My lab had a seizure

Thursday night, wife and I were watching TV. Our almost six year old lab was asleep on his bed. From a dead sleep, he jumped up like he had been tased on his azz, landed a few feet from his bed face down like he was trying to bury his head in the rug and we both jumped down to see what was going on.

His eyes were kind of darting around and his jaw was locked up. He was shaking like he was scared, not like convulsing. It lasted about a minute, maybe a little less. We tried to comfort him while this was happening. Towards the end of it, he was shaking less and he was trying to lick his mouth but could only get his tongue out of the very front of his mouth. He finally was able to unlock his jaw. After another minute or so, he stopped shaking from what I think was just him being afraid and jumped up and went outside like nothing happened.

From what I’ve read and talked about with people I know that have been through this, it wasn’t a grand mal. As far as we know, this is the first time it happened. I’ve worked from home his whole life so I spend almost everyday all day with him and I’ve never seen it happen. It seems that it was a minor one and if they don’t happen frequently or get more violent or intense it may not be anything to worry about and could be a one time deal.

Has anyone been through this?
Has anyone had a dog that has only had one seizure out of nowhere and then never had another?
I’ve read it could be diet related, something he came in contact with like a weed or plant or a diet issue (like peanut butter or salt or something. Maybe even a contaminated batch of food, like was mentioned earlier this week in the news. Does this sound possible?

Trying to get my vet to call me back but he was out of the office and I don’t like the other vet at that practice. Any info from experience is appreciated.

My gal did it also and it was her heart worm med We did some looking into and lot of people had the same problem The name of it starts with a t

Trifixis? That’s what he has been on for his entire adult life. Wonder if it can cause random seizures. Something to look into.

Did she have any after you switched meds?

Did he have a fruit smell to him ? might be diabetic . Forrest

I'VE NEVER GIVEN ANY OF MY DOGS TRIFLEXIS BUT IVE READ A LOT OF ,NOT SO GOOD REPORTS, ABOUT THAT STUFF, SO DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT.
MY GOLDEN RETRIEVER "KRASH" HAD SEIZURES ONCE A MONTH MOST HIS LIFE, THAT WERE PRETTY SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU DESCRIBED, I TRIED OUT SEVERAL DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS, FINALLY WAS ABLE TO MAKE THEM COMPLETELY SUBSIDE WITH PHENABARITOL AND POTASSIUM BROMIDE. THEN LUCKILY ABOUT THE LAST 3 YEARS OF HIS LIFE (HE LIVE TO ALMOST 13) HE WAS COMPLETELY MEDICATION FREE AND WITH NO SEIZURES.
FROM WHAT IVE READ WHEN IT HAPPENS THEY CAN GO BLIND FOR A SHORT PERIOD AND THAT CAN REALLY FREAK THEM OUT CAUSING THEM TO WANT TO GET UP AND MOVE AROUND, SO I JUST TRIED MY BEST TO COMFORT HIM AND KEEP HIM STILL AS POSSIBLE.
I KNOW HOW PAINFUL IT CAN BE TO WATCH THEM GO THROUGH IT SO BEST OF LUCK FINDING A SOLUTION.

My buddies dog had seizures. EIS.

Not that we noticed.

He hasn’t had one since the first one, thankfully. I appreciate all of the replies.

I had a yellow lab that had them, put him on meds and slowly weaned him off. He lived to be like 12 or 13 years old. He was a super high energy rocket of a dog. When he had the seizures I would talk to him so he heard my voice and hold him but stay away from the mouth, could accidentally give you a bite during this. Hearing my voice seemed to calm him down, he would sometimes have a hard time walking afterwards so I would hold him for a bit. Happened more often when it was hot, I always tried to find a place to let him swim or drink and cool down.

Trifixis Thats what was causing our problem

Probably epilepsy. Not too uncommon in labs; several years ago, I had a black lab that was from a long line of field dog champions and he started with the seizures when he was around 2 years old. He was 7 years old and died of heart failure.

A seizure is just a symptom. Could be caused by any number of things. In humans, many have only one seizure in a lifetime and it goes unexplained.
You should, of course, have a through vet exam done.
I'm curious, why you would say it wasn't a gran mal seizure. From what you describe, it certainly could be.

been using triflexis for 6yrs, no problems, nothing works 100% with out some degree of negatives, look at all the meds for humans and the side affects affect by some, maybe not all, been there, Dr. subscribed nausea med for me, made me worse, when I looked up side affects, "may cause nausea" go figure

Asked on what I read and spoke about from other people that have experienced grand mal and other types of seizures in their dogs, but you’re right, it certainly could have been one. His entire body wasn convulsing, he just had lock jaw, and he never lost consciousness.

It’s been over a month and no repeat seizures, which is good. We are still monitoring him and our fingers are crossed.

My lab has them. We never have put her on addition meds to fight it. Our vet said the side effects for the meds are worse than the seizures. She is 10 and still going.

It’s been two months and no additional seizures, so I am happy about that. Thanks for all of the advice.