Epilepsy is not very common in dogs but it does exist. Dog seizures acquire varying degrees of symptoms. It can be a blank staring of 10 seconds or a longer one of 20 to 30 minutes consisting multiple seizures or cluster seizures. As a dog owner you need to be aware of various symptoms of dog seizures. Being a human what you can do is to help your dog a bit when the seizures run their course. If you have noticed symptoms make it sure that your dog is in a padded area with no solid object around it to protect against possible harm.
Generalized, Tonic-Clonic (Formerly Called Grand Mal) Seizure
Prior to a seizure you may find your dog a little restless or nervous. When seizure starts, dogs usually fall to their side with the legs stretched out and head on the back side. This is known as the tonic portion of generalized seizure. Sometimes dogs may vocalize but their vocalization is involuntary only and do not indicate pain in any case. The tonic portion of a generalized seizure occurs only for a very brief time, it actually gives way to the clonic phase.
As the clonic phase begins, dogs start taking rhythmic movements. These rhythmic movements are nothing but clamping the jaws, running and jerking movements of legs. Following the seizure you may find your dog in a motionless position for a short period of time but you don’t need to be afraid and just keep your patience. Eventually the dog appears perfectly normal, but usually shows signs of post ictal behavior like blindness, pacing and running around the hours.
Common Behaviors of Generalized Seizure
- Your pet falls, limbs rigidly expand, consciousness drops
- Paddling of limbs, dilation of pupils, salivation
- Defecation and urination
- Breathing stops briefly
Partial Seizures or the Focal Seizures
A partial seizure is also known as the focal seizures and as its name suggests, it affects only a part of the brain. The kind of seizure may stay freeze at the same location or may develop to whole brain and cause tonic-clonic seizure. Whit partial seizures the chances are high that it may spread to the other parts and start harming them too. As it starts in only a part of the brain the possible injuries it may produce are highly suspected.
Partial seizures are very rare but nonetheless may take place. Their signs include:
- Upward eye rotation
- Blank staring for 10 or more seconds
- Unconsciousness
Give Your Dog Your Cuddly Support While Seizure Is Taking Place
Now when you are sure that your dog has seizure, it’s your duty to provide comfort to your dog, whenever seizure takes place. Holding on to them during the seizure phase might be difficult, but it can be a great support to them. Soft voice and feeling of a genital touch of your hand can be very comforting to them. There are lot of poor advice circulate around controlling seizure attack, one of which is to pull the tongue out of the throat to stop seizure immediately. My personal advice is, do not give ears to such opinions. The kind of attempt is not only dangerous to your dog, but placing your hand in between the super-strong jaws of a dog is not at all safe for you too.