Epilepsy can occur in animals other than humans (see main article Epilepsy

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...

). It is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizure

Seizure

An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...

s. Canine epilepsy is often genetic. Epilepsy in cats and other pets is rarer, likely because there is no hereditary component to epilepsy in these animals.
In dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

s, epilepsy is often an inherited condition. The incidence of epilepsy/seizures in the general dog population is estimated at between 0.5% and 5.7%.