Are Convulsions or Seizures an Emergency?

Every first-time seizure should be treated as an emergency.

If you have a dog diagnosed and medicated for epilepsy, they might still get a seizure from time to time. If the seizure passes quickly, given you already know what is going on, such an event might not be an emergency. That is a different situation if your dog starts convulsing out of the blue.

Are Convulsions or Seizures an Emergency?

First-time seizures

You don’t know what is happening and cannot make assumptions regarding the cause. Make no mistake, even a veterinarian sometimes drops the ball on the proper diagnosis. It is up to you got make sure the reason for your dog seizure is accurately diagnosed.

What can cause a seizure?

If all potential causes listed below had been ruled out, the age of the dog could provide some idea about the cause. If a young puppy starts having seizures, you’re likely looking at a congenital malformation (liver shunt, hydrocephalus, etc.). An older dog that starts seizing is quite likely to suffer from a brain tumor. With a middle-aged dog, roughly between 3-5 years old that starts having seizures, you might be looking at epilepsy.

Here are the reasons why you don’t ever want to make assumptions about the cause of your dog’s seizure.

The following problems can result in seizure(s)

  • poisoning
  • liver disease/failure
  • low or high blood sugar
  • kidney disease/failure
  • electrolyte imbalance
  • anemia
  • head injury
  • inflammation of the brain lining
  • strokes
  • cancer

How many of those things do sound to you like something you could wait with to get medical care for your dog, particularly not knowing which one it could be?

To me, neither of them.

Get veterinary attention

When Roxy got her seizure, we were going to take her to a vet immediately. The whole situation was quite an ordeal for a number of reasons. We lived in Toronto then. The biggest problem was that hubby was commuting for work and was using the only “good” vehicle we had. There was an old van but it was not in shape to get it on the road and our “regular” vet was across the whole town.

I figured that we ought to take her to the nearest hospital instead. Firstly, because she’d get help quickly, and secondly, we didn’t want to take chances with the van. I called a hospital which was just down the block. To my shock, they refused to see Roxy because she wasn’t a patient. Did I mention it was in the middle of a regular workday and this was a relatively large hospital?

Nonetheless, they would not take us, and we ended up having to drive across whole Toronto with a vehicle that could fail at any moment …

Not for one second, though, did it occur to us not to get Roxy medical help right away.

Even if your dog has been diagnosed with epilepsy and is being treated, there are still circumstances under which their seizures would be an emergency.

Continuous and repeated seizures

A seizure that continues for more than 3-4 minutes without stopping requires immediate veterinary attention.

There is only so much the brain can withstand before you’re looking at the potential of brain damage.

If a dog has more than 3 seizures within a  24 hours period, they need veterinary attention.

Don’t take chances with seizures.

Related articles:
Seizures or Convulsions in Dogs: What Can Seizures Look Like and What Can Cause Them?
Can Dog Food Cause Seizures?

Further reading:
Seizures in Dogs

Categories: Conditions • Emergencies • Grand mal seizures • Seizures • Symptoms

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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