Keep your hands away from his mouth, move the furniture away from him, and start a timer. Most seizures in dogs stop on their own within two minutes. A seizure that passes five minutes, or a second seizure the same day, is an emergency and he needs a vet at once.
The Petflix phone, 055 620 4085, is answered 24 hours. The clinic is open 8 AM to 12 AM every day.
What does a seizure look like?
The classic seizure is hard to mistake. The dog falls on his side and goes stiff. His legs paddle, his jaw chomps and he drools. He may pass urine or stool. His eyes are open but he does not see you and does not respond to his name.
Some seizures are smaller. One side of the face twitches, he snaps at the air, or one leg jerks while he stays standing. These are focal seizures. They count, and they can spread into a full one.
Many dogs act oddly for minutes or hours beforehand. They cling, hide, whine or stare. Afterwards comes a recovery phase that frightens owners as much as the seizure. He may pace, bump into walls, seem blind, not know you, or be very hungry. This can last from a few minutes to several hours and it is expected.
What to do in the first five minutes
- Look at the clock or start your phone timer. Seizures feel far longer than they are. The real duration decides what happens next.
- Clear the space. Pull chairs and tables away. Block the stairs. If he is on a sofa or bed, slide him to the floor on a blanket or pad the edges.
- Make the room calm and cool. Turn off the television, dim the lights, and turn the air conditioning down. Send children and other animals to another room.
- Film 20 to 30 seconds. A short video of the whole body tells the vet more than any description.
- Stay close and speak quietly. He cannot hear you in the usual sense, but your calm helps in the recovery phase.
- At the three-minute mark, get ready to leave. Send someone to cool the car. At five minutes, go.
What should you not do?
- Do not put your hand or anything else in his mouth. Dogs do not swallow their tongues. People get badly bitten this way.
- Do not hold him down or try to stop the movements.
- Do not give food, water or any medicine by mouth during the seizure or the confused phase. He can choke.
- Do not pour water over him or put him in a bath.
- Do not hug him as he comes round. A disoriented dog can bite a face he has known for years.
When is a seizure an emergency?
Come in straight away, by day or night, for any of these.
- The seizure lasts more than five minutes.
- He has two or more seizures in 24 hours.
- A second seizure starts before he has recovered from the first.
- He may have eaten something toxic, such as rat bait, snail bait, xylitol or human medicines.
- He is a young puppy, is diabetic, or is pregnant or nursing.
- He was outside or in a car in the heat before it started.
A single short seizure in an adult dog who recovers fully is not a race to the clinic. It does need a vet visit within a day. Phone, describe it, and the nurse will give you a time.
Why does heat matter so much in Dubai?
A seizure is intense muscle work. Body temperature climbs with every minute it continues. A long seizure can push a dog into dangerous overheating even in a cool room, and that overheating damages the brain and other organs on its own account.
It also runs the other way. A dog who overheats on a July walk, on a balcony, or in a parked car can start to seize because of the heat. Thick-coated breeds such as huskies and flat-faced breeds such as French bulldogs and pugs are hit first.
So keep the room cold during a seizure, and cool the car before he goes in it. If he has been seizing for several minutes, lay a damp, cool cloth on his belly and paws for the drive. Use cool tap water, not ice. Tell the nurse on the phone that he feels hot.
Dogs with known epilepsy in Dubai do best with walks before sunrise or after dark in summer, steady sleep, and medication at the same times each day. Ramadan and travel season both shift household routines by hours. Keep his tablets on his clock, not yours.
What causes seizures in dogs?
Age is the first clue.
- Under six months. Low blood sugar in toy breeds such as Pomeranians, Chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers, liver shunts, infections such as distemper, and toxins.
- Six months to six years. Idiopathic epilepsy is the most common cause. It is inherited in many breeds, the dog is normal between seizures, and tests come back clean.
- Over six years at the first seizure. Vets look harder for disease inside the brain, and for liver, kidney or blood sugar problems.
What will the vet do?
If he is still seizing when you arrive, the vet stops the seizure first with injectable medication and brings his temperature down. Questions come after.
Once he is stable, the vet examines him and checks his nervous system. Blood and urine tests look for causes outside the brain, such as blood sugar, liver and kidney values, salts and calcium. Our in-house laboratory runs these the same day.
If those are normal and the pattern fits, the working diagnosis is usually epilepsy. Advanced brain imaging such as MRI is done at a referral hospital, and we will tell you when it is worth it.
Long-term medication is normally considered when seizures are frequent, long, or come in clusters. That decision is made with you at a consultation, not in the emergency room.
You will be asked to keep a seizure diary with the date, time, length and what came before. It is the single most useful record for adjusting treatment. Test and consultation fees are on the price page, and you get a written estimate before anything beyond first aid.
When to call
Call 055 620 4085 during the seizure if someone else can watch the dog, or as soon as it stops. Say how long it lasted, whether it was his first, and whether he feels hot.
The nurse will tell you whether to come to urgent care at Petflix now or book a visit for the next day. After midnight she will name the nearest open hospital.