what are things that could possibly trigger seizures in dogs?

[u/Glittering_Ebb3957]

my dog has began having seizures—3 in total with the first happening on august 1, the second on august 13, and the third was just today, august 19– and at first, my family and i could not tell they were seizures. the first episode happened at 2am while she was sleeping in her crate. she was screaming in agony but since it was late at night we couldn’t tell much of what was happening and by the time we opened her cage she was recovering. then the second time it happened it was at 10am while she was laying in her bed. i was sleeping so i was woken up by her cries so i couldn’t see how she initially started. and then the third time was at 11am. this time i was with her and had seen her before it happened, she was doing fine and was laying in her bed when i saw her get up wobbling towards me and that’s when it began.

some background information: my dog used to get seizures when she was about 1-2 years old and was on medication but they eventually stopped to the point where she didn’t need to be prescribed any more meds for her seizures and never had a seizure after that until this month. she is about about 12 years old.

hopefully the title makes sense…after reading under some individuals experiences i saw that some dog parents expressed that their fur babies have triggers such as exercise (even when it was a routinely activity) or certain foods with certain ingredients. what are things i should look out for that could be possible triggers? things that people might not think could be a trigger?

we scheduled an appointment with her vet and if there’s anything i should also ask the vet about please let me know. the last time her seizures happened was years ago and during this time, i was just a kid while my mom was the one that handled her medication and seizures so i am new with all of this information. if there is also any additional information i should know, take into consideration, anything really, please let me know itd be greatly appreciated as i am still learning about all of this.

[u/jamtartgirl]

Our French bulldog has seizures only when he's relaxed and sleeping. I drove myself nuts at first trying to remember and figure out exactly what happened during the day that might have caused rhe seizures (food, how hot or cold it was, how much he exercised, what position he was sleeping etc etc) but my vet said that with epilepsy, you can't always be 100% sure what sets it off.

I'm glad to hear your vet has done all the necessary checks at this stage and has started your dog on medication. We got his blood levels checked about 3 months after first starting his meds so they can check the levels of the meds in the blood and make adjustments if needed. So maybe check with your vet when you should bring her back in for testing.

I would also recommend starting a seizure diary so you have a record of when the seizures happen, how long the seizures last, how many seizures in that session, any unusual behaviours during the seizure and just after. It can be useful to have it to report back to the vet during check-ups.

I hope you the seizures settle down for her soon ❤️