My dog just had a first seizure. Should I be worried about more?

I'm sorry to hear Lika is having a tough time. Seizures can result fro organ dysfunction, electrolyte imbalances, toxins, cancer or epilepsy. I think you should take her in to have bloodwork to make sure her organs and electrolytes are normal. If they are normal, the doctor will talk to you about next steps which may include medication, a CT scan, referral or monitoring. Best to have Lika checked out to starting figuring out what's going on.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would need to ask a bunch more questions and would be happy to do a consultation if you’d like but let me give you a few ideas. 1) be sure it’s not heart- Fainting spells can look a lot like seizures. Consider a cardiology consult to make sure it’s not that. They’ll do an EKG and ultrasound of the heart to make sure nothing is amiss. 2) weird fungal diseases- I’m from Arizona, land of valley fever - a fungal disease that can - and often does- cause seizures. Other fungi like Blastomycosis and Histoplasmosis can do similar things. If Bella has traveled out of Texas- even for just a day or two- these are considerations. 3) Bella is simply an atypical epileptic and needs more/different medication. Just like in people, it can sometimes take some time to find the right combination of drugs to get the seizures controlled. 4) weird drug interactions- double check especially about any anti-anxiety or behavior modification medications and pain medications. 5) hypothyroidism, tick fever, other weird stuff. If you’ve done an MRI, you may have already consulted with a neurologist. If not? That would be the next step along with the cardiologist visit. Best of luck to you and Bella!

Sometimes a dog can have a seizzure once and then never again. Your dog is relatively young and it is possible that this is just a one-time episode. Seizures 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, provided they reoccur: 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. Unless your dog starts havving seizures regularly it is probably not necessary for him to take antiseizure medication.

This will depend on the diagnosis. Seizures may be controlled with medications that your veterinarian can prescribe or dispense. A consultation with a veterinary neurologist may be recommended. In the meantime, begin a Seizure Log. For every event, record the time, duration, diet, medications, supplements and activity before and after. This may help your vet diagnose the underlying cause

I always recommend blood work to start with in any dog that started having seizures. There are a few things that could be diagnosed on blood work that could cause seizures, such as liver disease, kidney disease, electrolyte abnormalities, and infection. If the blood work is normal. Your vet will likely recommend that you continue to monitor Harley for seizure activity. Some dogs will have a seizure or two early in their life and never again. But some develop epilepsy that needs to start on medications. I generally wait to start medications until one of the following occur: -many seizures clustered together -seizures that are severe and cause bodily harm -the pet does not recover within 45 minutes after a seizure (should be tired, but otherwise normal) -seizures are occurring regularly (ie every month or two) Here is an article you may find helpful: https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/seizures-1/

Hello, sorry to hear about Buella. Seizure in older dogs are always concerning for some form of brain disease. Unfortunately, a brain tumor is something that is highly considered and one thing to rule out. Other potential causes include having inflammation of her brain or an infection. Less likely causes include severe liver disease or low glucose. All of these causes however would require that your vet obtains bloodwork and potentially an MRI to examine her brain and look for any tumors. If she continues to have these episodes, she should be seen by her veterinarian soon. Alternatively, you may be able to start anti-seizure medications and see if this helps control her episodes as long as she is otherwise eating, drinking, and acting like her normal self. Hope this helps and best of luck.

It sounds like seizure activity to me based on your description. I suggest you monitor him closely and if it happens again try to video the episode with your phone so you can show your vet. Some dogs have one seizure and then never again. Some have one and then start having them very frequently. Some have one and then have them infrequently. I would not be concerned necessarily with one episode but if it happens again you need to speak to your vet about a work-up to try and figure out the underlying cause of the seizures. Hope this helps. Best wishes.