Seizures

[twodoggies2001]

My 4 year old mini schnauzer boy had a seizure around 30 minutes ago. He was I believe unconscious and went very stiff and having spasms, lost his bodily functions and it lasted under a minute, although it felt much more at the time. When he came around, he was disorientated and growled and barked at me initially and then obviously recognized me and started wagging his tail. He seems back to his normal self as if nothing happened. He had a seizure last year in September and then had one in November. Nothing more until now. I will be calling my vet tomorrow but should I be very concerned, and is this classed as serious?

[noisymina]

Can't say for sure, but I'd be concerned and calling the vet too!

[darlingdog]

Sorry to hear your dog had this seizure. Definately a vet visit needed and at the very least they will want to do a blood work up to rule help rule out underlying causes. In the past 3 months my boy has been diagnosed with epilepsy...one big seizure followed by another less than 8 hours later. He had in the previous 6 months been showing a mild muscle tremour and some teeth chattering and the vet said taking that into account and the short period of time between the 2 seizures it was time for medication. If there is no underlying cause and your dog has a long period of time between seizures ( months) and no other symptoms then I personally would not medicate but I am sure your vet will give you excellent advice. All the best for a good outcome.

Edited November 4, 2012 by darlingdog

[cornell]

It is one of the scariest things ever isn't it? So sorry that you are dealing with this intense situation.

It is a great sign that he recovered quickly. The growling is not unusual. The other good news is that vets do not seem to think that seizures are a real problem unless they happen more than once a month. However it is classed as serious if it happens 3 or more times in one day. You might find that he could feel more tired and may be feeling a bit more hungry after burning so many calories. He could also possibly be feeling hot.

Seizures can be caused by all sorts of triggers. I would be great if you could think of any patterns eg eating pork, heartworm or flea treatments, pesticides, phases of the moon, weather changes, etc.

Good luck. I hope that you can find the trigger and get the answers you need asap!