Seizures in Dogs

[elgerber]

That's great news about Rider! It sounds like you have found the magic bullet that works for him!

On our last regular visit with the neurologist, Pandora had gone 6 weeks without a seizure and he had said that he would be satisfied if she could consistently go 6 weeks. He didn't change any of her meds at the time. Her liver function studies were within normal range and her phenobarbital was 31mcg/mL.m (therapeutic level ranges from 15 - 35).

She's on phenobarbital, Keppra and zonisamide. She gets 1.0 mL of midazolam intranasal immediately post-seizure to stave off clustering, plus she gets an additional full compliment of her other meds, even if I just gave them to her. I'm not sure what more can be done for her and it might just be that this is her lot in life. She goes back to the neurologist in about a week to have blood work done for another phenobarbital level.

Ah,I had forgotten she is on the other meds also. I'm sorry :-(

 

[Snowflakey]

How are everyone's pups doing? I'm hoping that all is well for them.

Our Pandora ended up in the ER again two weeks ago. Seven seizures in a matter of 36 hours with the last two being an hour apart. They kept her overnight with no additional seizures but they increased her phenobarbital to 1.5 tablets of 92.7 mg. I'm very concerned about liver damage from such a high dose. Poor girl! It took her several days to regain her coordination.

We changed her diet to be completely grain-free and have added MCT oil to her kibble. The neurologist told me that he recommends the MCT oil supplement over the prescription diet because the only difference in the Purina food is the increased amount of triglycerides. And he doesn't think Purina adds a sufficient amount.

We've been doing the additional MCT oil plus increased phenobarb for 2 weeks now and Pandora had another seizure on Friday morning. Just one and she came out of it fairly quickly. But geez! Not even two weeks!

We are doing good. His last seizure was May 10th. But he did go 8 months with none and is still on the low dose med.

He did tear his leg (what is like an ACL tear in people) and had surgery last Monday. I thought for sure that would bring on a seizure after because he can't walk that great and has staples in his leg but so far he has been just great and recovering really well!

 

[elgerber]

Monthly update, 8 months 1 day and counting! In the previous 8 months prior to adding the food he had 8.

 

[Marionnette]

Monthly update, 8 months 1 day and counting! In the previous 8 months prior to adding the food he had 8.

That's awesome! You must be eecstatic!

We're in the process of switching to a ketogenic diet. Unfortunately, I can't say that Pandora is showing any marked improvement just yet. She had a seizure last Saturday morning after going 3 weeks without one. But it was just one seizure, no clustering. So we're at 3 solo seizures since her hospitalization Memorial Day weekend.

 

[elgerber]

That's awesome! You must be eecstatic!

We're in the process of switching to a ketogenic diet. Unfortunately, I can't say that Pandora is showing any marked improvement just yet. She had a seizure last Saturday morning after going 3 weeks without one. But it was just one seizure, no clustering. So we're at 3 solo seizures since her hospitalization Memorial Day weekend.

Hugs to you and Pandora.
We are ecstatic but always cautious as we know one will happen sooner or later and then do they come fully back or go another long stretch. But I will take every day I can get.

 

[Marionnette]

8 days. We only made 8 days since the previous seizure.

She had one this morning just as I was giving her the morning meds. She refused them, walked into the dining room and collapsed.

The good news is that here we are one hour later and she is completely back to normal.

 

[Snowflakey]

Monthly update, 8 months 1 day and counting! In the previous 8 months prior to adding the food he had 8.

Wonderful news!! Mine is still doing good. Nothing in a few months!

 

[TLSnell1981]

My cousin’s dog has seizures. They weren’t having much success with meds so she began researching diets. This made a huge difference in the severity and frequency of their pups incidences. Sorry I don’t have details. sShe spent a lot of time figuring out what was best but it was worth it in the end.

 

[Marionnette]

My cousin’s dog has seizures. They weren’t having much success with meds so she began researching diets. This made a huge difference in the severity and frequency of their pups incidences. Sorry I don’t have details and she spent a lot of time figuring out what was best but it was worth it in the end.

We're still working at a diet that helps. Pandora had another seizure on Sunday morning. That's two weeks in a row. We started her on a ketogenic diet about 3 weeks ago. Apparently, it can take several weeks for any improvements to show.

 

[Marionnette]

Just touching base with everyone and hoping that your pups are doing well. As of this morning Pandora has been seizure-free for 3 weeks! Maybe the keto diet is working. Her record over the past 18 months was 6 weeks. Regardless, her coat is so glossy and she's a little bit trimmer.

I had her at the primary vet for her routine shots this week and they drew blood for a phenobarbital level and liver enzymes. Her PB was 33 (higher than the primary would like to see but not a concern to the neuro guy). Her Alk Phos and ALT were mildly elevated and it was suggested that we might want to add Denamarin to help support liver health. Great! Yet another pill! She gets so many already. But we ordered it and will start her on it today.

 

[elgerber]

Just touching base with everyone and hoping that your pups are doing well. As of this morning Pandora has been seizure-free for 3 weeks! Maybe the keto diet is working. Her record over the past 18 months was 6 weeks. Regardless, her coat is so glossy and she's a little bit trimmer.

I had her at the primary vet for her routine shots this week and they drew blood for a phenobarbital level and liver enzymes. Her PB was 33 (higher than the primary would like to see but not a concern to the neuro guy). Her Alk Phos and ALT were mildly elevated and it was suggested that we might want to add Denamarin to help support liver health. Great! Yet another pill! She gets so many already. But we ordered it and will start her on it today.

I am glad she is doing well with that, praying for you that it continues!!!

In two hours, Rider will be seizure free for 9 months! I still find it a miracle every darn day, that a bag of expensive food has been our saviour.

 

[Snowflakey]

I am glad she is doing well with that, praying for you that it continues!!!

In two hours, Rider will be seizure free for 9 months! I still find it a miracle every darn day, that a bag of expensive food has been our saviour.

Woo hoo!! So happy!

Our dog is still seizure free also! Three months today. But he did go 8 months prior to that so we're still doing good in my opinion!

 

[Marionnette]

Well, Pandora broke her streak yesterday morning...23 days without a seizure. We're back to counting days and not weeks.

 

[Snowflakey]

Well, Pandora broke her streak yesterday morning...23 days without a seizure. We're back to counting days and not weeks.

Oh nooooooooooooo. So sorry. Have you considered trying the Purina dog food that I recommended to Elgerber that is working so well?

 

[Marionnette]

Oh nooooooooooooo. So sorry. Have you considered trying the Purina dog food that I recommended to Elgerber that is working so well?

Our neurologist isn't impressed with it. He feels that it doesn't contain enough medium chain triglycerides. And it contains wheat gluten, which we have been avoiding for almost a year.

He recommended adding one tablespoon of MCT oil from Whole Foods to her food twice daily. We started that in June and have since changed to a grain-free keto diet which includes the MCT oil at each meal.

I have a feeling that she is one of those dogs that will just have a seizure about once a month and the best that we can hope for is that each seizure is "one and done" instead of clustering.

 

[elgerber]

Our neurologist isn't impressed with it. He feels that it doesn't contain enough medium chain triglycerides. And it contains wheat gluten, which we have been avoiding for almost a year.

He recommended adding one tablespoon of MCT oil from Whole Foods to her food twice daily. We started that in June and have since changed to a grain-free keto diet which includes the MCT oil at each meal.

I have a feeling that she is one of those dogs that will just have a seizure about once a month and the best that we can hope for is that each seizure is "one and done" instead of clustering.

We were at the point that we would have tried anything, nothing controlled his. But 9 months and 4 days so far, just from a food is very impressive if you ask me.
Does she have a bad reaction to gluten?

 

[Marionnette]

Does she have a bad reaction to gluten?

No. But it was the first step in a holistic approach to curbing her seizure activity. Removed gluten from diet. Then added CBD oil (that actually helped for a while). Then we started adding the MCT oil to her food. The final step has been to remove all grains from her diet and go full-on keto. She's been on the full keto diet for 3 weeks now.

How much time did it take after changing your guy to the Purina neurocare for the seizures to stop?

 

[elgerber]

No. But it was the first step in a holistic approach to curbing her seizure activity. Removed gluten from diet. Then added CBD oil (that actually helped for a while). Then we started adding the MCT oil to her food. The final step has been to remove all grains from her diet and go full-on keto. She's been on the full keto diet for 3 weeks now.

How much time did it take after changing your guy to the Purina neurocare for the seizures to stop?

He never had one after he started the food. They stopped cold.

 

[Marionnette]

He never had one after he started the food. They stopped cold.

That is truly amazing!

 

[elgerber]

That is truly amazing!

We are amazed, every single day.