Helping Your Dog Through A Seizure

  Posted on July 21, 2011  by Joy of Living  No comments

Yesterday, I went to visit a client, Jasmine, that’s been having trouble with seizures lately.  Her mom called me yesterday morning to advise seizures were coming a little more frequently and that Jasmine might have one while I was with her.

Although Jasmine’s mom had explained what happened during seizures, I was not prepared when it happened yesterday.

Seeing your dog in that state can be very upsetting, and there isn’t much you can do to help her through it.  The biggest factor is to do what you can to keep her from hurting herself.  When in the seizure state, dogs lose control of their body (and often bodily functions) so do not try to prevent them from swallowing or biting their tongue.  Doing so could result in you receiving a serious bite.

Although the seizure can happen suddenly, do your best to remain calm, and monitor the duration of the seizure.  The longer the seizure, the higher possibility of long-term brain damage.  Seizures lasting 5 minutes or longer mean the dog is in epilepticus seizure state and should be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Once the seizure is over, your dog will probably be disoriented and quite weak. Be sure to keep close track of her to be sure she doesn’t injure herself trying to get re-oriented to her surroundings.

Seizures can cause hypoglycemia, so consider giving a small amount of slightly melted Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream to help regulate your dog’s blood sugar.  It’s dangerous to give your dog anything too cold following the seizure, so giving slightly melted ice cream will lessen the shock of it.  Consult your veterinarian for other possible methods to help your dog get leveled out after seizure.

Going through a seizure is scary for your dog and you.  Working with your vet to determine the cause of the seizures and developing a treatment plan will help your dog, and you, tremendously.