[Joanne T]

My 7.5years mixed breed had been on a generic dog food (Mera Dog) for about 4 years.

A month ago, i switched her over to Wellness Core after reading up on how it’s best to remove grain from her diet.

2 days ago, she had a grand mal seizure for the first time in her life, scared the heck out of me. The vet doesn’t think it had anything to do with the food, we ran blood test but nothing conclusive.. but i’m wondering if i should stop feeding her Wellness Core, just to be on the safe side.

Would appreciate any advice anyone can share.
Thanks so much!

[Sarah Y]

I would say do what makes you feel comfortable. I don’t think the food would cause a seizure either unless there was something in the food that just didn’t agree. Wellness core is a good food. I don’t think I would switch it unless I was convinced there is something in the food that didn’t agree with her.

I think it’s coincidental that t his happened. The seizures are scary. Hopefully she doesn’t have anymore.

[Liesa K]

My dog has grandma seizures I am able to keep them down to (1) every nine months with no cluster seizures, have the vet run a (5) panel thryoid and check sugar levels, did you have any pesticides put on your lawn, or flowers, could your dog have eaten any dangerous plants in your yard. Unfortunately once a dog has a seizure they are prone to seizures, you need to find the underlying causes. My dogs thyroid is being attacked by his system we suspect yeast is the offensive underlying problem, the thryoid when it isn’t able to work properly drops his sugar levels, which causes the seizures I have a blood glucose testing kit for him, he is not diabetic. I am positive this was the cause from giving the chicken jerky treats as I had another dog who ended up with cushing confirmed by blood tests but he never lost his hair, he was also yeasty he passed before he was 7 years old.
I use Azmira Herbal products line and this is why I am able to keep the seizures down to (1) every nine months. Over exercise causes him to have seizures and the heat which causes yeast over growth. still trying to get a handle on the yeast, he is (5) years old and a tibetan Mastiff (pure blood). If you get the thryoid test have it checked by Dr. Jean Dodd she has incredible expertise in the thyroid epidemic, please be careful with seizure medications as this can cause more seizures and is very hard on the liver, my dog was never put on seizure medicine, also as soon as he has a seizure I start putting organic honey which is very thick not runny like most brands and this brings him outta of the seizure quicker and helps to not have the cluster seizures. Good Luck.

[Joanne T]

Thanks Liesa,

The vet gave me rectal diazepam in case of another seizure but i’m real reluctant to use it due to the effect it can have on the liver, as you have also mentioned.

How much honey do i use and do i just stick it in her mouth during a seizure?

She was really disoriented and extremely fearful when she came out of her seizure and i stupidly didn’t realise just how scared she was and she couldn’t recognise me and i got bitten. I’m not afraid of that, but it does makes me wonder how to get the honey into her mouth in case the sensation causes her to bite down.

[Nancy A]

Hello,
I hope things are going well with your dog. Please do not try to give your dog anything by mouth during or shortly after a seizure. Our 5-year-old Chihuahua mix began having grand mal seizures out of the blue about 5 years ago and was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy after getting an MRI. You may want to go to MedHelp.org and read this topic:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dogs/Phenobarbital-side-effects–how-long/show/1525013?page=1
While the topic is Phenobarbital, you will find a great deal of information there to help. Our little guy has been taking Phenobarbital, and his seizures are very mild now. It didn’t seem fair to him to not medicate him–especially because the seizures were so frequent. The doggie neurologist told us that if a dog had a grand mal seizure more than once every 3 to 4 months, he recommended medication. As a funny aside: we set an alarm that goes off at 8:00 AM and PM. We now call our guy, “the pill that goes off before the pill” because he gets the pill in a bit of dog food and gets very excited!
Good luck. With expert help and a plan to follow, your dog will be fine.

[Hendrick C]

OMG! The same thing happened to us. We have a 4 year old Shih-tzu and we switched her to Wellness Complete a little over a month ago. About 3 weeks later, she started having seizures. I was thinking about switching her to a different food but after reading your post, I will definitely stop giving her Wellness food. She had a senior blood work done and a tick panel and everything came back normal and negative. Our next step is to take her to a Neurologist but I will also see if stopping Wellness will also stop her from having seizures.

Wish us luck!

Thanks,

Worried Dad (Hendrick)

[Sarah Y]

It’s highly doubtful that its the food unless there something specific in it that causes a very rare and allergic reaction to the food. I’m thinking it’s coincidental? Most epileptic dogs have their first seizures between 6 months and 5 years…or approximately that.

The frustrating thing with idopathic seizures is there is no known cause. A neurologist might be able to pinpoint the cause of seizures though. When a cause can’t be found it’s idopathic, meaning they just don’t know what caused it and it’s your classic case of idiopathic seizures.

With that said, we don’t know what caused the seizure and as stated above if it brings you piece of mind to stop the wellness food I would certainly understand. Seizures are very scary and not having answers makes it more frustrating.

The good news is some dogs have one seizure and never have one ever again. We have a beagle who has seizures…he had his first at age 3, and second at age 4. Good luck to you! We certainly know how scary it is to you see your baby have a seizure.

[theBCnut]

Most epilepsy dogs have their first seizure between 1 and 2 years of age. Seizures are a threshhold event. That means that they have a certain level that, if they stay under that level they won’t seizure, but if they go over that level, it will trigger a seizure. Unfortunately there are many things that can affect a dogs threshhold, and you have to really look for some triggers. Common triggers can be stress, chemicals like cleaning agents, fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, heartworm prevention, scented candles, and perfumes. Try a food that is all natural.

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