Introduction
When a dog experiences a seizure, its owner is often scared, confused and overwhelmed. Watching a dog have a seizure can be heartbreaking, but fortunately treatment options are available. Seizure treatment is evolving and there are many new medications in development to help manage canine seizures.
Treating Seizures in Dogs
The goal of therapy for canine seizures is reduction in seizure frequency and severity. The precise treatment that is used will depend upon the reasons behind the seizures. Dogs can suffer from seizures for a number of reasons, including allergic reactions, fever, reactions to poisons, injury, physical damage to the brain or neurologic disorders such as epilepsy. In order to treat seizures effectively, it is important to find out why they happened in the first place.
Treating seizures in dogs can be as simple as changing the diet, taking steps to reduce a high fever, treating a poisoning event or waiting for the dog to heal after a traumatic injury. However, most seizure conditions need to be treated using medications. These medications are normally used if the dog is experiencing more than one seizure a month, is experiencing grand mal seizures, has been diagnosed with epilepsy or is experiencing cluster seizures which occur multiple times in a 24-hour period.
Chemotherapeutic treatment of seizures usually starts with phenobarbital and/or diazepam. How much and how long depends upon the severity of the seizures. A newer type of anti-seizure medication in humans, Neurontin, has been used to treat seizures in dogs with very good results and reduced liver side effects. All of these medications require prescriptions and must be prescribed and supervised by a veterinarian. New treatments are being developed all the time.
What to Do if You Witness a Seizure
If you witness a seizure in a dog, use a watch or clock to time the length of the episode, and record that time. Do not attempt to grab the dog’s tongue, as you may be bitten. Dogs normally will not swallow their tongues during a seizure, though infrequently they will catch their tongue between their teeth and cause minor damage.
If a dog has gone down on a hard surface such as ceramic tile or hardwood floors as a result of a seizure, it can be helpful to place a pillow between the dog’s head and the floor to minimize trauma. Animals generate heat while seizing, so you should not wrap them in layers of warm blankets during or after a seizure, even if in the pet is shivering. The shivering associated with most seizures is not due to a low body temperature. If the pet is hitting a chair or other object with feet or legs, try to move the objects out of the way. Otherwise, there is no need for intervention.