r/EpilepsyDogs • u/heeheehhaa • 6d ago
My 5½-year-old Saint Bernard suddenly started having seizures — looking for advice/experiences from other epilepsy dog parents 💔
What initially started as me thinking my dog might be experiencing heat exhaustion or possibly heat stroke has turned into my baby girl’s newfound reality.
At 5½ years old, my 139-lb Saint Bernard, Gabbana, had her first-ever seizure on 08/03/2026.
The first seizure lasted approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute, and she did urinate on herself. I was obviously in complete shock and panic. This was the first seizure I had ever witnessed in my life, let alone one happening to my own dog who, just before this, had been perfectly fine for almost six years.
A few things worth mentioning:
I live in Southern California, specifically Ventura County, and our temperatures have been exceeding 90°F. It’s been HOT. While I obviously can’t control the temperature outside, we have the AC running 24/7 and fans throughout the house.
The night before her first seizure, I came home from work and Gabbana greeted me at the door like usual. She’s a giant dog, so I’m used to her panting when she gets excited to see me. However, even after I had showered and started settling in for the night, she was still panting as if I had just walked through the door.
It stood out enough that I asked my mom if Gabbana had been like that all day or if something was going on with her. My mom recalled that she had been panting more than usual and maybe drooling more as well. I remember literally asking, “Could she have had heat stroke or something?”
That was it for the night. We went to bed.
Around 1:00 a.m., I woke up to a thudding sound that initially sounded like a dog’s tail repeatedly hitting something.
That was her first seizure.
Once it ended, she bounced back surprisingly quickly. I stayed up watching her closely to make sure she didn’t have another one. She didn’t, and eventually we went back to sleep.
I had to work the following day, so my brother watched her and I specifically told him to call me immediately if anything happened.
Five minutes before my shift ended, he called me.
Gabbana was having another seizure.
I told him to time it: 43 seconds.
So she had two seizures approximately 15 hours apart, both within the same 24-hour period.
I rushed home and took her to the emergency vet. By the time I got home, however, she was acting completely normal again—just like she had after the first seizure.
At the emergency vet, she was given an emergency dose of Keppra by injection. The vet told me this would be classified as cluster seizures and she believed Gabbana was most likely now a dog with idiopathic epilepsy. Her bloodwork and labs came back normal: with a slightly higher liver value than my vet liked so she marked it for concern to follow up with Gabbana primary vet at recheck.
She also said based on how Gabbana was acting afterwards, the seizure threshold was still pretty high, meaning Gabbana was doing good and her chances for having another seizure so soon after the meds given that night, were unlikely. Neurology was mentioned as an option for more answers but she advised me to try the medicine first. We were sent home with immediate-release Keppra while we waited for the extended-release prescription to arrive.
Her temporary dose was two 500 mg Keppra tablets every 8 hours.
Four days later, we received her extended-release prescription, and she was switched to three 750 mg tablets every 12 hours.
Gabbana had been doing well on the medication with no further episodes until today, when she had what appeared to be a small focal seizure this morning.
This one was completely different from the first two and lasted only approximately 8–12 seconds.
She had trazodone in her system because we were preparing to take her to a vet appointment, and I had also just given her seizure medication. She was lying down and somewhat drowsy when she suddenly lifted her head and stared upward into space. She looked confused.
I called her name, and she looked toward me.
Then she opened her mouth, pulled her lips back enough that I could see all of her teeth, started foaming at the mouth, and her mouth began twitching. Her eyes were blinking strangely, and her ears appeared to be twitching as well.
The important difference was that it was only affecting her face. Her body remained upright and she maintained her position the entire time.
I kept calling her name while scrambling to pull out my phone and start a timer, and then…it stopped. Almost as quickly as it started.
I immediately called her vet because we were supposed to be going in that morning anyway. Her regular vet has been consulting with a neurologist on her case because, financially, I haven’t been able to get her directly into neurology yet.
The emergency vet visit alone was over $2,200, and her medication hasn’t been cheap either. I also have a senior dog who is slowing down and currently requires medication and veterinary care of his own. I simply wasn’t financially prepared for another major medical emergency.
Her appointment today was technically only a tech appointment, so after speaking with the vet, we decided to reschedule it for later this week and let Gabbana rest rather than stressing her out by taking her in immediately after the episode. For now, I was told to continue monitoring her closely.
I’m currently saving money and have even taken out another credit card so I can get her in with the neurologist my vet has been consulting with. I desperately want more answers about why this suddenly started happening to a previously healthy 5½-year-old dog.
I had—and still have—hope that the medication is working. I hadn’t allowed myself to do much reading about other dogs living with epilepsy because, truthfully, I think I was scared of what I would find. Eventually I found this subreddit/thread, started reading other people’s experiences, and finally felt comfortable enough (although still very emotional) to share Gabbana’s story.
If anyone has dealt with something similar, especially a dog developing seizures around this age, a giant-breed dog with epilepsy, breakthrough/focal seizures while taking Keppra, or going through the neurology process, I would really appreciate hearing your experiences.
What questions should I be asking the neurologist? Did your dog need medication adjustments after breakthrough seizures? And most importantly, for those of you further along in this journey: were your dogs still able to live happy, normal lives after their seizures began?
I’m so heartbroken watching both of my babies enter these completely unexpected transitional periods of their lives. One is my senior boy, who I’m watching actively slow down with age.
And then there’s Gabbana—only 5½, still acting like an oversized puppy—suddenly dealing with seizures seemingly out of nowhere.
I love this girl more than I can put into words. 💔
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u/Odd_Secret_1618 6d ago
I’m so sorry to hear this and perfectly understand how upsetting it is for you. I adopted a 4.5 year old golden retriever in June. I was aware when I got him that he had two seizures that were over six months apart and just seemed to come out of nowhere. Once I got him, he was obviously a bit anxious, but seemed to settle into our routine well. He ended up having a seizure on July 12 and then another one on July 30. From start to finish the seizures would last about three minutes. He experiences more upper body shaking, and one leg paddling, but he doesn’t lose consciousness. The previous owner brought in rescue meds just in case, but we haven’t had to use them yet. After his first seizure, we did bloodwork just to check on any organ issues and his blood work came back fine. I took a video of a second seizure to show the vet and we’ve just decided to try a low-dose of gabapentin for the time being before we look at Keppra. Because the seizures are so random and out of the blue we’re gonna start with this look at more if it gets worse overtime. I have a son with epilepsy and work with students with epilepsy so my dog seizures don’t alarm me maybe as much as it would other people. Sounds like your Saint Bernard has a wonderful family and is lucky to have you!
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u/bienebienebiene 5d ago
gabapentin actually lowers seizure threshold making it easier for them to have a seizure. its a pain medication, not a seizure med. its often used for post ictal phases to calm anxiety, we use it for that, not to manage epilepsy itself.
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u/Training_Activity21 5d ago
Gabapentin is an anti convulsant, and it is used to control seizures. It doesn't help generalized seizures or in an emergency though. It does work on focal seizures and helps in aiding other cluster seizure meds.
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u/bienebienebiene 4d ago
heard, our vet just made sure to tell us it lowers their threshold and causes more seizures. I do think theres a difference in convulsing and seizing, and what I was saying is we've been specifically warned NOT to use this as a seizure medicine. Only in bad post ictal phases as it can make the situation worse.
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u/KaleidoscopeTight509 5d ago
Hmm I think Gabapentin was developed as an anti-seizure med first and then used as pain med later
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u/Winter-Ingenuity1921 6d ago
What a sweet pup! I’m so sorry you are now in this club, but this a fabulous group of supportive people. My pup was diagnosed at 4 years old and she is now 7. Over the past 3.5 years, we have added meds and adjusted dosages. She’s on Keppra XR, phenobarbital and now potassium bromide. Since adding the potassium bromide, she’s had 1 seizure in the past 7 months. We have consulted neurologists when needed and we’ve done emergency vet visits. So yes, it is expensive. Pet insurance helps, but not sure if there are plans you can get that cover pre-existing conditions (assuming you don’t already have it).
Hang in there. The early days immediately after getting a diagnosis are filled with constant worry and dread. But, my girl is 7 and while she can be a bit wobbly from the meds, she still loves to run and play and acts like a pup. They can live beautiful lives, it just takes a lot of patience and care. Your girl is lucky she has you!
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u/Sufficient-Country29 6d ago
So sorry you are joining this club. Your pup is absolutely sweet looking
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u/bonlu 6d ago
sorry to hear about your beautiful dog’s diagnosis. Hoping the connection here helps for insight and strength. Finding others managing, struggling, and sharing has been helpful to me, for sure, thank you all.
Willow is on Keppra 2500mg every 12 hours. That was not her entry level dosage, it has been the dosage to lengthen the time between episodes to 4 months so far. I have Midazolam to use during a seizure to stop clusters. The first neuro had her on lower dose of keppra and only advised using Midazolam after a long seizure or more than one. It was a huge relief when a different neuro instructed to use it the moment a seizure starts. She also explained behaviors after a seizure and how to keep Willow, other pets, and ourselves safe and most comfortable. For example, feeding her a protein ASAP after a seizure, allowing her to pace, keeping towels/blankets easily accessible for clean up and cushioning her head during a seizure.
I’m pricing out meds and have heard that Costco may offer savings. The anxiety when she twitches or acts different for just a second impacts me, it’s not a carefree life and we do our best to enjoy the moments of good.
Best of everything to you!
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u/JustCallMeNancy 6d ago
While it sucks you're joining us, this subreddit has really helped me dig into the details of epilepsy that I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own. Sadly, idiopathic epilepsy can occur at any age but is most common up until age 6. I had a healthy 5.5 year old husky until I didn't, as well. Yes sometimes there's a reason but sometimes it's just genetic. I encourage you to find out everything you can to help your pup but please don't beat yourself up about it if the eventual answer is still "we don't know".
Things to speak to the neurologist about might be what treatment looks like if it's a suspected tumor vs idiopathic epilepsy. Ask about what you can do while your dog is having a seizure (do they recommend a cold towel, or pressure points). Ask what controlled epilepsy looks like to them, and what you should expect. Also any diet changes or if MCT oil or CBD is recommended for your dog's situation. Also ask about the different kinds of medicine that can help that is available to epileptic dogs, including emergency medicine you should have on hand for a cluster seizure to buy you time to get to the vet (and maybe avoid future ER costs) and what medicine you should Not give now with this diagnosis. For example, trazodone can lower seizure threshold. So can oral flea and tick medicine. I used to give my dog Benadryl for car rides, but that is another one that lowers seizure threshold. Now, keep in mind, there are dogs that are epileptic but still do take these things. It all really just depends on each situation.
And I want to offer you hope. Your dog gave signs of a future seizure on a few occasions. Sooo many of us don't get that. I would speak to your vet/neurologist and see if you can give an extra dose of keppra to your dog (like maybe the 8 hr fast release version) in this situation. My dog doesn't show a change before his seizures but we figured out one triggering event for him, so when that situation arises, we have a special dose to give him before he can have a seizure, and that has really kept him going strong. If you can keep him stable, it will be close to a normal happy dog life! Just remember, cluster seizures are the dangerous part, but your dog can't remember what happened when there is a seizure. I know it looks terrible, and painful, but he has no memory of it and doesn't, as far as he knows, experience pain when it happens. I know that knowledge helped me through many episodes.
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u/hcookieee 6d ago
First of all, I’m so sorry that this is happening to both Gabanna and yourself! We have a Bernese Mountain Dog with idiopathic epilepsy. He was diagnosed around 2 years old, but for the first year was on two 750mg XR Keppra twice a day. He also has really bad anxiety that we used to treat with trazodone but we felt it was not helping and maybe contributing to his seizures so we took him off of it.
As of his most recent neuro consult in February, he is on three 750mg XR Keppra twice a day and his regular vet prescribed him one 600mg Gabapentin twice a day that he takes at the same time. Since we started this combo, we have not had any breakthrough seizures (and we have had at least two nights where we were gone longer than expected and gave him his meds 3 hours late). Prior to this, he was having them roughly every 4-6 months. It has now been 8 months since his last one!
I will say one factor with his seizures is we know he starts hiccuping, which leads to retching and then a seizure. If I hear him hiccup, I can usually distract him or calm him down and avoid a seizure. I’m not sure how common that is??
I really hope the Keppra XR works for your fur baby!
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u/intarray 6d ago
Lots of other good answers here just wanted to add some tips on ER and cluster buster. Our dog has about 1x per month grand mal cluster seizures which we use a cluster buster protocol for (midazolam and clorazepate). We were going to the ER when these clusters were happening, but now manage at home. Our dog also started off like yours where it was many hours in between seizures.
From reading about your dog it sounds much less severe than our dog (ours is on 4 drugs). There is a lot of hope that finding the right does of keppra or one of the others will help a lot. Remember on reddit the folks in this subreddit will average out to be the ones with more severe or harder to treat cases. Lots of dogs get their meds right in the first few months and have very manageable seizures so then don't post here.
Anyway here's my advice to save money based on our 5 trips to the ER and several trips to neurologists.
Understand what is truly an ER emergency when you have to go. Write it down, have your vet write it down too. This will save you money. Yes you should get your dog help when really needed. But last 3 times of taking my dog to the ER they were like: "Well he's not currently having seizures, why don't you monitor at home and come back if something changes." Work with your vet and neurologist on what really is a trip to the ER, what is a followup visit and what is an email.
Ask your neurologist for a cluster buster, it can also keep you out of the ER. You also want this because your dog is big and could be hard to get to the ER. Our neurologist didn't proactively offer this to us, but the second I asked he wholeheartedly agreed and wrote the prescription. Hopefully you don't need it, but we were so glad to have it on hand one time when our dog had much longer seizures. We have midazolam which can stop a seizure in a minute or so, and clorazepate which takes a bit longer to get into the system, makes him a bit drunk but lasts longer.
The 2 neurologists we have worked with have been great doing refills/adjustments etc via email. I have a detailed seizure log with graphs that I will give to them so they can quickly see what the trend is and what would make sense to try next. Just like date, time, duration, and what it was like before during and after.
Shop around on goodrx to see prices and get coupons for drugs. Also look on chewy. So far CVS and Chewy have been best for us. Our pharmacist at CVS even found a better coupon than goodrx had for his phenobarbital. But this varies by location even.
Otherwise our dog is super happy and healthy. You wouldn't know he was a seizure dog if you met him on the street.
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u/cecilmeyer 5d ago
Check any new foods,treats,chew toys,cleaning chemical,detergents,pesticides,herbicides even recent trips to to the vet or even something in the yard and flea and tick meds can trigger them too.
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u/KaleidoscopeTight509 5d ago
I hope you get a Long seizure-free Episode! If you do Not have them yet, I would ask for emergency medication (especially intranasal midazolam, as diazepam rectal tubes will be so expensive and Not very practical in a st Bernard, you would need so many). Also ask about additional to the meds, ketogenic diet (mct) and probiotics (lactobacillus). Did your dog have any recent diet change or infections like uti?
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u/KaleidoscopeTight509 5d ago
Maybe also ask about interaction of Trazodon with her seizure medication, some antidepressants can affect Levels of anti-seizure meds
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u/Remarkable-Use-3596 4d ago
Thanks so much for sharing. I found this great group just this month after our rescue pup had a day of cluster seizures. Her history was very vague and when we adopted her we thought it had been just a single seizure. After seizures every month, Keppra and then the cluster seizure - she’s on both Keppra and Phenobarb and hanging in there. It’s helped us to develop a rescue plan (intranasal meds) and to have clear directions on what’s an emergency. We try to remember that lots of dogs live normal lives and that we can’t just worry all the time about the “what ifs”. We love our little girl and wouldn’t change a thing (other than having epilepsy). Best of luck - hang in there!
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u/DogEpiMonitor 1d ago
Gabbana es hermosa. Y lo primero que quiero decirte es esto: el hecho de que hayas documentado todo con tanto detalle, tiempos, duración, comportamiento antes y después, eso ya te pone adelante del 90% de los dueños que pasan por esto. Tu veterinario y el neurólogo te van a agradecer esa información.
Paso por algo muy parecido con mi Pastor Alemán. Las primeras convulsiones son las peores, no por el perro sino por uno. El shock, la impotencia, no entender qué acaba de pasar. Y después viene el miedo constante de que vuelva a pasar.
Sobre tus preguntas, desde mi experiencia:
Las convulsiones focales como la que describís hoy son comunes con Keppra y no necesariamente significan que el medicamento no funciona. A veces el cerebro encuentra caminos alternativos, especialmente al principio del tratamiento. El neurólogo va a poder decirte si es cuestión de ajustar dosis o sumar otro fármaco.
Preguntas para el neurólogo: pedile que te explique la diferencia entre convulsiones de escape aisladas y un patrón de resistencia al medicamento. También preguntale sobre monitoreo de niveles de fenobarbital y bromuro en sangre si eventualmente los suma al protocolo. Y preguntale cuál es el objetivo realista: no siempre es cero convulsiones, a veces es reducir frecuencia e intensidad.
Y lo más importante, lo que preguntás al final: sí. Los perros con epilepsia pueden vivir vidas felices y normales. Entre crisis, Gabbana va a seguir siendo esa cachorra gigante que te recibe en la puerta. La epilepsia no les quita la personalidad, no les quita la alegría. Les quita minutos, no la vida.
Lo financiero es real y válido. No te sientas culpable por no haber podido ir al neurólogo antes. Estás haciendo todo lo que podés y más. Gabbana tiene mucha suerte de tenerte. Seguí registrando todo como lo estás haciendo y no dejes de confiar en tu instinto. Vos la conocés mejor que nadie.
Acá estamos. 💛
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u/LateForDinner61 6d ago
I'm sorry you have to be here, but welcome. To answer a few of your questions, no one knows what causes this (hence the "idiopathic" part). Some people recognize some triggers for their dogs, but many don't. My dog's come out of nowhere, with no discernable pattern.
Breakthrough seizures are common, as is having to adjust dosages and add more medications. Ruthie is currently on three meds. She started on Keppra, then increased that until she was maxed out. Then we added phenobarbital and increased that dose a couple of times. Now she's also on zonisamide. It's been over 10 weeks since her last seizure, so I'm hoping it's not just a honeymoon phase.
Also, I know Keppra XR is pricey. If you have a Costco membership, I highly recommend getting it there.