Cramps in dogs

Let's start with the fact that cramps in dogs - it's ondisease, but a symptom. Seizures can be accompanied by a large number of diseases, and convulsions can be different depending on what illness they caused. Veterinarians distinguish the following types of seizures:

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  convulsions - abrupt contractions of muscles;
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  tonic convulsions - slow and prolonged muscle contractions;
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  Clonic convulsions - muscle contraction alternates with relaxation, alternations are often repeated;
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  epileptic seizures - a convulsion is added to loss of consciousness.

What specific diseases can be accompanied by cramps? One of the most common diseases that cause seizures in dogs is epilepsy. Different breeds of dogs have different predispositionsto epilepsy. To this disease are more inclined, for example, German shepherds, bigles, collies, Belgian terwurins. And males are more prone to epilepsy than bitches.

Another cause of seizures may be metabolic disorders. So, cramps in dogs of many small breedsare often caused by hypoglycemia (a decrease in blood glucose). In a dog after birth, seizures can be caused by eclampsia - a syndrome associated with a decrease in the level of calcium in the blood. Increasing the level of potassium in the blood, liver and kidney diseases, too, can cause seizures.

Also cramps in dogs can accompany infectious diseases (plague, toxoplasmosis,pyroplasmosis, rabies, tetanus, fungal and bacterial diseases), infectious inflammation, intoxication, cardiac disorders, neoplasms and other diseases and pathologies.

But The exact cause of seizures can only be established by a veterinarian, having inspected the animal, taking the tests and conductingnecessary procedures. However, you can make some assumptions yourself, and the veterinarian will later confirm or deny them. So, we have already mentioned that in dogs of certain breeds you can primarily suspect epilepsy, have recently given birth to a bough - eclampsia, in dogs of small breeds - hypoglycemia.

If your dog is still gone, convulsions can be a sign of an inflammatory process (say, meningitis), congenital pathology, poisoning, or metabolic disorder. Dogs aged from one to five years convulsions may indicate primary epilepsy. A cramp in dogs over five years old can be a symptom of cancer, liver or kidney failure, problems with the endocrine system.

But the doctor will diagnose the diagnosis later, and what to do until the veterinarian has examined the dog? How to help the animal? Alas, here you can do very little. The only thing you can help is gently measure the dog's temperature and try to drip on her tongue a few drops of Corvalolum or Valocordinum. After this, you need to take the dog to the veterinary clinic as soon as possible or call the vet at the house: cramps in dogs refer to Emergency conditions requiring urgent veterinary care.

If the attack does not pass, the doctor can inject intramuscularly ketamine hydrochloride, magnesium sulfate, antihistamines. To determine the cause of seizures, the doctor will conduct a number of necessary studies. First of all, a full analysis will be madeblood - the general clinical and biochemical. You may also need heart echo, chest X-ray and ECG (with suspicions of cardiac pathology), ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, CT, MRI. And the treatment will be prescribed already, depending on the disease that caused the seizures.

Cramps in dogs - this is a very serious symptom, which in no case can not be ignored. The faster you contact the veterinarian, themore likely that your dog will be fine. And if you stay idle, allowing seizures to continue, there is a high probability that one of them will last for your dog.