Epilepsy and Seizures
Seizures have 3 phases:
Pre-ictal, ictal, post-ictal. "Ictal" means seizure.
1. Pre-ictal. The "pre" phase often goes unnoticed, but you may notice an altered state of consciousness or restlessness, lasting for a few seconds or minutes.
2. Ictus is the seizure itself, and it may last a few seconds or minutes.
As mentioned above, a continual seizure, Status Epilepticus, is a medical emergency, and the pet should be rushed to the vet for medication to break the seizure and prevent brain and organ damage from hyperthermia (increased body temperature), acidosis (metabolic imbalance), hypoperfusion (reduced blood flow), and hypoxia (reduced oxygen to tissues). All of the above possibilities occur on a much reduced scale for small seizures, too, so control is important.
3. Post-ictal phase is the time after the seizure where the animal appears dazed, confused, depressed. The animal may even appear blind - running into walls, etc. Some animals sleep a lot. This typically lasts several minutes, but can last hours, depending on the seizure duration and frequency.
What is a Seizure
Seizures are frightening to witness. Stay calm. Try to time how long the seizure lasts. First thing to do is to stay clear. Seizuring animals may bite (without knowing it) and trying to hold them down may cause injury. They will not 'swallow their tongue' as you may have heard. Keep fingers away from the pet's mouth. Remove any objects in the area that can injure the animal.
Call your vet. With the first seizure, the patient receives a full physical exam, blood work up, and is monitored -- seizure control medications usually wait at this point. UNLESS the first seizure is a severe cluster seizure (several happening at once) or a continual seizure called Status Epilepticus, this is a medical emergency. If anything is found on physical or blood work that may cause seizures, the underlying conditions will be addressed and treated. Seizures can be caused by numerous things - poisons, skull injury, viral and bacterial infections, congenital malformations, heat stroke, parasites, fungal infections, low blood sugar (diabetics), and so on. By doing a physical exam and blood work, most causes can be eliminated. Idiopathic epilepsy (seizures of unknown origin) is most commonly seen in otherwise healthy animals, between the ages of 1 and 5 years, and may be inherited in certain breeds. my opinion the following web site is the best ive came across while browsing the net www.canine-epilepsy.com
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