Pet Seizures: Six of Your Most Frequently Asked Questions Answered!

1. What should I do when my pet has a seizure?

• Make sure your pet is in a safe place where they can't harm themselves.  

• Time the seizure: How long did it last? Monitor for the occurrence of more than one seizure occurring in a 24-hour period. (This is called cluster seizure activity.) If there were multiple seizures, how long was each and how long was it between seizures? 

• Keep note of symptoms that occur during the seizure. 

  • Generalized seizure activity can include urination/defecation, unconsciousness, paddling while in a lateral position, thrashing, foaming at the mouth, chomping, facial twitching, and a post-ictal period of drowsiness and lethargy. 

  • Focal seizure activity includes consciousness but no response to stimuli, facial or muscle twitching, pacing/circling, and vomiting.  Drowsiness and lethargy may occur during the recovery period. 

• If it is a non-emergency seizure and you are a existing client of VNIoC, you can use this form on our website to report it. This information will be used to record the frequency of your pet’s seizures, and is not meant to be used to report an emergent situation. You can, however, request a response from your pet’s neurologist.

2. When should I seek emergency attention for my pet’s seizures?

• Clusters of 3 or more seizures in a 24-hour period.

• Sequential seizures with no return to normal consciousness between episodes.

• Any seizure that lasts for more than 5 minutes continuously.

• When your pet needs immediate care, please take him/her to the nearest pet hospital for emergency treatment.

3. Why don’t we know what causes my pet’s seizures?

While we can determine the cause for some seizures, most are idiopathic, i.e., recurrent, unprovoked convulsions with no known cause, often suspected to be genetic. Idiopathic epilepsy is diagnosed by excluding all other causes of seizures. 

4. Can you stop the seizures from idiopathic epilepsy?

Idiopathic epilepsy is a condition for which there is no cure. However, we hope that with medication, we can manage seizures so that they do not impact quality of life. Our goal is to reduce seizure frequency as much as possible, but in general, one seizure every 4-6 weeks is considered good control.

Seizure management involves treating the seizures appropriately with few side effects and monitoring the response to therapy. Continue the medications as directed. Do not change any medications without speaking to your pet’s neurologist. 

5. Will the seizures shorten my pet’s life?

Seizures do not inherently shorten life expectancy, but excess frequency or seizures of an extended period of time can impose a risk of death, and sometimes uncontrolled seizures can cause a compromise in quality of life. Therefore, lifelong maintenance (daily) and rescue (in the event of prolonged or cluster seizures) medications are important to utilize.

6. What else can I do to help my pet with seizures?

Some pets benefit from Purina NeuroCare. This food is used in conjunction with anticonvulsants to ideally reduce seizure frequency and severity. Ask your veterinary neurologist if this is appropriate for your pet.