The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Petguitar (New York) on 02/27/2013
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For years my Maltese has suffered from canine seizures. We have tried every suggestion found on the web and on this website, but his seizures returned.
What seemed to work was to put him on Organic Pet Food and cutting him off of all human food.
Then we accidently discovered that Gluten might be the culprit when he was given a tiny piece of pizza crust. 4 hours later, he had a seizure. A first one in about 2 months. So I started to search for "Gluten causes seizures" on the web and found a ton of articles that verified this suspicion. Gluten intolerance sets your brain on fire.
This makes so much sense to me and remembering that he didn't have any seizures (when he used to have 5-10 seizures per month prior) for a few months since I stopped giving him human food.
Hope this helps someone out there. The worst thing you can do is taking your pet to the vet and getting drugs, IMO. Try a gluen free diet for your dog, even yourself, if you have seizures.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Pennysmommy (South Jersey, Nj) on 10/25/2012
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The only thing I found to eliminate the seizures all together was diet change. My dog is on pheno, but the seizures continued. I tried so many commercial dog foods - New Balance Ltd seemed the best for seizure reduction, but not complete elimination. She still continued to have a seizure a couple of times a month and I just didn't think her little body could continue to cope. Anyway, I started home cooking her food while continuing with the Pheno, and the seizures have been eliminated completely. I cook turkey, chicken and veal in a crock pot. When it's done I put a combination of meat, green beans, broclli, yogurt or cottage cheese, sometimes a bit of cooked rice, blueberries, bananna, apple, flax seed oil and crushed NuVet vitamins into a food processor. Chop it all up (it actually looks like canned dog food when it's done) and freeze individual serving sizes. It may take a little time, but I don't think it's more expensive and this has changed everything. Allergies are gone, seizures are gone.... And I know exactly what she's eating. There are so many hidden things in commercial dog foods, so much processing. With a special needs pet, I truly believe home cooking is the only way to go. I've heard great things about raw, but can't bring myself to go that route. I'm too afraid of bacteria's and generally speaking, it grosses me out. Just wanted to share this, and oh, fleas are gone and her coat is so beautiful.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Iheartmybabies (Moorestown, Nj) on 07/04/2012
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Just a quick update, going on day 5 or 6 here since starting Louise on her new diet - NO SEIZURES! She was having one everyday. I have her on New Balance Ltd. , and Dr. Ackerman's Seizure/Epilepsy Control Supplements. She also has New Balance treats. It appears that removing the rosemary extract and adding the taurine and magnesium (all in the New Balance food) might be the answer. I know it's too soon to really tell, but we're off to a great start. I'll continue to post updates.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Taylor (Baltimore, Md) on 04/28/2012
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My dog Penny has been seizing for years, started out once or twice a year until it progresses and became monthly and then weekly. We tried phenobarbital, keppra, and bromide.. Some helped for a little bit but she still had a seizure about once a month. In November of 2011, she had a cluster of 9 seizures in a 48 hour period and was hospitalized. A friend of mine suggested I look at raw feeding and I started reading success stories with regards to raw food and epilepsy.
December 2011 I switched my dogs cold turkey to the prey model raw diet. Penny is now 5 months seizure free and counting! Additionally, both my dogs have more energy, no doggie gas, and their teeth are unbelievable! Moving them to this diet was the best thing I could have done.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Marsala (Webster, NY) on 03/19/2012
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My 4 y/o Keeshond began having seizures (clusters). Started the phenobarb routine, it changed her personality and she also developed increased thirst and appetite from the meds. She began peeing in the house, couldn't hold it. I found a vet who specializes in Chinese medicine. Daisy started on Chinese herbs and a weaning schedule to get off phenobarb. My vet was not sure this would work. I also stopped feeding her commercial dog food and started giving her raw meat and bones- appropriate for her size and teeth. That was Dec 1st 2010. It is now March 2012- she has not had one seizure since the end of Nov 2010. She is still on the herbs-(successfully weaned off phenobarb over 6 week period) vet says the herbs won't hurt her- is somewhat of a liver cleanse. The vet doesn't particularly like that I feed raw food- but both my dogs (also a 10 lb Shitz-poo) are thriving, wiht beautiful coats and teeth and great digestion. It is amazing how small their poops are. After 6 mos of exclusively raw, I changed to one cooked meal in the morning and raw chicken necks at night. The cooked meals are rotated: beef- chicken-fish each weak with some veggies, eggs and rice. The cooked food gets ground egg shells and kelp mixed in for extra minerals. For those of you who have seizure dogs- there is hope. Look into a raw diet. Stop poisoning your dogs with commercial foods that have been totally stripped of nutrition then fortified with added in vitamins and minerals which are never quite like getting it from actual foods.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Shelly (Houston, Texas) on 09/18/2010
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Our lab started having seizures in April 2009 when she was 5 years old. I immediately took people's advice on this website to monitor her diet. Through a process of elimination of trying different, healthy dog foods, we found that she was highly sensitive to products with Rosemary... Even a cracker that she picked up off the floor catapulted her into seizures. So we took her off of dog food with Rosemary. Things got much better, but then she started having cluster grand mal seizures later in the fall and it had gotten to the point where she was having five seizures in 30 hours... Absolutely horrible! We completely eliminated dog food and dog biscuits from her diet and she has been seizure free since April of 2010. We determined that she was sensitive to the processed corn in dog food.
We feed our lab raw chicken legs (not cooked because the bones splinter and are dangerous for them to eat), one in the morning and one in the evening as well as other raw or cooked meats. We also feed her many different foods that we eat... Raw carrots, cauliflower, green beans, cottage cheese, boiled or raw eggs, pastas, rices, breads, baked or mashed potatoes, and many other fruits and vegetables that are not toxic to dogs. We mainly avoid leftover dishes that have too many spices or onions and such. I keep a list inside a cabinet door in the kitchen to remind me on what she can eat. As a result, we have a very healthy, happy lab. It's a little more work and maybe a little more expensive, but we no longer have the stress of watching a family member suffer. Plus, she is at a healthy weight because dog food can be very fattening. I urge you to not put your dog down or feel like you have to spend so much money on vet bills and meds, unless it is necessary. Most likely, it is caused by something that they are ingesting, so please look at that first. I hope that this helps.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Larry C (Bartlett, Il, Usa) on 03/19/2010
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This is in regards to pet epilepsy (dog).
About 15 years ago my husky/Shepard mix began having seizures and a trip to the vet diagnosed epilepsy and drugs to slow him down (he was having about 3 episodes a day). I didn't want him slow, he was a great dog. At the time the internet was pretty much forums so I started searching for the cause of his affliction. I came across others who recommended a dietary change to something more natural than the Science Diet "poison" I was feeding him. I don't quite remember what brand came next but it reduced the seizures to about 3 a week. Another change reduced them to about 3 a month until the final brand "Natures Balance", eliminated them entirely. He lived a long and relatively healthy life to the ripe old age of 14. I believe he could have gone longer had my ex wife continued to give him filtered water that removed the chlorine and especially the fluoride from the drinking water. She's a believer that our great medical community knows it all and that I'm a kook... That may be true but my best friend helped save me as much as I did him. RIP Rascal 03/27/2009
Dietary Changes
Posted by Katherine (Jacksonville, Florida) on 03/13/2009
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My 1 1/2 year old Rottie has been having seizures since she was 3 months old. She may have been having them longer, but I found her at age 3 month on the side of the road. To make a long story short, I eventually found her first owners and she was given to me. At any rate, I took her to the Vet when I found her and had her thoroughly checked out. The Vet told me I would probably have to put her on seizure medication if the seizures continued.
One day I took her to the feed store/pet supply store for some advice on the rash she had just developed. While we were there, she had 3 seizures. The very nice and concerned lady that was helping me, suggested I put her on a dog for called "Diamond". The one with no artificial additives or grains. I believe it was the chicken and rice recipe. She suspected "Treet" (my Rottie) had food allergies. Since I've been giving Treet the Diamond dog food, her rash has disappeared, but to my surprise, so has her seizures.
I didn't realize or attribute the disappearance of the seizures to the dog food until tonight. I was reading another comment from one of your reader's and they said that they feed their dog the same brand dog food (Diamond) because it does not contain and additive called "BTD or BTH" (they weren't sure of the exact name of the additive) because the additive causes seizures. I'm going to have to agree with that person. Treet hasn't had a seizure in about 2 months now.
The only thing that I've changed was her dog food. I feel confident it was the dog food that made the seizures disappear. It's a very scary thing to watch your baby go through that and you can't do anything to help. I am so very happy and relieved that she doesn't have them any more. Now I have to work on her constant ear infections. I'm going to try the Apple Cider Vinegar, Alcohol and Water mixture I read about. I'll keep you posted.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Jason (Waukesha, WI) on 02/05/2009
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I tried the suggestion from someone on the site to try diamond brand dog food from Tractor Supply. My 6 year old yellow lab Duckota has been seizure free for 7 mos. now. Thank you and the people on this site for putting this information on you web site. I would suggest this remedy before meds. Any one who wants to try this remember to slowly introduce the new food don't just switch up all at once it can upset your animal. Thanks again.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Krisanne (Birch Run, Michigan) on 03/15/2008
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To everyone who has a dog or cat with seizures, I'm sorry for that, it's the worst. I have a seven year old German Shepard that started having them when she turned two. I took her to the vet and they put her on medicine, that "might harm her liver over time" I gave her the pills for three years, with still a few seizures.
One day I went into PetSmart and was talking to the salesperson about animals,when it led into my shepard and her problem. She told me that her boxer had them to and that there is an additive in dog food called BHT or BHD that is found to bring on seizures. In amazement and anger I decieded to buy a dog food without this additive in to see if it was true and if it would help. I bought a very expensive bag of food that cost $39.99 a bag, not caring as long as it was true. Long story short, it's true! After that I started searching around for a reasonable priced bag of food because we have a 102lb. not fat just big, Golden Retriever too, and they eat alot!
I found a great bag of food at Tractor Supply called Diamond brand food. Just look on the back of your food bag if you see the three letters BHD or BHT, I really can't remember the exact three letters but it starts with a B. If it's in there I would change. Even some of the brands you think would be O.K. are not. Please try this it has been great with her not having seizuers any more. Good Luck I hope it helps.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Linda (Littleton, NC) on 11/16/2007
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My Dalmatian, soon to be 16, started having violent, lengthy seizures, generally but not always while sleeping, as well as chronic head and facial tics. A friend suggested using a dog food with a lower or no corn. Another, familiar with human epilepsy, suggested magnesium. The magnesium may have helped a little, but did not stop either symptom and I discontinued its use. I have been feeding exclusively Purina One, with the addition of a small amount of fish - salmon, tuna or halibut - and a small amount of olive oil daily for about six' months and the violent seizures seem to have stopped. Occasionally she gets a taste of meat or vegetables. In the last month, I have noticed the head and facial tics gradually diminish and disappear. Thanks for your website. It's a relief to know that others have seen similar conditions and come up with a variety of solutions.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Lisa (Rancho Cucamonga, Ca) on 10/26/2007
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Many dogs who suffer from seizures benefit from a grain free dog food. This also helps with some types of cancers as the grain and carbs seem to feed the tumors.
Dietary Changes
Posted by MrmDeLuca (Phoenix, USA) on 05/05/2007
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When my father was released from the hospital from a possible heart attack, he was put on a strict diet. In keeping with his diet, he would eat baked chicken with heaps of garlic, tomatoes, and onions. My father, hating the food, would always pass it along to his dog. Well this otherwise healthy dog had a seizure one day, for the first time in its life. All three ingredients, consumed in excess, are known to be fatal to dogs. He's never given the dog his chicken again. The dog has never had a seizure since. To my own dog I give only a quarter of a clove every other week with no problems.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Deb (Sherman Oaks, CA) on 04/10/2007
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A Homeopath I know feels that sometimes copper can cause seizures in animals. She said to try to find foods without copper (you have to look hard) and giving Homepathis Cuprum Met 3x for awhile has worked for many of the cases she has treated. I don't know if this is true I'm just passing it along. If you've tried everything else with no success this might be worth a try.
