When a Dog Has a Seizure: Knowing How to Help

One morning while I was out for a walk, I saw something that frightened me. Another person was walking a small white dog that looked like a Maltese or maybe a Maltese mix. Its fur was trimmed short, so it didn’t have the usual long, fluffy coat. I couldn’t tell how old the dog was. As they came closer, the little dog suddenly collapsed in the street. Its small body began to move as if it was having a seizure.

I can’t be certain what actually happened. Fainting, balance problems, heart issues, or even poisoning can sometimes look like a seizure. Still, seeing it was frightening, and my first instinct was to run over and try to help the little dog. But at the same time, I felt completely helpless.

I wanted to pick up the dog, take it home, and fix everything. But wanting to help and knowing how to help aren’t always the same thing. The experience stayed with me, and I realized I needed to learn what to do if a dog has a seizure.

By sharing what I’ve learned, I hope someone else can stay calm and know how to respond if they ever face a similar situation.

First, Protect the Dog From Injury

During a seizure, a dog isn’t aware of its surroundings and can’t control its body. The best thing you can do right away is to protect the dog from anything nearby that could cause harm.

Move anything that could hurt the dog, such as furniture, sharp objects, or things that might fall. If the dog is near stairs, water, traffic, or other dangers, try to block off the area or keep it safe, but don’t put yourself in danger. When the little dog I saw collapsed in the street, a good way to help would have been to warn drivers and keep cars away while the owner stayed nearby.

Don’t try to hold the dog still. Trying to restrain a dog during a seizure can hurt both you and the dog. Unless the dog is in real danger, it’s usually safest to clear the area and let the seizure run its course.

Keep Your Hands Away From the Dog’s Mouth

A dog can’t swallow its tongue during a seizure, so you don’t need to put your hand, a spoon, a cloth, or anything else in its mouth. A dog having a seizure might bite by accident, even if it’s never been aggressive before.

It’s natural to want to touch, hug, or hold the dog. I felt that way too. But the safest way to comfort the dog is to stay nearby, speak gently, keep things quiet, and protect it without touching its face or mouth.

Time the Seizure

Seizures can make time feel like it’s moving slowly. Checking a watch or starting a timer on your phone gives you information that can really help the vet.

According to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, a seizure lasting more than five minutes is a life-threatening emergency known as status epilepticus. The dog needs immediate emergency veterinary treatment.

Multiple seizures occurring close together are also an emergency. Cornell advises that a dog experiencing more than one seizure within 24 hours may be having cluster seizures and should be taken to an emergency veterinarian.

Record What Happens if It Is Safe

If someone else is keeping the dog safe and the area is secure, taking a short video can be very helpful. A vet might be able to tell if it was a seizure or something else, like fainting or a heart problem, by watching how the dog moves.

It also helps to remember what happened just before the episode, how the dog’s body moved, whether it seemed to lose consciousness, how long it lasted, and how the dog acted afterward.

The point of recording isn’t to make light of the dog’s distress. It gives the vet important information that can help figure out what happened and what care the dog needs.

Allow Time for Recovery

The time after a seizure is called the postictal phase. A dog might be confused, tired, unsteady, have trouble seeing, feel extra hungry, or seem scared. This recovery can last a few minutes or sometimes much longer.

Even a gentle dog might act unpredictably when it’s confused. Keep children and other pets away, and keep things quiet. When the dog is steady, gently help it move away from stairs, traffic, pools, or other dangers. Don’t force it to walk until it’s ready.

Know When Veterinary Care Is Needed

If a dog has its first seizure, it should see a vet, even if it seems fine afterward. Seizures can have many causes, such as epilepsy, low blood sugar, illness, poisoning, head injury, inflammation, infection, or a brain problem.

Get emergency vet care if a seizure lasts more than five minutes, if there are several seizures in 24 hours, if the dog doesn’t recover normally, has trouble breathing, is injured, or might have been poisoned. If you’re not sure, it’s always okay to call your vet or the nearest emergency animal hospital.

Compassion Is Also a Form of Help

The person walking the little dog seemed calmer than I expected. After the episode, they encouraged the dog to stand up, and eventually the dog continued walking.

I reacted differently. I would have wanted to pick up the little dog and rush home or to the vet. But I realize this might not have been the dog’s first seizure. The person probably already knew about the dog’s condition and what the vet had told them to do.

I don’t know much about what happened that morning. But seeing the little dog collapse frightened me and made me want to help. Even though I felt helpless, I ran over because I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Wanting to help is the first step to being prepared. We might not be able to stop a seizure, but we can keep the dog safe, stay calm, watch the time, keep our hands away from its mouth, know when it’s an emergency, and support the person who cares for the dog.

Helping doesn’t always mean fixing the problem. Sometimes it just means making things safer during a frightening moment and staying close until it’s over.

What a seizure actually is

A seizure is a temporary episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. It is important to distinguish a seizure from epilepsy. A seizure is an event; epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. A dog can have a seizure for many reasons and not necessarily have epilepsy.

Veterinarians commonly describe a seizure in three stages: before the seizure (pre-ictal or aura), the seizure itself (ictal), and the recovery period afterward (post-ictal). Not every dog will display obvious signs during all three stages.

Before the seizure: behavioral warning signs

Some dogs behave differently seconds, minutes, or even hours before a seizure. A normally relaxed dog may suddenly become anxious or restless. The dog might pace, whine, tremble, hide, seek unusual amounts of attention, cling to its person, or begin salivating.

You may also sense that the dog is behaving strangely. It may stare, seem frightened, appear distracted, or act as though it senses something that the people around it cannot perceive.

These behaviors alone don’t prove a seizure is coming. They become more meaningful if the same behavioral pattern repeatedly precedes seizures in a particular dog.

The classic generalized seizure

This is probably closest to what most people picture when they hear the word seizure, and it sounds similar to what I saw in the little white dog.

A dog may suddenly become rigid, lose consciousness, and collapse. The legs can stiffen and then begin jerking or making rhythmic paddling movements. The head or neck may extend backward. The body may tremble, jerk, or contort.

Other signs can include excessive drooling or foaming, repeated chewing or chomping movements, unusual vocalizations, and involuntary urination or defecation. The dog generally isn’t consciously controlling any of this.

One particularly important point is that not every generalized seizure involves violent shaking. Cornell describes other generalized forms in which a dog may become extremely stiff, have jerking movements, or even stand staring and become nonresponsive.

Focal seizures can be much harder to recognize

A focal seizure begins in a limited area of the brain, so only part of the dog’s body may be affected. The dog may remain conscious.

You might see repeated twitching of one eyelid, ear, lip, leg, or one side of the face. You may also see repetitive jaw movements, sometimes described as a “chewing-gum” motion. Some dogs repeatedly snap at the air as though trying to catch an invisible fly. Dilated pupils and increased salivation can also occur.

This is one reason people shouldn’t assume, “It couldn’t have been a seizure because the dog didn’t fall over.” A focal seizure can be subtle and may sometimes progress into a generalized seizure.

At the same time, something such as “fly biting” isn’t automatically a seizure. Similar behavior can have other causes, including gastrointestinal or behavioral problems. A veterinarian must consider the full picture.

The recovery period can provide an important clue

One of the most useful things to observe is what happens afterward.

After a seizure, a dog may appear confused, dazed, or exhausted. It might pace aimlessly, stumble, seem restless, become unusually thirsty or hungry, or temporarily have difficulty seeing. Occasionally, a confused dog can become frightened or defensive. This post-ictal period can last considerably longer than the seizure itself.

That distinction may help separate a seizure from syncope, or fainting. A dog that faints from a cardiovascular problem may collapse but often returns relatively quickly to normal once consciousness returns. A dog that has experienced a seizure commonly goes through a recognizable period of neurological confusion afterward.

That doesn’t mean an observer should attempt to diagnose the difference. Both warrant veterinary attention, particularly when they occur for the first time.

Seizure versus dreaming

This is another common source of confusion. Sleeping dogs can twitch, paddle their feet, and make little noises while dreaming.

Dream movements tend to be brief and intermittent. During a seizure, movements are generally more rigid, sustained, and forceful. A seizing dog cannot simply be awakened from the episode and may be confused afterward. Drooling, loss of bladder or bowel control, and a post-seizure period of disorientation are also much more suggestive of a seizure than ordinary dreaming.

Several misconceptions are especially important.

“A dog can swallow its tongue.” It cannot. Nothing should be placed inside a dog’s mouth during a seizure. Trying to pull on the tongue or inserting fingers or an object into the mouth can result in a serious bite or injury.

“I need to hold the dog still.” You generally should not restrain a convulsing dog. Instead, remove nearby hazards and protect it from stairs, traffic, water, sharp objects, or furniture.

“The dog is consciously fighting or panicking.” During a generalized seizure, the dog is not consciously controlling those movements. Paddling, jaw movements, urination, vocalization, and other actions are involuntary.

“If the dog didn’t lose consciousness, it wasn’t a seizure.” Focal seizures may occur without loss of consciousness.

“One seizure means the dog has epilepsy.” No. Seizures can have many causes, including metabolic abnormalities, toxins, trauma, brain disease, and other conditions. Epilepsy is only one possibility.

“If the dog gets up afterward, everything is fine.” Recovery is certainly encouraging, but a first seizure still deserves veterinary evaluation. A veterinarian needs to consider why it occurred.

Perhaps the most useful thing for an observer to remember

If you ever witness an episode like the one I saw that morning, look for the sequence, not merely the convulsions:

unusual behavior beforehand → sudden loss or alteration of awareness → involuntary or repetitive movements → confusion or exhaustion afterward.
And if it is safe, note the time. A short video can also be tremendously useful to the dog’s veterinarian because some conditions that resemble seizures are difficult to distinguish from a verbal description alone.
A seizure continuing for five minutes or longer is a life-threatening emergency, and multiple seizures occurring close together also require urgent veterinary attention.

References:

Blue-Green Algae Poisoning in Dogs: What You Need To Know And How To Keep Your Dog Safe | DogTails https://dogtails.dogwatch.com/2024/07/12/blue-green-algae-poisoning-what-you-need-to-know-and-how-to-keep-your-dog-safe/

Dog Emergencies in Dumfries, VA | Dumfries Animal Hospital https://dumfriesanimalhospital.com/dog-emergencies/

Pet Seizures: Help Your Pet with Oxygen Therapy https://pawprintoxygen.com/blogs/healthy-paws/pet-seizures-and-oxygen-therapy

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