If your dog is having seizures in a row right now
Call your vet or an emergency clinic now. Veterinary guidance is to seek emergency care when seizures come in clusters, and immediately if any single seizure lasts five minutes or more or your dog does not fully recover between seizures.
If your vet has already prescribed a rescue medication for cluster days, use it exactly as they instructed, and call them regardless.
What counts as a cluster
Cluster seizures are seizures grouped close together. You may see different definitions: the IVETF’s 2015 report uses two or more in 24 hours, while the ACVIM emergency-care consensus published in 2024 uses more than two self-limiting seizures in 24 hours. Self-limiting means each seizure stops on its own.
You do not need to wait for a third seizure to ask for help. Cornell’s owner guidance treats multiple seizures within 24 hours as an emergency. If your dog seizes in the morning and again that evening, call your vet even if both were short and recovery seemed complete.
Clusters matter because seizures that arrive in groups carry a higher risk of escalating, including into status epilepticus, the emergency described in the guide to seizure duration. That's why vets respond to a cluster day differently than to a single, isolated seizure.
What your vet will want from you
Once you have contacted your vet and your dog is safe, write down what you can remember:
- the time each seizure started, to the minute if you can
- how long each one lasted
- recovery between seizures: full, partial, or none
- what each seizure looked like, and whether it differed from usual
- any rescue medication given, with the time and amount
- food, sleep and anything unusual in the day before
A phone note or a handwritten list is fine. If you are unsure of a time, mark it as approximate. If you prefer paper, the free printable seizure log gives each seizure its own block.
Ask your vet about a rescue plan
Your vet may prescribe rescue medication to keep at home, with written instructions for when and how to use it. Once any urgent care is underway, ask what to do if another seizure happens and whether your dog needs a rescue plan. Make sure anyone helping with care has those instructions too.
Questions worth asking your vet
- At what point on a cluster day should we come in, versus phone first?
- Should we have a rescue medication at home, and exactly how do we use it?
- What should we record on seizure days to make your decisions easier?
- Does this cluster change anything about the current medication plan?
Sources
Sources checked on 1 October 2026.