A seizure, more correctly called a seizure, is caused by an electrical shock that starts in one place in the brain and can in many cases spread to the whole brain.

The partial seizures are characterized by contractions that prevent the dog from gaining control of the part of the body that is affected, what differentiates them from tremors (see the article on the trembling dog). During a partial seizure the dog remains conscious.

When the seizure is generalized, the whole body will contract and the dog will contract all over the body and lose consciousness. Often the dog will drool, pedal, urinate on it and defecate. He no longer has any control over his body. Even if the seizures are particularly violent and spectacular, do not try to put your hand in your dog’s mouth to hold back the tongue, he might bite you very hard without realizing it. The seizure usually only lasts a few minutes. The generalized epileptic seizure is often announced, it is called a prodrome. The dog is agitated or even disoriented before the attack. After the crisis, he has a more or less long recovery phase where he seems lost, or even presents neurological symptoms (staggers, does not see, rushes into the walls…). The recovery phase can last over an hour. The dog does not die from a seizure, although it may seem long or overwhelming to you.

The vet can rarely see the seizure. Do not hesitate to make a video of the crisis to show it to your vet. It can help you tell the difference between a syncope (which is a kind of dog fainting with heart or breathing problems), a seizure or tremors of the dog.

As the dog’s epileptic seizure is often idiopathic (the cause of which we do not know), it is diagnosed by eliminating the other causes of seizures in dogs which closely resemble that of the dog who trembles:

• Poisoned dog (certain poisonings with convulsive toxins)
• Hypoglycemia
• Hyperglycemia in diabetic dogs
• Liver disease
• Tumors or abnormalities of the brain
• Stroke (stroke)
• Trauma to the brain with hemorrhage, edema or hematoma
• A disease causing encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) such as certain parasites or viruses

The diagnosis is therefore made by looking for these diseases.

After a complete clinical examination including a neurological examination, your veterinarian will therefore take a blood test to check for metabolic or liver abnormalities. Secondly, they may order a CT scan from a veterinary imaging center to determine if your dog has a brain injury that is causing epileptic seizures. If no abnormality of the blood and neurological examination and no lesion is found we can conclude to an essential or idiopathic epilepsy.

If a tumor is found and it can be treated (with radiation therapy, surgery or chemotherapy) this will be the first part of treatment.

Then, if the dog’s epileptic seizures are not idiopathic then the causes of his seizures must be treated.

Finally, there are two types of treatment for these epileptic seizures: emergency treatment if the seizure lasts too long and basic treatment to reduce the frequency of seizures or even to make them disappear.

Your veterinarian may prescribe a medicine in solution to be injected into your dog’s rectum (via the anus) with a syringe, without a needle, if the generalized seizure lasts more than 3 minutes.

The DMARD is one tablet taken every day for life. The objective of this drug is to lower the level of activity of the brain and to decrease its threshold of excitability, threshold above which convulsive seizures will be triggered. TOAt the start of treatment, your dog may seem more tired or even sleepy. Discuss this with your vet, this is normal. Throughout the treatment your dog must be monitored by blood tests to check the level of the drug in the blood and also the state of the liver to be sure that the drug is well tolerated by your dog. The dose is then adjusted according to the frequency of the attacks until a minimum effective dose is reached.