My dog with heart issues died after a seizure. What happened?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
My dog died after a seizure, why? My dog suffered from a heart murmur, enlarged heart, and would hyperventilate daily and lose concious, eventually waking up after and being fine. No regular history of seizures. Eventually, one day after eating, he started to seize. He woke up and went to eat, and then seized again. I doubt he was choking on his normal small soft food. He was violently shaking, and the shaking stopped, twitched a little by the neck and then died. No sign of concious aftershaking
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on January 26th, 2020
I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. It's possible that he may have had a stroke or blood clot secondary to his heart disease that traveled to his brain. Or, if he was regularly having collapsing episodes due to his heart (syncope), what you saw may have been one of these that was especially severe, as this is a common cause of sudden death in dogs with severe heart problems. If you want to try to get a more definite answer on what the cause of death may have been, you would need to have an autopsy done, called a necropsy in animals. Your veterinarian should be able to let you know where you can have this done, if it's something you want to pursue. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on February 3rd, 2017
I am so sorry for your loss. It is tough when our furry friend passes away and not knowing if there was something that could have been done to prevent it. Without examining her it is hard to say for sure what caused her demise; however seizures don't always cause death in pets, unless they continue the pet continues to seize uncontrollably for more than 5 minutes at a time or has cluster seizures. I am it sure how long her seizure lasted; however if it was short (> 5 minutes) then chances are there was another cause for her sudden departure. Even a stroke or heart attack could have occurred that was not apparent on the outside. I know it is hard to lose a pet. You also have the option of getting a necropsy (examination of the body) done on her to determine cause of death. But sometimes the cause is never found unfortunately. I send my deepest condolences for you and your family for the loss of your pet.
5Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on September 24th, 2017
It's really difficult to know without having seen the kitty. The more likely causes are infection, trauma, or a congenital abnormality. The best way to find out the cause is to send the body for examination by a veterinary Pathologist. If you still have her remains, then you can ask your veterinarian about doing this. The sooner this is done, the more information that can be obtained. I hope that helps.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on August 22nd, 2017
Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry for the loss of your Lola. Losing a pet is one of life's hardest moments. Even harder when one is so young. Sadly brain tumors happen even in the young. Even if it wasn't a tumor something was going on! Seizures that cause an animal to stop breathing and causing her to arrest are very very unusual. Seizures that difficult to control would have lead to a poor quality of life. We may never know the exact cause but I want to reassure you that you did the best you could for her and sometimes things are out of our hands. And you didn't let her suffer. Again I am so sorry!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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