Home > Pets > Epilepsy > Epilepsy Q&A > Diesel is 3 yo and sweetest dog w seizures
Diesel is 3 yo and sweetest dog w seizuresPosted By Dharmony (Orchard Park, Ny, Usa) on 02/06/2012
Diesel is 3 years old and the sweetest dog. He started his first seizure at 8 months old and has gotten progressively worse moving into cluster seizures. He has been on Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide which has not helped. We use intra rectal valium when he clusters. We added Keppra (levetiracetam) December 2010. After a year on Keppra, the neurologist said to come off because it was not helping. He is now on Zonisimide which doesn't seem to be helping either.
Unfortunately, he had many vaccines; rabies, distemper, parvo, corona virus, leptospirosis, lyme disease, bordetella. (I will never listen to a vet about vaccines ever again)
The seizures have changed, the cluster seizures turn into a long drawn out 45 minute or longer slow motion seizure that are not always the same. Sometimes it starts out with him running into a wall when he gets frantic. Other times he can't walk where he will take a few steps and drop hard to the floor get up and repeat and turns into start and stop without the drop. Other times he can't stand and his back legs draw up close to his body and shake and at the same time, his tail comes in close to his body and then relaxes. This happens rhythmically. A few times his front paws also turned under and curled in. Sometimes he foams at the mouth. A few times he clawed at his mouth. Lately he arches his head back, opening his mouth wide, paddling then getting up, walking a few steps, dropping down and falling over. He still also gets grand mals here and there.
Diesel doesn't like the cold and he also runs from the wind. Diesel's episodes seem to happen around the same time in the early evening. He will close his eyes to try to nap and his eyes pop open like he knows something is wrong and then he goes into the run and stop. Some of the time, he comes out of it without a post ictal period and other times he seems blind or has vision changes. You can tell because when he plays with a ball, if your hand moves he will grab at it instead of the ball and not realize it is your hand.
Sometimes you can tell by the look on his face that something is wrong. He gets a look like he has a headache. You can tell that by the eyebrows.
His thyroid has been tested by Dr. Dodds and is normal. Lead and zinc heavy metals - normal. The neurologist says it is not epilepsy, possibly a metabolic disturbance or brain degeneration. The metabolic urine test was normal but shows high levels of some amino acids which they say is probably from the Phenobarbital. A hair analysis shows rabies miasm. We have tried many different remedies through the holistic vet over two years.
We just want to get him under control so it is manageable. He has been having the run and stop type almost daily, then he will have a good week and then two weeks of almost daily episodes.
He has been on a species appropriate diet (raw) eliminating gluten, corn, soy, dairy and MSG for over two years. This has not had any noticeable effect on seizures (Although healthier otherwise).
Summary: Tried the following: Phenobarbital, Potassium Bromide, Keppra, Zonisimide, been to a neurologist, raw diet, many homeopathic remedies, herbs, chiropractic, heavy metal test, thyroid testâ¦
Don't want to give up on this precious dog!
Replied by Marianne (Berlin, Germany) on 02/07/2012
http://www.post-vaccination-syndrome.com/3924/the-post-vaccination-syndrome.aspx
Dr. Smits was a homoeopathic doctor from the Netherlands. Unfortunately he died of cancer last year. He cured many children and adults who had all kinds of vaccine damages. I am sure it works with animals as well but I don't know if he worked with animals. Anyway, you can download his book which explains everything. There are many people who keep up his work and have been trained with his method so I am sure you can find answers. You wrote that you have tried many holistic methods as well as homoeopathy. Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who call themselves homoeopaths but really don't go by the classical way which Hahnemann invented. So maybe this will help you and is a new approach for you.
Good luck. Marianne
Replied by Deborah (Chino Valley, Az) on 02/12/2012
Replied by Fullflaps (Venlo, Netherlands) on 03/12/2012
Replied by Marsala (Webster, Ny) on 03/20/2012
Replied by Iheartmybabies (Moorestown, NJ) on 07/08/2012
Replied by Iheartmybabies (Moorestown, Nj) on 07/19/2012
I believe if those issues are adressed, the seizure epidemic would cease. My vet wanted to put my little chi on harsh meds that would ultimately comprimise her kidney's/liver, but here she is doing fantastic from just a simple diet change.
After months of research I've also decided that ALL man made dog foods are junk, even the "good" expensive one's. Research "meat by products" and be ready to hurl. I can't believe I've ever allowed my babies to eat any of that. From here on it, it's home cooking. I can't bring myself to go raw... Even my one beagle won't eat raw, I tried. However, loading the crockpot with meats and veggies, cooking on low (much healthier than high heat) once or twice a week is not only so much heathier but I believe it will be cheaper in the long run. I will add the taurine and magnesium to my one chi's food for the rest of her life as I'm sure it's contributed to her lack of seizures. I'll also continue with Ackerman's epilepsy and seizure control supplement (all natural, very inexpensive), because I'm not taking any chances with her and currently it's all working.
Whatever you do, don't give up on your dog - you'll find the answer to help them, just keep researching and changing their diet/environment until you see improvement. My vet never gave me any hope at all, and here she is all but cured. Go figure....
Replied by Dharmony (Ny, Usa) on 10/20/2013
I forgot to mention in the above post that I always give Diesel one capsule of milk thistle daily to protect the liver. Always use it if your dog is on Phenobarbital.
Since my original post over a year and a half ago, I have tried many things. Besides trying all of the above things in my original post, I did a saliva test though Dr. Jean Dodds. The test is called Nutriscan through her Hemopet.org site. It uses the dog's saliva to test for "canine food sensitivity and intolerance". Diesel had a strong reaction to soy and weak reaction to many foods including turkey. So I decided to eliminate anything that gave a weak or strong reaction and only feed things that had a negative reaction. So he could eat chicken, beef, lamb and salmon among some other things. The change of diet helped a little.
I am always looking for answers so in my search for answers I also have tried Colostrum, NZYMES, Curcumin and coconut oil and Nigella Sativa. None made a huge difference.
I also did an anti-parasite regimen for 21 days. I used black walnut, wormwood and clove tinctures. I put the drops into his food. When using a human tincture, the amount given must be reduced for animals.
I also discovered that the liver sausage I had been wrapping his pills in contained soy. I switched to cleaner brand called Thumann’s which didn’t have soy or unnecessary ingredients like carrageenan which is not even listed on the label.
The breakthrough…
Last month, I got into a conversation at the local pet store with a young girl who worked there and who always seemed to gravitate to Diesel whenever we came to the store. In my conversation with her, the subject of medical marijuana and CBD came up. There had been a story on the news about a young girl who was having 300 seizures a day who after starting on medical marijuana was reduced to 3 per month. After leaving the store I went home and searched on-line for CBD. CBD is the important part of the plant. They take out the THC which is the part that gets people high. I came across the following article:
BINGO...There was a link to the company where I could legally get some CBD. It is a Hemp Oil Supplement. I contacted them but they said they don't have a dosage for dogs, but that the dose for humans was 15 drops for a 150lb. Person. So since Diesel weighs 21lbs. I decided to give 2 drops per day. The instructions say to put on tongue and keep in mouth 60-90 seconds. I put two drops on my palm and swipe them up with my finger and wipe onto his tongue every night before bed.
The first dose was given September 29th and continued once per day before bed. Since then, everyone is amazed! I know it has only been 3 weeks, but he has not had one seizure and not one partial seizure. The only episode he had was to open his mouth wide and swish his tongue as if he was trying to get something out. This would be rhythmic and last about ten minutes. Considering he was having almost daily episodes, this was amazing!
Then this week, something even more amazing happened! He started playing. Running and jumping and playing with his ball. So what's the big deal??? For the past couple of years he was like a zombie always sleeping all day and night. He wasn’t alert or even very aware of his surroundings. Since starting the Dew Drops, I am thrilled as his quality of life is much, much better!
For those of you who are as desperate as I was to help your dog because of seizures, I would highly recommend trying the CBD product. I ordered it at dixiebotanicals.com. It comes from hemp oil. The product I use is the 2 oz Dew Drops which is stronger than the 1 oz product. I don’t know why but the 1 oz is 100mg and the 2 oz is 500mg. The capsules are only 25mg.
I would love to hear from anyone else who has tried a CBD product to see if it helped their dog too.
Note: Diesel still is taking Phenobarbital, Potassium Bromide and Zonisamide. If he continues to do well in the next couple of months, I will probably try to reduce these medicines.
Replied by Dharmony (Ny, Usa) on 11/07/2013
