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My dog is twitching, jerking, and confused. Is it a stroke or seizure?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 6 years and 6 months old | 100 lbs

Hi. My GD mix had 2 episodes last night each lasting under 4 min but during, he was stretched out , couldn’t move, head was jerking to right as well as back leg, he looked in ya eyes like he didn’t know where he was but I calmly talked to him and he cane back to me. Twitching went away? Paralysis went away? Very scary! He’s on trifexis and utd on shots do you think this was a stroke or seizure? Thank you, Katherine ( ps he’s 7 and tall)

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Chad Brown, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 3rd, 2018

I agree. These kind of experiences are horrifying for pet owners!

Although there are a few other possibilities of what caused this, what Alan most likely experienced was indeed a seizure. Seizures can happen at almost any age in a great Dane mix. They can also be generalized involving the entire body.

Seizures can be caused in 7 year old dogs by variety of things such as metabolic disease, cranial disease, or other things.

Please schedule an appointment with your veterinarian to have a full neurological examination performed as soon as possible. The veterinarian will probably also want to obtain a full blood work up as a starting point.

Sometimes, pets will never have another seizure. Sometimes, this seizure is the first of many to come. The good news is, however, there are excellent anticonvulsant medications available on the veterinary market today.

I hope I have helped you. I wish you luck in getting an answer.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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