The First Seizure

The first seizure is always the worst.

I had never seen a dog have a seizure, so when Spike had his first seizure I thought he was dying.  Spike got up like a normal morning and curled up next to me on the couch while I read, but he never really settled down.  He kept moving about trying to get comfortable.  During one of these moves, he froze and his started twitching.  Before I knew what was happening he had fallen over on his side and his whole body started convulsing.  He peed himself and then his legs started paddling.  He foamed at the mouth and his eyes rolled back into his head.  My husband and I thought he was dying.  

This seizure lasted 4 1/2 minutes, which is seemed like hours.
We tried to call our vet but the office had not opened.  We are fortunate to have a dog sitter who comes by daily to take Spike and his brother, Pasha, on play dates with their dog friends.  She was in the neighborhood and came over just as the seizure was ending.  We were besides ourselves with terror, but our dog sitter explained this was "just epilepsy".

Spike recovered quickly and when the dog sitter arrived he thought he was going to play.  He jumped up and wiggled like mad.  We learned that after a seizure dogs often need to go outside to the bathroom and very hungry.  We did take Spike into the Vet's that morning and once again were told this is not a big deal.  Lots of dogs have epilepsy, it can be bad but for most dogs they may have a couple of seizures a year.  The vet recommended that we hold off on medicine unless he needs it.  I left the vet's office feeling better and then talked to a few people at work whose dogs had epilepsy.  Everyone was positive and told me stories of their dogs who lived long happy lives.

Spike was tired the rest of the day, but for the most part his normal self.