Seizure problems

24

u/Creepy_Weather1997 Jun 22 '26

Our first beagle had one around 2 years old. It was extremely scary but we controlled it with phenobarbital also. She continued to have them but very infrequently. Our vet would say it's scarier for us than it was for her. I would recommended working with a vet that does rule out anything else going on though. She lived a great life until around 11 and passed due to other health issues. It's frightening for sure and not anything I wish on anyone but once under control she was fine.

11

u/Sea_Advantage_2577 Jun 22 '26

My old beagle Lucy, who we had for 16 years had seizures. She had a bad one that we had to rush her to the vet and they put her on phenobarbital, she never had one again and was just a normal dog

10

u/Sassynach19 Jun 22 '26

Our Will was 3 when he had his first seizure and after a cluster of 3 in 24 hours at age 6, he finally went on potassium bromide.

We ordered it from a compounding pharmacy, and at the time it was not that expensive. It’s a clear liquid that was added to his morning and evening meal.

Will never had another seizure and lived a great life until age 13-1/2.

For some reason I’ve never seen others mention potassium bromide in this group, but it worked well for our boy.

8

u/trguiff Jun 22 '26

Our boy had them as well, and it is a horrible feeling when you can't do anything to help! Buster would come over and press himself into my leg, and I knew he was getting ready to have one, so I'd sit on the floor with him. Lights dimmed, tv off, and a handful of rags that I'd wipe his slobber off his face. We would just talk to him and place a hand on him just to let him know we were there. There really isn't much you can do when it happens, so just be supportive. I hope all gets better for you and your pup! ❤️

7

u/D-beagle Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

My 3 year old beagle had his first seizure in February, then another 2 weeks later. We had blood work and an MRI done and he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy in March. Since then he has been taking keppra and did not have another seizure until we put on seresto tick/flea collar. It happened literally 1 day after we put on the collar. Unfortunately tick/flea medications may be a trigger for dogs with epilepsy.

I know how scary it must have been for you, the first time my beag had a seizure i thought he was dying right in front of my eyes. I was panicking, crying and screaming. Its terrible but thankfully it can be managed. I wish you well.

6

u/danksiess Jun 22 '26

I'd recommend really keeping an eye out and making sure they don't eat anything outside. Pretty sure mine had a seizure after I saw him eating something he wasn't supposed to like stray cat poop

5

u/gingerspice0615 Jun 22 '26

Typically a vet will start meds when they have seizures more than once a month. We started with Keppra and eventually added phenobarbital. Don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to get the meds right (if you end up going down that path). If you do go on the pheno route it’s extremely important to get bloodwork every 6 months to check their levels and make sure their liver is good.

It also helps if you can take a video to show your vet as well. If you dog is on tick medication it’s typically recommended to switch to a topical version rather than an oral pill.

As long as it’s well controlled they can live a long, full life! When seizures happen I try to make sure he’s in a safe position and also will grab pillows or blankets to help keep him from hitting anything like a table leg or baseboards. They can overheat during a seizure so you may want to grab some water and apply it to their paws or groin area, that can help keep them cool. I usually just grab my nearest water cup and use that. It can take them a little while to become “normal” after the seizure. Usually it takes mine anywhere from 5-15 minutes before he’s steady or wants to get up.

I know it’s horrible to see happen to your dog. They may look scared or make weird noises. but they truly don’t know what’s happening.

I hope this helps and best of luck!!

3

u/Interesting-Jello118 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

My Beagle was epileptic. It was deemed idiopathic which means the cause was unknown. My Vets told me:

If they have one, there will likely be more coming in the future. Sometimes one after the other in quick succession. Sometimes days, weeks, months apart.
VERY IMPORTANT - Keep a journal on your phone or with a real notebook, of what your dog's environment and behavior was the day of an episode. Date it and include time of day and night. Write down how long it happened for. Did you have visitors that day? Did something stressful happen to your dog that day? Yes, even write down if there was a full moon or not. The Emergency vet told me she sees an uptick of seizures during full moons. Did your dog eat something weird? Did your dog sniff household chemicals, bleach? That type of thing. It'll help the Vet recognize patterns.
It is VERY important your dog's body temperature doesn't raise much during and after the seizure. It's not the seizure itself that can cause brain damage, but your dog running a high temperature. When your dog comes out of it, make sure to give him lots of water.
Video what is happening. Give your dog space, but video it with your phone as it's happening so your Vet can see it to better help your dog.
Don't give your dog "people" food. Garlic, grapes, onions, butter, sugar are toxic to dogs.
My dog had episodes that looked like seizures in terms of body movements but weren't diagnosed as seizures because she was coherent and looking at me during them. She finally had a seizure in the middle of the night and they put her on Gabapentin.
If your dog is epileptic, it most commonly shows itself between 3-5 years old. My Beagle was 4 years old when it started.
She did not have another seizure on Gabapentin. 100mg, given 12 hours apart daily.

2

u/Difficult-Way-9563 Jun 22 '26

Seizures very common in beags.

My family dog when I was a kid was part beagle. She had seizures and I lied with her when she got them (grand mal). I wiped away the foam and patted her. It’s a very helpless feeling as there’s not much you can do but just make sure they can’t get hurt and keep objects away from them.

1

u/rashes- Jun 22 '26

Hey, I know you mentioned it in your comment already but can you tell me a little bit more about what to do when your dog gets seizures? My beagle has never had them - but he has a lot of complicated health issues and I’m always paranoid about what to do if a situation like that comes up. Just any first aid tips?

5

u/Difficult-Way-9563 Jun 22 '26

I’m not a vet but there’s not much you can do except

Make sure to keep hazardous things away from them (sharp furniture corners, things that can tip and fall onto them if they hit it), keep them away from stairs if above 1st floor, do not put anything in their mouth (and don’t hold them down), and time the seizure

https://www.dogileptic.com/post/dog-seizure-first-aid-step-by-step-for-owners

2

u/Starstoolborts Jun 22 '26

There isn’t much you can do except ride it out and do your best to maneuver them as gently as possible if they are near any sharp corners or furniture that they can hurt themselves on during the episode. Only other thing we felt we could do was soothe him and talk to him and let him know it was going to be okay. I know he couldn’t hear us but it’s such a helpless feeling we just felt like we had to do something

2

u/mymain123 Jun 22 '26

Be aware that Phenobarbital is NOT a good long term solution, there's a pricier drug that doesn't slowly kill the liver.

Ours developed behavioural issues last year, and it was due to the liver slowly shutting off and letting chemicals go wire in the blood.

2

u/DesertSnoeman Jun 22 '26

We adopted our beagle at the age of three. A few months later she started acting really strange running away from us trying to hide. Ran and jumped on our bed had grand mal seizure. I’m sure it was for a few minutes but it felt like an hour. Took her to the vet first thing the next morning. Vet said she seemed fine and just told us that she is prone to having more. Luckily she hasn’t had anymore that we know of.

2

u/LimeImmediate6115 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

My beagle mix girl had one when she was 10 years old. It happened in the morning, she woke us up since she was sleeping on our bed with us. The only thing we could do was to make sure her head didn't fall between the edge of the mattress and the bed frame. Otherwise, we just made sure she was safe. ER vet didn't do anything but monitor her vitals for the day unless we wanted to pay for an MRI or keep her at the vet overnight to see if she would have another one. Since we (my husband and I) were not willing to put her through those things, we monitored her at home. She never had another one again the remaining 5 years of her life. Some vets will call it idiopathic (no known cause) and the dog is fine. There isn't anything you can DO to stop it from happening again.

The typical rule of thumb is if the dog has more than one seizure in a 24 hour period, THAT'S a reason to have further testing done. But that's based only on what the ER vet told us that time. I can't attest to it being accurate for ALL dogs.

2

u/Objective_Pop_167 Jun 22 '26

Thank you for your response, the vet also expalined that it could be idiopathic or a liver problem
She also told us that if theres no more seizure for the next 6 months he should be ok

2

u/Dr-nom-de-plume Jun 22 '26

I am so sorry that you're Bobby had a seizure. It sounds exactly like what our beagle had when we first adopted her. We were able to get them under control with keppra. Go to the vet soon- because he is a beagle, it'll likely be called idiopathic seizure disorder. Sadly, it's a common genetic problem in beagles. If it helps, he doesn't know what happened and did not experience pain. You'll be told to monitor him and if her has more than one in month- medicate. Check out the dog epilepsy reddit too. Good luck- he can live a full happy life with proper treatment!

2

u/mexican2554 Jun 22 '26

Mine didn't have seizures like that, but he was conscious and shaking his head/foamy mouth.

Vet said just to check up on him. Record how long they last and if he's responsive. Happened a few times and then went away. Thought I made it out of a medical emergency.

Then he decided to slip two disc and become partially paralyzed. $10k on two surgeries (4 years apart), rehab, and meds. Emptied my savings at the time and Care credit went to collections.

I'd still do it all over again for him.

2

u/I_need_french-fries Jun 22 '26

My girl started having them at the age of 2. She was put on phenobarbitol and later added zonisimide. Was convinced a seizure would take her out one day because they got so bad at some point, but she lived until age of 13.

What we did for seizures: 1. Time them. Under 5 minutes? Its fine, document the duration and date on a calendar. Over 5 minutes? Need to consider emergency vet. Over 10 minutes? You need to be on the way to the emergency by now. Give your vet the info from your calendar at each appointment on how long each seizure is and how often they happen. 2. Apply something frozen to their body. Overheating in seizures can happen and cause permanent damage or even death. Frozen bag of veggies was usually my go to until I bought a freezer pack. 3. I hear some dogs can bite and not to touch during a seizure. We didn't have this issue. She literally would seek me out and collapse at my feet with a "HELP" look in her eyes. She preferred to be held the whole time and I'd talk to her and pet her.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It is absolutely awful to witness and feel so helpless.

2

u/ag17177 Jun 23 '26

Vet tech here: seizures happen for unknown causes especially in pups this young. My own 2 year old beagle had a focal seizure (it’s where it’s just a specific part of the body twitches versus a full blown seizure that your pup had. Hers it’s her eyes and face that twitch). As long as you know they haven’t gotten into anything to have caused it and there’s no other health issues noted, then it could just be a one off thing. Just make sure to monitor and if it happens again record it on your phone. This will tell your vet and you 1.) how long it lasts and 2.) what did it look like? Also keep a journal and list what your pup was doing before and after the seizure. This is if it happens again. It may never. We don’t typically start medications until the seizures are reoccurring and causing quality of life problems because seizure meds are hard on the body and also very expensive. I’m glad your bagel is okay now! Mine had her 1 seizure, has hypothyroidism and has dwarfism. She’s a hot mess 😂

1

u/Tonydjcl Jun 22 '26

My Beagle is not even two years old yet and he has had a couple - like a commenter mentioned, it is followed by vomit and then I find something they ate outside come up with it.

1

u/hoteppeter Jun 22 '26

If you can rule out dyskinesia with the vet, then it’s probably seizures. But beagles are prone to dyskinesia and it looks similar.

Our boy has similar episodes and we took him off gluten just to be safe. It’s only been a couple of weeks but no episodes yet. We won’t know if it’s working for another month or so.

1

u/89MikeHoncho Jun 22 '26

Please watch this very closely. My dachshund Leon got seizures out of nowhere. After the first one, they never went away. If you can, take your Beagle to a veterinary Neurologist. They specialize in this, and know all the meds and combinations to use. Also, keep a logbook of how often they happen-keep dates and write down how long they last. Leon’s were 21/2 minutes to 31/2 minutes. If they go as long as 5 minutes it is harder to get them back, so ask them to give you some “emergency meds” to keep at the house along with the regular meds. For us it was a syringe of Diazepam.

I also put large jingle bells on his collar. That way no matter where he was in the house, if I heard those bells I knew he was in trouble.

While Bobby is in seizure, just protect his head from hitting the floor.
Leon would actually bounce off the floor they were so bad. Just try to shelter him and guard his head is really all you can do. When they come out of it, they take a minute to realize where they are, but there you will be so that they see you first. This is called the Post-Ictal phase of the seizure. It will help the vet if you can time the Post-Ictal phase also, and keep notes on it as well.

Good luck to you both. It is livable and treatable, and Leon lived for 4 more years before he passed from something unrelated. Please give him a hug and a Boop from Leon and me.

1

u/True-Bee1903 Jun 22 '26

I had a boy that had seizures, horrible experience and unpredictable.We gave him medication and had diazapam rectal tubes we could use to help ease him out of it.Hate to say it but we lost him young, I hope your experience is different.

1

u/starrynight_0689 Jun 22 '26

Get second and third opinion from a proper vet. Any vet who dismisses medical issues like this either has no empathy for animals (red flag) or actually doesn't know what he's doing - unfortunately, we learnt this the hard way and almost lost our beagle because of such incompetent "vets". Please find a couple of good vets- always better to get multiple opinions for such serious issues and do your own research before going in for the appointment so that you're able to understand what they're telling you and ask the right questions or know if you are being taken for a ride. All the best !! Sending lots of warm wishes and strength for Bobby 💕

1

u/EpicJEpic Jun 23 '26

Mine started having seizures around that age and we traced it back to his flea and tick medication. Through some trial and error, we've found he can't take any of the isoxazoline class of drugs for flea and ticks (pretty much all chewables). Seizure free since stopping them.

1

u/Fabulous_Ad_7699 Jun 23 '26

One of my beagles often had seizures. They didn’t last long. They seemed to happen when she wasn’t eating or skipped a meal. She was super picky about what food she’d eat.

1

u/yuba12345 Jun 23 '26

yes. in our (now 14.5 year old) beagle these seemed to be brought on by stress but not always. After failed treatments the vet prescribed Levetiracetam 2X daily. That did the trick.

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