I have a Golden Retriever that is two years old and is having seizures now for just about a year. Our vet has prescribed phenobarbital, which I give 6 pills a day. Three in the morning and three in the evening. He is also on thyroid medication. He still has seizures, but not as frequently and we are still experimenting with his dose.
I have tried changing his diet to raw food. I am constantly checking the garden for mushrooms and fungus of any kind and I don't use harsh chemicals. His seizures started the summer of 2004 just after he had surgery on both eyes. Apparently the bottom lashes of his eyes rolled into the eye ball and caused irritation. In the meantime we were installing a new lawn and sprinkler system. I top soiled the entire yard with quality soil from a highly reputable source.
Mushrooms are prevalent all year. Our vet thought the mushrooms were causing the seizures. With mowing and daily picking has kept this under control. If anyone out there is going through this or has experienced this problem with their pet please reply. Any information could be helpful.
Another thing, Cosmo, our Golden Retriever is a male and his weight is about 115 pounds which I hear is a very large Golden yet he's not overweight for his size. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Arlen
I have a Collie that also has seizures. She, too, takes phenobarbitol every night before bed. However, she only takes 1 pill each night. 6 pills seems like an awful lot to me. Have you gotten a second opinion on the dog's problem? My vet told me that he considers her seizures to be under control if she has 2 per year or less. We have so far been under control. I would suggest a second opinion. (07/23/2005)
By Robin
I breed dogs and have found in the past 2 yrs that I'm hearing a lot about seizures in any type of breed, purebred or Heinz 57. Many of which are not being controlled by epileptic medication to the point that the dog is having to be put to sleep.
In all cases the owners had used, and I'm not saying it "is", but suggesting that it is being caused by a certain multipurpose heartworm, flea, earmite medication. It starts with "R" and some dogs are having a reaction to it. I was tipped off by a person who works at a pet insurance company that there were many claims coming in for dogs for liver or kidney (sorry can't recall which one) problems and this was the link.
By Karen from Niagara Falls, Ontario
I have a 3 yr old Boston Terrier that we found a little over a year ago and she also has seizures and takes 5 1/2 phenobarbital a day. She weighs about 20 lbs and the vet does blood work often to keep a check on the levels of everything. Her vet talked with a neurologist before going from 2 up to the 5 1/2. She is on a special diet of low or no protein. It is prescription feed LD made by Hills. She was still having some trouble and I found it that it was the tomatoes that she was eating, also canned carrots will cause her to have a seizure. The vet suggested frozen green beans for treats and Angel likes them frozen or cooked. It is very hard not to give her any people food except fruit and veggies.
By Lhouselover
I have a 6 year old Pug that was having seizures.To make a long story short, we traced it back to him gulping down ice cream. Then we narrowed it down to anything cold from the refrigerator ie. canned dog food. We quit and he has not had a seizure for a year now. (07/23/2005)
By Randianne
I also have a dog with seizures. She is a Rat Terrier. She started having them when she turned a year old, right after we applied Frontline Plus, for fleas and ticks. I'm not saying that is was the reason why the seizures started, but since we stopped applying it, they went away. She has been seizure free for two years now. I'm thinking it might of been an allergic reaction to the chemicals in it. My dog is now chemical free, and seizure free. (07/23/2005)
By Tammy Mohl
I have had sighthounds for many years and I'm seeing more and more seizures in my breed, but not in my dogs. Most have been traced back to recent applications of topical flea products and/or heartworm medications. Most vets won't say that's what's causing it, but until very recently, they refused to accept that dogs do not need yearly vaccinations. I have blood titers drawn on my dogs every year and they still have vaccine in their systems, enough to ensure fighting off diseases, after 7 years. Imagine what getting the shots every year must do to the poor animal. (07/24/2005)
By Roberta
My girlfriend had a dog that had seizures, it turned out to be she was only feeding it IAMS Rolled Meats, she would slice it thick and not give it any dry food. As soon as she quit giving it such rich food the dog was all better. Talk to another vet and see what they think. Also try web searches specific to your breed and problem and maybe someone can help you. Good luck. (07/25/2005)
Oops I forgot. Yep that's what I meant by "rich" food too much protein. My dogs love green beans. I had a cat that went nuts to get to my green beans.
Good luck. (07/25/2005)
Our Golden Retriever also had mild seizures. We did not do the extensive and expensive testing, but working on the suggestion that many dogs are sensitive/allergic to artificial colors, we did some experimenting with her diet. We switched her to Diamond brand Lamb and Rice dry food which contains no artificial colors. She has been seizure-free for four years now.
Once you start really reading the ingredient panels you will be shocked at how many things contain artificial colors. The dogs don't care, the companies color the stuff to make the people think it looks tastier! Most treats and dog biscuits also contain artificial colors. I can't say for sure that this will work for you, but it worked for us, with the same breed of dog. It might be worth a try. I forgot to tell you, Diamond dog food is not all that expensive, either! We buy it in 40-pound bags at a feed store (we are in a rural area). Good luck! (07/29/2005)
By Becki in IN
My 6-year-old Golden Retriever started having seizures in July 2005. He had three seizures, each three months apart. He was eating IAMS. In January, I started cooking homemade dog food (chicken, rice, vegetables) for both of my dogs, adding calcium and a little flax seed oil. It has been eight months and he has not had any seizures. I wonder if it was something in the food. One seizure occurred after I had poured the last of a bag of dry IAMS into his bowl, including the powdery residue at the bottom of the bag. Anyway, he takes no drugs. I also give him a few drops of the flower extract Rescue Remedy when he appears nervous, such as during thunder storms. Hope that helps someone. (09/23/2006)
By Patty from Tampa
Our chocolate Lab has had seizures for almost two years now. Nothing worked. Phenobarbital did nothing. He continued to have at least one seizure a month and clusters about every three months. And the phenobarbital made him ravenously hungry. Two things that we changed and he has had one seizure in the last three months, (1) we put him on potassium bromide (it is also not as hard on his system as the phenobarbital. (2) we stopped using Frontline. Everything is good right now. Try both these steps before the phenobarbital. Phenobarbital is terrible for your dog. (04/13/2007)
By Pat
I own an organic pest control company and have several customers who have switched over to me because their dog was having seizures. It turned out to be related to their pest control and/or lawn care providers. They canceled the services and switched to me and haven't had any problems since. (06/12/2007)
By Adam
Hello, my name is Cyndi and I own a Siberian Husky. Zeus turned 8 years old this April, and in December of 08 he began having seizures. My vet told me that he was an epileptic, but I didn't believe that. During my research I have found that there are several things that can cause seizures, but I never thought it could be flea and tick control that the vet sells. I just want to say "Thank You" for sharing. I had no idea. Since you have so nicely shared your info, please allow me to share mine.
What you DO NOT want in your dogs food:
Corn, wheat, soy, artificial colors, artificial flavors, sugar, beef tallow, by-products, BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and/or ground yellow corn, whole grain corn, ground whole wheat, wheat flour, whole grain sorghum, nor any type of gluten.
Seizures can be caused by many conditions:
Basically, anything that affects their well being
There are types of seizures:
There are phases of seizures:
What you need to do if your dog has a seizure:
Try to remain calm. Don't make any loud noises. To prevent injury to your pet, remove nearby sharp or hard objects (e.g.; tables and chairs). Turn out any bright lights. Observe your pet closely. Keep track of when it started, how long it lasted, and what his/her actions were.
Soothe your pet by gently talking, or petting if you feel no danger.
Call your veterinarian.
I hope this helps someone! Thank you for your info. (05/08/2009)
By Cyndi
For the guy that has a Golden Retriever. Seizures are a common genetic defect in those breeds. Even if you pick up your mushrooms you still mow the lawn with a mower and there is still residue of fungus on your ground and you just spread it with a mower. Do the math. Its easy to look at an easy thing to blame things on, and not saying the chemicals don't contribute to it, but there are other things that are also proven you need to look at the entire picture. (10/02/2009)
By earl
For the one the has the 8 year old American Eskimo. I'm a 6 generation owner of Spitz dogs. Seizures are common in some of their genetics as well. It has nothing to do with surgeries or Frontline. It has 100 percent to do with genetics, and around the 8 to 9 year old is exactly the time they start to happen and will be something you'll have to deal with until the dog passes on. (10/02/2009)
By earl
For all the others pushing blame on the the Frontline product. Do yourself all a huge favor. Allow your vet to do the blood work and see what shows up. If there is traces of the chemical then maybe the dosage wasn't as directed or applied correctly. Also, Frontline gets the blame for a lot of organo phosphate products, but people buy things at Walmart and just call it Frontline when its not. I've used the product since day one and never had a problem ever. You to see the whole story. What else is going on? Did anyone do a EEG? or blood work?
Seizures have too many causes and its just too easy to get on the band wagon to blame something that may or may not of caused your problem. You need to trust your vet and if you don't find a qualified one that will give you an honest answer based on facts and actual tests, not hear say and rumors and internet gossip and bandwagon type issues. No I don't work for Frontline nor do I own stock in the company. I've just seen too many people blaming stuff on something for no reason other than they heard it on the grapevine. And many of those people you can't tell them otherwise because they only want to hear what they want to hear and won't hear anything else.
I've seen people spray their dogs with Sevin bug killer in a liquid form and called it Frontline. Even brought in the product and you still couldn't tell them they poisoned their dog via stupidity. (10/02/2009)
By earl
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