Reader Question
on sunday 2/17 at about 2 am I heard a thud and thought someone fell down the steps in our house when I went to check, I found my 9 year old male lab/rotty laying on the floor of the living room. In the dark, he was laying so still I thought he passed away overnight. When I turned on the light, he started to flop around like a fish. He has a good health history...his only issue is hip displacia and he was taking previcox as needed and an OTC joint medicine. When he started to flop, it was clear that his hind legs were not cooperating...I touched his legs and hips and there was no pain and since he appeared to want to get up, I tried to help him. Once up, he was very unstable and started to walk around the home and go places that were normally inaccessible...like behind furniture and walking over things he would normally walk around. He also had foam around his mouth and on the couch where he typically lays In about 5 mins time, we were dressed and on our way to the vet er....once there he was panting heavily and just walked around the perimeter of the room the hentire time. When they attempted to take his temp, he growled and snarled. The vet came in he suspected a seizure. tHe advised us to observe him and visit our reg vet the next day. We did...all blood work and x rays came back normal but we were advised to give previcox daily due to
more arthritis showing up. Our reg vet also suspected seizure but was unable to determine why and advised us that our dog should return to normal typically within a day or 2 of the seizure. It has now been 4 days and he is still now 100% normal. He still urinates in the house and that is far from normal.
Although this is not a normal recovery time, is it possible that he is still recoverying from a seizure...or is there something else we need to be concerned about?
Answer from Our Team
The confused period after a seizure (the post-ictal phase) usually lasts minutes to hours. Occasionally it lasts longer, but a dog that is still not himself four days later, with house soiling and unusual wandering, needs to be rechecked. At 9 years old, a first seizure is more likely than in a young dog to have a cause such as a brain tumor, inflammation, a stroke or a metabolic problem. These can cause ongoing changes in behavior, balance and house training, so normal blood work and X-rays don't rule them out.
Please call your vet and ask about a neurological exam and whether referral for an MRI makes sense. Go to an emergency clinic if he has another seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes, has two or more seizures in 24 hours, or gets worse. Keep notes and videos of anything unusual to show the vet.
Our guide to seizures in dogs explains causes of seizures in older dogs and when to seek emergency care.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
