Dog seizure...?

Question

Tonight my dog has a seizure and to my knowledge, she has never had one before. Anyone have this happen and how often is it a solitary incident? I know she wasn't into anything poisonous that could have caused it. Does anyone have knowledge or opinions or experience on this?

And I did call the vet and told her everything I could before anyone assumes anything. I would never post a question about something serious that time would matter on and I know the majority of the answers are not vets...just pet lovers.

she is going to the vet tomorrow for blood work...the vet advised me to watch her through the night since after a seizure is complete, 99% nothing can be found by physical examination.

she is only a year and a half old. she did suffer a broken leg in december that is mended now.

Answer 1

How old is your dog? Has it ever had a head injury in the past? Both can be the source of a seizure- as they were for one of our ranch doggies. His head injury occurred when he was about 2 years old. He was hit in the head by a passing car's bumper. He was seizing for several hours and was in a coma like state for 3 days. It took him probably 4 to 6 months to "get right" in the head- he'd just stop and get a glazed over look then suddenly snap out of it. Then he was fine. Didn't have a seizure again till he was about 10 years old. And only once that I know of. Lived to be 14 - really good for his breed.

It could also be a sign of epilepsy which can be treated with medication. The results vary depending on the severity and frequency of the seizures. My mom had a dog with epilepsy. The meds worked for quite some time (years) but eventually the epilepsy got so bad he had to be put down. But then again he was very old too. There are other possibilties but the thing to do is to observe your puppy dog and see if it happens again. Know that the dog WILL be confused when she comes out of the seizure. She may not recognize you for a good 10 to 15 minutes (or longer?) and may not recognize her surroundings. Just talk to her calmly and slowly - reassuring her until she can think straight. If possible I would keep her in a confined area - dog run, the house, a fenced yard- until you know if this was an isolated incident or will be an ongoing thing. Otherwise she could easily wander off in her confusion. Be sure she has current information on her tags so she can be easily returned to you should she get lost. If it does turn out to be a chronic condition, it would be a good idea to put that info on her tags also.

Answer 2

There are several reasons why a dog might have a seizure, epilepsy which is usually sub-early adult onset, toxins but you would usually see other malidy as well, or something like brain tumours (which generally occur in older animals and needs to be diagnosed with a CT scan).
If your dog is not a garbage eater and hasn't gotten into any toxic substance then chances are your dog has idiopathic epilepsy. Idiopathic meaning no idea what causes it.
Dogs with this sort of epilepsy can generally go quite some time between seizures initially, eventually the seizures will get closer and closer. If your dog is only having one seizure every 4 months you don't need to treat it but if and when she starts to have more, you should really medicate her. With medication the duration and extent of the seizure is less (often more focal seizures than grand mal) and the time between seizures is longer.
It isn't overly expensive, your vet will most likely suggest phenobarbitone and/or epibromide. You will need to medicate morning and night and get blood tests done every 6-8 months to ensure the drug is in an appropriate range.
Seizures don't cause the animal pain, if you have ever talked to an epileptic they often lament that they know when a seizure is coming on, the same is true of your dog and it isn't physically painful, the dog is unconscious when seizuring.
You do need to avoid the condition status epilepticus however, which is when the animal doesn't stop seizuring and needs emergency care to stop the seizure, this will be prevented when you have the dog well controlled.
Good luck with it all.

Answer 3

Yes, a dog can have a solitary seizure. Usually, veterinarians only want to put a dog on anti-seizure medications if they exhibit more than one seizure or a series of small seizures. Seizures are the muscle responses to an abnormal nerve-signal burst from the brain. There are many types and stages of seizures and the cause can be variable, too. It would be great if you could get your dog in to see the vet for an examination and blood panel. That way you can rule out things like thyroid problems, etc. Seizure disorders can be inherited also, so your dog may be predisposed to seizures. But, all of this is just speculation as only the vet will have a history on your dog and be able to assist you with a diagnosis. Also, this could be just an isolated incident. But, to be sure, if you're to be away from home and the dog is alone, try to keep her in an area where she'll be safe (away from stairs, etc.). It often helps your vet if you keep a record of seizure activity...time, date, how long was it?, how did the dog act prior?, how did the dog act after? Good luck! I sincerely hope this was just an isolated incident, but keep her safe by getting it checked out...

Answer 4

My labrador had her first seizure about three years ago. It's a frightening experience for the owner. If she has another one get behind her as sometimes you can get clawed or they even bite. They don't know they're doing it of course. All you can do is be with them while it's happening and stroke and reassure them so that is what they are aware of as they come out of the seizure.
Mine carried on having the odd seizure so the vet put her on phenobarbitone. She didn't have another seizure for about a year and when she did have one the vet upped the dose slightly.
Fingers crossed she's fine now. The only other time she had one was when she stayed with my mum and mum accidentaly was giving her half her dose. After 3 days she had a seizure which shows how precise the dosage is.

Answer 5

What kind of dog do you have? I just recently found out that some dogs start having seizures due to the red dye found in dog food, treats, chewbones, etc. A friend had a Shih Tzu (2 years old) who started seizuring. The vet did extensive tests to no avail. Friend decided that if we humans should not have red dye, then neither should her pet. Since she put her dog on a purely organic dry dogfood, seizures have stopped completely!! You may want to check the dogfood label. I would still have the vet do a complete workup on the pet just to make sure it isn't a tumor. Better safe than sorry!!!!

Answer 6

Seizures are quite common in pets, especially dogs.
Dogs can suffer epilepsy. I have a Beagle, Sassy, who began having seizures at about eighteen months of age. Her seizures are characterised by whole-body spasticity (jerky movements) foaming at the mouth caused by the seizing muscles, incontinence and loss of responsiveness to aural stimulus (ie: she can't hear me).

After a seizure, Sassy is vague, her heart races and she rushes around the house making sure everything is still as it was before her seizure. Her vision is often affected and she can't see well for up to thirty minutes post-seizure, which is when she needs the most care to ensure she doesn't bang into something and hurt herself. She is often ravenously hungry afterwards, and in dire need of toilet. Her seizures are irregular, because she is on medication - phenobarbital, an anti-epileptic drug that has been used to treat humans.

Seizures are frightening for both pet and owner, and I have found that if I remain calm and touch, and stroke Sassy during her seizure, and call her name, it brings her out of it more quickly than if I leave her alone. I always make sure she is in an area free of any obstacles, and I try very hard to quickly get a towel under her business end to save our carpets!

Epilepsy is caused by a number of things, but usually it's an electrical impulse problem in the brain. It is very manageable with medications, and is quite a common illness in many dog breeds. My vet's nurse has an epileptic Great Dane, and when he has a seizure, my vet's nurse needs to buy new furniture.

On a bright note, Sassy is ten years old now, and only has three to six seizures a year. She's a happy, playful old girl these days and we expect her to live for quite a few years yet. :D We say that she has 'pupilepsy'...

We formerly had another dog who was diabetic - she had dogabetes - and also had seizures if her blood sugar was too low. Many things cause seizures in dogs and epilepsy is only one of them. I'm pleased to know that you're following up with your vet.

The important thing is to remain calm, especially around your pet, and not worry yourself silly guessing about diseases until you know what is wrong with your girl. Good luck!

Answer 7

I just lost my Chihuahua who was 16 years old she was an epileptic from the time I got her. The tablets the vet put her on were the same ones that I was taking so he told me a quarter of a tablet when she had a seizure and some glucose to put on their nose so that their sugar doesn't drop to far which causes a stroke which happened to mine once this cose a lot of money at the vets to bring her around. I hope this helps as it was a hard learning experience for me but they live quite well and happily.
Regards
Elaine

Answer 8

My lab is 8 yrs old. When he was 9 months old, he had his first seizure. Took him in & they advised me to watch him as your vet did. I knew that he didn't get into any poison also. After a period of a few months, I kept a record of how long his seizures lasted, if he urinated or deficated, what his eyes were doing, and anything else pertinent. They saw a pattern & diagnosed him with epilepsy. He has since he was one year old, had to take phenobarbitol & pottasium bromide twice daily. It keeps the seizures under control.

Answer 9

My Rat Terrier has seizures every now and then. It has been happening for about 5 years. He is on phenobarbital every day to help prevent them. If you find out its something that will continue, start watching your dogs body language. Your dog will tell you when one will happen before hand. If you have another dog too they can sometimes sense something is wrong before hand also. I hope things turn out okay!!

Answer 10

If your dog is really old (this may differ between breeds and dog sizes), she may have had a stroke...
We had a very old dog (she passed recently at 18 - she was a Dobbie-Shepard mix) and in her last year, she had several "mini" strokes. We used a whole bunch of holistic supplements to help her. But at that age there was only so much we could do for her.