Dog seizure log: a printable template

What’s inside

• Your dog’s name, breed and age, your vet and the nearest emergency clinic with their phone numbers.
• “What your vet told you”: lines for when your vet wants a call, when to go to an emergency clinic, and the regular medicines and their times, written in your own words.
• The seizure log: date, time, how long it lasted (timed), what was happening before, what you saw during, how your dog was after, and medicine, video or other notes. It goes on over page 2.
• A short how-to at the end, in US Letter and A4, with fields you can fill in on screen.

How to fill it in

1. Before the next seizure, ask your vet when they want a call and when to go straight to an emergency clinic, and write their answers on page 1.
2. During a seizure, look at a clock or start a timer if you can. A timed length is worth more than a guess.
3. If it’s safe, film it. Vets find video footage helpful.
4. Afterwards, write what came before (sleep, meals, a missed dose, exercise, visitors), what you saw and how long it took your dog to be back to normal.
5. Write any medicine only as your vet prescribed it, with the time it was given.
6. Bring the log and any videos to every visit.

Why vets ask for a seizure diary

The International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force, a group of veterinary neurologists, recommends that the owner of a dog with seizures fills in a standard questionnaire and gets video footage whenever possible. When vets judge whether a treatment works, they count seizures from owners’ written seizure diaries.

The columns follow the seizure log a veterinary neurology service gives its clients: date, time, a timed length, what happened before and after, and medicine. This page and the form don’t say what is normal or how long is too long; the answer depends on your dog, so it comes from your vet.