Mini seizures

[Tbeam]

Hi, I have a 6 yr old German Shepherd and about a week ago I went to give her vitamins and fish oil tablets and her mouth was clenched close. I then noticed the top of her head looked like she had a muscle spasms as if was jumping and when I felt it, it felt like a muscle spasm. In the next 5 minutes it happened angina and my son said over the weekend (we were out of town) he noticed her front leg stiffened up and was to her side. My husband took her to the vet and he did blood work, but everything came back good. He gave us steroids thinking it was an Inflammation causing muscle spasms. The next two days seemed to be ok and then it started happening again where the jaw would clench shut (cutting her tongue a few times) and the pulsing On the top of her head, it would go on for about 5-10 seconds and she would whimper then done. He took her back to the vet and it happened while he was there so he put her on phenobarbital. 1.5 tablets every 12 hours. I'm concerned that we really don't know what the cause is and it came in all of a sudden and the medication could cause liver failure plus she has I continuance since being fixed when she was a year old and that can also possibly cause liver problems. Has anyone ever heard of this type of problem before? Is there something else it could be?

Thank you

[Tbeam]

Tony, Thank you for all the great information I will read your article .

[tonyb286]

Hi. There are things in pupperoni I wouldn't feed my dogs. These include sodium (salt), onion extract, butylated hydroxyanisole used as a preservative (the Environmental Working Group gives BHA a rating of 10.  This is the highest level of concern possible in their database.), soya grit (dogs can be allergic to this), and meat by-products. Meat by-products are a very general term and it doesn't clarify what part of the animal it comes from - so BEEF may mean intestines, hooves, and so on.

On the dry food ... well, I have a real thing about dogs being fed dry food. If you want to read what I think about it, please read my article below, which was heavily researched:

http://www.infobarrel.com/Why_Dry_Dog_Food_Is_Bad_For_Dogs

Tony

[Tbeam]

Tony,
This is great information. Just to clarify (stupid auto correct) I am not giving my dogs pepperoni, I am giving them pupperoni dog treats. And on the dog food it is the dry and once a week or so I mix in a can of canned food.

[Tbeam]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for getting back to me. I have fed them (I have two that are sisters, I lost mom delivering the babies) eukanuba since they were young. They also get a glucosamine Tablet (adult human 1200 mg) 1 x a day, a multi vitamin (dog vitamins) 2 x a day, and a fish oil tablet (adult human 1,000mg) 2 x a day. There treats every morning are a half a pepperoni and the waggin train chicken jerky dog treats from SAMs club. My husband did just spray the hard with roundup recently?? Other than that they might get some people food in their dinner once or twice a week and usually only chicken. We had the blood tests and everything came back normal, The vet said he didn't think it was a brain tumor. It is just weird how it came in all of a sudden.

Thank you, Trisha

[tonyb286]

Hi trisha.
The spraying with Roundup is a massive Red Flag to me. I would suggest having a read of this at the link below:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/neurological/c_multi_organophosphate_carbamate_toxicity

Some dogs are not seriously affected by things like RoundUp ... but others more suceptible to toxaemia are. Even small amounts can have alarming consequences. If your dog chewed on anything the RoundUp was sprayed on - or got any on her paws and then subsequently licked her paws - then there's a real possibility she became acutely poisoned and this could have brought on the seizures. Don't feel guilty about this - we all use products like this, sometimes without truly knowing how dangerous they can be to our pets.

The other concern is HUMAN vitamins, glucosomide and fish oil. Human supplements such as these are designed for humans, and dogs have a completely different metabolism. Never use human grade products on dogs. Human grade products are commonly much too strong and too concentrated, but they also often have things like articficial sweeteners that are safe for humans but extremely poisonous to dogs.

Unfortunately, I also have concerns about Waggin Train jerky treats - in fact, I have concerns about all jerky treats, because they have been at the centre of an enormous problem, with some dogs dying from contaminated imported parts of the products (usually Chinese sourced). Although Waggin Trains products were not involved in the 2007 to 2015 scare, I would still would not consider feeding my own dogs ANY jerky treats. You can check with the FDA about the Chinese Jerky treats - or my own website at www.tonyboothwriter.com

Pepperoni has onion and garlic in it. These should never be given to dogs. Onions particularly are very toxic to the canine digestive tract. You may want to read this article of mine about human foods that some give wrongly to dogs:

http://www.infobarrel.com/Everyday_Foods_That_Are_Poisonous_To_Dogs

On the positive side ... Eukanuba is a good dog food. I'm assuming you are giving wet (canned) Eukanuba and not the dry varieties?

Sorry to give you a few possible reasons there for your dog having seizures ... but better to know about them than not, right?

[Tbeam]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for getting back to me. I have fed them (I have two that are sisters, I lost mom delivering the babies) eukanuba since they were young. They also get a glucosamine Tablet (adult human 1200 mg) 1 x a day, a multi vitamin (dog vitamins) 2 x a day, and a fish oil tablet (adult human 1,000mg) 2 x a day. There treats every morning are a half a pepperoni and the waggin train chicken jerky dog treats from SAMs club. My husband did just spray the hard with roundup recently?? Other than that they might get some people food in their dinner once or twice a week and usually only chicken. We had the blood tests and everything came back normal, The vet said he didn't think it was a brain tumor. It is just weird how it came in all of a sudden.

Thank you, Trisha

[tonyb286]

Hi. Seizures like this can be caused by many things. It is often best to first look at the easiest to discount - so it's important to look at food. Cheap manufactured dog foods (dry food even more so) have bad things in them that can cause seizures. Treats often have bad things in them too - and it's always essential to source where they have come from and how they have been stored. Good quality pet food is easy to identify and tend to cause less issues, even in dogs prone to seizures. So, first task, let me know everything you are feeding your best friend.

Poor quality dog food often has toxins, artificial colorants, artificial flavorings, and chemical preservatives - all can cause seizure reactions. Toxins used in the home or garden can also cause seizures - so check everything you are using (sprays, lotions, etc.), to see if your dog has had access to them. Garden pesticides and weedkillers are the worst of this bunch of potential problems.

The next possibility is a brain tumor. Your vet should be able to help identify if this is the cause, but be aware that investigative tests can be stressful for your dog and they are expensive, so make sure you get as much information as you can before deciding whether to proceed.

Seizures can also be genetic. A genetic issue would involve the neurological systems of your dog and this is something very difficult to identify, if not virtually impossible.

You can help reduce liver problems by adding Milk Thistle as a supplement to your dog's food. Make sure you talk this over with your vet first though.

Once you have let me have your dog's diet details, we can talk about other issues.

Tony