We lost our dog just before Christmas, and he suffered from seizures for several years. It was no fun for anyone. He was a rescue dog and almost certainly the product of a bad backyard breeder. He was blind from birth and had several other neurological problems too -- we always knew he wouldn't have the gift of long years, and the seizures were part of that. Our experience:
- His seizures came irregularly. We never identified any triggers -- except that they usually came at night. He'd have two seizures this week, then no more for months. Often when he had one, he'd have two in the same evening. He averaged six or so a year (though some of those were doubles, meaning two in one night).
- Our vet did not put him on meds, saying that meds come with other issues, and unless he was having seizures every week, he didn't want to put us into the monitoring (and cost) that would go with that. He said the meds were hard on -- did he say the liver? or the kidneys?
- We never once had any forewarning of a seizure, even once we all knew what to look for.
- His seizures varied in length and intensity. Typically 3-4 minutes, occasionally shorter, one horrible one late in his life went on for maybe 20 minutes (he went in and out), and I genuinely thought he would die.
- During a seizure, he'd throw up, poop and pee. Often he foamed at the mouth, and sometimes he'd bite his tongue and bleed. Sometimes he'd whine as if he were in pain. He looked as if electricity were passing through him. He'd move his legs kinda like he was riding a bicycle.
- During the seizures we'd pet him and say reassuring things, but that was more for us; I don't think he could hear us.
- After a seizure, he'd pant hard as if he'd been running, and he'd be highly disoriented, but -- at the same time -- he had a strong desire to MOVE. He'd walk down the hall, find himself at the end and be unable to turn around. He'd decide he HAD TO BE in the laundry room NOW, then he'd get in there and whine /cry because he couldn't figure out how to leave.
- With us talking gently to him and encouraging him to "Go to bed", he'd usually settle in after 20 minutes or so of this hyper-confused-intense-walking (but always on his schedule -- we could not make him lie down). Sometimes he'd pop up again and restart the wandering thing.
- Once we got him down, one of us would sit by him and pet him gently, saying his name and quiet, comforting things. He didn't really respond to these ministrations, but it did seem to help him settle down faster.
- Once he finally laid down, invariably he slept hard for hours. It was like a "reset sleep", and once he woke up, it was like the seizure had never happened.
Things we did to deal with the seizures:
- Because his seizures almost always came late at night, we started giving him his last walk as late as possible -- sometimes even midnight, which suits our lifestyle. If a seizure came while his bladder and colon were empty, better for us.
- He slept all over the place, and IF he started a seizure on the sofa, we'd ease him down to the floor. This was better than him falling /possibly landing badly on his head or neck. We weren't always close by to do this.
- We learned to close all the living room doors /lay a chair on its side so he couldn't get into the dining room. Limiting his space reduced the amount of time he wandered, and this eliminated the possibility of him getting into a spot like the end of the hall, where he'd frustrate himself (and he'd start to do the hound-dog howl).
- We're a three-adult household, so one person would comfort the dog while the others started cleaning even before the seizure stopped. We kept a basket of seizure-cleaning materials ready to grab out of the laundry room. It was imperative to get the poop, pee and vomit cleaned up immediately; he would walk through them, dirtying himself and spreading them around the room.
- We bought a Bissell Spot Bot, which is the best thing ever. We call ours Lady Macbeth (Out, damned spot).
- We bought puppy pads, took them out of the packages and kept them in the living room to "shove under him" as a seizure started -- then we'd pull him away from the initial mess (he would sometimes roll in it). This didn't help with the initial mess, but often he "dribbled", and this prevented additional mess.
- He loved sleeping on a hand-knitted blanket, so we had two small ones. If he messed one, it could go right into the wash, and we still had another -- we'd rub the blanket against his face and shoulders while saying, "Go to bed now", and it seemed to encourage him in that direction.
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. She had a bad one this week where she voided her bladder and bowels, something that hasn’t happened before. 
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