Dog seizures

Pugs can be really prone to seizures -- but seriously don't rush to put this dog on any sort of seizure med.  They have *huge* side effects and often you can control the seizures better with no side effects with TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) with acupuncture and herbals.  This isn't weird stuff -- they teach TCVM at the University of FL vet school at Gainesville.  http://www.tcvm.com is the Chi Institute and the results are amazing. 

My pug seems to be in the beginning stages of what they call pre-seizure behavior.  So she's already getting herbs and acupuncture for this.  Tink's little spells look almost like a facial tic but I don't want them to develop further.  Several years ago we took in a little peke who was severely handicapped with almost continuous petit mal seizures. She was already like 14 when we took her in.  We got her on herbs and began acupuncture and she was a completely different dog!  No more seizurey activity at all!!!!!  The herbs completely handled her seizures and she remained seizure free for four more years!

If you want more info, feel free to email me - I'm happy to help. 

Don't be afraid of using the meds, if that's what your vet prescribes.  Not all dogs react the same to the meds and I've owned a seizure dog who lived a long time, seizure free, on medication.  Not saying that alternative medicine might not help but just so you're aware that medications can save a seizure dog's life. 

JackieG

Not saying that alternative medicine might not help but just so you're aware that medications can save a seizure dog's life. 

Jackie is absolutely correct and I'm really glad she qualified and clarified that.

I'm not saying to go against your vet's advice, simply that often the combination of herbs and acupuncture can help either reduce the drugs or avoid them (sometimes for a long time) -- or it may just give more choice.  The U of FL vet school teaches acupuncture and herbology and at this point the school protocol is simply to try the herbs as a first line of defense to be supplemented by the  meds if necessary.  In recent years, acpuncture is used a lot in horses and this is a particularly strong equine area and the use of acupuncture has come strongly from that area.  I just wanted to clarify that this isn't just seen as some uncommon "weird" holistic thing. 

The most dangerous thing with seizures is not having them diagnosed or treated at all or having the human being afraid to deal with them.  They ARE scarey as heck and just learning how to cope with a seizure is a huge learning curve for most of us.  The reason I always post about the herbs & acupuncture is simply because it's so human to just plain want to tell a vet to **make it STOP** because it's tough to deal with (and frustrating and heartbreaking). 

slr2meg (Pirate's Mom on here) -- she deals with Pirate's seizures with a combination of meds and herbs and she's a really good go-to source for information.