Epilepsy Remedies for Dogs

My dog Parker is an Aussie mix and was diagnosed with epilepsy about 2 years ago, and he also has severe allergies, both food and environmental. Of course I followed what my vet said and that was to put him on Pheno. Well he was still having seizures while being on this medication so we consulted with the vet again, and he just wanted to up the dose and add a second medication. I said no way. So on to my own research.

We have changed his diet to a gluten-free one. That is working fabulously. We have seen great results so far for both the epilepsy and his allergies. We are not feeding dry kibble, nor are we doing a raw diet. He could not handle the raw diet at all so after a little more digging, I found an awesome food alternative from The Skye's The Limit in Canada. Their food Canine Life comes in several formulas and they can also custom-tailor it if the dog is allergic to any of the ingredients. This food comes in a pre-mix and you make them into muffins. All healthy ingredients and you can make a variety for the dog by changing up the ingredients you add.

We have also been using a product called Xango Mangosteen Juice. It can be used for people as well and is meant for helpling inflammation. He is getting 1 ounce twice a day. We are at the point where we are able to wean Parker off of the Pheno! We have also seen improvement with his always inflamed paws due to his allergies. When they are really bad we use Xango's Pericarp oil topically for his paws when allergies are really bad.

Along with the juice supplement, Parker gets chiropractic alignments every 2-3 months by a veterinarian certified in animal spinal manipulation. This has been an amazing investment for him.

I have also been told that adding vitamin B will help too, but I just heard about this so I have not tried it yet.

Hope this helps someone out there!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU! My 5 yo beagle has horrible seizures and has been having them more regularly. This morning he started to have one and, having read your post, I ran to the kitchen for the honey. As soon as it got into his system the seizure completely stopped!! It worked and he loved it!

Hi, I am new here, but am in desperate need of help/advice. I have a 7 yr old pug who was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was a little over 3 yrs old. He has been on pheno ever since. The dosage has slowly increased over the last 4 yrs. This past Sept he had a grand mal that seemed more severe than his usual seizures (he averages about 2 a year) and didn't seem to recover as quickly as before. He eventually seemed to get better (although has never seemed 100% since).

He had another grand mal this last Feb. This is where the nightmare really began. He seemed really different after his seizure (I inject him with valium during his seizures to keep him from going status), 4 days after his last seizure when I got home form work he seemed "off", then began panting for no reason, and only wanted to be literally on me (seemed afraid of touching the floor, couch, etc... ). I brought him to emergency and they put him on an IV of valium. He seemed better and then 2 days after that all of the weird symptoms started again. It has been going on like this ever since. I have been having to inject him (per vet's direction) almost weekly due to the constant walking, panting, staring up, etc... The vet believes these weird behaviors are pre-seizural. I don't know what to believe or think. I worry in my heart that it may be a brain tumor and not epilepsy but the vets (consulted 2 different ones) feel that is unlikely. They also say that we would be treating the symptoms of a brain tumor with the same drugs that we are treating him with now (they have added potassium bromide to the increased pheno). Neither seems to feel that radiation or chemo is really a good option if he did have a tumor. I feel like I may be watching my sweet little boy slowly start to die from whatever has been causing these horrific seizures.

I work full time and live alone which terrifies me and limits what I can do. And I don't even know if what I am doing is the best thing I can be doing for him. I'm afraid to take him off the meds (not home enough to monitor the effects) and I'm afraid the meds could possibly be doing him harm or nothing at all. I stopped his heartworm meds last month.

If someone could tell me where to get a good coconut oil I would happy to try that. Also, can I use the oil with the meds he's on? Any advice would be very appreciated and if anyone else's dog has had similar experiences I would love to hear how you handled them. I worry that I may be reading into behaviors that aren't actually abnormal (the panting for no reason, constant walking/not laying or sitting down for more than a minute, etc...).

Sorry for the long post and thank you.

Joanne,

My dog, a GS about 85 lbs, has been having extreme nervous episodes where she shakes, etc. I have found that Rescue Remedy calms her down immediately. It can be found in local health food stores. Hope this helps

I have been reading a lot about the ocular compression. My concern is that, is it safe? I'm always told to stay back from my dog until she is done and is confident enough in who I am for her to apprach me. In the fit of the seizure, are they aware if you get close to them? This is a new thing for us and are 1 1/2 year old collie mix. I'm concerned that because her mouth is open and her teeth are showing that she may bite because she is so confused and hurting? Any help and suggestions to this would be greatly appreciated. It's so hopeless of a feeling and would like to do what I can to help the process be a bit more gentle on her. Thank you- S

Our male Viszla/lab mix has been having seizures for nearly 4 years, and we have discovered that we need to watch his diet carefully... No MSG, or wheat, cheese, or foods with coloring. He loves fruits and vegetables along with Natural Balance dog food. I keep ground beef for treats in the frig.

I would like to pass on to you a remedy that I read on the internet for the 'post-ictal' phase... That's the stumbling around phase where they seem to be blind at first and stumble into furniture and try to walk through walls. (At a hundred pounds, that's a lot of damage! ) The minute he goes into his cluster seizures (which occur with the full moon) I gently press on one of his eyes for 8 seconds on, 8 seconds off for maybe 4-5 cycles. At first the eye will be darting around, but it quickly settles. This releases the amino acid GABA into the brain along the optic nerve.

The results are simply amazing! No more stumbling!

My 14 year old cocker sheltie mix has had seizures since he was just under a year old. He was on phenobarbital and continued to have them. The vet then added KBR and he would STILL have cluster seizures. It was time for an intervention. I couldn't sit back and watch him have seizure after seizure for 45 minutes to an hour three to five times a week any longer.

I researched websites and found that Lecithin is a good supplement for seizures. He gets a daily dose of 1200 MG (He is 45 lbs). He has been weened off the phenobarbital so he wouldn't have withdrawal symptoms. Now if he has a seizure it is very mild and only last a short amount of time. That is when I give him Belladonna (bought from homeopathy site) and it stops them almost immediately.

Besides pheno., I give my epileptic dog formula 303, (people also take this as a calmer), and lots of fresh vegs. These seem to help, vet select seizure med. (it is on internet), and thistle (as pheno. Is bad on their liver). I am just starting him on coconut oil.

I am adding to my list as he use to have one every 3 months, but the last 2 months he has had three to six in a row where he had to go to vet, so I am still working on it trying to help him.

You might check into these. I know the vet select seizure has helped for several years, expensive yes, but he's my kid.

Science diet (hills is also a science diet product)is one of the worse dog foods there is for an epileptic, or any dog. Read the ingredients. Bio-products, corn, preservatives, soy etc. which no dog should have.

check the ingred. on van patten's dry food, and buffalo blue for a comparison.

I've had four dogs since living in south Florida since 1979. They are inside dogs and I have used lavender and skin so soft if they happen to be outside during times that there were many Mosquitos. None of my dogs have ever been on heart worm prevention. I had them tested annually however, to ascertain that they did not get bitten by an infected mosquito. I have to say however, that I cook for my "children with hair" and use alternative remedies as the norm - thanks to websites as Earth Clinic. My German Sheperd was 17 when she passed away.

My mini schnauzer started having seizures after her vaccines they get at age 1.5 ish. Since then I have kept track and most of her seizures happen a few weeks after her bi-annual bordatella vaccine. My vet and I agreed to never give her that vaccine again. I fear its only a theory and hope that it proves correct. Only time will tell. I will refuse to get her rabies in the spring and hopefully the law will not come after us. Lol.

THIS WORKS FOR HUMANS TOO... Haven't had a seizure... Knock on wood... In three years by using 4 T. of coconut oil each day!!!

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.

I had a litter of pups get their first vaccinations. Exactly three weeks later all of them had back to back seizures for 48 hours straight. Horrible seizures where they ran across the floor and would slam into the wall. It was terrifying. I looked it up and found that lepto will cause seizures 21 days after vaccination. Just like my pups.

They had seizures for several years until we found out that fish oil would stop them. Within a few weeks of giving them fish oil daily the seizures became so mild that the pups would just shake. Eventually they stopped completely. My pups lived to 14 and 15 years old. They never got another vaccination after they were one!

Taurine an amino acid has proven to help some dogs. Capsule form is best as tablets contain fillers. The dose is 500mg per 25lb once or twice daily. Taurine is a long lasting anti-convulsant and I believe is considered very safe. Magnesium Taurinate supplies both Taurine and Magnesium but I'm not sure of quantity.

Another, very important factor is vaccine damage. Vaccines can cause encephalytis (sorry if not spelt correctly) swelling of the brain, this can lead to seizures. If it were my dog I would give no more vaccines, flea or tick treatments. They can all affect the brain.

Hope this helps.

I have a dog who suffers from seizures and I just wanted to give a warning to people. PLEASE consult your vet before giving ANY type of supplements, natural or not. Different things can react poorly or affect the absorption of the medication which could cause more problems. Usually a phone call to the vet is all it takes and it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Heartworms are not caused by mosquito larvae. The microfilariae are transmitted to the dog from the bite of an adult mosquito. So all it takes is one infected mosquito to bite your pet and its got heartworms. Especially if you live in the South where we have an abundance of mosquitos. Heartgard kills the microfilariae, it doesn't kill adult worms. I recommend this product. If you live in the south and don't have your pet on a heartworm preventive then it is only a matter of time until your pet gets heartworms even if it is an "inside" pet.

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

I'm very sorry. Is your dog doing any better? My dog usually has his seizures during the full moon, it is very strange. He was on phenobarbital along with the coconut oil and magnesium, last month I had to put him on potassium bromide as well. So the coconut oil and magnesium alone did not stop the seizures. It is very hard to know what to do.. I wish I could be more helpful.

should i discontinue giving my dog phenobarb if i will give her virgin coconut oil and magnesium? Pls. help me as well as my 6 yrs old golden retriever, she's taking phenobarb for almost a year now and yet she's still suffering from seisure, i need your help very urgent coz she's having seisure twice a day for two consecutive day, im so worried...pls reply asap

Heartworms are epidemic in the Gulf Coast area. Dogs WILL get them if no preventative is used. My problem is, I suspect Heartgard is the reason for my Border Collie/Pointer's seizures that have started at 5 yrs old. I'm switching to ProHeart, which use a less toxic chemical, and I'm using a smaller dose than is recommended. I'll have her tested in a couple of months and again after the first big cold spell of 2010, but I'm guessing she will be heartworm free. In addition to decreasing the toxicity of heartworm meds, I'll be using herbal remedies as a back up. If you don't live in this area, you have no idea how bad the mosquitos are. And I refuse to keep my 3 dogs indoors all the time because they need to be outside enjoying life. Good luck to everyone on this thing...

Do you believe the full moon triggers seizures?? I hadn't really thought about that, but my Border Collie/Pointer's big seizure two nights ago happened during the rare full blue moon.

I wanted to add to my previous comment about seizures. I am happy to say that both my dog and my father's dog are still free of their seizures and have been for well over a year. I still believe it was the rosemary because the seizures were "isolated" and only occurred when they both ingested rosemary.

I was researching today about canine seizures because my girlfriend's 13-year old dog just experienced her first seizure. It was one day after ingesting a heartworm pill. So now their dog will never receive that drug again.

I have stopped all vaccinations except rabies because it's the law. But I'm seriously thinking about stopping that too. I read an article from an Veterinarian Immunologist who stated that the initial immunization lasts for life. Repeating every year weakens the immune system. It's no different than our childhood immunizations. We received our shots once and that was it.

Even heartworm pills are scarying me. I was researching to see if there was a mercury preservative in heartworm. I've read that a mercury preservative in vaccines was the cause of autism in children. While doing the search I stumbled upon this site...

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/Plant-induced_seizures.htm

It is so informative and talks about a case study whereby plants do cause seizures in people and in canines. Rosemary was listed, as was a bunch of others.

As for heartworm preventative, I'm now searching for an alternative. I cringe knowing that I have been feeding my dogs poision. Heartworm is from mosquitos and it's not every mosquito that carries the disease. So for now if they are outdoors in the evening, I use a safe mosquito repellant.

I have been in dog rescue for nearly 10 years. This year we associated Dog Seizures to Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever exposure. It costs about $100 to do a Tick Panel to find out if your dog (especially a dog with an unknown history) has been affected. If not treated--tick borne illnesses can cause all kinds of problems while lying dormant in the dog's body. Even if a dog has suffered for years- a good 8 week course of doxycycline can usually help.

If I had a dog with seizures- I would rule this issue out. Testd codes are IDEXX 37161 or Antech SA330.

We do know these diseases can cause brain damage, deafness and aggression besides renal failure.

My 2 1/2 yr old pointer just had a terrifying first seizure. he is on Interceptor which I will stop immediately. But what is this VCO you mention? (" A small amount of VCO in their diet will provide essential fatty acids, and is a natural cure for parasitic host"). Thank you.

Hi... I found an herb that was causing seizures in my black lab. ROSEMARY is known to cause seizures. An online encyclopedia web site states that ROSEMARY can cause convulsions and seizures.

My dog had his first seizure at age 7 and had another one about one year later. Both were unexpected and the vet could not figure it out. After the dog food poisonings I wanted to find an all natural dog food. That dog food caused a seizure in my dog but at the time I did not connect the two. My vet did not either. It wasn't until my Dad stopped by and took some of the food home to try on his dog. Within 3-hours his dog had a seizure. Then I knew to look at food consumption as the cause. I searched the internet all day and finally found something alarming.

The internet stated that there has been an upward swing in dogs and cats both getting seizures. If you look at pet products today, there has been an over whelming amount of ALL NATURAL products and many of them contain ROSEMARY.

I checked the label on that expensive dog food and there it was... ROSEMARY. I then racked my brain to figure out why my dog had a seizure the year before. I then remembered that I was on this kick of eating Triscuits with the Olive Oil and Rosemary flavor. I remember giving my dog a few crackers.

When looking back on both seizures that my dog had, there was the same 3-hour window from when the dog consumed food to having the seizure.

I read every single label including people food before I give anything to my dogs. Neither my dog nor my Dad's dog has had a seizure since we both started reading labels. It's been over a year now. And for the record, the two black labs are not related to each other so it wasn't genetics.

Hi Liz, Lari has had great results with Virgin Coconut Oil. It must be virgin however, the other just isn't the same. Virgin is more expensive, but the other is just for cooking etc.

This is the first full moon that Lari hasn't had a seizure. He has been taking virgin coconut oil since the first of June. I found the dosage on a website that sells it, and they recommended 1 tsp per 10 lbs. I have been giving Lari 3 to 4 tsp. since it does speed up the metabolism and he is on Phenobarbital. It's so hard to know what to do!

He is also on a chicken, veggie, fruit, raw bone diet. I have also added tomato paste, mixed with an egg, oatmeal spinach or whatever i have available. He was always swiping potatoes and tomatoes so i googled and found they are both a good sources of magnesium, which a previous poster had recommended. Heck, i'll try anything and everything!

He's had no problem with loose stools, weight loss or anything else noticeable.

My dog has been experiencing seizures and I am very interested in trying the coconut oil. I was wondering, though, if anyone could tell me how long it takes before it stops the seizures and does it affect dogs as it affects humans(i.e. loose stools, weight loss)? Also, she is about 45lbs, any recommendations on how much to give her? I would really appreciate it if someone got back to me. I desperately want this seizures to stop and really hope this works!

YEA.. Honey really works!!! My mixed breed (Rot, Lab, Chow) has moderate to severe seizures. He was starting into a seizure I ran for the honey. He was not fully into the seizure so he was able to recognize me and able to lick the honey off my fingers; HE CAME OUT OF IT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. He usually is unsteady on his legs and takes him several minutes to hours to come around; again, he immediately was back to himself and needed to go outside.

It works for people too - I have a friend that has a friend with epileptic seizures, I told her about the honey and they were at the store purchasing honey when she had a seizure, they opened the honey and gave her some. She came out of it almost immediately and was amazed.

Jennifer, not too sure if you've found your answer, but in my researching for my yellow lab, I've learned that Magnesium needs calcium to be properly absorbed, so buy magnesium in combination with calcium in the chelated forms of magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate or magnesium gluconate. As for dosages, a medium sized dog would start at 20mg and could go to 50mg/day.

Thank you for your post!! Lari, our Australian/Border Collie has been experiencing seizures since Aug of 08. He was only just over a year old.
It is so very scary, and we hurried to our vet for help. It seems like the typical treatment is put them on meds until they no longer work and then kiss them good-bye. This is obviously not an acceptable treatment. Lari is on 2 phen/morning and night. and still experiencing seizures, on the moon cycles. He has been enjoying his coconut oil 1 tsp/per 10 lbs, and our fingers are crossed that it will help.

Please, let me know if you have had results with this treatment, or any other remedy would be much appreciated!!!!!!!

We love Lari!!! Thank you :)

I read the suggestion for magnesium for seizures for pet. I have a yellow lab who has a seizure about every other week and was going to try it. I needed to know kind of magnesium - there is chelate, chloride, citrate, glycinate, malate, oxide etc. etc. Most are for at least 500mg so i wanted to make sure i got the right one.

Thank you for your help.

I was reading the posts about seizures. My 3 cockers are due for their shots next month. One of them has seizures and I don't want her to have the shots. I have read not to give boosters, but whatabout the rabies? this is truly a remarkable website with wonderful information - what a service to all pet owners!!

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.

I have a three year old Beagle/Jack Russel mix. We got her when she was 9 months old. When she was about 2 years old, she started having seizures. The first time it happened, I didn't know what it was. She was playing with our boxer puppy and they were running, she fell over and landed on top of a duffle bag. When she didn't get up, I went over and noticed that she was shaking. I picked up up and she was stiff and shaking, eyes glazed over and her teeth were clenched. I thought she was scared from the fall. So I was holding her and talking to her and noticed that she was not responding to me at all. Well, then she tried to walk and kept falling down, still shaking. I thought she hurt her leg or something and was going into shock, so I called the vet. He suggested that she was having a seizure. He told me to wait about 10-20 minutes and call him back if she was not any better. Well, she finally was able to walk again...but continued to slobber for about an hour or so afterwards. Since then she seems to have one about once a month sometimes more often, that I know of. She goes in her cage at night and sometimes her blankets smell like urine and we have to wash them. So, I think she's been having some at night or early in the morning before we get up.

I have been feeding her Diamond Dog food for over a year now. I switched to that brand when we got our puppy boxer because it was comparable to Science Diet, but cheaper in price. So, she gets the Adult formula. Reading through these postings, I see some of you have said it helps because of the absence of BHT or whatever is in a lot of dog foods, but for my dog the food additive must not be the problem. Still trying to figure out what is causing her seizures. I'm going to try the coconut oil and see if that helps her.

It is heart breaking to see her go through it and sometimes they last for so long or she will have clusters with little breaks in between.... maybe a minute or less where it looks like she is coming back around and then starts to shake really bad again. All I can do is pet her and tell its okay and she is almost done. I hate watching her go through this.

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.

I have tried the raw food diet and the magnesium with my 2 year old Border Collie "Sadie" to no avail. She went from having 2-3 seizures a day to clustering where she had to be taken to the vet to be issued high doses of phenobarbital to get her out of them. Even with this she would have petite seizures for 2 days afterwards and be a haze for another week. She has grand mal seizure episodes 1-2 times a month. She has been prescribed phenobarbital and potassium bromide twice a day and she still was having seizures. My vet pretty much told me Sadie would eventually have cluster seizures she can't come out of and would probably die from brain damage or would have to be put down.

I found a website on line http://www.gentlecarepet.com I wrote into the lady at the website and her name is Pearl - she recommended several products that detox and calm her nerves. In two months she had one seizure and the seizure formula took her right out of it. If you are struggling with a pet that has seizures or any other problems please check this web site out. It is all natural and it really works - please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss anything. Pearl contacts every person and will recommend what you need for your unique situation.

As someone below said, seizures are not a death sentence, so don't despair. My dog, a border collie mix, began having seizures probably about about 4 years old. We put him on phenobarb at the recommend of the vet and increased or decreased accordingly. When we saw that his seizures had decreased for some time, we decreased the dose ourselves. He has not had a seizure that I have seen in several years now, and I have decreased his meds again. He is now 15 years old, and very active, not heavy, and a joy to have. As an aside, I feed him Ol'Roy dogfood in the bags, as well as people food. He loves vegetables, fruits, salmon, meats.