food for siezure prone dog?

Grain-free has helped Pi, but I think she's too young for any of the grain-frees because she's a pup (or is that just large breed pups? *sigh* I have no idea.)

hmm... I'm not sure. I have no clue when it comes to the food stuff! All I know is what I've learned from here!!!

She's a small breed pup - shouldn't get too big. She's got three breeds in here - I don't remember the third. I know the first two are jack and shih tzu. I want to say.... maltese or rat terrier, but I'm not positive. Either way - she wont be a large breed dog, if that makes any difference.

I think I'm looking for some good 'brain' food here - to help her brain finish developing and grow nice and strong.

This guy has some opinions on it  ...agree or not he's interesting

http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id2.html

 

Some of the grain frees are okay for all life stages, some are fine for small to medium breed puppies but not large and giant breed.  The issue is not high protein or fat or calories per cup, but rather the mineral content.  Evo, for instance is high in Ca.

I've heard lots of good things about epileptic dogs that were switched to a grain free diet.  Just anecdotal stuff, but lots and lots of anecdotes, lol! 

Rosemary / Rosemary extract can sometimes trigger a seizure (thankfully I have no direct experience, but I learned about the rosemary / seizure connection from Monica Segals books and yahoo group).

I fed Emma Natural Balance allergy foods, for a long time, and it made a BIG difference. The IVD simple foods are very good, too. The Hills potato based allergy diets are probably good, too, I've not looked much. If your shelter gets a big discount on Hills food, they're definitely worth looking into. Those are all average protein (20-25% range) foods, suitable for puppies.

I followed Dogtor J's advice. I emailed him a bunch (this was a few years ago) and he helped me out, a lot. Moon phases were making a big difference, when she was seizuring regularly. Peanut butter would trigger her (because nuts and seeds are high in something bad for seizure dogs). 

 

It definitely made a HUGE difference, for Em. I hope your puppy can benefit from a food change, too.  

hmm... I think we actually have a bag of the Hills Z/D food around somewhere. I'll have to look for it next time I'm in.

Is grain free ok for a pup? She doesn't have really bad siezures, and we just started her on regular pheno. Her siezures don't seem to really have a pattern to them - they only occure on weekends (so far) and we're not sure if she's just not getting enough food on those days, or if those are the days when we can watch her more closely - it's quieter on Sundays, with no appointments coming in.

She's doing so much better.... starting to walk more normally, instead of hopping.

Grain free is fine. It's the crazy high protein levels (accompanied by 2-3x as much calcium as a dog needs) that's the problem. Young puppies cannot regulate their calcium intake, and it can cause irregular growth. Also, the high calories in nutritionally dense foods can mean overfeeding is way too easy. Fat puppies are bad news. 

hmm... ok. I read a link from Janet, written by Dr. J., about grain free diets/brands. I'll have to see what I can find either at the shelter or petsmart. I don't mind buying her food, if it means she'll be better off. I switch all my pups over to Blue Buffalo anyways - so trying a different food for her wont really be much different.

erica1989

In my other post about my newest foster pup - someone mentioned that a change in food can help lower the frequency of siezures.

     Absolutely! My epileptic Beagle is going on 8yrs and 99% of his seizure triggers are food related - the others rarely occur and are extreme heat and stress. He's had seizures since he was about 14 months old; they progressed from just auras to 7-10 minute grand mals Now, the food triggers for each epileptic is likely going to be different ... part of learning how to feed him is going to be learn as you go. That being said, you might want to avoid all raw foods. The exact cause of ideopathic epilepsy is unknown, and from what I've read over the years, different breeds may even have varying underlying causes for the seizures. So while one diet may work for one breed with epilepsy, it may be a nightmare for another breed. While I've heard raw has stopped the seizures of some dogs, my own epileptic averaged two grand mals per month, very long, very severe seizures. Just by taking him off raw, he probably has 3-4 seizures per year ... if it's a bad year. The kibbles he has done best on were Canidae (tho he got an ear infection on that food), Timberwolf Organic Southwest Chicken formula, and anything by Purina. He's done worst on Nutro Ultra and Back To Basics. Right now he's on a mix of plain Dog Chow, liquid vitamins, and leftover meats/veggies. The ONLY treats he can have are Milk Bones. We tried an organic treat made by a local company that only has wheat and fruits. He was fine with them a year ago, but when we bought them again this year ... seizure. About 30 minutes later. As I mentioned, pork is also a trigger, and heonce started having a seizure when we gave him a treat where pork meal was #5 or 6 on the ingredient list.

     One more thing ... Gingko Biloba. I tell this to anyone who'll listen. Ginkgo is NOT known for anti seizure properties, however I was looking to give Deputy something that would increase his energy level a few years ago. The seizures were out of control and he had zero energy. In my research I learned Gingko improves circulation to the brain, so decided it may help give him more pep. It really didn't have the intended benefit, however the side effect we weren't expecting was that it prevented the seizures better then his phenobarb did. I've now worked him down to a dose of one capsule per week, and also, DURING a seizure, if the dog is alert enough to take it mixed in with a liquid or soft food, Ginkgo STOPS the seizure from progressing It's cut the length of his seizures from 7 minutes on average to 2 minutes.

Emma does great on raw, so that's probably an individual thing 

The only thing slightly different about this girl - is we've had her, and her brother, since they were 7 WEEKS old - they've been having siezures (on and off) since then, and who knows how long before that.

I'm going to go to petsmart today and check out some of the grain-free options. Raw wont work for me... I really don't have time for it, unfortunatly. I'm lucky I was able to make the mush for the other puppy!

So, one last question. Is grain-free ok for a pup that's not having siezures? The other little guy is ready to be off mush soon here in the next few days. If I got with something potato, that should be ok for him too, right?

Yes, grain free would be fine for the other pup.  Your grain free options will be rather limited at Petsmart.  I know Blue Buffalo has a nice grain-free option, and it's available at Petsmart.

There really aren't any other food stores near me (besides the grocery stores) that don't sell puppies. The nearest one is probably 20-30 minutes from me - but I will check it out if I don't find anything.

Casey eats BB, I didn't even really think about that food. I'll have to look around and see what I can find for her.