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Can pet anxiety medication cause seizures or severe side effects?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | unneutered | 1 year and 9 months old

Does anxiety medicine has any harsh or severe affect on any part or organ of the body ? Also does it cause seizures or anything ? Or does it slow downs the function of brain ?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ann Dion, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 25th, 2017

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. All medications have side effects and possible adverse reactions. Anti-anxiety medication, depending on which one, can be hard on the liver, depending on the medication, dose and frequency it is being used. Most anti-anxiety medications will depress the brain so tend to not cause seizures, but they do affect the brain so some animals can respond with seizures, but this is unlikely. Most of these medications will cause sedation, and the equivalent to 'drowsiness' that a human might feel. If you are seeing seizures or lethargy/weakness with the medications I recommend having your dog seen by a vet and checking blood levels. Also, I notice you have your dog listed as unneutered. If your dog is having anxiety, getting him neutered can help reduce stress and anxiety and would be recommended as part of an anti-anxiety treatment plan. Discuss this with your vet. Best of luck with Bruno.

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