Epileptic Puggle Dog food Advice

Dog Food Advisor Forums Diet and Health Epileptic Puggle Dog food Advice

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #42944 Report Abuse
    Jenna R
    Member

    Hello everyone,

    I have a 3 year old Puggle, his name is Moose, and he was diagnosed with Epilepsy last year. He has been on Phenobarbital since December 31, 2013, and has only had 2 very mild seizures since then (for which I am deeply thankful). He loves food more than anything on earth, and I want the healthiest products to go in his body.

    When Moose was still in the first month of taking Pheo., he put on a bit of weight. He was 30 lbs when he had his first blood draw to check his numbers. I stepped up the exercise and playtime to get his mind off of ‘eat, eat, eat’ and back on ‘fun, fun, fun’. It’s been working extremely well for us. He is going back in mid-June to have another blood draw and get weighed.

    I have never heard of most of the brands presented in Editors Choice, so I would like a little bit of advice. My three primary concerns are: 1) The brand should be common enough that I can leave the house and go pick it up – I am not looking for something I have to buy online. 2) I am looking for a product that is healthy, and one that he would be drawn to if he were out in the wild. 3) Weight management. He and I are both active and very playful, but I still need to keep an eye on his weight. He loves to eat and it’ll go to his hips in a heartbeat.

    Any advice or personal testimonials are welcome. Thank you for taking the time to read this and help me out. It is much appreciated!

    Jenna

    #42960 Report Abuse
    LexiDog
    Member

    Hi Jenna! What are you currently feeding him? Does he have any dietary restrictions? Any favorite proteins?

    #42963 Report Abuse
    Jenna R
    Member

    Hi Amy!

    I am looking to take him off of Beneful. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I joined yesterday.

    I have already rid my house of milk bones and other ‘treats’ that aren’t good for him, and replaced them with carrots and other yummy veggies. He loves them! He does not have any dietary restrictions.

    Last year I decided to gradually switch him over to Royal Canin (a recommendation by my vet – it’s the only dog food line that they offer), and he liked it, but I cannot afford that stuff, and I was not impressed when I read its 3.5 star rating on the website yesterday.

    Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it!!

    Jenna

    #42967 Report Abuse
    Cyndi
    Member

    From being on this site and reading what others have posted about dogs with seizures, you should try and eliminate as many toxins in your home as you possible can AND please, get your dog off beneful. Any kind of air freshners, cleaning sprays, flea products, etc. can all contribute to seizures. Hopefully BCnut will see this and respond, because I’ve learned alot from her advice to other people. As for food, I’m sure someone can give you some good options. I feed my dog a balanced raw diet, which is the very best you could do for your dog, but it’s not right for everyone.

    Just curious, why don’t you want to order online? It is so convenient and you have access to so many good foods. Most of the 5 star foods on this site can be easily ordered online. What about Freshpet Vital? Have you looked into that. That is a 5 star food that you can buy at most Petsmarts or Walmart and it’s 100 times better than Beneful. I feed that to my dog occasionally and she loves it. I also use cage free fresh chicken eggs or sardines as toppers.

    #42971 Report Abuse
    LexiDog
    Member

    I can’t say anything about the seizures either.

    My personal favorite kibbles are Acana Regionals and Orijen. These are expensive but I feel we’ll worth it. I have an active 38 # dog and she was getting 1 1/4 cups of food a day on these kibbles. These can be found at Pet Supplies Plus stores and local specialty boutiques. I was actually surprised to see how many specialty shops were around when I started looking for them.

    Other favorites include Wellness Core (found at Petsmart and Petco) and Fromm Four Star (Pet Supplies Plus and boutiques). A lot of people like Dr. Tim’s and Victor grain free but I can not find these in the local stores, so I haven’t tried them. I would have to order them online. I have had great experiences ordering food and other stuff from Chewy.com.

    If I had to pick a kibble on a budget, I would probably try Whole Earth Farms Grain Free. This can be found at Petco and Pet Supplies Plus. I’m not sure if Petsmart carries it or not because I haven’t been there in a while.

    Just remember that not all foods are made for all dogs. Just because my dog does great on certain foods doesn’t mean that yours will. You have to find one that works for you and your dog.

    You may want to look at feeding a 4 star kibble before jumping right to a 5. Moose will be going from a plant based diet to a meat based diet and that can cause some upsets. Just remember to transition him very slowly. You can also add some pumpkin while switching. If you buy it from the grocery store just make sure that it is pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Fruitables makes a digestive supplement with pumpkin to help with switching.

    As for species appropriate food. Kibble is not one of them because kibble does not contain the amount of moisture needed for a species appropriate diet. The ideal moisture would be a food that containes around 70% moisture. For example canned is better than kibble and frozen raw is better than canned. Google Dr. Karen Becker best to worst foods. There is a video and a list that is super helpful.

    Right now I am feeding my girl Primal frozen raw and The Honest Kitchen dehydrated. There are a ton of great foods out there, just need to know where to look. You should keep an open mind about ordering online. I’ve never had a bad experience with Chewy.com.

    This is probably way more info than you want but this is only a little bit. Trust me. There is so much info out there it will make your head spin for a while. You can also get into feeding a homemade diet too. Others will have to help with that.

    #43692 Report Abuse
    Carolynne M
    Member

    I have a little cairn with seizures. The one ingredient I try to avoid is rosemary in any form. It is a seizure trigger for some dogs. It’s used as a natural preservative in many quality foods but checking the ingredient list will give you the information you need. That said – rosemary may not be a trigger for your dog but you never know.

    A very good quality kibble will help. As mentioned by others – watch for preservatives. I make some home cooked food and serve it along with quality kibble.

    Congratulations on two mild seizures in a year – that’s good control! A seizure dog should be fed as healthy of a diet as possible. You’ve made a great decision to check out foods to feed Moose. I give my girl a probiotic in addition to the kibble/home cooked due to her health status. There are some great foods that have pre and probiotics in them which might work well for Moose. Holistic Selects is one brand that comes to mind – I’ve been very happy with it for my other dogs. Fresh fruit and veggies for treats will help with the pheno munchies.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.