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Urgent care is for pets who are unwell, in discomfort, are in urgent situation or are not acting like themselves and should be assessed within 24 hours.
Wellness, routine, or general care is for pets needing vaccines, preventive care, or ongoing monitoring who can safely wait at least 24 hours.
This page focuses on urgent assessment. Routine wellness exams, preventive care, and monitoring of stable conditions are provided through scheduled general wellness appointments.
Dog or Cat Having a Seizure or Convulsions
Seizures or convulsions in dogs and cats can range from brief, self-limiting neurologic events to signs of serious brain, metabolic, or toxic disease, depending on the cause, duration, and recurrence. These events are also commonly searched as pet seizure, dog seizure, cat seizure, convulsions, shaking episode, or collapse with twitching.
Definition
A seizure is an episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause changes in awareness, behavior, movement, or body function.
A convulsion refers specifically to visible involuntary muscle movements such as stiffening, paddling, or jerking. Convulsions often occur during seizures, but some seizures are “quiet” (staring, facial twitching, odd repetitive behaviors) without full-body convulsions.
In dogs and cats, seizures can be focal (partial) or generalized, and many pets appear normal between episodes. Clinical signs alone do not reliably indicate severity, and pets often hide illness, so seizures and convulsions are treated as urgent neurologic signs, not diagnoses.
Who This Page Is For
• Dogs or cats that collapse, stiffen, paddle, jerk, or shake
• Pets with episodes of staring, sudden confusion, “trance-like” behavior, or unresponsiveness
• Pets showing jaw chomping, fly-biting, air-licking, hypersalivation, facial twitching, or sudden fear/aggression
• Pets that urinate/defecate, drool, or vocalize during an episode
• Pets that are disoriented, restless, temporarily blind, weak, or wobbly afterward
Who This Page Is Not For
• Pets with normal sleep twitching or brief muscle movements while resting that stop immediately when awakened.
If you are unsure whether this is significant, that uncertainty itself warrants veterinary assessment.
Related Urgent Symptoms
• Sudden Collapse (Syncope)
• Dog Lethargic and Weak
• Cat Lethargic and Weak
• Pale Gums (Emergency)
• Toxin Exposure In Dogs And Cats
• Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) in Dogs and Cats
• Heatstroke or Heat Exhaustion
• Difficulty Breathing (Respiratory Distress)
What This Can Look Like at Home
Seizures can be dramatic or subtle, and different seizure types can look very different in the same pet. Owners may notice a pattern of before, during, and after changes.
Common observations include:
• A “warning phase” minutes to hours before: clingy behavior, restlessness, hiding, fear, attention-seeking, pacing
• During the episode: collapse, stiffening, paddling/jerking, jaw snapping or chewing, drooling/foaming, dilated pupils, loss of bladder/bowel control
• Afterward: confusion, wandering, agitation, temporary blindness, weakness, sleepiness, unsteady walking that can last minutes to hours
Why This Can Be Hard to Judge
A key problem is that seizures caused by very different diseases can look the same, and outward intensity does not reliably indicate internal risk. Some high-risk causes produce short, intermittent episodes rather than long dramatic convulsions.
Pets may also appear completely normal between events, which creates false reassurance. Cats may hide neurologic illness and may show complex partial seizures more often than obvious generalized convulsions.
Because events can be brief, owners may miss crucial details like whether the pet was conscious, how long the episode lasted, and whether recovery was complete.
The Improvement Trap
Temporary improvement does not equal resolution.
A seizure may stop on its own and a pet may look “back to normal,” but that does not confirm safety or rule out serious causes. The first seizure can be the earliest sign of a problem that progresses or recurs, including metabolic instability or structural brain disease.
Waiting “to see if it happens again” can delay diagnosis of conditions that worsen suddenly or unpredictably.
What Is Easy to Miss at Home
• Brief staring spells or “zoning out”
• Facial twitching, ear twitching, repeated swallowing, or sudden hypersalivation
• Fly-biting, air-licking, unprovoked fear, frantic running, or sudden aggression
• Subtle wobbliness or weakness after an event
• Temporary blindness or bumping into objects after an event
• Unusual tiredness or behavior change later the same day
These can represent focal seizures rather than normal behavior or “quirks.”
When This Can Be an Emergency
Seizures or convulsions should be treated as urgent if any of the following are present:
• A single seizure lasting more than 5 minutes
• Two or more seizures in 24 hours (cluster seizures)
• Back-to-back seizures without full recovery in between
• First-time seizure (especially in very young or older pets)
• Seizure with known or suspected toxin exposure
• Seizure after head trauma
• Failure to return to normal mentation within a reasonable recovery period
• Seizures with abnormal gum color, breathing difficulty, or severe overheating
These situations warrant same-day urgent care because risk can escalate quickly.
How Veterinarians Assess This
Clinical signs alone cannot reliably determine severity.
Seizures and convulsions can appear similar while arising from very different internal disease processes involving the brain, metabolism, toxins, or organ function. Diagnostic testing is how veterinarians determine whether a seizure is isolated, recurrent, or life-threatening, and how they guide appropriate care.
Diagnostic testing may include:
• Blood glucose testing to identify hypoglycemia and other immediate metabolic triggers
• Electrolyte testing (including calcium and sodium) to identify seizure-triggering imbalances
• Complete blood count to evaluate infection, inflammation, anemia, or systemic disease clues
• Serum chemistry panel to assess liver and kidney function and metabolic stability
• Acid–base assessment and lactate when seizures are ongoing or recovery is poor
• ECG and blood pressure assessment when systemic instability or collapse is part of the presentation
• Urinalysis to support metabolic/toxic screening and systemic assessment
• Targeted infectious disease testing when history, travel, or signs suggest infection
• Advanced neurologic testing (such as brain imaging and spinal fluid analysis) when structural brain disease is suspected
Additional disease-specific testing (such as toxin screening, bile acid or ammonia testing for suspected liver dysfunction, or thyroid testing when indicated) may be considered based on the overall clinical picture.
Diagnostic testing is what determines severity and guides appropriate care.
Veterinary Differentials - Serious / Must-Rule-Out First
• Toxin exposure where ingestion of harmful substances triggers abnormal brain activity and convulsions.
Tests may include bloodwork, toxin screening, and supportive diagnostics.
• Hypoglycemia where low blood sugar disrupts normal brain function, especially in young, small, or ill pets.
Tests may include blood glucose testing, serum chemistry panel.
• Intracranial disease such as inflammation, bleeding, or masses affecting brain tissue.
Tests may include bloodwork, imaging studies, and neurologic evaluation.
• Severe metabolic or electrolyte disturbances interfering with normal nerve signaling.
Tests may include serum chemistry panel, electrolyte testing.
• Trauma to the head or brain resulting in seizure activity.
Tests may include bloodwork, imaging, and neurologic assessment.
• Infectious or inflammatory neurologic disease affecting the brain or meninges.
Tests may include bloodwork, infectious disease screening, advanced diagnostics.
Veterinary Differentials - Common / More Typical
• Idiopathic epilepsy where recurrent seizures occur without an identifiable structural cause.
Tests may include bloodwork and baseline screening to exclude other causes.
• Reactive seizures triggered by systemic illness or metabolic imbalance outside the brain.
Tests may include bloodwork, serum chemistry panel, electrolyte testing.
• Post-anesthetic or medication-related seizures associated with recent drug exposure.
Tests may include bloodwork and medication review.
• Heat-related neurologic events from overheating or exertion.
Tests may include bloodwork and temperature assessment.
• Partial or focal seizures causing subtle movements or behavioral changes rather than full convulsions.
Tests may include bloodwork and neurologic evaluation.
Safety, Psychology, & Peace of Mind
Seizures are frightening to witness, but the greatest risk often lies in what caused the event, not just the visible episode itself. Some causes are reversible when identified early, while others may worsen unpredictably.
Veterinary assessment replaces uncertainty with clarity. Diagnostic testing helps determine why a seizure occurred, whether recurrence is likely, and whether internal disease is present even if the pet appears normal now.
Some pets may not show overt signs of illness between events; apparent normalcy may not reflect internal changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are seizures or convulsions in dogs and cats an emergency?
Seizures or convulsions can range from mild to serious depending on the underlying cause. Outward appearance does not reliably indicate severity or future risk, as short seizures can still reflect dangerous internal disease. Same-day urgent care is recommended, especially if a seizure lasts longer than a few minutes, happens more than once in 24 hours, or is associated with weakness, collapse, or toxin exposure.
My pet seems normal now — can a seizure still be serious?
Yes. Pets often hide illness, and many appear completely normal between seizures even when an underlying problem persists. Apparent recovery does not reliably reflect internal stability or brain safety. Veterinary assessment is appropriate even after a single seizure that fully stops.
What if it only happened once or stopped quickly?
Even a single seizure can be clinically meaningful. Temporary improvement does not equal resolution, because metabolic, toxic, or brain-related causes may fluctuate before worsening. Early assessment helps determine whether the episode was an isolated event or an early warning sign.
Why are tests needed if the seizure already stopped?
Clinical signs alone cannot determine severity or cause. Seizures that look identical at home may originate from blood sugar abnormalities, electrolyte imbalance, toxin exposure, organ dysfunction, or brain disease. Diagnostic testing replaces guesswork with clarity and helps distinguish minor triggers from potentially serious conditions.
What should I do right now?
Do not rely on watchful waiting. Seizures or convulsions warrant veterinary assessment, particularly if they recur, last more than a few minutes, or are associated with weakness, collapse, abnormal behavior, or delayed recovery. Same-day urgent care helps reduce risk and determine next steps safely.