Seizures in Pets

Seizures are scary when you first notice them in your pet. My dog Tags has them and even though he is almost 11 years old, it is still scary when he has one.  If your pet has seizures please take them to the vet and get them tested to make sure that they are caused by another underlining condition. Some causes of Seizures in pets are:

1. A Blow to the head
2. Calcium Deficiencies (usually in nursing mothers)
3. End stage heartworm disease
4. Toxic plants
5. Chemicals
6. Fertilizers
7. Poisoning.
8. Blood Glucose that is to high
9. Certain disease can cause seizures

Below are some items that may cause seizures but may not be able to found with blood work.

1. Allergies to certain foods or ingredients
2. Stress in the household

The most common way to control seizures in both people and animals is with Phenobarbital. Tags was on it for about a year. It does have adverse side effects, that I was told would go away with time and they did not.  He was always tired and didn’t want to play anymore so he gain weight and he was always drinking water and because of that always going to the bathroom, sometimes in his sleep. If you animal is on Phenobarbital, you will go in and have blood work done to make sure that the medication is not doing damage to their liver. Luckily it didn’t to any to Tags, but he had to have blood work every 3 months while on it.  I looked at ways to prevent seizures and since the vet decided that they were minor we took him off the medication, but please consult with your vet before removing your pet off any medications that they are.
Some natural ways to treat Seizures in animals:

1. Changing your animal’s diet.  You can try feeding an all organic and natural food, if they have food allergies remove that food from their diet completely. Tags is allergic to corn so we do not buy any food with corn or corn syrup in it.  You can also try to feed an all raw diet to your pet.
2. Use an all natural remedy to help with the seizures. An example I found was called EaseSure Which can be purchased here.
3. Do nothing, we treat Tags after he has his seizures with rescue remedy and watch him to make sure that he is doing fine.  He has not had a seizure in a few years and we are grateful for that, we still have to watch him to make sure that he is doing fine.

I hope that this gives you hope if your pet has seizures or if you were worried about them.  Please note that I am not a vet and this is not to give medical advice, please check with your vet for any treatments that you choose to do with your pet, but that it does give you hope that you do not have to treat your pet with drugs that can be harmful for them. 

In case you’re wondering, Tags use to have seizures 3 times a day before we put him on Phenobarbital, He went down to having them 1 a week while on the Phenobarbital but he was not a happy dog. I took him off after year and he has only had about 5 in the last 7 years.  I am a firm believer in the quality life versus of quantity of life. I wanted him to be able to play and be happy again, so that is the reason, I took him off, but please check with your vet before taking your pet off any medication, mine agreed to wean him off it and it took about 3 months to get off completely, but it was success for us, but it may not be for you and your pet.