Can you describe what a canine fit is like please?

I know there are quite a few owners on here whose dogs have epileptic fits. Fudge scared me a couple of nights ago as she was suddenly thrashing around quite violently. She was asleep and responded to my voice and I realised it must have been a violent dream. She was medicated on Valerian drops at the time as there were a lot of fireworks.

I just thought that a thread with symptoms, signs and what to do might help people who find themselves in that position.

lola my border terrier has fits she usualy has them when she is asleep but she wakes up tries to stand , then shes sick her boby shakes but she knows im with her and it does frighten her as she tries to walk away but her back legs go and her head is to one side the lst on lasted for 5 mins shes a bit sleepy after but half hour later shes fine . one of the fits she came round and started barking at the dog next door straight away!!

When my girl had her fits they were just like a soap opera fit - thrashing, foaming at the mouth, running at 500 miles an hour, often blood from carpet/gravel rub on her face and sometimes she wet herself or pooped

Only had one - my girl let out a long weird howl, fell over and twitched, then was very disoriented for a few hours.

thanks. It seems it presents in many different ways.

Ziggie would shake, foam at the mouth, bleed sometimes from biting his tongue, lost control of his 'movements'... the last set of fits he had before we said goodbye he literally screamed for six minutes from pain and his limbs cramped and stiffened rather than relaxing and going floppy after the shaking... that was the fit he had brain damage from

I'm so sorry to hear of all the pain and stress your dogs have had.

It depends on the type of fits. Loki suffers from grand mals, so he gets twitchy, keels over and is totally oblivious. His whole body starts convulsing, his lips are pulled backwards, there is loads of saliva, his legs start paddling and he arches backwards. He used to howl and urinate too, before he was medicated. Once this is over, he is calm for a short time and unresponsive, unseeing. Then the life comes back into his eyes and he sits up, happy to see us.

Dogs may be temporarily blind after a fit and will pace around compulsively, in an un-coordinated fashion. It is important to make sure they don't bump into anything that they might injure themselves on. They will also be thirsty and hungry, although their swallow mechanism may be temporarily impaired. However it is important to make sure they re-hdyrate

Hi Rach

My only experience of 'full on' fits was with Beau during the last days before he died.

I came in the door and the first thing that hit me was the smell. Wee, poo, anal glands, vomit - all at once.

He was on his side against the wall 'running' at 100 mph and his claws were scratching at the skirting boards. He was frothing, barking and his eyes were wide open.

I knelt down to comfort him and he bit me. I'll never forget that part.

I had to pin him down, put a blanket over him and got a water bottle to squirt water into his mouth although most just poured out again. Eventually he calmed down so I knocked off the lights and lay with him.

I remember him suddenly coming out of the fit and looking at me as if to say - what the hell are you doing in my basket LOL.

That was a bad fit at the end of his life. A crappy few days of fits following a stroke.

On a lighter note - Skye had a couple of fits when he was about 18 months. They were very different - more like a turbo charged 'zoomie' but followed by what I would describe as drunken behavoir. Again - recovery by blanket over the head, lights off and putting water into the mouth.

Mishu, an old shiba of mine, was epi. She used to lose her balance, shake like crazy, eyes used to roll, and she would invariably poo herself. Fortunately, they were few and far between thanks to the meds.

Hope this is a one off for Fudge, Rachel.

Hugs xxx