Dog Community

Epilepsy Diet??

Posted : 5/19/2008 1:51:30 PM

Yesterday another transport came with more dogs from death row in SC.Among them is a 10 year old poodle Gracie.She has cataracts,i suspect a spinal injury as she is a little wobbly and has a flat spot where one of her vertabrae should be.You can clearly see them all because she is also very underweight. (About 5 pounds,should be atleast 8)On top of all this she has epilepsy.She is on phenobarbital 16mg twice a day.She is having very small episodes today but she has been through ALOT in the last few of days including getting kicked out of her home of 10 years and dumped in a kill shelter because mom wanted a new puppy and a stay at a cold noisy shelter and a 2 day transport to cold rainy NY.

My other dogs are on a raw diet,i have no idea what this baby girl has been fed but judging by her poop it isnt great.I need some ideas that will go along with all her symptoms preferably raw or homecooked as well as any natural alternatives for treatment? Thanks in advance from little gracie!

calliecritturs

Posted : 5/19/2008 6:50:05 PM

I don't know of anything specifically that will help diet-wise other than anything that helps maximize the health and helping to detox the liver should help her. Poor wee mite -- she should be very adoptable. Acupuncture would do her a world of good tho. Would help reduce the meds a great deal.

erica1989

Posted : 5/19/2008 7:50:15 PM

Grain free is supposed to help greatly with epileptic dogs. I had my foster pup on a strict grain-free diet (she had other problems, and did not make it). I've done a ton of research on this topic, and would be happy to help answer any questions!

One thing that helped my girl when she was having siezures was a bag of ice placed on the small of her back. If she's having aggressive siezures, you want to place a towel in their mouths so they wont hurt their jaw.

Make sure to check the pheno levels through your vet after 30 days of being on the medication. you have to make sure the dosage level is right, and that it wont harm the dog. Your vet will take a blood sample, and send it off to the lab for analysis. Levels must be checked yearly after the initial check.

nyiceprincess

Posted : 5/19/2008 9:52:31 PM

I have been sorting through her records and also found she has been diagnosed with a heart murmor her teeth are also rotten.The previous owner even went to the trouble of having the vet write a letter to go with the dog to the shelter.I dont understand how you could own a dog for 10 years,go through all the trouble of getting a "letter of reccomendation"from the vet,assembleing all her records back to the reciept from the pet store she came from just to dump her in a shelter that gave her 3 days to live!!!

She has been on the pheno for years so i assume the dosage is right.I still have to get everything put in order and figure out vax dates and when she would be due for a re-check.

UUGGG! i hate people sometimes!

erica1989

Posted : 5/20/2008 8:17:20 AM

Make sure it says in her papers when the last level check was - pheno can be really hard on the liver if the levels are not right. We check all levels after 30 days, and then once a year - just to make sure. The levels may not be high enough if she's still siezing on the pheno too. It's not an expensive test, but it really must be done!

We've had people turn in older dogs all the time - for the worst reasons - new puppy, allergic, moving, no time - and these pets were 10-15 years old! At least you got all her health records... normally people don't bring them - mostly because the pet has never been to the vet....but it's nice to have something to go by with the animal.