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Is a dog with seizures typical? Should the sitter be asked ahead of time?

I'm watching a dog right now that has seizures. The owner came for a meet and greet and didn't mention the seizures. I didn't ask him if the dog was on any medication either. When he dropped her off, he handed me the medication and said that she is "getting much better", before explaining what would happen if the dog had a seizure. So today she had a seizure. She was in the yard and started shaking. I got very nervous, carried her in and laid her on her dog bed as the owner told me to do. She got worse and worse, started struggling to move, lost use of her back legs and seemingly her torso, her front paws she could still move, and her head was up. I texted the owner and explained what was going on. The owner texted back that this was likely a seizure and that the dog "sometimes" barfs afterwards. I've never seen a dog (or a human) have a seizure, so the whole event was stressful. It went on for an hour, and then she barfed. I feel taken advantage of honestly. I feel like this dog has a serious medical condition that is stressful and messy. I was worried this poor dog was going to die. I pet her and tried to comfort her, but she looked so scared. She's fine now. Is this just part of pet sitting? Do lots of dogs do this? Was I taken advantage of? I'm just wondering what you all think.

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I actually did not read through the comments I just wanted to make one of my own I’m a veterinary technician and in my opinion you should be hiring somebody at that skill level if your animal has seizures

Sarah A.

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Karen R.

Book a Stay
Chicago, IL

What most jumps out at me is the owner's cavalier attitude toward the dog's condition. If my dog was having seizures and on meds, I would go out of my way to find someone or someplace more suitable for her stay, not a sitter without experience in such things.

Emy, you've done a fine job. All you can do in the future is make sure you get all relevant medical information and permissions beforehand as the others have recommended and take a first-aid course so this kind of experience may not be as frightening as it appears.

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Thank you for pointing out the owners attitude. He told me the seizures last an hour when he dropped off his dog, so when the seizure started I set a timer to keep track. I don't believe he wanted me to take the dog to the vet.

Emy G.

I've never heard of seizures lasting that long! A few seconds is typical but an hour?

Jennifer M.

Since I wrote this question the dog has had a second hour long seizure. I texted the owner when it started and asked him if wanted me to take his dog to the vet. He waited 50 minutes to get back to me and asked "How is she now?". This is typical for his dog and he doesn't want the vet intervention

Emy G.

The vet and also OVC veterinary hospital told us (my young dog has seizures) that longer then 5 min or 3 under 5 min seizures within 24 hours is a medical emergency and needs medical intervention. The dogs internal temperature gets too high and it's not fair to put a dog through an hour of that

Cathy S.

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Jerry E.

We became Rover sitter because one of our dogs has epilepsy and we have decided that it is best for at least one of us to be with him at all times. I would NEVER leave him with someone like that. It is not fair to you, as a caregiver, or to the dog. Seizures are scary and can be life threatening. There is also an issue that normally sweet dogs can attack a dog having a seizure because it freaks them out. There is no"getting better" with epilepsy, only management. There is a group on FB called Dog with Epilepsy that is a wonderful source of support and information. Personally, I feel the owner took advantage of you. They should have disclosed the possibility of a seizure up front.

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Erica M.

Seizures are very scary, even more so if you have never experienced a dog having a seizure before. As far as the client taking advantage of you, not really but it does suck and I think as good owners they should of given you a heads up and made sure that you were comfortable in watching a pet who is prone to seizures but at the same time its just something that could come out of nowhere and we as pet sitters should be prepared for. You should get into the habit of asking all owners during the meet and greet if there are any medical or behavioral issues that you should be aware of. Also make sure to get the name of the Animal Hospital they go to. And will let the owner know in case of an emergency if it is during regular hours you will contact their animal hospital but if after hours you will take their pet to...... (and let them know which emergency room you would take them to.) You mentioned a couple of things about the seizure that I wanted to address. The first was that the seizure lasted an hour. An hour is way to long, after 5 minutes if the pet is still having a seizure you need to go to the emergency room. Do not wait! During a seizure the pets body temperature rises, the longer the seizure the higher risk of brain damage. (Do not try to do lower the temperature at home!! If you drop the temperature too fast you are going to run into other complications.) The veterinarian and their staff know how to lower the temperature safely, if needed) But first and foremost they would be able to give an injection to help aid in stopping the seizure. With that being said, just so we are clear the whole episode can last longer than 5 minutes but the seizure itself (where the dog is shaking, sometimes his legs will get stiff, lose control of his/her bowels,ect.) should not last more than 5 minutes. After the actual seizure itself, some pets may bounce right out of the seizure and act as if nothing happened. Where others may just want to lye there looking confused. Both are okay. The seizure portion has stopped they are just coming through on recovering. Your behavior can have an impact on the dogs behavior so make sure to remain clam. Clear the area around the dog, sit down next to him and talk to him calmly. You mentioned that you picked him up and moved him, I would not recommend picking him up unless it is to him to the vet . You want to make sure that he is not next to something he can bang his head against. Rather then trying to move the dog it is always best to move objects away from the dog. You can put a blanket or a pillow around him if he is trashing ... (more)

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Thanks for all the great information!

Karen R.

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Walt G.

Book a Stay
Woodbridge, VA

It's a shame that your client pup is having seizures. With new clients, I always ask about medical conditions and medications at the meet and greet as it is very important information to have. Were you taken advantage of, not really if you didn't ask the question. Seizures lasting 1 hour or more are very serious and I would take the dog to the vet after discussing with the client. Are seizures common in dogs, not really, but they do happen, and as a sitter you have to be prepared. I highly recommend you take a pet first aid and CPR class, you can find a good online course with Udemy for about $15, and well worth the expense, https://www.udemy.com/dog-cpr-first-a...

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Is a dog with seizures typical? Should the sitter be asked ahead of time?

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