Today around 8 am my sisters 2 year old mutt koda had a seizure It scared the crap out of me but the worst scaries part was after he came out of it he became aggressive to us like he did not know us that lasted about 45 minutes until he snapped out of it and became freindly again my questions are is that a normal reaction for a dog after a seizure? he has never had one before the vet did not seem to concerned about that. My second question has anyone dealt with dogs that had seizures? My vet prescribed phenobaritol is that an effictive medicine for that and any other information you can offer? This really shook us up

Animals coming out of seizures can be disoriented, confused, and scared. I haven't had a dog with seizures, but I had a horse that had them pretty regularly. If you think it's scary with a dog, imagine a 1000 lb animal crashing down in front of you!!

My horse would come out of the seizures neighing wildly. His eyes were HUGE and he would fall a couple of times trying to get up because his body was still not connecting to his brain and he was uncoordinated. I had him for 18 years and he would look at me like he didn't know who I was- and during those times, I don't think he did.

My vet prescribed Phenobarb for my horse- so I imagine it's the go-to drug for seizures. I've taken care of dogs in boarding that had history of seizures and they were also on Phenobarb. I have never witnessed a canine seizure though.

I guess, if it was my dog, I would just stay clear and let the dog come out of it on its own. I would be there in case something went wrong, but wouldn't approach unless I knew the dog was back to his senses. With my horse, we would hold him down until we saw him regain some coordination because of the danger of him hurting himself trying to get up and falling down repeatedly.

I am sure there are folks here that have dogs with seizures that can give you more concrete advice than I.

It's a scary thing to witness at first. With my horse, the first one nearly gave me a stroke. But after a few of them, it became part of our life. Paul and I had a routine and we stuck to it with the horse for over 5 years- he went down on the ice 5 years ago and the seizure wouldn't stop. He had a brain tumor and we had to put him down. His name was Red, by the way, and in many ways he was the love of my life....

Good luck, and hopefully he will never have another one!!!

Edited by Kelly (01/11/2012 08:48 PM)
Edit reason: spelling

I can't really offer any medical advice, but I just want to share with you that I have owned two dogs with seizure disorders. One was a family dog we had when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure she wasn't on any meds, but she still lived to a ripe old age, even though she would have the occasional seizure.

The other dog was my first Doberman. He had his first seizure at a year and a half old, and was put on phenobarbitol. Now, I'm really straining my memory here, as this was twenty-plus years ago, but I seem to remember we went through a year or so of trying to figure out just the right dosage. Not enough, and he would have occasional break-through seizures. Too much, and he was zoned out. But we finally found a dose that worked. I remember we had to give him pills three times a day. He lived to be eight, but he died of dilated cardiomyopathy, nothing related to the seizure disorder.

As far as the aggressive episode afterwards, it has been my experience not only with these two dogs but also with people I know who have had seizures that there can be a period afterwards of some confusion and disorientation.

So I understand how scary this must be for you and your family, but I think there is good reason to believe that, with regular monitoring by your vet, Koda can live a long and happy life.

Thank you both with your experience I feel much better after reading them.

Kelly: I hope he never has another one either

Our mutt, Tasha, has had problems with seizures all her life. She's 15 now and they are under control with Phenobarb also. I can fully appreciate how scary it is. Hers were triggered by anxiety, usually from thunderstorms but even the excitement of opening packages at Christmas would set her off. Eventually we got the dosage right and things settled down. Usually, when we are expecting a thunderstorm, our vet even recommended we give her an evening dose on top of the dose we usually give her in the morning.

Not sure if they are the same with all dogs but we had to hold her tight during her seizures just to protect her from herself. She would panic and dart off in any direction, fall down, get up and dart off in another direction, seemingly to escape whatever was making her feel what she was feeling. If we didn't hold her, she would literally slam herself head first into cabinets, walls, etc. Eventually, she would just fall down and not get up, only to lay there with her muscles all tightened up and quivering. It was really scary for all of us but especially her. You could see the panic in her eyes. Eventually, the tremors would subside and then she would have to go outside and usually it would all culminate with a pretty explosive BM. Then she would just want to snuggle and rest for the next several hours. Played out pretty much the same way each time but the episodes became rarer as we got her medication figured out. She hasn't had one now in several years.

Rest assured, unless it's something completely different, I'm sure your vet will tell you it's something that can be controlled relatively easy. Just stay up with the meds and be ready to help control her if a seizure happens.

Best of luck.

Things are going good here koda has had no more seizures so I am hoping this is a fluke and no more are to come.

Thanks for your imput Greg

I have a dog with seizures too. She is 11 now and it has been years and years since she had one. With her mental and anxiety issues, I would think it was stress that set them off too, but you could never tell. Sometimes she could seem to be calm and have one.

We ran some tests to rule out some causes and we didn't medicate right away, they were few and far between. I'm glad because they were SOOO infrequent we never did medicate, and she hasn't had one in years. We would put her somewhere quiet and calm afterwards so she could rest and recuperate, and we knew the couple times she had them when we weren't home because she had foam around her mouth when we got home.

I wish you the best in maybe figuring out what is causing them, and how to best proceed with it. I don't recall the things the vet tested for to rule things out.

We also had a stray that found a home here, a beagle, and he had seizures also. I always thought it odd that both dogs who were strays had seizure disorders.

I decided to give a little update now that we are settled in Ca and finally have internet. I found a vet I liked and after a few visits and talks we decided to slowly wean him off of the phenobarb but if that fails to switch him over to a better medication that will not harm his liver the name escapes me at the moment, but I hope it will not come to that.

Once again thanks your guys for your imput

Years ago I had a toy poodle that didn't get enough air quickly enough at birth(the sack torn) & suffered seizures from 6-7 months old or so on. At 10 months, the vet medicated her. He put her on Primidone. This was 40years ago, so I don't know if that was the drug of choice then, as opposed to phenobarbatol that is used now.

She would occasionally still have seizures even though on the meds daily. They were once or 2x a week or so. They did seem to become more often or brought on by a big change in schedule or other big change in her life. She lived to the ripe old age of 13 & died from other casues. I do believe that the seizures became less common later in life. But it was so very longs ago. She lived a normal very active life ran at the beach, went everywhere with me, etc.

Shw would be very quiet & disoriented after a seasure, & just kinda lay there for a while, but I do not recall any aggression at all. She did however try to get to us when she felt a seizure coming on...or it seemed that way. She would always be heading in our diection on the floor etc if she was not laying next to us when one started. We would usualy hold her or stroke her when she began to have one & until she came out of it. They never lasted more then a minute or 2. She was one of my heart dogs.

Hope Koda is OK. I would give him space & let him come out of it on his own & not try to touch him. Just keep your distance & keep an eye on him.

I have read that beef heart has a chemical in it that is good for preventing seizures. Not sure if it would help or not but I don't think it will hurt.

I'll see if I can dig up the name of it.