Article: Pet Seizures — What You Need To Know in a Emergency

Pet Seizures — What You Need To Know and What You Can Do for Your Pet During a Seizure Emergency

By: Thom Williams, Animal Healings, Animal Communication & Animal Reiki Master

One of the most frightening events in any pet family's life is when your pet experiences a seizure. I recall as a child one of our family dogs, a beagle mix, suffered seizures on a regular basis. My sister had rescued her from the side of the road after being severally injured from being hit by a car. After getting patched up by our family vet and wearing a cast for a broken leg for six months, the only lasting effects from the car incident were the epileptic seizures she suffered the rest of her life. She otherwise had a very happy life for twenty years. We all became experts in helping our dear Susie through these seizure events, especially my sister.

Step One: Remain Calm

Your first step is helping your pet get stable through their first seizure is keeping yourself and your family members to remain calm and quiet. (We always recommend Bach Flower Formula Rescue Remedy for humans and pets to reduce stress and fear in any event.) Your pet is going through enough fear, anxiety, confusion and pain during this seizure without having the whole family shouting, crying and running around crazy and adding to their stress. Your pet will look to you as their pet parent and care taker to see how they should react. If you are over-reacting, frightened and panicked — guess how your pet is going to respond? It's so vital for everyone around your pet to remain calm and keep them from injuring themselves.

Unlike humans, most veterinarians report that pets don't swallow their tongues. However most secondary injuries occur when the pet will try to jump down from furniture or often stumble while trying to walk. Keep them safely comforted in one place. Be very careful to keep your fingers and hands away from their mouth as they may unintentionally bite one of you as they lose control of certain motor skills. Other bodily functions may occur during the event, but that is one your last worry during this time of crisis. Don't try to move them away from valuable carpet, furniture, etc. as you may cause them to injure themselves or you. Anything you own can be cleaned later, keeping your pet from harm by not moving them is a higher priority.

After the Seizure, Call Your Vet

As you (and all your family members) remain calm, quiet, it's important to use soothing, gentle voice tones to help them relax. Take note of how long the seizure is occurring and what parts of the face and body are affected. Once you have your pet calm and under control and the seizure has subsided, then waste no time in getting them to your vet. If this has happened after your regular vet has closed, go to your local 24 hour emergency vet clinic. While transporting your pet keep them warm and comfy during the trip, reassuring them everything is okay. Stress can sometimes trigger additional seizures, so it's important to keep them as calm as possible.

Many Different Causes for Seizures

There can be many different causes for seizures in pets. Your pet may have ingested something by accident like a poison, or had an accidental head injury. Other possibilities are tumors, various types of bacterial or fungus infections, heat stroke, even diabetes. Your vet will want to do a full exam and a blood workup as one of the first steps. Answer their questions calmly and try to remember all the places and last steps your pet has gone through for last few days to several weeks.

Medications can help reduce and/or control future seizures, do not hesitate in allow these medications to be prescribed. Finding the right dosage that doesn't have any side effects and the right tolerances for your pet may take some trial and error, just like it does in human prescriptions. Be patient and work with your vet.

How Animal Healings Can Help

At Animal Healings we can also provide additional help through our animal communication and animal Reiki. We can talk with your pet and ask questions that may have led up to the event. Did they eat anything unusual? Did your pet have a fall or bump their head that you may be unaware of happening. We can also help explain the reason why they are having treatments, medication and any other necessary lifestyle changes.

Through our Animal Reiki we can help reduce stress and provide relaxation for your pet. Our medical intuitive scans may also provide additional answers.

Make sure you read our client testimonials to see how other clients have benefited from our animal communication andanimal Reiki services for their pet family.

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