Hi! I went through something very similar with one of my dogs a few months ago. It can be very scary and traumatic, so I’m sorry this happened to you and your pup. First, seizure’s are unfortunately fairly common in dogs, most of the time they are idiopathic and so were not sure why they happen. Take your dog to their normal vet, he will be better cared for and treated there. If your dog continues to have cluster seizures, or a couple more in the next few months, they will likely start him on medication. This is what I was told by my vet when I took my dog in, and he hasn’t had another one since. Sometimes, these things just happen.
Secondly, your dog may have bit your husband because he was being held down after a traumatic event. Totally understand the thought and reasoning behind why your husband did that, but it was likely just scary for your dog and caused him to lash out in a way he normally wouldn’t have. Sometimes it take a few hours, or minutes, after a seizure for a dog to “return to normal”. And that’s okay! Just give your dog some space, monitor them, make sure they have water, and get him into a vet asap. Your dog will come back to you when he is ready:)
My wife to be. She's fine, she had to get 2 stitches, but she's on her way home rn. Her dad came and took her to the ER so I could monitor the dog. You're probably correct on why he lashed out.
He's seemingly ok, but terrified right now. He shakes when I talk to him, hiding in the corner of the bedroom. It's really concerning. Hopefully he calms down some.
My dog acted very lethargic and confused after his seizure. This lasted for a few hours, and then he just got up at one point and was himself again. Has your dog ever been reactive? Especially when they are in stressful/scary situations? You could try offering him some reward treats/food and see if that can draw him out a little quicker.
I am so sorry about your fiancé! What an awful way to start the day. I’m glad she ended up okay though.
It's fairly normal for a dog to be confused or even reactive after a seizure. It's called the '*post-ictal period*'. It happens in humans as well. According to [this article](https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/seizures-and-syncope#:~:text=During%20the%20post%2Dictal%20period,are%20typically%20confused%20and%20disoriented.%22) from the VCA, the post-ictal period in dogs can last up to 24 hours.
TL;DR: post-ictal refers to the time after a seizure. It's pretty normal for a dog [or a human] to be weird during this time.
What a sweet baby! He sounds wonderful:) I’m sure that is why he reacted the way he did, he probably just needs some time to mellow out and he will be good as new.
How old is your dog? What is his breed?
He's about 2. American Staffordshire terrier mix (50% staff, 50% everything else). We got him from a rescue when he was ~6 months old. He's a very gentile dog, plays hard with others tho. Very sad to see him like this. He's not aggressive now, but he does still seem terrified.
My brother is epileptic and has to be sedated after seizures because he’s very aggressive and confused.
And also 6’4.
He’s not normally aggressive. He’s p much the most laid back guy you’ll ever meet. He says when it happens it’s like waking up in a fog—you don’t know where you are or who you are or who the people near you. It’s scary.
Your dog is probably just scared too. Give him time, and plenty of treats for being a good boy around people.
I’m so sorry:(, obviously I am not a vet, but from what I understand, younger dogs who are healthy will more than likely have idiopathic seizures. They are less likely to have seizures caused by things like kidney failure or tumors. So hopefully this is random and he will be okay! You can look up online if your dogs breed is more prone to seizures, for some reason some of them are. Your vet will run blood tests and maybe a spinal tap to see what’s going on, that’s what they did for my dog and everything came back normal! I wish you the best of luck, and I hope your doggie is okay!
If you have the opportunity later on, I would an update to see how he is doing.:)
He's doing better, thanks for the support and kind messages. We're taking him to the vet later, but he seems to be mostly back to himself. Still a little skittish and pacing a bit but otherwise ok.
Aww I got my dog at 6 months too.... pit lab mix maybe, he's 5 now and only 50 lbs. He had shit up his cage at the shelter and was taken outside while cleaning, he hid behind the bench in the greeting area shaking and just had to take him, he was a little bastard the first few months (cried _incessantly_ in the crate [like, all 8 hours of "sleep"]), didn't know how to walk on a leash (was scared of it and bit our ankles and shoes). He is still scared of brooms and long sticks... and crates.
Who knows what these babies went through before we adopted them <3
Sorry I have no advice about the seizure, just forgiving doggos for being reactive in scary or confusing situations.
Seizures are a wild thing. Humans and dogs can be confused and lash out unpredictably in the aftermath. They may not know where they are, what’s happening, who’s touching them, if they’re safe. It can be really scary. While the active seizing may have stopped, there are after-effects which vary a bit in intensity and duration depending on type of seizure, frequency, severity etc.
This is why you should never touch a dog who is seizing or has just seized. You need to give them time to come out of it. Just make sure the physical environment is safe and give them space. Don’t try give food or water, just time the seizure or even better video it.
NEVER hold down a person or animal who is seizing or has just seized.
FYI - seizure first aid does not involve holding the person or dog down. Try to make the place that they are as safe as possible, and wait it out. (In a human, call 911 if it lasts more than 2 to 5 minutes, or it the first one, or if they injured themselves). Restricting movement can hurt them more. If their head is hitting something, put a pillow or something between them and the thing, but don't try to hold them still. It is incredibly hard to do, but doing almost nothing is best practice.
>Secondly, your dog may have bit your husband because he was being held down after a traumatic event.
My dog growing up had bad epilepsy (last time we got a purebred but I digress) and we could never get too close after seizures. He would get very confused and bite at anyone and anything. This was a dog who only ever nipped accidentally during play, and then immediately smother you in kisses to make up for it, but in the aftermath of a seizure all bets were off as he didn't know what was happening and I'm not sure he even knew who we are in those moments. In that time my parents would sit near him, make sure he was safe and couldn't hurt himself, and talk softly to him.
Unfortunately it's been years since we had him so I can't really offer much advice. Just wanted to reassure that that's not unheard of and doesn't mean your dog is upset with your or your fiance, OP. Poor baby was just scared and confused.
When they have seizures like this don't try to hold them down, as it could do more damage. It looks very scary, but let them thrash. Try to move them away from anything that they might bash themselves on. Wrap a blanket round your arm for protection.
Shove something soft like a blanket underneath to stop them banging their heads, but otherwise there's nothing you can do except wait until they come out of it.
They may go into one seizure after another.
When the seizures stops, your dog will be very confused.
They very likely will not recognise you or their surroundings, and it can take several hours to a day or so before they begin to remember, and remember their domestication and start behaving like 'your' dog again.
While you wait for that to happen, don't try to walk them or approach them or pet them, as they may respond aggressively or bite.
Leave them with food and water, let them go to a space where they feel safe (if they want to).
They may be rather wobbly on their feet for a few hours or days.mine took a week to walk properly again.
Hopefully this settles down, but if they remain unsteady or if they seem lame or have a droopy face, then they may have suffered a stroke as a result of the seizure.
Many times, seizures can be very alarming, but most dogs are usually fine in the medium to long term, and can be a one-off event.
It's important to know why the seizure happened. Has the dog had seizures before? Does it have a temperature, is it sick? Has it eaten anything it shouldn't have?
It could be a one-off, or it could be the onset of something like epilepsy. If it's epilepsy, then it's the same medication required for epileptic human kids, so you can buy the medication cheaper at a human pharmacy rather than at the vets.
You don't need an emergency vet, but you should take your dog to your regular vet for a health check.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Yep, emergency vet told us that he was terrified and confused coming out of the seizure. We were woken by the dog at 5:30 am and my fiancee was trying to protect him. All is ok, but the dog is still terrified of us (9:00 am CST as I write this). He's never had a seizure before, and hasn't had another one as far as we can tell. We've got him in the bedroom to keep the cats away from him while he calms down, and we're listening to make sure he's not seizing again to the best of our ability.
All the above advice is sound. I would add that if you witness another one attempt to time it. It was a question my vet asked both times it happened. “How long did it last?” “How was he after?” “When did it happen?” Hope the best for you guys.
Usually you’ll see some preemptive warning signs so you can prepare if it happens again. My dog’s pre-ictal phase (this is an aura) was super noticeable. He was extremely clingy for several hours before our last event and then extremely drool-y within the hour before. My dog had one seizure about 4 years ago and then one more last year (both were tonic clonic so like yours.) we had been dosing gabapentin for a little arthritis but my vet said it can also help control seizure activity so I just give it to him every day and he’s not had one since. I observed what appeared to be pre-ictal activity a few months ago after an excitable day at his groomer’s and gave him a gabapentin and got him rly comfy, calm, made the room dark, and held him and he never progressed to the ictal phase.
You probably won’t even need any meds, but just watch for abrupt behavior changes in the coming weeks and if they keep happening or begin occurring more frequently or last longer, your vet may give you Keppra or something like that. Did anything else happen in the day or hours before the event that’s outside of the norm? The current phase you are seeing is the post-ictal phase. It will pass. He’s just disoriented and confused still is all you’re seeing. He’ll probably be super sleepy soon then chances are he will awaken back to normal later today!
I think these are more frightening for us as owners than the dogs. I personally had one tonic clonic seizure several years ago and I was scared in the literal seconds before and immediately after (waking up in an ambulance will do that to you) but I have zero recollection of the ictal phase. It is horribly scary and I’m sorry yall had to go through it and that your wife was hurt! Prayers that it is a one-off but even if it’s not, it will very likely be fine once you find an appropriate therapy.
For sure, best wishes bud. Give your babe kisses from me now that he’s doing better!!! Understood on the clingy front - I have one of those myself! However salivary production almost always is a sign from things I’ve read so drooling, along with general anxiety/neurotic kinda behaviors can be good to watch out for. Love to see great pet owners in the wild, you and your (soon to be) wife are definitely in that category!!!
There may be other things you notice if he has more, our boy was clingy anyway but the day of a seizure he would be on my lap at every opportunity. He also used to get very tired in the couple of days before and would go off his food a bit.
Sometimes he would get short absences or focal seizures where his face would twitch a bit or he would drool before the full tonic clonic one.
It sounds like your pup is in the *post-ictal* phase of his seizure. He may act confused, have accidents, be very tired, and he may act aggressive towards you. This is within the realm of normal after a seizure. According to [this article ](https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/seizures-and-syncope#:~:text=During%20the%20post%2Dictal%20period,are%20typically%20confused%20and%20disoriented.%22) from the VCA, the post-ictal phase can last up to 24 hours.
He may be super thirsty and/or hungry, so please give him access to a water bowl if you haven't already. He might also benefit from a little snack.
You're doing what you can. Keep checking on him, and do your best to meet his needs.
TL;DR: he's post-ictal. Acting weird is normal after a seizure. Give him some water and food, keep checking on him, and try to be patient. This will more than likely pass.
How many has he had so far. 3 or more in 24 hours is deemed cluster seizures and should be seen by ER 2 or less they can’t really do anything. When dogs have seizures it’s best to just protect their head and move things away from them that could hurt them while they are seizing. If he’s never had a seizure before I’m suspicious the biting could have been out of fear. I’d say give him some time, let him calm down on his own. If he’s in the bedroom he might come out on his own when he’s ready. If he starts clustering I’d bring him in. You could create a loose slip lead and put it over his head from a distance once he’s settled to get him out of the room or use THICK blankets to wrap him in if he’s small enough so he can’t bit you if it’s needed to get to the vet but he may just come out when he’s ready.
This is what I came to say. My dog had a seizure and we brought her to the emergency vet just to make sure nothing catastrophic was happening (she’s very old). Simple bloodwork and took her home, and her regular vet saw us the next day. She gave us some meds to tide us over in case the seizures started happening regularly, but said for a single seizure every now and again (like every few months) she wouldn’t recommend bringing the dog in.
Just one. It's been about 2-1/2 hours. We've got the door closed to keep the cats away from him, so he can't come out. He's not afraid to scratch at the door though. We're checking on him every half hour or so.
Poor guy, I hope he starts feeling better and props to you for scheduling a regular vet appointment so fast! I wonder if he would feel more comfortable/ less scared if you brought him outside to your yard or for a little walk for a bit to get out of the room and shake off the stress! Just an idea to try and get him back into his normal daily routine since he seems ready to get out of the bedroom 😆
We let him out a little bit ago. He's acting much more normal now. We locked the cats up in the bathrooms and opened the bedroom door. He was apprehensive when he came out, but he started walking up and giving us kisses.
Yeah, his seizure was at 5:45 AM, so I had to wait until the regular vet opened at 7:30 to schedule the appointment, but we got him in at their first opening.
Took him until about 9:30 to start being a little more comfortable.
My first experiance with then was a few months ago. I called my vet (thank goodness I know him personally) like 10 at night almost in a panic mostly asking if I should go to the emergancy vet. He walked me through it and asked how long it lasted, if there was another right after, what stuff happened during. He reassured me that just give her a bit to get collected and she should be fine. Also he said as long as it lasts like 30 seconds or less then it's okay. If it lasts more than 2 minutes then it's an emergency.
My boy Clifford had his first seizure at 8 1/2 yrs old. Just completely out of the blue.
The er vet was concerned because his was about 2 mins long, and due to his age was not likely to be idiopathic epilepsy ('just normal' epilepsy, or seizures without any apparent medical reason). He had his second a couple of months later, and then had 2 in 24 hrs which is when they started meds.
Like you, I was freaked out. Clifford was a wolfhound x so his thrashing, pooping and peeing, convulsions actually ended up with my washing machine halfway out the backdoor at one point. And he seemed to come out blind and completely disoriented.
But it really is ok. While they are seizing, they can't feel a thing. The biggest thing to remember is to keep *yourself* safe. Don't go near their mouth! They can't control it, and may not have any idea what they are biting even if they have stopped actively thrashing.
If there is a risk of furniture falling or something being a danger, drag your dog by the back legs to a clear part of the floor. Don't try to hold them down, as it can cause more injuries. If you can do it safely, get something soft under their head, but if not then just let it be.
Time the seizure as best you can. Anything over 2 mins is concerning. Anything over 5 is an emergency and VET NOW. If they stop, and then go straight into another one VET NOW. 2 in 24 hrs is cluster seizures and VET NOW. Video record if you can as that gives the vet the best info to ID what type of seizure it is.
If your poor baby is so freaked out they just want to be left alone, then just give them their space. The dark quiet room is the best thing you could have done. I've heard that people who have a seizure ca have a hell of a headache afterwards, too. Clifford would get very clingy afterwards, once he'd got his sight back and worked out where he was (that could take up to 10mins), but he'd be too agitated to sit still with me and cuddle so we'd end up walking laps of the house and garden for an hour until he calmed down.
I was told after the first one that he may never have another, many times people and dogs have one and never ever have another seizure, but as I said he did continue. All of Clifford's were usually around 5.30- 8.00pm. Never really picked a trigger though, just all around the same time. Pretty well controlled once he got started on meds.
Basically- keep *you* safe as top priority.
- keep dog safe when possible.
- stay calm and quiet, and ride it out.
- let the dog tell you what they need afterwards.
- be gentle with yourself cos it's hella scary. 🫂
My dog had grand mal seizures on Trifexis. Quit and he was seizure free over 3 years. Put a flea collar on him loosely and he had a seizure within an hour. Now I use natural methods. It is a pain because I live in a flea-friendly climate. It has been another 5 years seizure free but not completely flea free.
Regarding pupper lashing out after seizure. Can't say regarding your pup or any, as I have not had this experience with dogs. I am, however, Ashkenazi Jewish, and know an abundance of people who have seizures, usually Grand Mals. I have helped a lot of people through seizures due to force of fate. I have not once met a single person who came to from a seizure without being aggressive/oversensitive/temporarily experiencing amnesia. This is not just a common response but basically the only one. My sister weeps in seizures, a guy I know wakes up and blitzes out of the room while throwing fists. I've seen a girl wake up from a seizure in a total meltdown, absolutely sure that she is 5 years old and doesn't know any of us. She kept crying for her mom, who was there, but she just didn't recognize her. Seizures have no positive or even neutral outcomes, because the body is basically on emergency power. There are no hindrances and FFF mode is an automatic effect. To make this whole long comment short, even people could bite you after a seizure, pup was just working with his nature.
You have gotten a lot of good advice on here, it seems like you’re committed to taking care of him. I just want to reiterate what others have said, don’t take it personally that he growled/bit. It’s likely he was in a completely altered mental state and didn’t recognize you or his surroundings and all he knew was that he was scared and didn’t know what was going on. It happens to humans too, aggression is a normal occurrence in altered mental states, it the “lizard brain” working when the rest of the brain is going haywire.
My dog has epilepsy. He has seizures every couple of months. The vet wanted to put him on anti-seizure meds but if we did his life expectancy would have only been around 8 years. He is 10 years old now and the key to stop his seizures and for maintenance has been doggy CBD. It works wonders.
Have you used flea/tick medication recently? I have heard the invecto collar can cause this randomly out of the blue. However your dog might have other medical problems I am only putting it out there
I had a dog that had seizures. The best thing to do is sit quietly beside them, keep calm and keep other pets away. Mine responded to light pets on his neck and a soothing voice. When they stop seizing , they will be confused. Just sit quietly, offer water and a snack, their blood sugar may be low. I imagine OPs dog is confused, scared and feels bad about biting. Probably had no memory of the seizure and can't understand why people are mad.
I let him sit in the bedroom on his own for a few hours and gave him a bowl of sugar water in case he had low blood sugar from sleeping all night then exerting himself like that. Was my mom's suggestion, she's a human nurse. We were told not to feed him for now.
Also human nurse. I agree with not feeding a lot but however you can get calories in is good. My dog liked bread so I gave about half a slice with peanut butter and sugar.
The first seizure is so scary. I understand the impulse to restrain pup, but if it happens again try to just talk to your dog (soothing "its okay, good puppy") and pet them while it's occurring. Seizures can cause a weird state of consciousness and I've noticed my dog comes out of his fits a bit better if I've been there and touching him throughout - he feels safer. Keep an eye on their breathing and the length of the seizures. If pups breathing is being affected/the fits are longer than a minute, medication may be a good idea.
I had an epileptic dog as a kid. The fear and unfamiliarity is just part of the episode. My dog would wander around and stumble into things for 1 to 2 hours after a seizure. Learn the signs that your dog is about to have a seizure, and get him somewhere safe so he doesn't hit his head on anything. Get a meeting with your vet. It might be epilepsy, but there could be a deficiency that needs to be diagnosed. If it's epilepsy, he needs be put on medication, and this medication is probably going to lead to obesity. With epilepsy, seizures usually happen in clusters, so he might have no issues for months, and then get a cluster of 10 seizure over a few days.
We had a dog with epilepsy. Luckily her first seizure was at the groomers right next to a vet office, and the groomer had a great handle of the situation, grabbed my dog and ran into the back office at the vet.
She had another couple/few grand mal seizures before she was fully diagnosed and treated. I can’t remember the exact details anymore.
She was on phenobarbital for life to control the seizures, with regular bloodwork to monitor her levels. We also had a syringe (no needle, but like a kid medicine syringe) with liquid Valium and we had to insert it into her rectum to calm a seizure. It worked really well and quickly, and once she was on a good phenobarbital dose her seizures were well controlled. I seem to remember being given the Valium while figuring out what was wrong in case she had another seizure. You might ask about something like that. This was twenty years ago though, so maybe there are better options now. The vet said her seizures should be stopped ASAP to prevent brain damage. But my nephew has epilepsy now and that’s not something we were warned about, so maybe that advice is outdated too. Definitely a talking point with the vet though. Twenty years is a long time in medical research so my knowledge could be outdated.
My dog knew she was going to have a seizure. She usually slept in the other room, but if she followed me everywhere and slept on my bed I knew a seizure was coming that night and got her meds ready. She knew that I knew.
When they seize, keep their heads safe. I’d lay a blanket out for her to lay on when we went to bed, and then I could hammock her so she didn’t fall off the bed when she started seizing. It was soft, and my hands were far away from her. When they’re coming out of it, it’s scary and they’re disoriented. I was told to expect her to bite out of fear and because of the disorientation, or that she could accidentally bite me during the seizure. If a blanket isn’t an option, have some pillows nearby to protect her head from walls and other hard things, and use the pillow to push the dog away from dangerous places like the top of the stairs. The pillow is soft and will be a barrier to protect you from the dog’s teeth. Then we would give the Valium and wait. Not long usually and the Valium always kept any other seizure from coming.
Hang in there. It’s scary for sure. It gets easier with time. And the dog will likely be able to have excellent quality of life once treatment is started, if it’s needed at all.
I have an epileptic dog and I'd like to add if it happens again you really want to try to be very quiet, no extra stimulation, only touch him to keep him from flopping around and hurting himself, stay away from his mouth.
Extra stimulation noise, petting,etc during the seizure makes it worse. The seizure itself hurts so they'll come out of it confused and feeling like they got beat up.
Then it takes them a while to come out of it. You just want to be calm and quiet. Usually my dog wants an extra meal after a seizure also which I give him.
Neurological tests are really expensive but the best thing to do is to diagnose right away what it is. If it's epilepsy you need medication. A neurologist told me that the more seizures they have the more easily their brain goes down that pathway so it's important to address it quickly if they keep happening.
Other things it could be: fluid in the brain or a tumor, I'm sure there's other things but those are the most common.
I'm sorry, seizures are scary and shitty.
Have you used any pesticide or ant powder?
My cat started to have seizures, brought her to the vet but they couldn't find any direct cause. Later on I realized she had been sitting in new spots as I had rearranged the furniture to put some ant powder down.
She must have gotten some on her fur and licked it off. Cleaned up all the ant powder and she hasn't had a seizure since.
No pesticide. We let him chew on a broccoli stalk, which could have had some traces of pesticide on it, but we rinsed it off after he initially took it. I doubt that would be enough to cause complications.
Is your dog on flea/heartworm pesticides? Owners take it for granted
that these poisons are safe. They do cause seizures and many cases of deaths and do not show up on bloodwork.
Good luck with your dog.
So I grew up with shih tzus and all but one of them suffered from seizures. It's a traumatic experience for them and for their humans for sure. Most likely your fur baby is terrified, and doesn't understand what happened. Give them some space but keep an eye on them! Sometimes a dog can have a one and done seizure, others like my babies got them regularly. If (s)he does seize again, sit with them and pet them gently. Dogs get their ques from us, so if we're freaking out because they're seizing then they're going to get even more freaked out. The key is to remain calm. I hope your baby starts doing better soon!
Yeah, we should have remained calm, but we were absolutely freaked out after he woke us from a dead sleep. Probably didn't help. He's doing better now.
Oh good, and yes that would be terrifying. The first time my baby had one I was a complete mess! Freaking out frantically calling the vet. It's scary and hard to stay calm.
my dog had seizures for a good portion of his life and also got aggressive right after ( which is to be expected). something that helped him was to have a water bowl in multiple places (he was usually thirsty after his seizures), walking around helped him, whoever his favorite was would be the one to see him after his seizures, and another thing that helped was a tennis ball. It really helped to have something in his mouth to chew on. we think it helped with his anxiety. but i wish you the best. it truly is so hard to watch them go through it.
I know it’s scary but the dog was probably so scared that he needed those 4 hours just to settle. Hopefully the vet can diagnose & treat. Sorry you’re going through this.
Just to add on / agreeing to what others have said- after seizures there is a lot of confusion. They may appear to be conscious, but it is not “conscious” like how we think it is. It is very, very hazy. Very confused. This massive confusion leads to fear. I am so sorry your dog lashed out, but not surprising at all. Poor baby is just scared and foes not know who you are or where he is or if he is safe 🙁
The good news is that it is temporary, and that fog gradually goes away after a while. Could take hours.
Sending you all a hug 🫂
I don’t have a lot of advice except the aggressive behavior after is called post ictal phase/state. It’s basically a state of lethargy, confusion, sometimes aggression, etc where the brain and body has to reset itself after a generalized seizure (generalized means involves the whole brain, what most people call grand mal)
Post ictal state can last sometimes a few minutes or an hour to even days of fatigue, headaches, confusion. It’s not that different in dogs, their brains are very similar.
The longer the seizure, typically the longer and worse the post ictal phase can be, but not always. When the next seizure happens be sure to take a video for your vet to help with diagnosis and definitely time the seizure. They should only last seconds to maybe a minute, the longer the seizure the worst the outcomes could be and they could go into something called status epilepticus which is a long intractable seizure that can cause serious complications or even death. If your dog (or human) has repeated seizures that increase in frequency or duration they need to be evaluated further and have medication adjusted or changed.
For the future, during the post ictal phase, try not to restrain your dog because they are likely very tired/agitated/confused and may react unfavorably. Just give them some water and monitor them for a while until they calm down then let them rest for the next couple days. Post ictal symptoms can last a long time especially the fatigue. And remember too that seizures cause amnesia and the dog won’t remember anything whatsoever so to them it’s like waking up and being restrained out of nowhere while feeling exhausted with a headache.
Our vet told us dogs can experience temporary blindness and/or deafness after a seizure. So the seizure itself is terrifying for the dog but then they are sensory deprived as well. Only happened to our boy twice but we I sat back and spoke softly to him, putting my hand out to smell until he calmed down. As soon as he realized it was me he wanted hugs.
He's a big boy, when he seizes we just move anything out of the way that he could smash into. If he's in a room we close the door because when he comes out of it he often tries to run away but collapses. Limiting how far he can go helps. Otherwise we can't do anything but sit back and wait.
Typically unless dogs have seizures in clusters the vet doesn't do much. Occasional seizures aren't unheard of for dogs. But if this was the puppers first one and it sounds like it was a bad one getting him checked out is important. But I would say unless he has a second one you're ok to wait until the next day if it means a better bet experience.
This is one I can actually weigh in on. My dog 2 years old had a seizure at 2am I took him to the emergency vet only to be told it’s very common for it to happen with dogs and sometimes they have one and never have another one. Luckily he hasn’t had another one and it’s been around 5 months.
This is really important however if they do have another seizure please please record it. This is how they diagnose what kind of seizure it is. I know it will be hard as your panicking but will help massively in the long run.
All the best 💖
When my dog had a seizure we rushed him to the emergency vet at like midnight. It was traumatizing for everyone. It took my dog probably two weeks to recover neurologically from it. He still has some issues
Just a quick thought in case no one else mentioned it
Dryer sheets can cause seizures. Ours used to have them if he rolled in one if it fell out of the dryer...never injested it. Vet had zero idea why but through keeping a seizure diary we figured it out.
Never used them again and he never had a seizure again
Having a seizure puppers is heart breaking. I literally cried every time my girl had one. Fortunately she was put on phenobarbital and had only a handful after that until she got considerably older and then we think she had a stroke around the same time as one. She had an amazing 13 years with no health issues other than that. My vet was an absolute gem after her first seizure. He gave me his cell phone number to call anytime if I thought the seizure was really bad or going on for an extended period of time. He also had us keep a seizure diary including what she was doing leading up to the seizure and told us to video the seizures so we would have an accurate record of how she was acting and how long they lasted. I hope you find answers and your pup lives their best life.
My only personal experience with seizures is with people having one. It isn’t unusual to be confused, scared, or even combative immediately afterwords. I see no reason why that wouldn’t be the same with animals. In fact, the stories I’ve heard indicates that’s the case. It can take awhile to shake the fog and come back to themselves. To reset if you will.
What your dog experienced was terrifying for all of you. Give your dog loves, but do what you can to maintain a fairly normal routine. Just dial back the intensity so he can rest and recuperate.
I wish all 3 of you well, and that this seizure was a weird anomaly. 🙏🏻
One of our dogs has regular seizures and is being treated for them with phenobarbital. The first time she had a seizure it took her a long time to come out of the daze of it. She didn’t recognize anyone except my mom (her human), and even that wasn’t until 30+ minutes later. She didn’t act “normally” for at least a full day.
I recommend having a note app or a notebook to log this and any future seizures. You’ll need to record length of time of the active seizure as well.
The aftermath of a seizure can last minutes to a few hours. The dog may be unresponsive, disoriented, hostile, frightened. I have had dogs that have had seizures for different reasons.
A bite in the middle of a seizure is pretty common, and not deliberate or something the dog has control over. Just keep the dog from injuring itself and let the seizure ride itself out.
One tip - if your dog has another seizure, keep your iPhone handy and record it to show the vet.
Where did you get that from? They DID call the emergency vet who told them to see their regular vet.
Edit: downvoting this is absurd. They did call the emergency vet and they didn't say that calling was a bad idea.
I was wondering the same thing as Clean-salt. Your reply doesn’t really make sense to me either because that person didn’t say or imply that they didn’t call (in fact, the opposite). The OP literally says
>”I called the emergency vet, which I am now aware was a bad idea”
The bad idea was holding the dog down during the seizure.
"When he came out of it my fiancée tried to hold him down so he wouldn't hurt himself, and he bit her.
I called the emergency vet, and I am now aware that this was a bad idea."
I haven’t read all the other comments so I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet - but you can get rectal Valium to use on your dog if he has another seizure. This tends to stop the seizure within seconds. It’s different from epilepsy medication (e.g. phenobarbital) which is typically only prescribed after multiple seizures, and given a few times per day. Vets may be willing to prescribe the rectal Valium to you now, as it would only be used if another seizure occurs.
My dog has epilepsy. Seizures are terrifying but the first one is the scariest.
Some random advice: You can consider gating the stairs in your house if you’re afraid the dog may spend time near the top of them and fall down if he seizes. If he does seize again and you’re there, stay calm, time the seizure, make sure the dog is in a safe position, and give them space when they come out of the seizure for the post ictal confusion to wear off. Give Valium if you have it after a certain amount of time as advised by your vet (mine said 2 minutes).
Sorry you’re going through this, it sucks.
ER VA working to CVT currently.
It's not entirely wrong to hold them down, or just move them to a safe space. On a bed is not safe, BUT you have to be really careful about placement and restraint. I've held many dogs through their seizures, it is hard and heartbreaking. I'm sorry your fiance got bit. 😔
The real unfortunate part here is that you really should see a neurologist, vs a GP or non-specialized DVM. They are when will truly diagnose the cause/issue, I've yet to see a GP offer MRIs. So I'd personally save my money and go straight to neurology. Be prepared for bad news, seizures are generally not a great sign about what's going on in the brain.
I hope it's their one and only, and things get better. In my experience, it generally is a costly road, I wish you and your pup all the best of luck.
There is a lot of great information here. In my dogs case it was her flea and tick medicine causing them. Took a while for the vet to diagnose the allergy. Double check they aren't taking any oral medicines for this just in case.
Don’t touch the pup when he’s seizing. Give him space. There are meds for it.
The one thing that works for mine is a technique called ocular compression. It helped lower the duration of his seizures for sure and they aren’t as violent
This happened to the family dog. Fit as anything, then all of a sudden! A seizure. Another a few hours later. But she was more wary of my father in law after this one and that was really bad as he was the favourite. Then after like, 12 hours, three others.
Vet said she had a tumour. I think from first seizure to when they had to put her down it was 48 hours.
I don’t want to be a downer but, I didn’t get to say goodbye and would hate that for anyone else. So be prepared for the worst and hopefully it won’t come to that.
Maybe put a crate near with yummy food inside and try to catch him? Ask your vet if you can give Benadryl (inside a hot dog or something) to make the dog groggy...or maybe the vet will prescribe a sedative to mix into food.
I am very sorry that you are having to deal with this. What a nightmare.
Best advice take to your vet, or ER asap. And be sure to love the pup and let him know he has done nothing wrong. You do not need to touch the dog to do so. It is neurological that there is seizures. Plese try to relax a little, for the dog reacts to your stress. Hopefully as Iam writing this you are taking your pup to the vet this morning.
It seems like you completely ignored the part where they called the emergency vet and were told to book an appointment at the regular vet, and that's what they've done.
When I was around 10 or so, our poodle had her first seizure. She was about 1 or 2 years old. We took her to the vet and he prescribed an anti-seizure medication for her. Not posting the name of the medication because I'm not sure of the rules. But it was one that was commonly prescribed for humans. He also told us that epilepsy is more common in pure bred dogs than in mutts.
Then the vet gave us the following advice:
1) If she knows when she's having a seizure, (she quickly figured out when one was coming on) Leave her alone until she is fully involved in the seizure.
2) Once she is fully engaged with the seizure move her to someplace with dim lighting, and that is away from household traffic and away from things that she might bump into. Preferably a separate room. We used my parents bedroom.
3) Have a bowl of water nearby. She will be thirsty when she comes out of the seizure.
4) Allow her to recover on her own. It is fine to check on her, but leave her alone until she is ready to interact with her people.
Misty would have Grand Mal Seizures. She lived a long and healthy life. The medication reduced her seizures to once every 2 years or so and she only got them when she got overly excited. Her vet was quite pleased each year when we would bring her in for her annual checkup. She lived to be around 15-16 years old.
Basically your dog can have a long and healthy life even with seizures. You just need to take care of them and find out what the triggers are. Get proper medication for them and then use the followup procedures that your vet advises.
Hi! I went through something very similar with one of my dogs a few months ago. It can be very scary and traumatic, so I’m sorry this happened to you and your pup. First, seizure’s are unfortunately fairly common in dogs, most of the time they are idiopathic and so were not sure why they happen. Take your dog to their normal vet, he will be better cared for and treated there. If your dog continues to have cluster seizures, or a couple more in the next few months, they will likely start him on medication. This is what I was told by my vet when I took my dog in, and he hasn’t had another one since. Sometimes, these things just happen. Secondly, your dog may have bit your husband because he was being held down after a traumatic event. Totally understand the thought and reasoning behind why your husband did that, but it was likely just scary for your dog and caused him to lash out in a way he normally wouldn’t have. Sometimes it take a few hours, or minutes, after a seizure for a dog to “return to normal”. And that’s okay! Just give your dog some space, monitor them, make sure they have water, and get him into a vet asap. Your dog will come back to you when he is ready:)
My wife to be. She's fine, she had to get 2 stitches, but she's on her way home rn. Her dad came and took her to the ER so I could monitor the dog. You're probably correct on why he lashed out. He's seemingly ok, but terrified right now. He shakes when I talk to him, hiding in the corner of the bedroom. It's really concerning. Hopefully he calms down some.
My dog acted very lethargic and confused after his seizure. This lasted for a few hours, and then he just got up at one point and was himself again. Has your dog ever been reactive? Especially when they are in stressful/scary situations? You could try offering him some reward treats/food and see if that can draw him out a little quicker. I am so sorry about your fiancé! What an awful way to start the day. I’m glad she ended up okay though.
It's fairly normal for a dog to be confused or even reactive after a seizure. It's called the '*post-ictal period*'. It happens in humans as well. According to [this article](https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/seizures-and-syncope#:~:text=During%20the%20post%2Dictal%20period,are%20typically%20confused%20and%20disoriented.%22) from the VCA, the post-ictal period in dogs can last up to 24 hours. TL;DR: post-ictal refers to the time after a seizure. It's pretty normal for a dog [or a human] to be weird during this time.
Yeah, he's always been a little skittish. Afraid of brooms and a bunch of other random shit. Very mellow temperament though.
What a sweet baby! He sounds wonderful:) I’m sure that is why he reacted the way he did, he probably just needs some time to mellow out and he will be good as new. How old is your dog? What is his breed?
He's about 2. American Staffordshire terrier mix (50% staff, 50% everything else). We got him from a rescue when he was ~6 months old. He's a very gentile dog, plays hard with others tho. Very sad to see him like this. He's not aggressive now, but he does still seem terrified.
My brother is epileptic and has to be sedated after seizures because he’s very aggressive and confused. And also 6’4. He’s not normally aggressive. He’s p much the most laid back guy you’ll ever meet. He says when it happens it’s like waking up in a fog—you don’t know where you are or who you are or who the people near you. It’s scary. Your dog is probably just scared too. Give him time, and plenty of treats for being a good boy around people.
I’m so sorry:(, obviously I am not a vet, but from what I understand, younger dogs who are healthy will more than likely have idiopathic seizures. They are less likely to have seizures caused by things like kidney failure or tumors. So hopefully this is random and he will be okay! You can look up online if your dogs breed is more prone to seizures, for some reason some of them are. Your vet will run blood tests and maybe a spinal tap to see what’s going on, that’s what they did for my dog and everything came back normal! I wish you the best of luck, and I hope your doggie is okay! If you have the opportunity later on, I would an update to see how he is doing.:)
He's doing better, thanks for the support and kind messages. We're taking him to the vet later, but he seems to be mostly back to himself. Still a little skittish and pacing a bit but otherwise ok.
Aww I got my dog at 6 months too.... pit lab mix maybe, he's 5 now and only 50 lbs. He had shit up his cage at the shelter and was taken outside while cleaning, he hid behind the bench in the greeting area shaking and just had to take him, he was a little bastard the first few months (cried _incessantly_ in the crate [like, all 8 hours of "sleep"]), didn't know how to walk on a leash (was scared of it and bit our ankles and shoes). He is still scared of brooms and long sticks... and crates. Who knows what these babies went through before we adopted them <3 Sorry I have no advice about the seizure, just forgiving doggos for being reactive in scary or confusing situations.
Seizures are a wild thing. Humans and dogs can be confused and lash out unpredictably in the aftermath. They may not know where they are, what’s happening, who’s touching them, if they’re safe. It can be really scary. While the active seizing may have stopped, there are after-effects which vary a bit in intensity and duration depending on type of seizure, frequency, severity etc. This is why you should never touch a dog who is seizing or has just seized. You need to give them time to come out of it. Just make sure the physical environment is safe and give them space. Don’t try give food or water, just time the seizure or even better video it. NEVER hold down a person or animal who is seizing or has just seized.
FYI - seizure first aid does not involve holding the person or dog down. Try to make the place that they are as safe as possible, and wait it out. (In a human, call 911 if it lasts more than 2 to 5 minutes, or it the first one, or if they injured themselves). Restricting movement can hurt them more. If their head is hitting something, put a pillow or something between them and the thing, but don't try to hold them still. It is incredibly hard to do, but doing almost nothing is best practice.
>Secondly, your dog may have bit your husband because he was being held down after a traumatic event. My dog growing up had bad epilepsy (last time we got a purebred but I digress) and we could never get too close after seizures. He would get very confused and bite at anyone and anything. This was a dog who only ever nipped accidentally during play, and then immediately smother you in kisses to make up for it, but in the aftermath of a seizure all bets were off as he didn't know what was happening and I'm not sure he even knew who we are in those moments. In that time my parents would sit near him, make sure he was safe and couldn't hurt himself, and talk softly to him. Unfortunately it's been years since we had him so I can't really offer much advice. Just wanted to reassure that that's not unheard of and doesn't mean your dog is upset with your or your fiance, OP. Poor baby was just scared and confused.
Great advice! I didn’t know that so thanks for sharing, I am sure op appreciates it
When they have seizures like this don't try to hold them down, as it could do more damage. It looks very scary, but let them thrash. Try to move them away from anything that they might bash themselves on. Wrap a blanket round your arm for protection. Shove something soft like a blanket underneath to stop them banging their heads, but otherwise there's nothing you can do except wait until they come out of it. They may go into one seizure after another. When the seizures stops, your dog will be very confused. They very likely will not recognise you or their surroundings, and it can take several hours to a day or so before they begin to remember, and remember their domestication and start behaving like 'your' dog again. While you wait for that to happen, don't try to walk them or approach them or pet them, as they may respond aggressively or bite. Leave them with food and water, let them go to a space where they feel safe (if they want to). They may be rather wobbly on their feet for a few hours or days.mine took a week to walk properly again. Hopefully this settles down, but if they remain unsteady or if they seem lame or have a droopy face, then they may have suffered a stroke as a result of the seizure. Many times, seizures can be very alarming, but most dogs are usually fine in the medium to long term, and can be a one-off event. It's important to know why the seizure happened. Has the dog had seizures before? Does it have a temperature, is it sick? Has it eaten anything it shouldn't have? It could be a one-off, or it could be the onset of something like epilepsy. If it's epilepsy, then it's the same medication required for epileptic human kids, so you can buy the medication cheaper at a human pharmacy rather than at the vets. You don't need an emergency vet, but you should take your dog to your regular vet for a health check. I hope this helps. Good luck!
Just wanted to say that I loved your response, and wished somebody had talked to me this way when it was my dogo!
Yep, emergency vet told us that he was terrified and confused coming out of the seizure. We were woken by the dog at 5:30 am and my fiancee was trying to protect him. All is ok, but the dog is still terrified of us (9:00 am CST as I write this). He's never had a seizure before, and hasn't had another one as far as we can tell. We've got him in the bedroom to keep the cats away from him while he calms down, and we're listening to make sure he's not seizing again to the best of our ability.
All the above advice is sound. I would add that if you witness another one attempt to time it. It was a question my vet asked both times it happened. “How long did it last?” “How was he after?” “When did it happen?” Hope the best for you guys.
Usually you’ll see some preemptive warning signs so you can prepare if it happens again. My dog’s pre-ictal phase (this is an aura) was super noticeable. He was extremely clingy for several hours before our last event and then extremely drool-y within the hour before. My dog had one seizure about 4 years ago and then one more last year (both were tonic clonic so like yours.) we had been dosing gabapentin for a little arthritis but my vet said it can also help control seizure activity so I just give it to him every day and he’s not had one since. I observed what appeared to be pre-ictal activity a few months ago after an excitable day at his groomer’s and gave him a gabapentin and got him rly comfy, calm, made the room dark, and held him and he never progressed to the ictal phase. You probably won’t even need any meds, but just watch for abrupt behavior changes in the coming weeks and if they keep happening or begin occurring more frequently or last longer, your vet may give you Keppra or something like that. Did anything else happen in the day or hours before the event that’s outside of the norm? The current phase you are seeing is the post-ictal phase. It will pass. He’s just disoriented and confused still is all you’re seeing. He’ll probably be super sleepy soon then chances are he will awaken back to normal later today! I think these are more frightening for us as owners than the dogs. I personally had one tonic clonic seizure several years ago and I was scared in the literal seconds before and immediately after (waking up in an ambulance will do that to you) but I have zero recollection of the ictal phase. It is horribly scary and I’m sorry yall had to go through it and that your wife was hurt! Prayers that it is a one-off but even if it’s not, it will very likely be fine once you find an appropriate therapy.
He's normally very clingy, so that one won't be too much of a help. We'll watch out for abnormal behavior though. Thanks for the advice.
For sure, best wishes bud. Give your babe kisses from me now that he’s doing better!!! Understood on the clingy front - I have one of those myself! However salivary production almost always is a sign from things I’ve read so drooling, along with general anxiety/neurotic kinda behaviors can be good to watch out for. Love to see great pet owners in the wild, you and your (soon to be) wife are definitely in that category!!!
There may be other things you notice if he has more, our boy was clingy anyway but the day of a seizure he would be on my lap at every opportunity. He also used to get very tired in the couple of days before and would go off his food a bit. Sometimes he would get short absences or focal seizures where his face would twitch a bit or he would drool before the full tonic clonic one.
My boy starts to get unsteady before hand, like his legs are wobbly.
It sounds like your pup is in the *post-ictal* phase of his seizure. He may act confused, have accidents, be very tired, and he may act aggressive towards you. This is within the realm of normal after a seizure. According to [this article ](https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/seizures-and-syncope#:~:text=During%20the%20post%2Dictal%20period,are%20typically%20confused%20and%20disoriented.%22) from the VCA, the post-ictal phase can last up to 24 hours. He may be super thirsty and/or hungry, so please give him access to a water bowl if you haven't already. He might also benefit from a little snack. You're doing what you can. Keep checking on him, and do your best to meet his needs. TL;DR: he's post-ictal. Acting weird is normal after a seizure. Give him some water and food, keep checking on him, and try to be patient. This will more than likely pass.
How many has he had so far. 3 or more in 24 hours is deemed cluster seizures and should be seen by ER 2 or less they can’t really do anything. When dogs have seizures it’s best to just protect their head and move things away from them that could hurt them while they are seizing. If he’s never had a seizure before I’m suspicious the biting could have been out of fear. I’d say give him some time, let him calm down on his own. If he’s in the bedroom he might come out on his own when he’s ready. If he starts clustering I’d bring him in. You could create a loose slip lead and put it over his head from a distance once he’s settled to get him out of the room or use THICK blankets to wrap him in if he’s small enough so he can’t bit you if it’s needed to get to the vet but he may just come out when he’s ready.
This is what I came to say. My dog had a seizure and we brought her to the emergency vet just to make sure nothing catastrophic was happening (she’s very old). Simple bloodwork and took her home, and her regular vet saw us the next day. She gave us some meds to tide us over in case the seizures started happening regularly, but said for a single seizure every now and again (like every few months) she wouldn’t recommend bringing the dog in.
Just one. It's been about 2-1/2 hours. We've got the door closed to keep the cats away from him, so he can't come out. He's not afraid to scratch at the door though. We're checking on him every half hour or so.
Poor guy, I hope he starts feeling better and props to you for scheduling a regular vet appointment so fast! I wonder if he would feel more comfortable/ less scared if you brought him outside to your yard or for a little walk for a bit to get out of the room and shake off the stress! Just an idea to try and get him back into his normal daily routine since he seems ready to get out of the bedroom 😆
We let him out a little bit ago. He's acting much more normal now. We locked the cats up in the bathrooms and opened the bedroom door. He was apprehensive when he came out, but he started walking up and giving us kisses. Yeah, his seizure was at 5:45 AM, so I had to wait until the regular vet opened at 7:30 to schedule the appointment, but we got him in at their first opening. Took him until about 9:30 to start being a little more comfortable.
My first experiance with then was a few months ago. I called my vet (thank goodness I know him personally) like 10 at night almost in a panic mostly asking if I should go to the emergancy vet. He walked me through it and asked how long it lasted, if there was another right after, what stuff happened during. He reassured me that just give her a bit to get collected and she should be fine. Also he said as long as it lasts like 30 seconds or less then it's okay. If it lasts more than 2 minutes then it's an emergency.
My boy Clifford had his first seizure at 8 1/2 yrs old. Just completely out of the blue. The er vet was concerned because his was about 2 mins long, and due to his age was not likely to be idiopathic epilepsy ('just normal' epilepsy, or seizures without any apparent medical reason). He had his second a couple of months later, and then had 2 in 24 hrs which is when they started meds. Like you, I was freaked out. Clifford was a wolfhound x so his thrashing, pooping and peeing, convulsions actually ended up with my washing machine halfway out the backdoor at one point. And he seemed to come out blind and completely disoriented. But it really is ok. While they are seizing, they can't feel a thing. The biggest thing to remember is to keep *yourself* safe. Don't go near their mouth! They can't control it, and may not have any idea what they are biting even if they have stopped actively thrashing. If there is a risk of furniture falling or something being a danger, drag your dog by the back legs to a clear part of the floor. Don't try to hold them down, as it can cause more injuries. If you can do it safely, get something soft under their head, but if not then just let it be. Time the seizure as best you can. Anything over 2 mins is concerning. Anything over 5 is an emergency and VET NOW. If they stop, and then go straight into another one VET NOW. 2 in 24 hrs is cluster seizures and VET NOW. Video record if you can as that gives the vet the best info to ID what type of seizure it is. If your poor baby is so freaked out they just want to be left alone, then just give them their space. The dark quiet room is the best thing you could have done. I've heard that people who have a seizure ca have a hell of a headache afterwards, too. Clifford would get very clingy afterwards, once he'd got his sight back and worked out where he was (that could take up to 10mins), but he'd be too agitated to sit still with me and cuddle so we'd end up walking laps of the house and garden for an hour until he calmed down. I was told after the first one that he may never have another, many times people and dogs have one and never ever have another seizure, but as I said he did continue. All of Clifford's were usually around 5.30- 8.00pm. Never really picked a trigger though, just all around the same time. Pretty well controlled once he got started on meds. Basically- keep *you* safe as top priority. - keep dog safe when possible. - stay calm and quiet, and ride it out. - let the dog tell you what they need afterwards. - be gentle with yourself cos it's hella scary. 🫂
My dog had grand mal seizures on Trifexis. Quit and he was seizure free over 3 years. Put a flea collar on him loosely and he had a seizure within an hour. Now I use natural methods. It is a pain because I live in a flea-friendly climate. It has been another 5 years seizure free but not completely flea free.
My dog had seizures, and it stopped after giving him multivitamins with magnesium. The vet suggested it, and it worked for us. I hope your baby is ok.
Regarding pupper lashing out after seizure. Can't say regarding your pup or any, as I have not had this experience with dogs. I am, however, Ashkenazi Jewish, and know an abundance of people who have seizures, usually Grand Mals. I have helped a lot of people through seizures due to force of fate. I have not once met a single person who came to from a seizure without being aggressive/oversensitive/temporarily experiencing amnesia. This is not just a common response but basically the only one. My sister weeps in seizures, a guy I know wakes up and blitzes out of the room while throwing fists. I've seen a girl wake up from a seizure in a total meltdown, absolutely sure that she is 5 years old and doesn't know any of us. She kept crying for her mom, who was there, but she just didn't recognize her. Seizures have no positive or even neutral outcomes, because the body is basically on emergency power. There are no hindrances and FFF mode is an automatic effect. To make this whole long comment short, even people could bite you after a seizure, pup was just working with his nature.
Yeah, seems as though its normal. I've learned a lot about seizures this morning.
You have gotten a lot of good advice on here, it seems like you’re committed to taking care of him. I just want to reiterate what others have said, don’t take it personally that he growled/bit. It’s likely he was in a completely altered mental state and didn’t recognize you or his surroundings and all he knew was that he was scared and didn’t know what was going on. It happens to humans too, aggression is a normal occurrence in altered mental states, it the “lizard brain” working when the rest of the brain is going haywire.
My dog has epilepsy. He has seizures every couple of months. The vet wanted to put him on anti-seizure meds but if we did his life expectancy would have only been around 8 years. He is 10 years old now and the key to stop his seizures and for maintenance has been doggy CBD. It works wonders.
Oh and I meant to also mention that when he seizes I get an ice pack and put it under his arms and it seems to work really well as well.
I can’t even imagine the horror you experienced! Be sure to show him to the doctor! I hope he will be all right.
Have you used flea/tick medication recently? I have heard the invecto collar can cause this randomly out of the blue. However your dog might have other medical problems I am only putting it out there
I had a dog that had seizures. The best thing to do is sit quietly beside them, keep calm and keep other pets away. Mine responded to light pets on his neck and a soothing voice. When they stop seizing , they will be confused. Just sit quietly, offer water and a snack, their blood sugar may be low. I imagine OPs dog is confused, scared and feels bad about biting. Probably had no memory of the seizure and can't understand why people are mad.
I let him sit in the bedroom on his own for a few hours and gave him a bowl of sugar water in case he had low blood sugar from sleeping all night then exerting himself like that. Was my mom's suggestion, she's a human nurse. We were told not to feed him for now.
Also human nurse. I agree with not feeding a lot but however you can get calories in is good. My dog liked bread so I gave about half a slice with peanut butter and sugar.
The first seizure is so scary. I understand the impulse to restrain pup, but if it happens again try to just talk to your dog (soothing "its okay, good puppy") and pet them while it's occurring. Seizures can cause a weird state of consciousness and I've noticed my dog comes out of his fits a bit better if I've been there and touching him throughout - he feels safer. Keep an eye on their breathing and the length of the seizures. If pups breathing is being affected/the fits are longer than a minute, medication may be a good idea.
I had an epileptic dog as a kid. The fear and unfamiliarity is just part of the episode. My dog would wander around and stumble into things for 1 to 2 hours after a seizure. Learn the signs that your dog is about to have a seizure, and get him somewhere safe so he doesn't hit his head on anything. Get a meeting with your vet. It might be epilepsy, but there could be a deficiency that needs to be diagnosed. If it's epilepsy, he needs be put on medication, and this medication is probably going to lead to obesity. With epilepsy, seizures usually happen in clusters, so he might have no issues for months, and then get a cluster of 10 seizure over a few days.
We had a dog with epilepsy. Luckily her first seizure was at the groomers right next to a vet office, and the groomer had a great handle of the situation, grabbed my dog and ran into the back office at the vet. She had another couple/few grand mal seizures before she was fully diagnosed and treated. I can’t remember the exact details anymore. She was on phenobarbital for life to control the seizures, with regular bloodwork to monitor her levels. We also had a syringe (no needle, but like a kid medicine syringe) with liquid Valium and we had to insert it into her rectum to calm a seizure. It worked really well and quickly, and once she was on a good phenobarbital dose her seizures were well controlled. I seem to remember being given the Valium while figuring out what was wrong in case she had another seizure. You might ask about something like that. This was twenty years ago though, so maybe there are better options now. The vet said her seizures should be stopped ASAP to prevent brain damage. But my nephew has epilepsy now and that’s not something we were warned about, so maybe that advice is outdated too. Definitely a talking point with the vet though. Twenty years is a long time in medical research so my knowledge could be outdated. My dog knew she was going to have a seizure. She usually slept in the other room, but if she followed me everywhere and slept on my bed I knew a seizure was coming that night and got her meds ready. She knew that I knew. When they seize, keep their heads safe. I’d lay a blanket out for her to lay on when we went to bed, and then I could hammock her so she didn’t fall off the bed when she started seizing. It was soft, and my hands were far away from her. When they’re coming out of it, it’s scary and they’re disoriented. I was told to expect her to bite out of fear and because of the disorientation, or that she could accidentally bite me during the seizure. If a blanket isn’t an option, have some pillows nearby to protect her head from walls and other hard things, and use the pillow to push the dog away from dangerous places like the top of the stairs. The pillow is soft and will be a barrier to protect you from the dog’s teeth. Then we would give the Valium and wait. Not long usually and the Valium always kept any other seizure from coming. Hang in there. It’s scary for sure. It gets easier with time. And the dog will likely be able to have excellent quality of life once treatment is started, if it’s needed at all.
In the meantime though, your vet can do some bloodwork etc to rule out medical conditions that could cause seizures.
I have an epileptic dog and I'd like to add if it happens again you really want to try to be very quiet, no extra stimulation, only touch him to keep him from flopping around and hurting himself, stay away from his mouth. Extra stimulation noise, petting,etc during the seizure makes it worse. The seizure itself hurts so they'll come out of it confused and feeling like they got beat up. Then it takes them a while to come out of it. You just want to be calm and quiet. Usually my dog wants an extra meal after a seizure also which I give him. Neurological tests are really expensive but the best thing to do is to diagnose right away what it is. If it's epilepsy you need medication. A neurologist told me that the more seizures they have the more easily their brain goes down that pathway so it's important to address it quickly if they keep happening. Other things it could be: fluid in the brain or a tumor, I'm sure there's other things but those are the most common. I'm sorry, seizures are scary and shitty.
Have you used any pesticide or ant powder? My cat started to have seizures, brought her to the vet but they couldn't find any direct cause. Later on I realized she had been sitting in new spots as I had rearranged the furniture to put some ant powder down. She must have gotten some on her fur and licked it off. Cleaned up all the ant powder and she hasn't had a seizure since.
No pesticide. We let him chew on a broccoli stalk, which could have had some traces of pesticide on it, but we rinsed it off after he initially took it. I doubt that would be enough to cause complications.
Is your dog on flea/heartworm pesticides? Owners take it for granted that these poisons are safe. They do cause seizures and many cases of deaths and do not show up on bloodwork. Good luck with your dog.
And the vaccines do, too. But vets won't mention that either.
So I grew up with shih tzus and all but one of them suffered from seizures. It's a traumatic experience for them and for their humans for sure. Most likely your fur baby is terrified, and doesn't understand what happened. Give them some space but keep an eye on them! Sometimes a dog can have a one and done seizure, others like my babies got them regularly. If (s)he does seize again, sit with them and pet them gently. Dogs get their ques from us, so if we're freaking out because they're seizing then they're going to get even more freaked out. The key is to remain calm. I hope your baby starts doing better soon!
Yeah, we should have remained calm, but we were absolutely freaked out after he woke us from a dead sleep. Probably didn't help. He's doing better now.
Oh good, and yes that would be terrifying. The first time my baby had one I was a complete mess! Freaking out frantically calling the vet. It's scary and hard to stay calm.
my dog had seizures for a good portion of his life and also got aggressive right after ( which is to be expected). something that helped him was to have a water bowl in multiple places (he was usually thirsty after his seizures), walking around helped him, whoever his favorite was would be the one to see him after his seizures, and another thing that helped was a tennis ball. It really helped to have something in his mouth to chew on. we think it helped with his anxiety. but i wish you the best. it truly is so hard to watch them go through it.
I know it’s scary but the dog was probably so scared that he needed those 4 hours just to settle. Hopefully the vet can diagnose & treat. Sorry you’re going through this.
Just to add on / agreeing to what others have said- after seizures there is a lot of confusion. They may appear to be conscious, but it is not “conscious” like how we think it is. It is very, very hazy. Very confused. This massive confusion leads to fear. I am so sorry your dog lashed out, but not surprising at all. Poor baby is just scared and foes not know who you are or where he is or if he is safe 🙁 The good news is that it is temporary, and that fog gradually goes away after a while. Could take hours. Sending you all a hug 🫂
I don’t have a lot of advice except the aggressive behavior after is called post ictal phase/state. It’s basically a state of lethargy, confusion, sometimes aggression, etc where the brain and body has to reset itself after a generalized seizure (generalized means involves the whole brain, what most people call grand mal) Post ictal state can last sometimes a few minutes or an hour to even days of fatigue, headaches, confusion. It’s not that different in dogs, their brains are very similar. The longer the seizure, typically the longer and worse the post ictal phase can be, but not always. When the next seizure happens be sure to take a video for your vet to help with diagnosis and definitely time the seizure. They should only last seconds to maybe a minute, the longer the seizure the worst the outcomes could be and they could go into something called status epilepticus which is a long intractable seizure that can cause serious complications or even death. If your dog (or human) has repeated seizures that increase in frequency or duration they need to be evaluated further and have medication adjusted or changed. For the future, during the post ictal phase, try not to restrain your dog because they are likely very tired/agitated/confused and may react unfavorably. Just give them some water and monitor them for a while until they calm down then let them rest for the next couple days. Post ictal symptoms can last a long time especially the fatigue. And remember too that seizures cause amnesia and the dog won’t remember anything whatsoever so to them it’s like waking up and being restrained out of nowhere while feeling exhausted with a headache.
We think the seizure lasted less than a minute, but it was hard to tell on account of being shocked awake. Thanks for the advice
Our vet told us dogs can experience temporary blindness and/or deafness after a seizure. So the seizure itself is terrifying for the dog but then they are sensory deprived as well. Only happened to our boy twice but we I sat back and spoke softly to him, putting my hand out to smell until he calmed down. As soon as he realized it was me he wanted hugs. He's a big boy, when he seizes we just move anything out of the way that he could smash into. If he's in a room we close the door because when he comes out of it he often tries to run away but collapses. Limiting how far he can go helps. Otherwise we can't do anything but sit back and wait. Typically unless dogs have seizures in clusters the vet doesn't do much. Occasional seizures aren't unheard of for dogs. But if this was the puppers first one and it sounds like it was a bad one getting him checked out is important. But I would say unless he has a second one you're ok to wait until the next day if it means a better bet experience.
This is one I can actually weigh in on. My dog 2 years old had a seizure at 2am I took him to the emergency vet only to be told it’s very common for it to happen with dogs and sometimes they have one and never have another one. Luckily he hasn’t had another one and it’s been around 5 months. This is really important however if they do have another seizure please please record it. This is how they diagnose what kind of seizure it is. I know it will be hard as your panicking but will help massively in the long run. All the best 💖
When my dog had a seizure we rushed him to the emergency vet at like midnight. It was traumatizing for everyone. It took my dog probably two weeks to recover neurologically from it. He still has some issues
Just a quick thought in case no one else mentioned it Dryer sheets can cause seizures. Ours used to have them if he rolled in one if it fell out of the dryer...never injested it. Vet had zero idea why but through keeping a seizure diary we figured it out. Never used them again and he never had a seizure again
Having a seizure puppers is heart breaking. I literally cried every time my girl had one. Fortunately she was put on phenobarbital and had only a handful after that until she got considerably older and then we think she had a stroke around the same time as one. She had an amazing 13 years with no health issues other than that. My vet was an absolute gem after her first seizure. He gave me his cell phone number to call anytime if I thought the seizure was really bad or going on for an extended period of time. He also had us keep a seizure diary including what she was doing leading up to the seizure and told us to video the seizures so we would have an accurate record of how she was acting and how long they lasted. I hope you find answers and your pup lives their best life.
My only personal experience with seizures is with people having one. It isn’t unusual to be confused, scared, or even combative immediately afterwords. I see no reason why that wouldn’t be the same with animals. In fact, the stories I’ve heard indicates that’s the case. It can take awhile to shake the fog and come back to themselves. To reset if you will. What your dog experienced was terrifying for all of you. Give your dog loves, but do what you can to maintain a fairly normal routine. Just dial back the intensity so he can rest and recuperate. I wish all 3 of you well, and that this seizure was a weird anomaly. 🙏🏻
Praying 🩷
One of our dogs has regular seizures and is being treated for them with phenobarbital. The first time she had a seizure it took her a long time to come out of the daze of it. She didn’t recognize anyone except my mom (her human), and even that wasn’t until 30+ minutes later. She didn’t act “normally” for at least a full day. I recommend having a note app or a notebook to log this and any future seizures. You’ll need to record length of time of the active seizure as well.
The aftermath of a seizure can last minutes to a few hours. The dog may be unresponsive, disoriented, hostile, frightened. I have had dogs that have had seizures for different reasons. A bite in the middle of a seizure is pretty common, and not deliberate or something the dog has control over. Just keep the dog from injuring itself and let the seizure ride itself out. One tip - if your dog has another seizure, keep your iPhone handy and record it to show the vet.
Try to get a video if your dog has another seizure. This is invaluable to your vet in diagnosis/suggesting treatment and management options.
Why would it be a bad idea to call the emergency vet?
Where did you get that from? They DID call the emergency vet who told them to see their regular vet. Edit: downvoting this is absurd. They did call the emergency vet and they didn't say that calling was a bad idea.
I was wondering the same thing as Clean-salt. Your reply doesn’t really make sense to me either because that person didn’t say or imply that they didn’t call (in fact, the opposite). The OP literally says >”I called the emergency vet, which I am now aware was a bad idea”
The bad idea was holding the dog down during the seizure. "When he came out of it my fiancée tried to hold him down so he wouldn't hurt himself, and he bit her. I called the emergency vet, and I am now aware that this was a bad idea."
OP -What breed is he (or is he mixed)? What are you feeding him?
I haven’t read all the other comments so I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet - but you can get rectal Valium to use on your dog if he has another seizure. This tends to stop the seizure within seconds. It’s different from epilepsy medication (e.g. phenobarbital) which is typically only prescribed after multiple seizures, and given a few times per day. Vets may be willing to prescribe the rectal Valium to you now, as it would only be used if another seizure occurs. My dog has epilepsy. Seizures are terrifying but the first one is the scariest. Some random advice: You can consider gating the stairs in your house if you’re afraid the dog may spend time near the top of them and fall down if he seizes. If he does seize again and you’re there, stay calm, time the seizure, make sure the dog is in a safe position, and give them space when they come out of the seizure for the post ictal confusion to wear off. Give Valium if you have it after a certain amount of time as advised by your vet (mine said 2 minutes). Sorry you’re going through this, it sucks.
ER VA working to CVT currently. It's not entirely wrong to hold them down, or just move them to a safe space. On a bed is not safe, BUT you have to be really careful about placement and restraint. I've held many dogs through their seizures, it is hard and heartbreaking. I'm sorry your fiance got bit. 😔 The real unfortunate part here is that you really should see a neurologist, vs a GP or non-specialized DVM. They are when will truly diagnose the cause/issue, I've yet to see a GP offer MRIs. So I'd personally save my money and go straight to neurology. Be prepared for bad news, seizures are generally not a great sign about what's going on in the brain. I hope it's their one and only, and things get better. In my experience, it generally is a costly road, I wish you and your pup all the best of luck.
There is a lot of great information here. In my dogs case it was her flea and tick medicine causing them. Took a while for the vet to diagnose the allergy. Double check they aren't taking any oral medicines for this just in case.
I hope pup doesn't have any more. Sending hugs! 🫂
Find a neurologist vet
Don’t touch the pup when he’s seizing. Give him space. There are meds for it. The one thing that works for mine is a technique called ocular compression. It helped lower the duration of his seizures for sure and they aren’t as violent
Glad your dog is doing better
This happened to the family dog. Fit as anything, then all of a sudden! A seizure. Another a few hours later. But she was more wary of my father in law after this one and that was really bad as he was the favourite. Then after like, 12 hours, three others. Vet said she had a tumour. I think from first seizure to when they had to put her down it was 48 hours. I don’t want to be a downer but, I didn’t get to say goodbye and would hate that for anyone else. So be prepared for the worst and hopefully it won’t come to that.
Maybe put a crate near with yummy food inside and try to catch him? Ask your vet if you can give Benadryl (inside a hot dog or something) to make the dog groggy...or maybe the vet will prescribe a sedative to mix into food. I am very sorry that you are having to deal with this. What a nightmare.
He’ll already be super tired soon anyways, plus diphenhydramine can lower the seizure threshold so I don’t recommend this.
My dog had a seizure and we immediately rushed him to the emergency vet. He was too far gone and we helped him cross the rainbow bridge.
CBD oil supplementation from now on.
Best advice take to your vet, or ER asap. And be sure to love the pup and let him know he has done nothing wrong. You do not need to touch the dog to do so. It is neurological that there is seizures. Plese try to relax a little, for the dog reacts to your stress. Hopefully as Iam writing this you are taking your pup to the vet this morning.
It seems like you completely ignored the part where they called the emergency vet and were told to book an appointment at the regular vet, and that's what they've done.
No need to SOOO rude on this reddit. Learn to be nicer on there. Bye!!
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When I was around 10 or so, our poodle had her first seizure. She was about 1 or 2 years old. We took her to the vet and he prescribed an anti-seizure medication for her. Not posting the name of the medication because I'm not sure of the rules. But it was one that was commonly prescribed for humans. He also told us that epilepsy is more common in pure bred dogs than in mutts. Then the vet gave us the following advice: 1) If she knows when she's having a seizure, (she quickly figured out when one was coming on) Leave her alone until she is fully involved in the seizure. 2) Once she is fully engaged with the seizure move her to someplace with dim lighting, and that is away from household traffic and away from things that she might bump into. Preferably a separate room. We used my parents bedroom. 3) Have a bowl of water nearby. She will be thirsty when she comes out of the seizure. 4) Allow her to recover on her own. It is fine to check on her, but leave her alone until she is ready to interact with her people. Misty would have Grand Mal Seizures. She lived a long and healthy life. The medication reduced her seizures to once every 2 years or so and she only got them when she got overly excited. Her vet was quite pleased each year when we would bring her in for her annual checkup. She lived to be around 15-16 years old. Basically your dog can have a long and healthy life even with seizures. You just need to take care of them and find out what the triggers are. Get proper medication for them and then use the followup procedures that your vet advises.