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This guide covers the first moves at home. If your pet has been convulsing for 5 minutes or more, has one seizure after another, or does not regain consciousness: it is a life-threatening emergency, head to the clinic and call us at 514 223-1197.
Is it really a seizure?
A true seizure brings three things together at once: the animal loses consciousness, the body stiffens then jerks, and it loses control (drooling, urinating, passing stool). That trio is what sets it apart from a simple tremor or a fainting spell. Most seizures last 1 to 2 minutes and stop on their own.
In dogs
The generalized seizure, the classic picture
- Sudden collapse onto the side, unconscious
- The body stiffens, then the legs paddle
- Jaw chomping, heavy drooling
- Involuntary urination or defecation
- Often 1 to 2 minutes, then a recovery phase
In cats
Often subtler, easier to miss
- One-sided twitching: face, ear, eyelid
- 'Fly-biting': snapping at nothing
- Sudden frantic running, vocalizing, drooling
- Dilated pupils, chewing motions
- It can also convulse all over, like a dog
A 'focal' seizure doesn't look like a seizure
Not every seizure makes the animal fall. A focal seizure affects only part of the brain: one side of the face twitching, a leg trembling, sudden odd behaviour, sometimes with no loss of consciousness. It is easily mistaken for a tic or a quirk. It still deserves a vet visit, because it can spread and become a full-body seizure.
Seizure, or something else? You don't have to decide
Several events look like seizures without being one. The best tool to tell them apart is a video: film it and let us decide. A few pointers:
- Fainting (syncope): the pet slumps, completely limp (not stiff), with no paddling or drooling, often during exertion or coughing, and recovers almost at once. It can signal a heart problem: get it checked.
- A balance problem (vestibular): head tilt, eyes flicking fast, staggering or rolling to one side, but fully conscious the whole time. Alarming, but not a seizure, and still worth an exam.
- An active dream: asleep, the pet paddles, whimpers, twitches its whiskers. The test: you can gently wake a dreaming animal by calling it from a distance, never one in a true seizure. Do not shake it or touch it (bite risk).
What to do during the seizure
During a generalized seizure, your pet is unconscious: it does not recognize you and controls nothing. You cannot help by holding it down. What you can do is protect it and note the time.
Stay calm and check the time
Note the minute the seizure starts, on a clock or with your phone's timer. Under stress, a 90-second seizure feels like ten minutes: only the real duration tells you when to rush.
Clear the hazards around it, not the pet
Slide away furniture, hard or sharp objects, and anything that could fall. On the floor, a convulsing pet is at little risk: moving the pet itself risks a bite.
Move it only if it is in danger
Top of the stairs, edge of a pool, a road, a fireplace, a high perch: only then, slide it onto a blanket, without lifting it in your arms and with your hands away from its mouth. A cat up high you cannot safely reach: cushion the floor below instead.
Dim the lights and lower the noise
Turn off the TV, soften the light, keep things quiet around it. This is a gentle, harmless step that cannot hurt.
Keep children and other pets away
A convulsing animal can bite without meaning to, and other pets in the home may panic or attack it. Make space.
Film it if it is safe to
A short video of the seizure and the recovery helps your veterinarian enormously to confirm it was a seizure. Safety first: never film at the cost of a hazard.
A rescue medication prescribed by your veterinarian
If your veterinarian has already prescribed an at-home emergency medication for your pet, now is the time to use it, exactly as the plan they gave you says: when, how, how much. Never improvise a dose and give nothing by mouth. This medication is set up in advance with your vet: it is not something to obtain mid-crisis.
What never to do during a seizure
A few well-meaning reflexes are dangerous, for your pet and for you.
- Never put your hand, your fingers, or any object in its mouth. The animal cannot swallow its tongue: that is a myth. All you risk is a severe involuntary bite, as the jaw clamps down beyond its control.
- Do not restrain it or pin it to the floor: it will not stop the seizure and you both risk injury.
- Do not try to 'wake it up': no shaking, slapping, shouting, or spraying with water. You cannot snap an animal out of a seizure.
- Nothing to drink or eat during the seizure or right after, until it is fully awake and able to swallow: choking risk.
- Do not hold it tight or stroke its head during the seizure: it is not aware of you and may bite. Hugs and a soft voice are for afterward.
- Do not wrap it in a blanket: a prolonged seizure already drives the body temperature up, and bundling it only makes the overheating worse.
- Do not drive with the pet loose and unrestrained: a second seizure in the car is a real hazard. A cat goes in its carrier, a dog is secured, and if possible someone stays beside it.
When to rush to the vet
A single, brief seizure that stops on its own is frightening but rarely life-threatening. What tips it into an emergency is this. With any of these signs, do not stand and watch: head to the clinic and call us.
- The seizure lasts 5 minutes or more. Do not wait until you have counted 5 minutes: if it is clearly dragging on, around 3 minutes, leave now so you arrive in time.
- A second seizure (or more) happens within 24 hours.
- It does not regain consciousness between seizures, or stays unconscious once the seizure ends.
- It is struggling to breathe, or its gums are bluish or grey.
- You suspect a poison: chewed packaging, a dog flea product put on a cat, a garbage or compost raid, antifreeze.
- It is a diabetic pet on insulin.
- It is a very young puppy or kitten.
- It hurt itself during the seizure (a fall, a knock).
- It is a first seizure in an older pet.
Why the 5 minutes matter
A seizure that will not stop on its own (called status epilepticus) makes the body dangerously overheat, starves the brain of oxygen, and can leave lasting damage or even be fatal. Past 5 minutes, do not bank on it stopping by itself: go. On the way, keep the car cool or air-conditioned, and do not bundle it up.
A first seizure, even a short one, is worth a call
If your pet had a single brief seizure and recovers well, it is not life-threatening, but call us anyway: a first seizure always deserves a look for the cause. Note how long it lasted, and film it if it happens again.
After the seizure: the recovery phase
When the seizure ends, your pet goes through a recovery phase (called post-ictal) that can be disorienting. In most cases it is normal, and not a new emergency.
Dazed and not itself
It staggers, seems blind for a while, paces or circles, is very hungry or thirsty, or hides (cats especially). This is expected after a seizure.
Minutes to a few hours
Recovery can take far longer than 20 or 30 minutes, sometimes up to a full day. Lingering disorientation is not, in itself, an emergency.
Sometimes aggressive despite itself
A normally gentle pet may growl, bite, or scratch without recognizing you. Do not take it personally: give it space.
How to help it through
Settle it somewhere quiet, in a dim, ground-level room, away from stairs and water. Speak softly but keep your hands away from its mouth until it has come back to itself. Offer food or water only once it is fully awake, standing, and swallowing normally. A disoriented cat: let it recover on its own in a quiet room, do not handle it.
If recovery does not come
Call us right away if it does not regain consciousness, does not improve over the hours, still cannot stand well long afterward, or starts another seizure. In those cases, we are back to an emergency.
What changes what you should do
Some situations turn a seizure into a clear emergency. In all of these: go, and tell us what happened.
- A poison is possible. It chewed a medication or its packaging, licked antifreeze, raided the garbage or compost. Go, bring or photograph the packaging, and NEVER make it vomit: mid-seizure, that risks choking. Toxic foods and plants.
- A dog flea product on a cat. Permethrin, harmless to dogs, causes tremors and seizures in cats that can be fatal. A single application can be enough. Immediate emergency. Learn more.
- Chocolate, in a dog. Seizures after chocolate mean severe poisoning: this is an emergency. Chocolate risk calculator.
- Heatstroke. In hot weather or after exertion, seizures mark the severe stage. Start cooling with cool water and go. Do not bundle it up. Managing heatstroke.
- A blow to the head. A car, a fall from a balcony, a knock: an emergency whatever the seizure length. Move it as little as possible, flat and well supported, with no pressure on the neck.
- A first seizure in an older pet. Have it seen promptly. Many causes are treatable: do not assume the worst, but do not wait either.
A diabetic pet: sugar on the gums
If your pet is diabetic and on insulin, a seizure is often a sign of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). This is the one exception to the 'nothing in the mouth' rule: put a little corn syrup or honey on your finger and rub it ONTO the gums or the inside of the cheek, from the outside. Never pour liquid into the mouth and never slip your fingers between the teeth. Do it, ideally, as the convulsions ease or if the pet is limp, never mid-jerk. Then go: the sugar can crash again.
Note it and report: what helps your veterinarian
After the seizure, a few notes are worth their weight in gold for finding the cause. A simple notebook or your phone's notes is plenty: no app needed.
- How long the seizure really lasted, by the clock (not by feel).
- The time of day, and what your pet was doing just before: asleep, exercising, eating, after a noise.
- One side of the body or all over? Did it lose consciousness? Was there drooling, urination, stool?
- How long it took to recover, and how it behaved afterward.
- Since when, and how many episodes in total.
- A video, if someone can film safely: often the single most useful thing of all.
To bring to the appointment
A list of all its medications, supplements, and flea products, and anything it might have swallowed. This is often what points the veterinarian toward the right cause.
Your questions, our answers
What owners ask us most often about seizures.
Can a seizure kill my pet?
My pet is asleep and its legs are twitching. Is that a seizure?
My older cat convulses when I crinkle a bag or foil. Why?
Can I give it one of my medications, or a sedative, to stop the seizure?
It had a seizure and now seems completely normal. Should I still come in?
Is there anything I can do to shorten the seizure?
Related reading
Protect, time it, rush if you must
Faced with a seizure, keep calm: your pet is unconscious and you cannot stop it. Clear the hazards around it, never put your hands in its mouth, and check the time. A brief seizure that ends on its own gives you time to call and take notes. But if it lasts 5 minutes or more, repeats during the day, or your pet does not regain consciousness: head to the clinic without waiting.
Did your pet have a seizure?
A first seizure always deserves a workup to find the cause. Our team is here to assess your pet and set up the right follow-up.