Seizures vs Syncope 

My Monty started having syncope, and it scared the holy bejezus out of me. It happened in the last year of his life, and he'd be fine one moment and the next he just stopped and crumpled to the ground. I thought it was a seizure the first time it happened, but your video is spot on for what I later learned was syncope.

One of my beloved cats most likely died via seizures. We were at church when it happened. We found her dead after church. Discussed the scene with our vet to get an idea of what might have happened. She peed in the utility room. She didn't just randomly pee on the floor in general. Maybe she had a seizure that caused her to urinate. She went into our locked bedroom through the cat door. Our daughter heard a big ruckus. She couldn't get past the lock. The cat probably went under the head of our bed as that was a safe place for her. But we found her at the foot of the bed, lying on her side. There were 2 containers from under the bed that were spilled and splayed out on the floor around her. Their contents were not light. When I put them back, they were quite heavy, especially for a 10-pound cat. We think she had a violent seizure that pushed those containers out and spilled them. A seizure that killed her. She was a beautiful torby with long hair and extra toes. Her name was Thumbellins, for her 5 thumbs. She had just turned 13.

Our first rottie had epilepsy. He had grand mal seizures which were awful and violent. Then he would go in to post ictal phase where he wasn’t all there, balance was off, ravenously hungry, etc. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone bc it was truly awful going thru that with him. We lost him when he was just six. Broke our hearts. 💔

as a veterinarian myself, gotta say i love your vids!!

My little guy was prescribed atenolol for tachycardia but the original dose was far too high causing bradycardia and we think caused syncope. Every event happened when he’d get active after rest(atenolol is like a rev limiter for the heart which also means that the heart rate does not come up as quickly in response to effort). He would twitch, like he was trying to get up, like you said, then stiffen and howl, and then pass out completely (tongue would turn blue) and gasp for air. The first time, it scared the ever loving crap out of me because it took him awhile to come back around. It often didn’t last long and about a min after he came to would be absolutely fine, no disorientation. We reduced the meds and the events became fewer and lighter with every reduction. We discontinued the meds and he has not had an issue since.

Thanks. That makes sense as my late cat probably had syncope due to low blood pressure because a potential tumor ruptured in his GI tract. Which sadly ended up in being not fixable 😢 but I didn't let him suffer, I got my veterinarian siblings advice.

Seeing syncope and hearing syncopal event was confusing at first. Once I consulted Google I was back on track 😊

They diagnosed my gsd with seizures. She never had grand mal but she would uncontrollably lick hair from the floor for a long as she was in that state. Her head would get hot and she'd have to be crated until it passed. She was put on potassium bromide for her life to prevent it.

Our poor old cat started having seizures in his geriatric years. He died at 23, I think he started having them at 20. Started out kind of absence, we think, the first time we came home from work and found him out of it, but ended up tonic clonic, drooling, tense muscles, loss of bladder and bowel control, then scared and disoriented, vocalising and hungry. Miss my Mogwai.

Our Yorkie puppy had “events” following multi-vaccinations and I was able to video each event for the ER to review. He is doing great and has to have his shots separately from then on!

This helps me so muc. My mom and dad's last dog (really my dad's dog) had a heart/lung issue where one side of her chest filled with fluid once she got older. Her vet said she had syncope but comparing her symptoms to the symptoms of my seizures and just tonic clonics in general, she definitely had seizures. We did what we could for her in general but of course she passed away from it.

Dr. Bozelka, I just came across your Channel and I love it. Keep up the good work young man and I'm looking forward to your witty commentary

This applies pretty well to humans too actually. Humans can get a form of fainting (syncope) that can also look like seizures with brief convulsions but the key differences are the same as here. Biting the side of the tongue is another sign that seizure is more likely in a person

One of my dogs had seizures and she took medicine everyday for it. She passed a few years ago 😢 Now we gave another who my parents thought was having a seizure, because it looked a lot like the other dog. My mom sent me a video and I told her it wasn’t a seizure. The vet said the same, it wasn’t a seizure, she did all kinds of tests, he even had a thing on him to test his heart for 24h, but he was completely normal, there was nothing wrong with him. Sometimes he still has those episodes and now I’m starting to think is a syncope episode. I will talk to the vet about it!

I know what seizures are, my first dog suffered from them due to a brain tumor. And I just lost my current pup to a stroke caused by diabetes and she was seizuring even after all the meds the hospital had given her. I ended up having to euthanize her, I couldn't watch her suffer. I just couldn't. I had her for 8 years. Rescued her from a dog fighting ring and her last four years of insulin. Until your last breath or theirs.

I thought this video was for me, but I'm not an animal nor a pet. But good to know if I ever get a pet with epilepsy. Oddly I haven't found any in shelters lately.

2. Loss of consciousness. I have a cat. How can I tell?

i also heard that when (especially english bulldogs) move their head in that "tick" manner non stop is because they have acid in their stomach bothering them (?)

My cat who was a stray had seizures several times a day after he developed diabetes. He is doing amazing now and hasn't in years. He is on prescription Purina pro plan DM and no longer needs insulin. The vet also gave him an injection of convenia because he had some blood showing in his urine screening. That seems to be the day the seizures stopped. ❤ The vet told me it was time to make a decision, but I knew he wasn't terminal, it was a big issue that needed to be figured out somehow. I'm glad I had faith in the possibility. He is a beautiful Norwegian forest cat mix I suspect.

I had a Epileptic sheltie for 7 years, my current puppy makes so much as a odd noise and i go into watch mode forgetting my current pup is not epileptic...

My Chug (Chihuahua + Pug) developed this issue from her enlarged heart and collapsed trachea. She can’t run upstairs anymore because she she’ll have an episode. Any time she gets overwhelmed she has an episode. She’s on Vetmedin 2.5 twice a day. Is there anything else she can take along with this medication or instead of this medication that will help control her heart issues better? She’s 14 and, being a little dog ( 12 lbs), she should have several more years left. She’s my precious shadow and I’m so frightened for her.

Can dogs throw up during a syncope episode? And thank you for doing this video, I now know that my 16 year old dog has been having syncope episodes and not seizures.

Can anyone tell me what shaking and pulling their limbs back means? I have a pom and it sounds most likely a syncope from the symptom comparisons (consciousness, short time, no mess or stress) but watching the videos the only thing I don’t see is that

Our cat has seizures... I have noticed a difference in some from others... He does have the true seizures like you describe. He has ones where he is seizing, but he runs through the hiuse, jumping om things... I am afraid he will hurt himself is this a seizure or not?

Aren't there different types of seizures, at least in humans? I know not all seizures are as "dramatic" as the tonic clonic seizures

Next do idiopathic vestibular syndrome, please? We thought he was dying in front of us…

You need to set a good example. Too much liquor