What Should You Do If Your Pet Has a Seizure? A Step-by-Step Guide

Watching your pet have a seizure can be frightening, especially when you don’t know what’s happening or how to help. Although it’s natural to panic, taking a few calm, practical steps can protect your pet and provide useful information for your veterinarian. 

At Cherry Creek Veterinary Hospital in Antelope, CA, we want pet owners to know what to do during a seizure, when to contact us for urgent care, and when to head directly to an emergency hospital.

Step 1: Keep Your Pet Safe

During a seizure, your pet may fall, stiffen, paddle their legs, drool, or lose control of their bladder or bowels. They may also seem unaware of their surroundings. Your first priority is to prevent an injury.

If you can do so safely:

• Move furniture, sharp objects, and other hazards out of the way
• Block access to stairs, pools, and open doorways
• Dim the lights and reduce noise
• Keep children and other pets at a safe distance
• Place a folded towel near your pet’s head if they’re on a hard surface

Don’t restrain your pet or try to stop the movements. You should also never put your fingers or an object in your pet’s mouth. 

Step 2: Time and Record the Seizure

A seizure can feel much longer than it actually lasts, so check the time or start a timer on your phone. Many seizures end within one or two minutes.

If possible, record a short video. The footage may help your veterinarian distinguish a dog or cat seizure from fainting, tremors, or another medical event.

Make a note of what your pet was doing before the episode, how the seizure began, which parts of the body were affected, and how your pet behaved afterward. These details can offer valuable diagnostic clues.

Step 3: Allow for a Quiet Recovery

After a seizure, your pet may be confused, restless, unsteady, temporarily unable to see, or unusually hungry or thirsty. This recovery period can last anywhere from several minutes to several hours.

Speak gently, keep the surroundings quiet, and prevent your pet from wandering into unsafe areas. Wait to offer food or water until they’re alert and able to swallow normally. Even a normally gentle pet may react unpredictably while disoriented, so approach carefully and give them space.

Step 4: Know Where to Seek Care

A single, brief seizure still warrants a call to your veterinarian, particularly if it’s your pet’s first. Cherry Creek Veterinary Hospital welcomes walk-in urgent care visits for non-life-threatening conditions during regular business hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

However, some circumstances signal a pet seizure emergency. Go directly to the nearest emergency veterinary hospital if:

• The seizure lasts five minutes or longer
• Your pet has multiple seizures within 24 hours
• Another seizure begins before your pet fully recovers
• You suspect toxin or medication exposure
• Your pet has trouble breathing, is injured, or doesn’t recover normally

Prolonged or repeated seizures can become life-threatening and require immediate treatment.

Schedule a Veterinary Evaluation

Seizures may be related to toxin exposure, low blood sugar, organ disease, epilepsy, or other underlying conditions. An evaluation by one of our veterinarians can help determine what happened and whether additional testing or treatment is needed.

If your pet has experienced a brief seizure and is now stable, call us at (916) 349-2755 to schedule an appointment. During regular business hours, you can also call or text our staff to let us know you’re on your way for an urgent care visit.