Dog Grand Mal Seizure Symptoms

1. Strikes suddenly

2. Dog falls suddenly on their chest or side

3. Dogs eyes may roll back

4. Dog may drool or salivate

5. Twitching or muscle spasms

6. Dog may urinate or defecate onto themselves.

7. Disorientated and confused when they wake up again.

What Causes Dog Grand Mal Seizures?

This seizure is the most common and what most people think of as a seizure and is the more serious version of the petit mal seizure, this involves the dog falling on their front or side and having violent muscles spasms and drooling from the mouth. This is cause by abnormal brain activity and is effectively something going wrong with the brain and leaving it needing to reset itself and start again. The seizure can be thought of as the dogs body fixing the problem in hand so that it can return to normal again.

The help you can give your dog at this point is limited once the seizure has started and using pillows to put under the dogs head is the best thing that can be done if there is no possibility of being accidentally bitten so the dog cannot cause serious injury to themselves.

Note: do not try and pull their tongue forward to avoid swallowing it and choking, this will often result in the dog accidentally biting you as part of the muscle spasms and can quite easily end in the loss of fingers.

What Your Vet May Say or Do

There is a good possibility the dog seizure in question will stop within 5 minutes if not a lot sooner, in the case of this event you should still contact your vet to get your dog checked up if you haven't already. Due to not being able to bring all the equipment needed, this should happen at the veterinarian clinic.

When you present your dog to the vet it's likely that they will ask a series of questions related to the seizure and your dog health in general, to avoid confusion and unnecessary testing these as always should be answered honestly and letting your vet know when you are unsure about the answer is crucial. Here are some of the questions that may be asked.

. Was the dog doing any activity when the seizure occurred?

. Did the dog realise that something was wrong before having the seizure (was there a pro-drome)?

. Have you noticed any change in the dogs appetite in the last days or weeks?

. Have you noticed any change in the dogs drinking habits in the last days or weeks?

. When the seizure occurred did the dog fall over and if they did, did they fall onto their chest or onto their side?

. Did the dog loose consciousness during the seizure?

. About how long did the dog's seizure last?

. How long was the recovery period after the dogs seizure until they were normal again?

. In the weeks before the seizure was the dog coughing and/or do they get tired and out of breath more quickly than normal when going for walks?

. Has this happened before?

. What time of the day did the dog's seizure occur?

. How old is the dog?

. Do you use any snail or slug poison in or around your house and garden?

From these questions being answered honestly the vet can learn a great deal about what the causes may be and can also exclude many. From this your vet should have some predictions of what it could be and will normally take tests which may include blood tests, , x-rays, ultrasound and brain scans, and ECG heart monitor to see whether the problem is in the body of the dog or within the brain and to confirm any previous predictions.

In the case of a brain problem the most common causes and diagnoses are epilepsy, abnormal brain development, brain tumours, or strokes in older dogs. If on the other hand it is due to a problem in the body of the dog it is normally due to vital organs not working correctly (liver, kidneys, pancreas, or heart) or poisoning within the dog which can be caused by many things.



Other Possible Conditions

Dog Petit Mal Seizures
Dog Abnormal Brain Development
Dog Heart Problems Causing Seizures
Dog Kidney Problems Causing Seizures (renal encephalopathy)
Dog Liver Problems Causing Seizures (hepatic encephalopathy)
Dog Primary Epilepsy
Dog Seizures Caused By Chemical Poisoning
Dog Seizures in Bitches Who Have Recently Given Birth (Eclampsia)
Dog Tumor (causing seizures)
Strokes in Older Dogs