If this has happened more than once, a comprehensive workup should be performed including blood tests, x-rays and whatever else may be needed, even electroencephalograms occasionally. Certainly there are many causes besides hereditary epilepsy. These include poisonings, low blood sugars, liver and kidney disease, tumors, and sometimes even something as simple as food allergies. Some food allergies are not just to foods but rather to chemicals, preservatives, flavors etc. in certain foods. Food allergies are not that uncommon in many dogs these days and should be ruled out if suspicious.
Once you have a diagnosis and it is not something that you can cure and you realize that you and your buddy may have to live with and manage these seizures, one now can look at a number of different options including nutritional supplements, acupuncture, homeopathy and herbs as well as conventional medications.
The first step is to consider a more natural diet. In my opinion, nothing beats a home-made balanced natural diet! I stress balanced, because an unbalanced diet can be just as bad as a poor quality processed food. The purpose is to try to remove any possibility of chemical sensitivities to different food additives, preservatives or other chemicals. I have seen dogs with occasional seizures completely resolve with a home made natural balanced diet.
The next step is to try to remove as many other toxins from our furry friends environment. Innocently, we try to help our pets remain free of parasites such as fleas, ticks and heartworms and inadvertently end up putting multiple toxins in their body. No one knows what many of these different chemicals may do when combined in the body. These studies have simply not been done! Some veterinary neurologists suggest that certain heartworm medications and flea prevention products may lower the seizure threshold of dogs and may make seizures more difficult to control. By all means, i suggest avoiding all organophosphate insecticides which tend to be neurotoxic anyway. Dr. Roger Clemmons at the University of Florida veterinary school suggests that interceptor and filaribits appear to be safer heart worm preventatives for dogs that are prone to seizures. He also feels that Frontline may be a safer flea and tick repellant for seizure prone dogs.
Some holistically oriented veterinarians feel that overvaccination with yearly vaccines may also predispose pets to epilepsy. Though there have not been any definitive studies concerning this matter, there has been sufficient evidence suggesting that we need not vaccinate our pets annually anyway. Check with a well respected holistically oriented veterinarian in regards to this matter.
As far as supplements go, one can use a number of supplements that appear to decrease the incidence of seizures. I suggest an antioxidant combination of Vitamin C, E, selenium along with B-6. For a 50 lb. dog, one would start with 500mg. Vit. C. 2x/day, 400 I.U. 1 x/day and 50mg. B-6 per day. Consult with your veterinarian on appropriate dosage for your pet. Other supplements that appear to help prevent seizures include DMG or dimethyl glycine which you can get from many veterinarians as well as magnesium.
Acupuncture is another excellent option that I have used numerous times to successfully control seizures. There are three different approaches that I use with acupuncture. I usually begin by using an ear acupuncture tack in the dogs ears. This simply requires one office visit and I have seen many dogs stop seizuring completely with just this simple acupuncture technique. If that doesn't control the seizures, then i consider implanting gold implants in different locations under the skin in acupuncture points on the dogs head. This is based on a study conducted by Dr. Klide at the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school. If this too doesn't help sufficiently, then Iwill do traditional chinese acupuncture once a week for four to six weeks and then taper off treatments to once every month or two. This too can have excellent results. I have had dogs who seizured despite all conventional medications and stop completely for years with periodic acupuncture and they were able to lower their drug dosages as well. It is an excellent option.
The next step is to try to minimize stress in your pets life. It is not uncommon for a client to tell me that a particularly stressful event occurred just prior to there pets seizures. Try to avoid sudden loud noises, stressful situations and sudden changes in their environment. Herbs that may be beneficial as sedatives or antianxiolytic include valerian root, skullcap, oatstraw and kava. One may need to lower the dosage of other anticonvulsants when using herbs and supplements.
Reply With Quote
I was at my friends' house one day when her dog had a seizure. I wasn't sure what was going on but my friend was going crazy. It was awful.
Thanks to everyone else too for pointing stuff out...
I miss you
Bookmarks