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My dog's first seizure: What to do and when to call the vet?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | unneutered

My dog had a seizure and it's his first time to have it what will be the first aid and home remedy for this.

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 11th, 2018

Seizures can be due to a few different causes. It can be due to certain diseases, organ failure, or imbalances in the blood. It can also be due to diseases, or tumors that primarily affect the brain.

Without knowing the details of his condition, it's difficult to tell how severe this is.
If Buddy is otherwise acting normal now, then this indicates that he is not experiencing a severe disease at this time.

There are other conditions that may look similar to seizures, so it's possible that something else is causing the episodes that you are noticing. The most helpful thing to do is take a video of him when he is doing it and take that to the vet.

In order to find the cause of this problem and get the most appropriate treatment, Buddy will need to see a vet. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at home to prevent another episode. Preventing future seizures/problems is dependent upon getting an accurate diagnosis and treatment by a veterinarian.

I hope that helps and all is well with Buddy.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM
Veterinarian
There are no home remedies for seizures. If your dog has a true seizure, it is important to find out why. If your dog is old at the first onset, then the likely cause is a brain tumor. If your dog is young, then we call that idiopathic epilepsy and there has been no cause found. Real seizures are only treated with medication if they occur frequently or if a seizure lasts longer than 4-5 minutes. This is then called status epilepticus and life threatening due to the then occurring hyperthermia. So the best thing you can do is to keep a seizure diary, ie record date, time of seizure start and time when it ends. If the seizure lasts 4-5 minutes take your dog to an emergency room or your vet immediately. If you can take a video (with your phone) of the seizure, it will help your vet to determine whether it really is a seizure and what type, or a so-called syncope, which is a fainting spell caused by congestive heart failure when the brain is not receiving enough oxygen. Sometimes a dog just has a single seizure and then never another one. If your dog has seizures more frequently, you should make an appointment with your vet for an assessment. Bring the seizure diary with you.
There is also no first aid necessary other than keeping time to see how long the seizure lasts. Your dog will usually be very tired after a seizure.
0Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on February 22nd, 2018
Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. The red blood cells could be decreased from an immune mediated condition (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia) or chronic infection. I would discuss confirming an immune mediated cause with the veterinarian so that the most appropriate treatment can be recommended. With the seizure and anemia, this could be due to a chronic infection or two complete separate problems that are unrelated. The seizure could be due to idiopathic epilepsy and just because one seizure occurred does not necessarily mean that he needs to be on anti-seizure medications. This does warrant further investigation though. A CT / MRI scan of his brain may help rule out a brain tumor as a cause for the seizure. I would recommend discussing further investigation / treatment options with your veterinarian. Valentine may need to be on immunosuppressants to treat the anemia. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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My dog keeps having seizures, and the vet found nothing. What now?

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know this is a very scary time. There are multiple causes of seizures. I'm not sure how old your dog is, but in dogs under 5 years old who are completely normal in between seizure episodes, epilepsy is the primary cause of seizures. In older dogs it could be inflammation, a brain tumor, and infection or problems with the organs (particularly the liver). I always recommend blood work first to look for any problems there. If the blood work is normal, the next step is to evaluate the brain by doing an MRI. If blood work has not been done, I would highly recommend it. If problems are found in the blood work, then you should treat that. If everything is normal in the blood work, I would recommend starting seizure medication. Some dogs will have seizures very infrequently like your dog started out. Those dogs don't usually need medication. But when they become more frequent and are clustering (multiple in a 24 hours period) then I would definitely recommend medication at this point. There are multiple different seizure medications to choose from, so talk to your veterinarian about that. Many times the seizures will be manageable with medications, but it takes consistent medication multiple times per day and blood rechecks for the drug levels. Honestly, some dogs will be very difficult or impossible to control and will continue to have seizures despite being on multiple medications. So to answer your question, yes, there is something you can do to help your pet and based on the number of seizures he is now having, he needs to be put on medication. I hope this helps!

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

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My dog has seizures. How can I stop them or when should I see a vet?

Young dogs sometimes suffer from what we call idiopathic seizures (cause unknown) and older dogs that have never had a seizure before, can suffer from a brain tumor causing seizures. You should keep a diary of the seizures: situation that triggers it, time start, time ends, what the seizure looks like. If the seizure lasts more than 4-5 minutes your dog needs to see a vet right away, as this can cause hyperthermia and damage the brain. If you can you should take a little video of one such seizure to take with you to the vet and show him. Please make an appointment with your vet for an exam. He may want to put her on anti-seizure medication such as phenobarbital.

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My dog had a short seizure. Was it really a seizure? What caused it?

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My healthy dog had a seizure for the first time. What should I do?

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My dog is having seizures. What are the causes and next steps?

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My dog is having seizures, what immediate steps should I take?

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