Helping a dog with seizures

Hi,

Our dog, Busby - an Italian Greyhound now almost 2 and a half - started having seizures some months ago, initially several weeks apart, but then increasing in frequency until - in the new year - he had 4 seizures in a week. The vet had previously diagnosed ideopathic epilepsy, but was reluctant to put him on medication which might cause long term damage to his liver and kidneys because - despite the increasing frequency of the seizures - they were mild, focal, and with very fast recovery.

I looked for alternative remedies and found that Taurine (an amino acid) was helpful for dogs with epilepsy. I then found a vetinary formula called Epitaur500 (available from various websites) which is specifically for dogs with this condition. Busby started on Epitaur500 on January 9.

We had seen the vet 2 days before - she knew we were getting a taurine supplement for him and recommended that we added Dorwest Skullcap and Valerian tablets, which we did. Busby started the Dorwest tablets on January 11.

I am delighted to say that in the last 8 days, Busby has had only one very brief wobble - so it seems that the alternative stuff is helping.

I am posting this for two reasons - firstly to suggest alternative treatment suggestions for other owners whose dogs have been diagnosed with epilepsy. But secondly because I have concerns about Busby's diet and I hope you can help me here.

Busby has dry dog food during the day but fresh (mainly raw) food for his supper. The fresh stuff is no problem - he has low fat probiotic yoghurt, raw turkey breast or mince (good for tryptophan) and tail on king prawns most days, a raw egg once or twice a week, plus cooked potato/carrot/broccoli mash and a few bits of raw carrot. He then - after his supper - has 2 or 3 sea jerky tiddlers from Fish4dogs.com (100% dried, compressed fish skin - no additives, high in Omega3 and good for cleaning his teeth).

The dry kibble is a problem, though. I've discovered that rosemary can trigger seizures in some dogs - but it's very hard to find dog food that doesn't contain rosemary. It seems to be the "in thing" as a natural preservative even though it is a neurotoxin.

Can anyone suggest (or, even better, recommend) a rosemary-free dry food...?

Thanks for taking the time to read this . Double thanks if you can direct me to a rosemary-free food .


Olga

PS - I'd love to post a pic of Busby. Can anyone tell me how to do that...?

Hi Olga!

We switched ours to James Wellbeloved when one of ours, now sadly gone, developed epilepsy. It's a very gentle dry food, free from corn, soya, and beef, and I have not seen rosemary on the ingredient list.

I think that Royal Canin do a rosemary-free kibble.

I also thought James Wellbeloved sounded promising, but I rang them and spoke to their nutrition helpline people this morning. Sadly, they have now added rosin (a rosemary derivative) to all their formulas.


Olga

I've never heard of rosemary being a problem although I understand that any essential oil can be a trigger, which is why I stopped giving mine evening primrose oil when one of them developed ideopathic epilepsy. I give him Arden Grange Performance as it contains added taurine but it also contains rosemary. He is on Epiphen but, being fit-free since being medicated over three years ago I am now reducing his dosage gradually. His seizures were also mild, short and with no lasting after effects but were becoming more frequent which is why he started on the Epiphen. He only had four fits that I am aware of.

As you know, anything can be a trigger for some epi dogs, because all epis are different. For some it is rosemary, but there seems to be a misunderstanding whether or not the rosemary used in kibble is the type that would be a trigger, ie the actual herb itself, or the form that is used in the kibble.

EPO is a known trigger, but again it would not be so in all epi dogs, so many people avoid both rosemary and EPO - and grains - and flea/tick treatment - and vaccinations etc ad infinitum.

Pereg is on 50mg Pb TID and is currently on a [shhhh] very long sz-free streak following the last diabolical series of clusters. But I give her Milk Thistle and SAMe as well as Taurine, and her liver function tests have always come back absolutely spot-on perfect.

Yesterday it is possible that I missed her 3pm Pb as when I went to give her the 11pm one there were two in the container when there should have been one. To be on the safe side I decided to give her a double dose because if, indeed I had missed the 3pm one [which I am still convinced I gave her] it would have meant her going 16 hours without her Pb.

For Pereg, as I have said before, giving her the Pb every eight hours instead of the usual every twelve, made all the difference to controlling her very severe Grand Mals.

I do not avoid anything now although I would not give her EPO. But flea/tick treatment [Frontline Plus], yearly vaccinations [including Rabies], Drontal Plus worm pills - whole grains [although she is raw fed and I bulk out her meat with vegetables, but since I cut down the protein content of that meal I need to bulk it out a bit more so am adding whole grains] - and I certainly have not stopped using bug spray if necessary, as none of those has proven to be a trigger for her.

She has idiopathic epilepsy with no known triggers whatsoever. If I ever found that something did trigger off another GM then I would obviously stop using it, but until now nothing has been a trigger.

I have finally tracked down a complete dog food that contains no rosemary and is recommended for dogs with epilepsy (also diabetic and coeliac dogs) - it's salmon based and made in the UK by Angell Petco.

I've ordered some in a small size kibble to see how we get on. It should arrive on Monday or Tuesday so I expect to be able to post some initial feedback towards the end of the week.

By the way, it seems that I missed a post earlier in this thread. Malka, you suggested Royal Canin. I've checked their website and looked through the ingredients/analysis for Mini Adult Kibble - they don't mention rosemary, but they are the same company as James Wellbeloved who also don't list it but do add it to their formulations. I tried ringing Royal Canin to check, but their helpline is only available Monday to Friday.


Olga

Thank you Olga-- that is very useful to know. I didn't know rosemary could be a trigger (it grows all over the place where I live and they're always chewing on it). I guess anything can be, though... Dr. Who seemed to trigger Laszlo, for whatever reason. We always had to ask our friends for no spoilers until we could get it on iPlayer. Let us know how you get on with the salmon based food!

(I don't actually think Dr. Who triggered him-- it was quite coincidental)

The new food I ordered from Angell Petco has arrived. It came packed in a very practical plastic bucket with a handle and resealable lid. More to the point, it is guaranteed free from rosemary and Busby devoured a bowl of it with great enthusiasm as soon as I unpacked and opened it. He's still on Epitaur500 and Dorwent Skullcap and Valerian, obviously, and I am feeling very positive that these supplements - coupled with the new dry food - will really help to control his seizures. Anything has to be better than medication that can cause long term damage to his liver and kidneys.

Fingers crossed, anyway...


Olga

Hi Olga-- I am finally getting updates again after my e-mail went kablooie. I'm very glad to hear that he likes his new food. Good nutrition is absolutely essential. I agree with you completely-- if the seizures can be controlled and aren't that bad, you're probably best managing the condition. With Laszlo, even at his worst, he was having one seizure a week. They'd last about three minutes, and he regained consciousness immediately. I know it was putting stress on him, but in comparison to putting him on Phenobarbital, really not that bad.

Please let us know how he gets on! Epilepsy is such a nightmare.