Fits and strange behaviour

Question
My dog has started having seizures in the last couple of years.  Should she be eating any preprepared dog foods or dry foods or should I have her on a totally raw diet.  We also live near a nickel refinery and I was wondering if any residue in the soil or environment could be affecting her.  I think she is a cross of some terrier and chihuahua but not exactly sure, neither is our vet.  Our vet has told me to time her seizures because she really doesnt want to medicate her if they are not frequent enough or threatening enough as the medication has side effects and is not really good for her in the long term.  For me to see her fitting is really distressing.  Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Answer
Hi Dominique!

Most seizures are serious and severe.During a seizure,the dog will fall to the ground,foam at the mouth,shake and his eyes will go all crazy.Make sure that during a seizure,he is not near any dangerous or sharp objects.You can try petting him and calming him down during his seizure.After his seizure,he will smell.He might pee on the floor during the seizure.After a seizure,it is possible he could go blind for 5 minutes and he will walk into things.You should watch him realy closely after a seizure.Sometimes,dogs have such a severe seizure that they never come out of it and they have to be put to sleep.After a seizure,he could forget lots of things and act like he does not know where he is,who his owners are and he will freak out.Also,be sure to keep him away from stairs be cause that can be very dangerous falling down them.

As far as treats and dog food, I would stay away from ANYTHING that has preservatives that aren't natural such at the BHA/BHT as well as red food dye/color.

I would recommend feeding an ALL-Natural diet  such as those made by Innova, Flint River Ranch, Nutro Natural, Natural Balance, Wysong, Eagle Pack, Precise....available at bigger pet stores. For treats I would recommend giving vegetables like carrots, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower. Also it is good to get a food that does NOT have BY-PRODUCTS because that could be anything from skin, intestines, bones, brains, feathers, etc. Some dogs are allergic to wheat, corn and soy.

Did your dog ever have any blood work checked? If not, I would recommend checking kidney and liver function as well as blood counts, thyroid level and screening for Lyme Disease as any abnormalities may be contributing to the seizures.

The treat will process through his system fairly quickly (1 day); however, I do not know how long the preservative may stay in his system after absorption. I would definitely throw those treats away!

Some seizure medications are Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide anti-seizure medication. I recommend that any dog having seizures be put on a B-Complex vitamin and for him I would give him a B50 twice a day.NEVER GIVE ONIONS or veggies that have been cooked with onions. You can feed raw or cooked veggies...canned or frozen. If giving canned veggies, make sure to rinse first because of the salt. I would avoid corn as they don't digest it very well.

Treats should not trigger siezures unless there is something called a portocaval shunt, which would have been detected very early in life.

You can crush up the veggies and mix them with dog food....or puree them with chicken breast meat.

I would give about 15-20% of his total diet  as veggies.

You should take him to the vet and have the vet check his back and hips as well as screen for vestibular disease. He may need x-rays.


This could be due to an underlying liver problem . Again, take him to the vet for an exam and I would have blood tests run.

He could have brain damage. There is nothing really to do.

I do know a lot about seizures from my life experince.My dog has seizures adn he is a Germand Shephard.He started out with having one big seizure.Then after we gave him a certain treat he started having more,so now he has to have one certain treat and it cannot be changed.He would always walk into walls and bump into people and would forget everything and everyone.Sometimes,he even went blind.

I would recommend you should take him to the vet.

Also,you can try going to google.ca and type in this search word:  

                   "Seizures in dogs"

If you want,you can type in other search words too.After you search the web with your search words,a whole bunch of links will come up.You can just click on any one of them you want too and a lot of information will come up.

I hope this has been helpful and I wish you the best of luck!Please keep me posted and give that doggie dog millions of kisses for me!Sending wagging tails your way!
Nicole