Dog Seizures Symptoms

Watching ones pet dog succumb to a seizure is not a pretty sight at all. Especially so if you do not know what seizures are like. In such a case, you are prevented from being in control and handling the situation because you don't know that the dog is experiencing dog seizure symptoms. And why do you need to know this? Because, seizures are quite common in dogs (as much as you believe otherwise) and therefore it is important to know what they are so that you can administer the appropriate treatment and care for the same. The following article will help you in that respect.

Signs and Symptoms

Pre-Ictal Phase

• Unresponsive ~ Before the onset of a seizure, the dog behavior becomes unresponsive and stops responding to the owners commands.
• He might even seem a little schizophrenic.
• Biting ~ The dog may begin to give dog bites to people or objects around it. It may even bite itself.
• Restless Twitching ~ The dog will become restless and overactive. He might twitch his limbs, run in circles and generally seem all over the place.

Ictal Phase

• Thrashing ~ The dog will go into frantic thrashing and twitching of limbs. He will begin to have convulsions as well.
• Paralysis ~ A dog might have a mild paralysis attack in which he will most often fall to the ground. These may last for a few minutes or a considerable amount of time as well.
• Ablutions ~ Many dogs will lose control over their bladder, salivary glands and bowels when they have a seizure. As a result of which they might urinate, salivate and defecate as well.
• Teeth and Head Actions ~ During a seizure, most dogs will pull their head back and extend their neck outwards. They might even gnash their teeth.

Post-Ictal Phase

• Hearing and Vision Loss ~ This is a temporary effect that a seizure might have on the dog. He may lose either or both of these senses for sometime.
• Increase in Thirst ~ There will excessive thirst in and appetite as well.
• Excessive Salivation ~ This is one of the most common dog seizure symptoms and is especially present if the dog had been salivating during or before the seizure, even.
• Confusion ~ A dog will seem disoriented after he has experienced a seizure. He might have no control over what he's doing and might run into objects as well. This could last for several hours.

Treatment

Here are some methods that you can employ for proper and effective treatment:

• During a seizure, just make sure you stay out of the way and do not touch the dog. He might attack.
• Get all the other pets out of the way for the same reason.
• Put out a thick mattress so that he does not fall to the floor and hit his head during thrashing.
• After the seizure give him plenty of water and food.
• Very many types of medication can be used for the seizure like Phenobarbital, Levetiracetam, Felbamate and Chlorazepate. But make sure that you've consulted your vet before giving anything for the dog's illness.
• Find the source of the problem, like was the seizure brought about due to some dog health problem like distemper? Then it is important to treat that first so that it does not go into a relapse.
• Surgery is used when the dog has frequent seizures. But this is not a highly proffered choice and so the vet will usually eliminate all other methods before getting into this one.
• Regular check ups and follow ups need to be done in order to determine whether the medication is taking proper effect and is not causing any potentially harmful side effects. For this blood tests might have to be conducted.
• Make sure that you keep its diet rich and its environment safe.
• There are also vaccinations that have become available. These will lower the seizures and help in controlling the factors that lead to a seizure.

It is very important to know what the dog seizures symptoms are like so that you can administer proper pet care. Make sure that you're always aware of what your pet is going through.