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Like a human being, a dog can suffer seizures, which are nervous crisis which represent the most frequent canine nervous emergencies. Seizures associate a disturbance in motor activity with changes in sensitivity and consciousness. Convulsions in dogs can have many causes and each one of them corresponds to a treatment and certain care provided by the veterinarian.
For the owner, seeing your dog with seizures can be very stressful or even traumatizing because you do not know how to react, in this article by PeritoAnimal we will explain the causes and treatment of seizures in the dog so that you can better understand this impactful phenomenon and so that know how to act in the face of seizures in dogs.
Causes of seizures
Many causes can lead to seizures in our dogs:
- Traumatic causes: Head trauma can cause seizure problems both at the time of the trauma and afterwards. So if your dog suffers from seizures, when going to the vet you should tell him if your dog has suffered any type of trauma.
- tumor causes: Brain tumors can be responsible for seizures, especially in an adult dog. In this case, the seizures may be accompanied by neurological disorders such as difficulty walking, changes in behavior, vision, and a way of keeping a strange head. The hypothesis of the tumor cause must be considered if no other cause is found. Discover some alternative therapies for dogs with cancer.
- metabolic causes: In dogs, hypoglycemia and other metabolic changes are important factors in seizures. So it's likely that your veterinarian will perform blood tests to rule out possible metabolic changes.
- Infectious causes: Some infectious diseases can lead to seizures during illness or as sequelae after infection. Anger, pseudo-anger and distemper. Therefore, all people who find themselves in front of a dog in convulsion without knowing its origin or without knowing if it has been vaccinated must act with great care.
- congenital causes: Brain malformations are frequent causes of seizures in dogs, the most notable is hydrocephalus. It is characterized by an excess of cerebrospinal volume and can cause epilepsy. This malformation is more frequent in certain species: Dwarf Poddle, Chihuahua, Yorkshire and is manifested at birth by a domed skull. Another very prominent malformation that can cause seizures is lissencephaly, which especially affects Lhasa Apso dogs.
- toxic cause: Intoxication with any drug or a product for human use harmful to your dog can cause seizures. If, after performing a clinical examination, and the necessary evidence, the veterinarian is unable to ascertain the cause of the seizures, the seizures are considered to have no apparent cause, that is, they are idiopathic. Discover some of the plants that are poisonous to dogs and check your garden to make sure this is not the cause.
How to act in the face of a seizure crisis
- To start the most important thing is keep calm, then we have to prove that what surrounds the dog cannot hurt him while he is having the convulsions. For example, make sure that no objects can fall on your dog, or if it's on a couch or bed, move it carefully and place it on the floor on a soft blanket.
- He must urgently call your veterinarian since severe and long crises can be deadly.
- Children and other animals must be moved to another room.
- Watch your dog so you can tell your veterinarian if the seizure lasts longer than 3 minutes or if the seizures keep happening.
- After calling the vet, stay by your dog's side to comfort him once the crisis is over. Wrap your puppy with pillows, without moving him, so he doesn't get hurt by hitting his head on the floor. make sure the dog don't have your head back and pull your tongue out of your mouth.
- Don't try to make it stop, can't hear you or understand you right now. Avoid sound or light stimulations that are an extra stress that can favor a prolongation of the seizures. lower light intensity in the bedroom as much as you can and don't yell.
- Then you will have to go to the vet or he will have to come to your house to help your dog.
The treatment of seizures
The veterinarian must establish a treatment according to the cause that will determine your diagnosis. You should know that, with the exception of occasional seizures due to intoxication, for example, in an epileptic dog, it is impossible to reduce the seizures to zero. The veterinarian will determine an acceptable seizure frequency for your dog, which will be the goal of treatment.
But if you start treatment anti-epileptic, the outbreak should never be stopped because this could produce another serious effect and provoke even more convulsive crises. Also, in the case of anti-epileptic drugs, you cannot forget to give the puppy any dose, nor be late and give it an hour later. You must be very precise and punctual when giving medication to your dog for these types of problems.
Seizures are a serious problem in dogs and seizures are often impactful for the owner, but you can help your dog by following your veterinarian's advice and adapting the treatment and care you will give your dog according to the cause of your seizures. At PeritoAnimal we want to motivate you to discover life with a dog with epilepsy and to see it in a positive and healthy way for a healthy and happy dog.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.