Seizures in Dogs: What to Do During One
Last reviewed: August 2026
If it is happening right now
- • Note the time it started. Duration decides what happens next, and it always feels longer than it is.
- • Clear the space. Move furniture away, and get them away from stairs if you can do it safely.
- • Something soft under the head if you can manage it.
- • Lights low, quiet, minimal touching. External stimulation can prolong a seizure.
- • Film it. Thirty seconds of video is worth more to your vet than any description you will manage afterwards.
Two things not to do:
- • Do not put your hand near their mouth. Dogs cannot swallow their tongue. That myth is how owners get badly bitten, and a seizing dog has no control over its jaw.
- • Do not restrain them. Holding a dog down does not shorten a seizure and risks injuring you both.
When it is an emergency
Go to a vet now, and call ahead so they can prepare, if any of these apply:
- • The seizure lasts longer than five minutes. This is status epilepticus, and it risks brain damage and dangerous overheating.
- • More than one seizure in 24 hours — cluster seizures.
- • It is the first seizure your dog has ever had, no matter how quickly they seem to bounce back.
- • The dog is a puppy under six months, or a senior having a first seizure.
- • There is difficulty breathing, or pale or blue-tinged gums.
- • You know or suspect they got into something — see chocolate or grapes and raisins.
Afterwards: the postictal phase
What follows a seizure often frightens owners more than the seizure did, because the dog does not seem like themselves.
Disorientation, pacing, restlessness, temporary blindness, unsteadiness, ravenous hunger or thirst, or complete exhaustion are all normal in this window, and it commonly lasts anywhere from minutes to hours. Give them a quiet space and room to come back. A disoriented dog may not recognise you immediately, so do not crowd them and do not assume the usual handling is safe.
What causes seizures
In an otherwise healthy young adult dog, the most common answer is idiopathic epilepsy — meaning no underlying cause is found. That is a diagnosis of exclusion, which is why bloodwork comes first.
The causes worth ruling out are largely visible on a panel:
- • Low blood sugar — especially in puppies, toy breeds and diabetic dogs on insulin
- • Liver disease — a failing liver lets toxins reach the brain
- • Advanced kidney disease
- • Electrolyte disturbances, including low potassium and high calcium
- • Toxins, head trauma, infections and brain tumours
Age at the first seizure is the single most useful clue. Between roughly one and six years points toward idiopathic epilepsy. Younger or older than that makes an underlying cause more likely, and changes what your vet looks for first. If your dog has been diagnosed with epilepsy and you are managing it long term, epilepsy in dogs covers diagnosis and phenobarbital monitoring in more depth.
After the bloodwork
A seizure workup usually starts with a full panel to rule out the causes above. Upload the results and VetLens will explain which values were checked and what they ruled in or out.
Read my dog's resultsRelated Reading
Epilepsy in Dogs
Diagnosis, phenobarbital and long-term management
Glucose Levels in Dogs
Low blood sugar is a seizure cause worth ruling out first
Liver Disease in Dogs
A failing liver lets toxins reach the brain
Dog Ate Chocolate
A toxin that can cause seizures, and how the dose works
Pale Gums in Dogs
One of the signs that turns a seizure into a same-hour emergency
Lethargy in Dogs
Telling postictal exhaustion from something else