Epilepsy

[Marion]

Does anyone have any information about canine epilepsy?

My 18 month old German Pointer has had two seizures recently, both within three weeks of one another. My vet, after carrying out an examination and blood test prescribed Crisax. This is acceptable to a certain extent, but I would prefer to use a herbal remedy in the long term as I have been told that phenobarbitol, taken over a long time, can cause liver and kidney failure in later life. Does anyone know of any natural remedies available?

I have never experienced an epileptic seizure before and I got quite a fright, I thought my dog was dying. Luckily my next door neighbour knew what was happening as her son's dog has epilepsy too.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Marion

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

My dog suffers from them.

However, his fits are few and far between and so I do not give him any medication.

From what I've researched in the past, it is only a problem if the fits are frequent, say two a week or so.

I think I may have worked out the cause of my dogs seizures and I think it is to do with overheating as it were. He has always struggled with the heat (even though he as born in Australia) and I have noticed when he does fit, it has been after a hot day or he has been in a hot area for a while (say when the fire's on), so I always proide him with a cool environment. Since doing this, he hasn't had a fit in 18 months, whereas before he was fitted twice a year on average.

Perhaps, this may be happening to your dog too?

[alleycat]

I have the name of a highly qualified English vet who also specialises in holistic treatment of dogs and he does 'phone consultations at £30 a time.  He might be helpful.  He is based in Bath with a practise in London also but has lots of clients in France - especially horse ones.  Just to be able to talk to him might give you some answers.  I have an appointment to chat with him next week about wormers as I flatly refuse to use chemical ones.  I have managed for three years to ward off ticks and fleas with Frontline and the like and so I am a great believer in holistic remedies.  Just a thought.  My brother in law lives with us, he suffers from CP and has occasional seizures which can be brought on like clockwork if he gets three triggers simultaneously - over excited, over tired, too hot!  A lot might depend on whether your pet's fits are neurologically connected and that is difficult to assess.  I hope some of this is useful.

[alleycat]

That previous post - should read WITHOUT Frontline and the like...........

[steve]

Our rescue Lab/hound cross Lola suffers from fits - she is now 5 yrs old and without crisax, will have one every couple of weeks - she has 2 pills in the morning and 2 in the evening. We think its bought on by stress/heat/tiredness etc. during the summer she runs all day long, chasing lizards and butterflies etc. During the winter she almost sits ontop of the wood burner! She does get stressed at the reflections (we think teased with a laser pointer when little) and we do our best to stop her doing all the above as best we can - one night it appeared that she swallowed her tounge but I didnt think dogs could do that - she stopped when I shoved my hand down her throat and pulled it up! The Crisax control the 1st stage from what I gather, which stops the 2nd stage comming on.

Works for us

Steve

[Joanna]

Marion I'm so sorry to read about your dog, I had an epileptic dog and know how how hard it is.

There are various pieces of advice I can give you,

1.  Realise right now that most vets don't know much about treating epilepsy - it's not that common, and  there are several different causes and treatments, but I found that our vets (French) were always very willing to consider information I'd discovered via the net and when they realised it was sound would act on it, even if it was something they really didn't consider worthwhile.

2. Look up www.canine-epilepsy.com (I'm pretty sure that's the right address), it is an absolutely invaluable resource and there is also an internet forum.  If I had known about them when my dog first became ill I'm convinced she'd have lived to a ripe old age with only the occasional fit instead if dying aged 6 due to a vet's error.

3. Get your dog's Thyroid tested even if he shows no signs of thyroid deficiency whatsoever.  Thyroid deficiency is only responsible for a small proportion of canine epilepsy but over 80% of dogs with thyroid deficiency will go on to develop epilepsy.  It is cured by a daily thyroid supplement.  You need to get it done soon because pheno can mask results.

4.  Staart giving your boy Milk Thistle to guard against liver damage.  It's brilliant stuff, the beest and cheapest I've found is via www.healthspan.com who post from Jersey. 

5.  Keep some ice cream or frozen bones in the freezer.  Sounds crazy but it's the overheating as a resullt of a fit that can cause brain damage so you need to cool them down as quickly as possible as soon as they regain consciousness.

 

[diana james]

dorwest herbs do skullcap and valerian tablets which work well with epilepsy,

 

also a cheaper product to ask for instead of crisax is gardenal - this is phenobarbitol.