How to Safeguard a Home for an Epileptic Dog

Epileptic dogs require special care. Part of the special care is safeguarding your home when you’re there and when you leave. Since seizures happen unexpectedly, epileptic dogs risk injury, or even death, every time they have an attack. With some simple preventive measures, you can safeguard your home and protect your dog.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Portable Crib
• Baby gates

Safeguarding Your Home When You're There

1. Gate the tops or bottoms of stairs when you’re home. If your dog seizes at the top of the stairs and falls, it can get seriously injured or even die. Gating the bottoms of stairs prevents the dog from climbing them without you knowing.

2. Pick up breakable décor items from the floor and end tables. A dog thrashes violently when it has a seizure and can cut himself, or you, on fragile items.

3. Tie electrical cords from lamps and computer equipment with a twist tie or zip cord. This keeps your dog from tangling in the cords during a seizure, which can cause strangulation or electrical shock.

4. Place pillows or mats around furniture where your dog frequently sits or sleeps. If it falls off the furniture during a seizure, it won’t smack its head on a hard wood or tile floor.

Safeguarding Your Home When You Leave

5. Take off your dog’s collar before you leave the house. Collars can catch on things during a seizure, causing strangulation.

6. Put your dog in a small, safe room in your home such as a bathroom or closet, when you leave. This prevents falls and keeps the dog from stumbling all over the house after a seizure.

7. Buy a portable crib for your dog if you don’t want it shut up in a room. The crib keeps your dog safe and cleans easily with a hose.

8. Set water bowls on the counter when you leave. Although the risk is small, your dog could drown if they fell into their water bowl during a seizure.

9. Gate the bottoms of stairs, or gate off rooms with breakable items, when you leave.

Tips & Warnings

• Have old towels available throughout the house so you can cover your dog’s bottom half during a seizure. This helps catch any messes and reduces your clean-up time.
• If you have a pool, don’t toss your dog outside after a seizure. It could stumble and fall into the pool. After a seizure, your dog may not have the strength to pull himself out of the pool or even swim to the side.

[Avrilharper]

on 7/2/2008 I have an epileptic dog and your tips are definitely very useful. We found baby gates our best guard to helping Gregory stay safe during a fit as he once took one at the top of the stairs and fell all the way to the bottom. Now we do not let him upstairs at all until bedtime when he remains at my side all night. Another item we use after each fit is a strong walking type harness which we put on him once the fit passes. After a fit dogs can be very groggy and fall about. It's also very difficult for a male dog to stand on three legs, while urinating, when he is already disorientated. We found the girdle type harness useful as we can walk around with him, holding onto the harness while he remains groggy or has to relieve himself.