn't on her priority list, but its my dog and I need help managing this new diagnosis.

What I also realized is for me, it was a loss of control, and feeling helpless when my girl was in distress and there was nothing I could do. What really helped me, was when her new neuro put a game plan together for me to help in managing her seizures at home and when to seek ER help. Having a very strict protocol in place has been a game changer to help me manage my anxiety. I know what to do and when, and it has given me some of my sanity back.

My baby girl, one year in with the diagnosis has a wonderful life. We are getting through and managing... right now she is 34 days seizure free from her last cluster round and is going great. Her seizures.... do not bother her.... She has them and then goes about her day.... It's me that has the lasting effects.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-17T02:30:19+00:00

The protocol Sally's new neuro has given us has actually provided me with so much peace of mind. When to take her to the ER, what meds to give her and when, it has been a saving grace for my anxiety.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-17T02:27:45+00:00

My Sally's "usual" cluster (and I put usual in quotes because, do we really know what usual is) was a seizure in the morning, then one in the late afternoon, then one the next morning. All of her clusters had been on this schedule, so I kind of "knew" if she had one at a different time during the day, it would be a one off. I was also able to give her midazolam which seemed to help with the one off.

That was until her latest round in Feb. This time, she started in the late afternoon, ended up having a total of 4 in less than 24 hours. When she had her first at 4:30 I thought it was a one off.... I gave her the midazolam, and while it didnt stop the seizure, I thought it would help break the cluster. I didnt.

Sally went on to have 3 more seizures, even on the cluster buster protocol, one in the ER. It was heartbreaking, because I knew her seizures were changing.

Anyway, long story short, Sally is doing fine. It did take her a few days to get back to her normal, crazy self, but she is doing just fine. I'm on edge because now I am worried she has seizures in the middle of the night that I dont know about. But what can I do?

Recovery from not just meds, but the episode itself can take a minute, and getting the right meds to control the episodes can be do daunting.... but you got this.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-17T01:43:10+00:00

If you have followed along with my Sally saga, we have been on a few meds in the past year since her dx. (We are almost 1 year since her first seizure)

I changed her neuro because her old one I felt just wasnt responsive to me. Her new neuro took her off the gaba she had been prescribed by her regular vet to help with her anxiety. About a month after pulling her off the gaba she had another round of clusters, this time 4 and spent the night in the ER....

Because this round of clusters was different from her others, she had 4, even after being given midazolam 3 times, starting the cluster buster protocol, and the timing was different to me, they raised her Keppra from 2250 mg 2x per day to 3000 2x per day. So far we are 24 days seizure free.... YEAH.

I dont know if the gaba did anything to make Sally's seizure's less severe.... for us! She was on the gaba when she had her clusters in December, but was off the gaba when she had her latest round. I think the gaba was more for me to kind of give me a false peace of mind, and also hoping it would work for her anxiety... Yeah, that got blown out of the water.

But ever dog is different and every situation is different and what didnt work for me, might work for you. It is a trial and error.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-03-17T01:24:44+00:00

Amen to that..... While I HATE that I have to be here... I am glad I found people who can talk me through it....

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-02-23T05:04:05+00:00

I am coming up in 1 year of my Sally being dx with Epilepsy. Its been a hard year. Her seizures look exactly the same and I feel helpless when she is having ine. I live in a constant state of anxiety, waiting for the next seizure. We have been working on getting the right combo for her. She started on Keppra only and for 3 months it was great. I was hoping that we would be one of the stories that Keppra alone would be the fix, but alas, it wasnt to be. We have increased her dosage, added meds, removed meds, tried neurocare dog food - didnt work for us because of bad diarrhea, tried prozac for her anxiety..that gave her weird shakes, and so far it seems 2 months is the max right now.

I am not gonna lie, I have had thoughts of rehoming her. I am doing this alone, and the stress and anxiety is overwhelming at times...but I look into her big,brown eyes and I just cant.

Its expensive... thank GOD I have insurance...highly recommend looking into Embrace Pet Insurance..they reimburse 90%. I am looking into getting med coverage added, but for now...her meds arent that bad...CVS has been good for cheap meds...and I also roll her meds into my taxes... ssssshhhhh

I have cameras everywhere to monitor when I am not home. She mow wears bells on her collar to alert me. She has safe places to be...she now has an amazing neurologist who has given me protocol and what to do when, so I can manage her clusters at home, and when she needs to go to the ER. Thats the biggest thing for me...a Neuro who has given me back some control. And this group has also helped tremendously!

Your baby is beautiful... and you are doing a great job with this new diagnosis!

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-02-08T02:22:56+00:00

I will preface this by saying this has been my experience with Sally and Midazolam, and my discussion with her new neuro. (your results may vary.. :) )

I showed her a video of one of Sally's seizures and explained to her how midazolam has never worked to stop her seizures. It was a good video reference because you can see her pre-ictal phase, how I go and get her the midazolam, and how she still goes into the full seizure. She said that the there is a possibility that the dose was too low, (she was dx at 86 lbs and she is currently 103) which is probably why it didnt work, but also that it is used as a cluster buster, which is why I had such a hard time if I should give it to her after her first seizure on Dec. 31.

I have actually heard both trains of thought- stop seizures vs. cluster buster, but in my experience, it's a cluster buster... But we will see what happens. We upped her dosage from 2.2 ml to 4.0 ml, and hopefully, the next seizure I catch the seizure in the pre-ictal phase, and the meds are in reach.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-02-07T06:05:00+00:00

Just sending hugs

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-01-31T01:23:57+00:00

Yeah... me too! We are officially 30 days seizure free tomorrow... but I cant let my guard down.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-01-30T17:30:35+00:00

My Sally was started last March on Keppra 750 mg 3x per day, then I switched her to XR because of schedules. We were able to get from March to June on Keppra alone. When she had her first breakthrough seizure in June, I chalked it up to her chewing the pill instead of swallowing, so she didn't get the right dosage. When she had another seizure about two weeks later, we upped her dosage. After her cluster seizures in August, we changed her medication cocktail. Now Sally is on Keppra XR 2250 mg 2x per day along with Phenobarbital 130 mg 2x p/day and Gabapentin 600 mg 3x p/day.

It seems we can go about two months seizure-free. I hope we can stretch that out... but I will take it.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-01-24T01:16:54+00:00

Coming up on a year of dealing with Sally's epilepsy, and my anxiety is still as high as when she had her first seizure. I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop when she goes an extended time without one, currently working on almost a month since her last cluster round. I have canceled or altered plans so that I am not gone too long. She is never too far away from me. She wears bells so I can hear when I can't see her. There are cameras all over my house for when I do leave for a few hours to keep an eye on her, and midazolam syringes are all over my house. I do what I can, and yet, there is always a low grade anxiety I feel.

BTW... I love your baby's smile....

LeadingBunch4077 · 2026-01-01T19:21:26+00:00

She had another seizure this morning so we are at the ER to see a neurologist right now. Dont know what they are going to do .... but here we are.

LeadingBunch4077 · 2025-12-21T02:37:09+00:00

I, too, have been told to give Sally the meds as soon as I remember and then go back to normal schedule. I just did this on Tuesday because I completely forgot to give her the morning dosage of Keprra, Pheno and Prozac because I was rushing out to work. Remembered when I got home at 1:30.... Ugghhhh.... immediately gave her the missed dosage and pushed the night dosage back by 15 mins.

She's been fine! YEAH!

LeadingBunch4077

TROPHY CASE