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Seizures / Fitting by Ann Noble Seeing your dog or cat having a fit is quite frightening as it is ‘out of control’. If you do experience this, it is important to stay calm and consider the following: Don’t interfere – you cannot influence what is happening, and as the animal is not conscious you may get bitten. Make sure the animal cannot injury itself or other animals. Move other animals out of the way – they often panic and might bite the fitting animal, or get bitten. Time the fit – this is very important. When something dramatic like this is happening, time passes slowly. It is important to have a true idea of how long the animal is fitting for. Seek veterinary advice. If you are familiar with your pet fitting you need not ring immediately, but if your pet is fitting for the first time we should discuss this asap. If the fit has been ongoing for 5 minutes, pick up the phone! Prolonged fitting is extremely detrimental to body systems and is considered an emergency. Essentially there are many reasons for an animal having fits but the two we see most often are epilepsy and brain pathology. Epilepsy is a ‘diagnosis of exclusion’. In other words if everything else has been ruled out, the diagnosis may be epilepsy. This usually starts in young animals between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. The animal may start and rapidly escalate into regular fitting possibly including cluster fits which is where there are several fits one after the other with very little gap between. They may have one fit and no further fits for months to years. Once epilepsy is diagnosed, treatment will depend on the frequency of fitting.
PARAGON VETERINARY CENTRE Carlisle House, Townhead Road, Dalston,Carlisle, CA5 7JF Tel: 01228 710208 vets@paragonvet.com TOWNHEAD VETERINARY CENTRE Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: 01768 483789 townhead@paragonvet.com LONDON ROAD SURGERY 87 London Road, Carlisle, CA1 2LG Tel: 01228 591005 pethealthcentre@paragonvet.com
Should fitting occur as clusters, or occur more than one per fortnight we would normally recommend treatment. Fitting will cause tiny degrees of brain damage and if frequent fitting is left untreated the damage results in more fitting so a snowballing decline takes place. Continued overleaf
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An animal that starts to have fits after the age of 6 years, having never had a fit before, may have brain pathology – the commonest problem being a brain tumour. Although fitting may be the first obvious sign, there may be other subtle changes in demeanour, behaviour, gait etc that may be present in the time between fits. To confirm the presence of a brain tumour, it is necessary to have an MRI scan, however this might not change the course of the disease or treatment plan, as surgery is rarely appropriate. If fitting is the predominant symptom and this can be adequately controlled, the animal may retain a good quality of life for months to years. Other causes of fitting include disturbances of calcium or glucose levels, heatstroke or poisoning. Many of these possibilities can easily be ruled out by running a blood profile and examining the circumstances in which the fit started. If you have any questions or concerns about fitting, please contact the surgery
Waiting Room News
Heat Stroke
Heat stroke (hyperthermia) in animals is a serious condition, which can be fatal if not recognised and treated quickly! In the worst cases the animals’ temperature will reach a point that causes internal, sometimes irreversible, cell damage to the brain. This can sadly result in the animal dying, or having to be euthanased. Signs of heat stroke: Panting and/or increased breathing rate (Depending on species)
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Increased heart rate
Weakness/staggering - if attempting to walk Lethargic Laying flat out Seizures (Fitting)
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Unconsciousness What you can do: Remove the animal from the problem source. This may be a car, conservatory, open environment with direct sun - Get them into a shaded, cooler area (if possible)
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Pour cool water all over the animal. (It is important the water is not iced water, as this constricts blood vessels and will slow down the cooling process). Offer the animal water, (they may not drink as they can be very weak, or may even be unconscious
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Place a towel over the animal, wet this too with cool water
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Direct a cold air fan at the animal Pour/ wipe an alcoholic spirit over the animals’ foot pads and ears -This draws away the heat from these areas to help cool them faster. Inform your vets and get your animal to them as soon as possible for further treatment
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PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP ONLINE Visit us at www.paragonvet.com or ‘like’ us on our facebook page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Pets