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My dog keeps having seizures, and the vet found nothing. What now?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

My dog started having seizures 2 months ago. It has stopped ever since & just started back up this month. It's been going on for 2 days now! When we took him to the vet they told us they could not find anything wrong with him & to basically just let it be. This morning I was awakened from hearing my dog bumping against the wall & having a seizure. He was also howling while having it but I have never heard him howl before. Will my dog live? Is there anything we can do to stop the seizures?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Amber Da Silva, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 31st, 2017

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know this is a very scary time. There are multiple causes of seizures. I'm not sure how old your dog is, but in dogs under 5 years old who are completely normal in between seizure episodes, epilepsy is the primary cause of seizures. In older dogs it could be inflammation, a brain tumor, and infection or problems with the organs (particularly the liver). I always recommend blood work first to look for any problems there. If the blood work is normal, the next step is to evaluate the brain by doing an MRI. If blood work has not been done, I would highly recommend it. If problems are found in the blood work, then you should treat that. If everything is normal in the blood work, I would recommend starting seizure medication. Some dogs will have seizures very infrequently like your dog started out. Those dogs don't usually need medication. But when they become more frequent and are clustering (multiple in a 24 hours period) then I would definitely recommend medication at this point. There are multiple different seizure medications to choose from, so talk to your veterinarian about that. Many times the seizures will be manageable with medications, but it takes consistent medication multiple times per day and blood rechecks for the drug levels. Honestly, some dogs will be very difficult or impossible to control and will continue to have seizures despite being on multiple medications. So to answer your question, yes, there is something you can do to help your pet and based on the number of seizures he is now having, he needs to be put on medication. I hope this helps!

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 3rd, 2017

    Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. All seizures should be thoroughly investigated. We really need to know if there is some metabolic reason for the seizure, such as a liver problem, a toxic exposure, or some unexplained extra brain activity ( idiopathic epilepsy ). Once the blood work comes back, & hopefully nothing is unusual, then we evaluate how long & how bad the seizure was. One relatively mild seizure, we take a watch & wait approach. If the seizures become frequent, more that 1-2 per week, or are significant in nature, & last for minutes at a time, then medication will be required. Epilepsy is not all that unusual in dogs, & they can often be easily controlled with medication. If this was Patch's first seizure, you can wait to see if another ever occurs. It probably will, so be prepared to have things investigated so Patch can lead a normal life. Take care.

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