Seizure Info

[Guest mcsheltie]

Knock on wood... we have never had a seizure dog. Besides keeping the other dogs away from them, what do you do? I was thinking as many come and go through our house this should be something I know before it happens. Not scrambling for knowledge after the fact.

[TheFullHouse]

There is really nothing you can do for a seizing dog other than make sure he's safe from the other dogs and safe from anything that he could hurt himself on. The seizure has to run it's course, and although it seems like a seizure lasts forever, it's usually just 1 or 2 minutes in length, if that long.

 

Caution should be taken, most people want to hold the dog and talk to it during a seizure care should be taken to keep yourself safe. Dogs coming out of a seizure are completely confused and in their confusion may try and bite. It's best to stand back and watch and wait, logging down everything you observe, time, date, length etc. Once the dog comes out of it, most will try and stand and may fall down a couple of times. Once on their feet, you can give them vanilla ice cream, peanut butter or something with sugar. This will raise their blood sugar back to normal making their recovery shorter. Some will pant and pace, it's their way of cooling off. The temperature on a seizing dog will rise sharply so some will want outside to walk around and cool off. You can drape with damp cloths if you wish but most will cool down on their own. Once they've recovered they may be very sleepy and will probably sleep for a few hours.

 

This is the standard for grand mal seizures. They are the most severe. There are so many types of seizures, some not nearly as bad as grand mal's and the pup recovers much quicker.

 

If you have a pup who has never had a seizure before, contact your vet. They will test to see if there are any physical causes for the seizure.