If you've just found out that your dog suffers from a seizure disorder, you're probably wondering how to provide it with the care that it needs. The most important thing you can do is continue to show it love and support. It's also important that you continue to provide it with routine medical care. After your veterinarian identifies the problem, and recommends a treatment plan, you'll want to ensure that the plan is followed. In addition to the treatment plan provided by your veterinarian, here are some steps that will help you care for your dog after it's diagnosed with a seizure disorder.

Keep Your Dog Cool

If your dog is prone to seizures, you should keep it as cool as possible. Excessive heat can bring on seizures. During the summer, try to keep your dog inside as much as possible. It's also important that you keep its bed cool. You can do that by placing ice packs in its bed and then covering them with a small towel. Keeping your dog cool will help reduce the number of seizures it will experience.

Avoid the Pool

When it's hot, you may be tempted to let your dog go for a dip in the pool to help cool it down. Unfortunately, that's one of the worst things you can do if your dog has a seizure disorder. While your dog is swimming in the pool, it could suffer a seizure. If that happens, it will be next to impossible to get it out of the water quickly enough. As a result, your dog could drown before you could rescue it. This is particularly true if you have a larger dog. To protect your dog, keep it out of the pool if it's prone to seizures. If your dog likes to jump in the pool unannounced, be sure to keep a canine life jacket on it whenever it heads into the backyard. This will help prevent accidental pet drownings.

Stay Away from the Mouth

If your dog does suffer a seizure, it's important that you keep your hands as far away from its head and mouth as possible. During a seizure, your dog will clamp down with its jaw. It will not be able to control that, which means if you have your hand near its mouth, it could accidentally bite you. Try to stay in back of your dog during a seizure, and avoid the area near its mouth.

Get to a Pet Hospital

When your dog begins to seize, you'll need to monitor the number of seizures it has, and the length of each seizure, during each episode. If your dog has several seizures back-to-back without regaining control, or its seizures are lasting more than a minute or two, you'll need to get your dog to a pet hospital immediately. Without proper emergency care, your dog could suffer brain damage, or death.

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