[Amy H]

I am adopting an epileptic lab mix rescue pup, 10 months old, and I am told about 60 lbs. I have looked over these forums and printed out a few articles from the Mercola site to bring to my first vet appt with him. Once he is settled in our home I will begin transitioning him to a higher protein, lower carb, grain free diet. The first bag I bought for that is EB Holistic Primitive Naturals. He is on KBr already, as he had multiple grand mal seizures after poison ingestion, but he has been seizure free for several months. I am looking for advice from others who have dealt with this – what worked for you, and what didn’t? I am not up to a raw diet, but herbals and supplements would be manageable within budgetary reason. I wonder whether a rotation diet is still advisable, since I need to worry about affecting his KBr blood levels with varying salt content in different foods. Most labels I’ve checked don’t list sodium content. I read through about 55 pages of the large & giant breed puppy food forum, and think he is old enough that I at least don’t need to worry about calcium content. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

[Bobby dog]

Hi Amy H:
That is such a wonderful adoption story!!! I don’t have any experience with this so I am bumping up your post.

Here’s a link to a DFA thread listing some low sodium/fat foods that might give you some places to look; check out the second post down from Gina. I also suggest you personally contact any and all pet food manufacturers to find out specifics about any food if your pup has certain requirements.

/forums/topic/dry-dog-food-with-low-salt-and-low-fat/#post-46587

Good luck and enjoy your new puppy!!! 😉

[Susan]

Hi Amy, Im just reading Lew Olsons PhD, Raw & Natural Nutrition for dogs again, its a good book to have lying around, it has easy home cooked & raw recipes in the book she says this about Epilepsy: While the connection between grains & seizures is still being researched a number of studies suggest that feeding carbohydrates can increase the risks of seizure activity, either by making blood sugar level fluctuations more extreme or by causing allergic reactions due to gluten intolerance. The best defense is a fresh-food diet with low to mediun levels of fats, high levels of animal protein & few carbohydrates….

Supplements: Fish Oil, Vitamin E & digestive enzymes are all good supplements for dogs suffering from Epilepsy. Additionally adding a quality B complex vitamin has proven to fight seizures in both humans & animals. DMG made from a derivative of glycine has also shown promising results in slowing down or stopping seizure activity. For dogs the liquid form given by dropper in the gum line appears to work the best..
If you don’t mind making a few cooked meals she has 4 different Low-Fat Low Glycemic Diets for Epilepsy & what Supplements to add..

[theBCnut]

Am I understanding right that the seizures started due to poison? So he might not have epilepsy at all? If he has been seizure free for months and he is only 10 months old, I would want to try to cut back his KBr and see if he remains seizure free. Maybe he is past that and recovering from his poisoning. Either way, remove as many chemicals from his environment as possible. These include air freshners, scented candles, cleaning agents, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and any thing else you can think of.

[Amy H]

Thanks!
Bobby dog – from my initial research, I don’t necessarily need a low sodium diet so long as I keep his sodium intake consistent as it competes with the meds for absorption, so an increase in salt will lower the level of meds in his blood and a decrease in salt will increase his blood levels of the meds. But I will take a look at that list.
Susan – I will look for that book. Is your list of supplements from it?
BCnut (Patty Vaughn?) – his seizures started after eating the poison. He almost died. I don’t know what specific kind of poison. My vet has yet to see him or his chart, but in a pre-adoption phone conversation said that generally speaking, his concern with cutting back on KBr is that when you do that, if the seizures return they frequently no longer respond to the medication, so as long as he is free of side effects he would prefer to stick with what seems to be working. An article on canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels(dot)com advises waiting 1-2 years without seizures before phasing it out. But that might be geared toward idiopathic epilepsy, which of course we aren’t sure we are dealing with. I have 2 young 2-legged kids, and my daughter has asthma, so our house and yard are already pretty chemical-free.
This is a lot to take in. Hope I haven’t bit off too much!

[theBCnut]

Hmm, I’ve never heard that about KBr, but my dog was already on other meds, not just KBr. Definitely a consideration. It sounds like you are on the right track. Have you seen the Dogtor J site? He has some info on epilepsy and diet.

[Susan]

Yes Amy, everything that I have written was from her book, her book is about $11 on Amazon, it also covers other health issues….

[Author]

Posts