During a seizure, note the time, move furniture away rather than moving your pet, and keep your hands well clear of the mouth. Dim the lights, keep the room quiet, and film it if you can. Call for advice afterward. A seizure lasting more than five minutes, or several in a day, is an emergency.
The worst few minutes an owner will have
There is very little that frightens people more than watching this happen. A pet collapses, goes rigid, paddles, may urinate, defecate or salivate heavily, and is completely unreachable. It is genuinely awful to witness, and almost every owner describes it as lasting far longer than it did.
That distortion matters, which is why the first instruction is to look at a clock. Most single seizures last under two minutes. Owners routinely estimate ten. The actual duration changes what happens next, so an accurate number is one of the most useful things you can bring us.
What a seizure looks like, in three parts
Many seizures have a lead-in phase. For minutes or occasionally hours beforehand, a pet may seem restless, clingy, anxious, hidden away, or simply not themselves. Owners often only recognise this in hindsight, and then start noticing it before later episodes.
The seizure itself is usually a loss of consciousness with stiffening, then rhythmic paddling or jerking of the limbs. Chewing or champing movements, drooling, vocalising, and loss of bladder or bowel control are all common. The animal is not aware and is not in pain during this, however distressing it looks.
Afterwards comes a recovery phase that surprises people as much as the seizure does. For minutes to hours, and occasionally a day or more, a pet may be disoriented, wobbly, temporarily blind, pacing, ravenously hungry or thirsty, exhausted, or uncharacteristically clingy or grumpy. This is normal and it is not a second seizure.
Not all seizures involve the whole body. Focal seizures can look like facial twitching, repetitive blinking, one limb jerking, fly-biting at nothing, or sudden unexplained aggression or fear, with the pet sometimes still conscious. These are easily mistaken for behaviour, and in cats especially they can be subtle.
What to do while it is happening
- Look at the time. Start a timer if you can.
- Clear the space around your pet rather than moving them. Push furniture back and move anything hard or sharp.
- If they are near stairs or an edge, guide them away by the hips using a blanket rather than lifting.
- Keep your hands away from the head and mouth entirely. Pets do not swallow their tongues, and a seizing animal can bite severely without any intent.
- Dim the lights, turn off the television, keep voices low and keep other pets and children out of the room.
- Film it if there is someone free to do so. This is genuinely valuable.
- Do not attempt to restrain or hold them still.
- Do not put water, food or medicine into the mouth.
Once it stops, keep the room quiet, let them recover in their own time, and do not crowd them. Offer water when they are steady enough to stand, and food only once they are properly alert. Call the clinic to describe what happened.
When it becomes an emergency
Go straight in, phoning ahead, for any of the following:
- A seizure lasting more than five minutes
- More than one seizure without a full recovery in between
- Three or more seizures within twenty four hours
- A first ever seizure in a pet under six months or over six years old
- Any seizure in a cat, which is less common and more often has an identifiable cause
- Known or suspected exposure to a toxin
- A seizure following a head injury
- Difficulty breathing, or gums that look blue or grey
- A pet who does not regain awareness
- A very high body temperature, since prolonged seizure activity generates dangerous heat
Prolonged and repeated seizures cause damage in their own right, through overheating, oxygen shortage and the effect on the brain. That is what makes duration and frequency the deciding factors rather than how dramatic it looked. Our emergency care service is the route for these.
Why it happened
Causes fall into three broad groups, and which one applies depends heavily on the animal’s age.
Problems originating outside the brain include low blood sugar, liver disease, kidney disease, electrolyte disturbances and a long list of toxins. Toxins matter especially in Mission, where properties back onto rural land and outbuildings: slug bait, rodenticides, antifreeze, some plants, cannabis and certain human medicines can all cause seizures, sometimes with no other early signs.
Problems within the brain itself include inflammation, infection, tumours, malformations and the after-effects of trauma. These are more likely in a pet having a first seizure when very young or in later life.
Idiopathic epilepsy means recurrent seizures with no identifiable underlying cause, and it is the most common explanation in dogs whose seizures begin between roughly one and five years old. It is diagnosed once other causes have been ruled out rather than assumed at the start. It is much less common in cats, which is why a seizing cat is investigated more aggressively.
What the work-up involves
A thorough history and neurological examination come first, and your video is a genuinely important part of that, because it lets a veterinarian see whether the episode was a seizure at all. Fainting, pain episodes, vestibular disease and some sleep behaviours can all be mistaken for seizures, and they lead somewhere entirely different.
Bloodwork and urine testing look for the metabolic and organ causes, and blood pressure is usually measured. That work runs through our diagnostic services. Where the history or the examination points inside the brain, advanced imaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis at a referral centre may be recommended. All of it is pulled together in a medical consultation.
Keep a simple diary from the first episode: date, time, how long it lasted, what happened immediately before, how long recovery took, and anything unusual that day. A written record surfaces patterns that recollection simply loses, and the decision about whether and when to start long-term medicine rests heavily on frequency and duration.
Living with a pet who has seizures
Not every pet who has a seizure needs lifelong medicine. That decision is based on how often episodes occur, how long they last, whether they cluster, and the underlying cause, and it is made with your veterinary team rather than automatically after a first event.
Where medicine is recommended, consistency is everything. Give it at the same times, never stop abruptly, and never adjust the dose yourself, because sudden withdrawal can provoke severe seizures. Periodic bloodwork is part of the arrangement rather than an optional extra.
Practical safety at home means keeping affected pets away from stairs, pools and water unsupervised, and being careful about heat, since a seizure in a hot environment is more dangerous. Most pets with well-managed epilepsy live full, normal lives, and routine care continues as usual through our routine pet care.
Because household toxins are such a common trigger, and because a settled routine helps, our guides to managing the back-to-school routine change and recognising eye changes in Mission pets are useful companion reads, the latter because temporary blindness after a seizure is a common and alarming finding that resolves on its own.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do while my dog is having a seizure?
Note the time, clear furniture away from them rather than moving them, and keep your hands well clear of the mouth. Dim the lights and keep the room quiet. Film it if someone is free. Do not restrain them, and do not put anything in the mouth. Once it stops, let them recover quietly and call the clinic.
Can my pet swallow their tongue during a seizure?
No. That is a myth carried over from human first aid and it causes serious injuries every year, because owners put their hands into the mouth of an animal that has no awareness or control. A seizing pet can bite through a finger without any intent to. Keep your hands away from the head entirely.
How long is too long for a seizure?
More than five minutes is an emergency, as is more than one seizure without a full recovery in between, or three or more within twenty four hours. Most single seizures last under two minutes although they feel far longer, which is exactly why looking at a clock is the first instruction rather than an afterthought.
Why is my dog blind and confused afterwards?
That is the recovery phase and it is normal. For minutes to hours, and occasionally longer, a pet may be disoriented, wobbly, temporarily blind, pacing, ravenous or exhausted. It is not a second seizure and it is not permanent damage. Keep the environment quiet and safe, and do not crowd them while it passes.
Does one seizure mean my pet has epilepsy?
Not necessarily. A single seizure can be caused by a toxin, low blood sugar, an organ problem or an event in the brain, and epilepsy specifically means recurrent seizures with no identifiable underlying cause. That diagnosis is reached by ruling other things out, which is why the first episode is investigated rather than labelled.
Are seizures in cats different?
They are less common in cats, and an underlying cause is more often found, so a seizing cat is usually investigated more thoroughly rather than watched. Feline seizures can also be subtle, appearing as facial twitching, repetitive blinking or sudden unexplained fear or aggression. Any seizure in a cat warrants prompt veterinary attention.