Chihuahua seizure 11/18/07

My dog’s seizure history and progression. She is a spayed female chihuahua, approx. 5 years old in the video. She was diagnosed at a teaching university hospital with epilepsy. (Epilepsy or idiopathic seizures is a diagnosis of exclusion. This means you have to rule out all other causes of seizures. She had a physical exam, blood work, a neurologic exam, an MRI of her brain, and a CSF tap with infectious titers. All the results were negative and since she started seizing at about 2 years old the conclusion is she has epilepsy.) She only seizures about 1-2 times a year and her first seizure that I witnessed was when she was 2 years old. I filmed this seizure because it is not the typical convulsive seizure that most dogs show where they paddle, etc. in my opinion it is somewhat unique and can easily be missed or overlooked. When she seizes she often crouches low or stops walking and won’t move, then her legs become rigid and tremble, she salivates a lot, never urinates or defecates during it. Both her pupils become widely dilated, and she looks very scared. She is not responsive to her name or any sound initially. They only lasted for 20 seconds initially but I am tracking them and this was the longest one yet, and she has not had one since. Her veterinary neurologist requested to keep track of each seizure, the length, when it occured (time, day, etc), and if there were anything that might have set it off, any differences in her routine, or any signs prior to that may indicate she senses something is wrong. (She is otherwise a very happy, healthy dog and doing well at this time.)
****Please Note**** There are different presentations and causes of seizures, and if you think your dog is having one please contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. If your dog seizure continues and does not stop go to an emergency hospital immediately. There may be an underlying cause or disease causing them that you would not want to ignore. Vet recommendation is to try to refrain from petting your dog because it is considered stimulating to them which can prolong the seizure or start another one, and they may accidentally bite. Best thing is to keep them in a quiet, dark, and safe/soft area until they recover while observing without petting.

(I know you can see me pet my dog in the video because it’s hard not to comfort a beloved pet when they are scared but I do try to follow my vet’s recommendations now.)

Duration : 0:1:0