My Dog Is Having Seizures — What Do I Do?

Seizures are an episode that isn't uncommon at vet clinics and are very frightening for both dog and human. If you notice seizures in your dog, you should know it's not always epilepsy, since many other conditions present with this symptom.

Let's take a detailed look at the causes of seizures and how we should respond if our dog has one. It's important to know all the details so you can help your dog.

What Are Seizures?

Seizures reflect a disturbance in the cerebral cortex, indicating abnormal electrical activity. This causes groups of neurons to fire asynchronously, producing a motor seizure, resulting from excess excitation and/or a defect in inhibiting electrical activity.

They're the most common symptom of neurological disease, and once one occurs, it generally tends to recur, although they're transient (stopping after a few seconds to minutes). There's a certain breed predisposition in the Golden Retriever, Labrador, Beagle, or Husky. It's generally acute in presentation (spontaneous and without warning).

Types of Seizures That Can Affect a Dog

Seizures can be classified as focal, partial, or generalized. Let's look at each:

1. Focal: an epileptogenic focus (or where the seizure originates) is detected through tests such as an electroencephalogram.
2. Partial: one muscle group is affected. This can be divided into simple (no change in consciousness) and complex (altered consciousness).
3. Generalized: every muscle group is affected, along with consciousness. This is what everyone understands as a seizure as such.

Why Do Some Dogs Have Seizures?

Determining the cause is the main element to establish before starting treatment. They're divided into extracranial and intracranial (origin outside or inside the skull, respectively).

• Extracranial: the disturbance in the cerebral cortex is due to (is secondary to) a condition outside the brain (reactive epilepsy) or a systemic disease with a buildup of substances in the blood. Examples would be poisoning, or a lack of essential substances in the blood…
• Intracranial: within the brain. This is further subdivided into: Structural lesion: there's a lesion in the brain and the seizures are its manifestation.
• No abnormalities: this is idiopathic epilepsy, or one with no defined cause.

What Tests Does a Dog With Seizures Need?

The vet will need to take a thorough history of the episode. We'll need to give them all the details we know, since these will be needed to form an initial idea. This includes: how long, what they looked like (how the seizures present), how they've progressed, whether it urinated or defecated during the episode, age, etc. Afterward, the vet will perform a general exam of the patient.

Next, it will be essential to conduct a complete neurological exam, assessing reflexes, proprioception (the animal's perception of its own surroundings), cranial nerves, etc.

As for additional tests, these will be to rule out other systemic diseases that could cause seizures (complete bloodwork, toxin and ammonia tests, ultrasounds), or for intracranial causes, analyzing cerebrospinal fluid, etc. Tests such as CT and MRI will be very useful.

If no underlying cause is determined, the seizures will be classified as idiopathic.

What Is the Treatment for a Dog With Seizures?

Treatment and prognosis will depend on what's causing the seizures. Treatment will start if they occur more often than once every two months, or if several episodes appear in a row (known as clustering), or if they're very intense or long-lasting.

The emergency protocol for an acute seizure episode will involve a gradual step-up of drugs aimed at producing muscle relaxation and inhibiting excess electrical activity.

The vet will typically start with diazepam or midazolam (benzodiazepines that produce muscle relaxation) given intravenously, up to three doses five minutes apart if they don't stop. If these drugs aren't effective, phenobarbital will be used next; if after twenty minutes they still don't stop (in episodes lasting a few minutes), Propofol will be used.

If the seizures are brought under control, the vet will consider long-term medication given regularly in pill form to prevent these episodes.

If it has an episode at home, you shouldn't stress it out — it will already be experiencing excess muscle and electrical activity, and what you need to do is turn off the lights, avoid all noise, and try to keep it calm. After seconds or a few minutes it will stop, and that's when you'll need to take it to the vet to assess the case.

The prognosis for seizures is favorable in most cases if the acute episode and then the long-term condition can be controlled. Fewer than five percent of dogs are refractory to treatment (with the Border Collie having a higher predisposition).

Diagnosing and treating seizures in your animal needs to be done by a vet — there's no home remedy that can treat this condition.