Causes of epilepsy in dogs

Do you want to know a little better what epilepsy is in dogs ? If your best friend has been diagnosed with this disease, it is convenient to understand why your pet suffers from these convulsive attacks. Epilepsy involves seizures in a repetitive way, not occasional and this is what mainly defines this disease. If you want to know what can cause these crises we recommend that you continue reading this article where we discover the causes of epilepsy in dogs.

one

Epileptic seizures in dogs are a symptom of an existing disease in the brain. Sometimes it is relatively easy to determine which disease causes seizures, it can be a tumor or a spill among other causes but there are others that it is impossible or very complex to find out the reason for these crises, in these cases it is said that epilepsy is idiopathic .

An attack of epilepsy is the result of an abnormal electrical activity that occurs suddenly in the brain of the dog: a group of neurons are altered and enter a phase of excitement and hyperactivity.

two

There are many causes that can alter the activity of neurons: direct damage to the brain, toxic, and even metabolic diseases. There are cases of very strong convulsions due to the ingestion of toxic products (insecticides, antiparasitics, etc.); If you think that your pet has been in contact with any type of toxic you must tell the veterinarian, because it is one of the most common causes of crisis and is a good way to start ruling out possible reasons for the attacks.

In we tell you how to treat a poisoned dog.

3

The kidneys and liver are responsible for cleaning the blood of all kinds of impurities due to the metabolic process and there are diseases that affect these organs, producing a high level of impurities that when they pass through the brain alter the normal functioning of the neurons producing hyperactivity and, consequently, seizures.

It is always recommended to perform tests on dogs that suffer from epilepsy in order to rule out that they do not have any kidney or liver disease.

4

Another cause of epilepsy in dogs can be alterations in the composition of the blood that leads to changes in neuronal activity. Electrolyte concentrations such as potassium or sodium maintain the excitation threshold of neurons at stable levels. Also the shortage of minerals such as calcium can cause nervous symptoms as it usually happens when bitches are in full breastfeeding.

Other times the problem is located in the brain itself : spills, tumors, infections or even cranial trauma can cause alterations to neurons.

5

When it is not arrived to find out the cause of the epileptic attacks it is said that the crises are idiopathic. Generally this type of seizures of which the reason is unknown occur in dogs between 1 and 3 years. When they start before the first year of life, the most normal thing is that the origin is congenital, if they appear in adult dogs there is much more likely that the cause is a tumor or a stroke.

Whatever the cause, if your dog is epileptic, you should know how to face the crisis with calm and patience. We recommend that you are ready to know what to do if your dog suffers an epileptic attack.