Seizures in dogs (update on Bud) last page

dturm wrote:

BCSnob wrote:

Triker33 wrote:
Quit giving him people food and he will eat more and more dog food when he gets hungry.

We found this does not always work with older dogs. My Gyp (Border Collie) stopped eating dog food and lost 20% of her body weight (starting from a thin 32 lbs) without ever showing signs of wanting to eat the food she'd been on for years. At that point she HAD to eat so we starting looking for anything she would willingly eat to keep her from wasting away.

I've found Mark's experiences repeated over and over in practice. When animals get older, sometimes you just have to get really creative to keep them from wasting away.

In Megan's last month, we found the only thing she would routinely eat was the grilled chicken from Wendy's. I'd order a salad with grilled chicken - I'd eat the salad, she'd eat the chicken. BTW, Megan was about 15 1/2 year old golden and pretty healthy right up until about 15 then started showing the age related deterioration.

Bud likes salad, cucumbers, tomatoes. Just walks away from his dry with canned on top. Bud has always been not food driven.

We let Gyp go this summer at 14.

BCSnob wrote:

Triker33 wrote:
Quit giving him people food and he will eat more and more dog food when he gets hungry.

We found this does not always work with older dogs. My Gyp (Border Collie) stopped eating dog food and lost 20% of her body weight (starting from a thin 32 lbs) without ever showing signs of wanting to eat the food she'd been on for years. At that point she HAD to eat so we starting looking for anything she would willingly eat to keep her from wasting away.

I've found Mark's experiences repeated over and over in practice. When animals get older, sometimes you just have to get really creative to keep them from wasting away.

In Megan's last month, we found the only thing she would routinely eat was the grilled chicken from Wendy's. I'd order a salad with grilled chicken - I'd eat the salad, she'd eat the chicken. BTW, Megan was about 15 1/2 year old golden and pretty healthy right up until about 15 then started showing the age related deterioration.

Idiopathic Epilepsy is a very common problem in dogs, more common in several breeds. I've often thought idiopathic = we're idiots and can't figure out what is causing them.

It is RARE for foods, drugs or environmental exposure to CAUSE epilepsy, but there are many that can change seizure threshold and make a seizure disorder more problematic. Do a google search and you can find tons of information (most aimed towards people) that might help.

I agree with your and your vets approach, if the seizures become frequent or more severe, then treatment is necessary.

Doug, DVM

Seizures can be caused by a lot of things. My Rottweiler Harley has them and we spent a lot of time looking at environmental factors before we ruled them out. The most common seizures are caused by Epilepsy and start occurring in dogs that are 3-4 years old. That's the type that Harley has and they are not related to food, pesticides, or other environmental factors.

Harley takes phenobarbital and potassium bromide to control his seizures and he gets a shot of Valium when he has a seizure. The phenol and potassium bromide help, but Harley still has seizures every month or so. Sometimes he has cluster seizures. He's had as many as 7 in a six hour period. These can be fatal.

In addition to the Valium, our vet recommended giving him something sweet after he comes out of the seizure. It helps them recover faster. We keep a quart of vanilla ice cream in the fridge just for Harley. He heads straight for the fridge as soon as he recovers his wits.

Good luck with this. It's really sad to see a great dog suffering with this.

Triker33 wrote:
Quit giving him people food and he will eat more and more dog food when he gets hungry.

We found this does not always work with older dogs. My Gyp (Border Collie) stopped eating dog food and lost 20% of her body weight (starting from a thin 32 lbs) without ever showing signs of wanting to eat the food she'd been on for years. At that point she HAD to eat so we starting looking for anything she would willingly eat to keep her from wasting away.

We add half a wiener, cut up over Purina One dry dog food. Occassional snack of duck jerky from WalMart.

Try to wean your dog off people food. Some things like garlic or chocolate can be very harmful.

Ask your vet if any medications such as topical fea/tick
meds or heartworm med could be a factor.

We had an Epi dog. He started seizing around 4 years. 3-4 times per week. Our vet wanted to put him on Phenobarb.

I searched the web and the Epi dog forums said to change foods.

We switched from Science Diet to California Natural and he went from 3-4 a week to 3-4 a month to 3-4 per year.

We switched his 6-7 year old healthy mom at the same time for convenience sake and her eyes cleared up, ears were healthier, her coat got nicer and her energy level went through the roof.

Since your dog sounds older, it may indeed be a tumor or something else but it cant hurt to try a food change. BTW, they loved the better food.

We have since switched to Fromms. Family owned, never had a recall ever.

Quit giving him people food and he will eat more and more dog food when he gets hungry.