Treatment of seizures in animals

A pet can experience a seizure for several reasons. It can be induced structurally – by a brain injury or tumor – or it can be caused by other conditions.

One source of seizures could be metabolic – due to hypoglycemia or diabetes. It could also occur because the animal is exposed to some sort of toxin or poison.

The third classification of animal seizure is called idiopathic, meaning the underlying cause is not understood.

Regardless of the cause, once a seizure has occurred in an animal, a veterinarian should do a thorough workup, including a neurological evaluation, X-rays of the skull and lab work (including a CBC, chemistry panel and urinalysis).

If an underlying cause can be identified, such as diabetes, the vet will address that. If not, the owner should start making a written chart of when seizures occur. That way, the vet can try to identify an underlying cause and a pattern.

An important note on seizures is that vets cannot ever cure them – they can only control them.
One way to manage seizures is for the animal to undergo anti-epileptic therapy using a drug that will take the threshold for seizures and raise it so that it will take more of the stimulus for the seizure to occur.

If your pet has seizures or something that you may consider seizure-like activity, give your veterinarian a call.