Seizure and Erratic Behavior

[applepie88]

About two months ago my 3 year old Jack-a-Bee went into a mild seizure.  We rushed him to the vet and he couldn't find anything wrong.  Said that it's common for dogs to have seizures and to keep a log if he has anymore.  Exactly one month after his first he had his second one in the middle of the night.  This is when I decided that maybe his weight had something to do with it.  So I cut back on the amount of food I gave him and started walking him for 20 minutes every day.

Just recently he has been trying to eat a lot of grass and occasionally he will start acting erratically.  He will go and hide in his kennel and act as though he is afraid of something.  Could this be related to his seizures or is something else going on entirely?  I'm really very worried because I'm so attached to him, he's like my own child.  

[SueBarue]

There are a lot of good quality dog foods available. Example: Core, Merrick, Blue, Taste of the Wild, etc.  Look for foods that contain no corn, wheat, or soy. First ingredient should be a real meat, not by products. My Westie was pooping blood and throwing up when I first got her. The breeder was feeding Iams and Eukanuba, and sometimes Science Diet.Those are not good either. I switched her to grain-free dogfood about 5 years ago and haven't had any more problems. So no more vet bills! Her ear infections cleared up too.

[Sammy4444]

Does anyone know of a food considered to be the best?  My dog is also haveing seizures and we  have fed her Purina Pro Plan since the day we got her.  I see that is on the bad list! :(  

Thanks for any help. I would like to change her food tomorrow!

[applepie88]

Thanks so much for the info.  I'll switch up his food to see if it helps.  Thank God we finally have a Pet Smart around my area.  I"ll have to go in there and check stuff out.

[Misfits4Me]

I have to believe it's his food that's causing the seizures.......Good luck & let us know how he's doing......Karla

From Dogfood Scoop.com


Here, you will find our Bad Dog Food List. These commercial dog food brands are, in our opinion, the worst dog foods on the market!

We give them a disgusted 0 Scoops!

Our personal recommendation is that you take a good look at these dog food names and memorize them.

Now!  Tuck your tail between your legs and run for the hills!

See here for a glimpse of what really goes on behind the commercial dog food industry.

These dog foods contain the worst dog food ingredients you will find! They are comprised mainly of by-products; carcinogenic flavors and preservatives; cheap, unhealthy fillers, and ... Heaven only knows what else!

In addition, we have no respect for the philosophy of these pet food companies. In our opinion, they are clearly dedicated to their bottom line with a total disregard for the health and well-being of our beloved furry companions.

They are truly a far cry from the best dog foods available!

It is highly unlikely that any of these awful supermarket brands on our list of Bad Dog Foods will be carried or recommended by any respectable, independent dog food store.


Worst Dog Food Rating - Zero Scoops!

0 SCOOPS

THE VERY WORST DOG FOODS ON THE MARKET

    Abady Dog Food
    Alpo Dog Food
    Beneful Dog Food
    Bil Jac Dog Food
    Diamond Dog Food (Plain, Regular Formula)
    Good Life Recipe
    Iams Dog Food
    Kasco Dog Food
    Kibbles 'n Bits Dog Food
    Ol' Roy Dog Food
    Pedigree Dog Food
    Purina Pro Plan Dog Food
    Purina One Dog Food
    Science Diet Dog Food
    Tuffy's Dog Food

[Misfits4Me]

Alpo Dog Food (Dry)
by Mike Sagman

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Alpo dry dog food receives the Advisor’s lowest rating of 1 star.

The Alpo Dog Food product line includes 2 kibbles, each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.

    Alpo Come and Get It Cookout Classics
    Alpo Prime Cuts Savory Beef Flavor

Alpo Come and Get It Mixed Grill dog food was chosen to represent both products in the line for this review.
Alpo Come and Get It Cookout Classics

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Ingredients: Ground yellow corn, corn germ meal, meat and bone meal (source of pork flavor), soybean meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), egg and chicken flavor, corn gluten meal, animal digest, salt, dried peas, potassium chloride, natural steak flavor, natural grill flavor, choline chloride, added color (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2), zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 6.3%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
Estimated Nutrient Content
Method Protein Fat Carbs
Guaranteed Analysis 21% 8% NA
Dry Matter Basis 24% 9% 59%
Calorie Weighted Basis 23% 21% 56%

The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

For this reason, we do not consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.

The second ingredient lists corn germ meal, a meal made from ground corn germ after much of the oil has been removed. Corn germ meal is a protein-rich by-product left over after milling corn meal, hominy grits and other corn products.

The third ingredient is meat and bone meal, a dry “rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.1

Meat and bone meal can have a lower digestibility than most other meat meals.

Scientists believe this decreased absorption may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.2

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. It doesn’t even specify the source animal.

Even though meat and bone meals are still considered protein-rich meat concentrates, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.

The fourth item is soybean meal. Soybean meal is actually a useful by-product. It’s what remains of soybeans after all the oil has been removed.

Soybean meal contains 48% protein. However, compared to meat, this item is considered an inferior plant-based protein providing a lower biological value.

The fifth ingredient is beef tallow, a fatty by-product of rendering beef meal. It is high in saturated fats (which really isn’t the health issue for dogs like it can be for humans).

Historically, tallow was used to make soap and candles. But today due to its low cost, this fat is almost exclusively associated with lower quality pet foods.

After the egg and chicken flavor, we find corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.

Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins lower in many of the essential amino acids dogs need for life.

This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.

The eighth ingredient is animal digest. Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts from unspecified animals. This product is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With four notable exceptions…

First, we’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.

Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you, not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his kibble is?

Next, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly microorganisms applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

Thirdly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

And lastly, this Alpo dog food product also contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

Alpo Dry Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Alpo dry dog food appears to be a below-average kibble.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 24%, a fat level of 9% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 59%.

As a pair, the two products feature an average protein content of 24% and an average fat level of 10%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate portion size of 58% for the overall product line.

Below-average protein and fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Yet when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the corn germ, corn gluten and soybean meals, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a limited amount of meat.

What more, it’s hard to ignore the notable abundance of Red Flag ingredients.

Bottom line?

Alpo Dog Food is a corn-based kibble using only a limited amount of meat and bone meal as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 1 star.

Not recommended.

[Misfits4Me]

From Dogfood Advisor.com:


Kibbles ‘n Bits receives the Advisor’s lowest rating of 1 star.


The Kibbles ‘n Bits product line includes 8 dry dog foods. However, since we’re unable to locate AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these dog foods on the Kibbles ‘n Bits website, it’s impossible for us to report specific life stage recommendations for these recipes.

The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.

    Kibbles ‘n Bits Small Breed
    Kibbles ‘n Bits ‘n Beefy Bits
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Weight Maintenance
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Meals Grilled Chicken
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Homestyle Roasted Chicken
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Homestyle Grilled Beef Steak
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Meals Oven Roasted Beef
    Kibbles ‘n Bits Original Savory Beef and Chicken Flavor

Kibble ‘n Bits Original Savory Beef and Chicken Flavor was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
Kibbles 'n Bits Original Savory Beef and Chicken Flavor

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Ingredients: corn, soybean meal, beef and bone meal, ground wheat flour, animal fat (BHA used as preservative), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol, salt, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, sorbic acid (used as a preservative), sodium carbonate, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), calcium sulfate, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40, BHA (used as a preservative), dl methionine

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.9%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
Estimated Nutrient Content
Method Protein Fat Carbs
Guaranteed Analysis 19% 8% NA
Dry Matter Basis 23% 10% 59%
Calorie Weighted Basis 22% 23% 56%

The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

For this reason, we do not consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.

The second ingredient is soybean meal. Soybean meal is relatively useful by-product — what remains of soybeans after all the oil has been removed.

Although soybean meal contains 48% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The third item lists beef and bone meal, a dry rendered product from (beef) tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.1

Beef and bone meal has a lower biological value than most other meat meals.

Scientists believe this decreased protein quality may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.2

On the brighter side, beef and bone meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh meat.

In any case, beef and bone meal is not considered a better quality dog food ingredient.

The fourth item is wheat. Wheat is nutritionally similar to corn and subject to corn’s same shortcomings and problems.

The fifth ingredient is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of rendering, the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.

Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this item could come from almost anywhere: restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle — even (although unlikely) euthanized pets.

What’s worse, this fat is preserved with BHA, a suspected cancer-causing agent.

We do not consider generic animal fat preserved with BHA a quality ingredient.

The sixth ingredient is corn syrup. Corn syrup consists mainly of glucose, a sugar capable of causing an unhealthy rise in a dog’s blood sugar.

The seventh ingredient is wheat middlings, commonly known as “wheat mill run”. Though it may sound wholesome, wheat mill run is actually an inexpensive by-product of cereal grain processing.

In reality, wheat middlings are nothing more than milling dust and floor sweepings — and an ingredient more typically found in the lower quality pet foods.

After water, we find animal digest. Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed mixture of animal by-products that is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With four notable exceptions…

First, this Kibbles ‘n Bits product contains the controversial food moisturizer, propylene glycol. Propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in making cat food.

But it can still be found to this day in lower quality dog foods.

Next, we’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food. Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you, not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his kibble is?

Thirdly, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing to help with digestion.

And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

Kibbles ‘n Bits Dry Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Kibbles ‘n Bits appears to be a below-average dry dog food.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 23%, a fat level of 10% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 59%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 24% and an average fat level of 10%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate portion size of 58% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 39%.

Below-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Yet when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the soybean meal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a limited amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Kibbles ‘n Bits dog food is a plant-based kibble using only a limited amount of beef and bone meal as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 1 star.

Not recommended.

[applepie88]

I've read about the whole dog food thing and that's crossed my mind.  The only dog food I've ever bought for him was Alpo cause that what he seems to like the most.  He's had nothing but Alpo for 3 years with the occasional Kibbles and Bits so I'm gonna try to switch up the food.  But thanks so much with your help.

[applepie88]

Well both times he was just lying up in bed sleeping.  But I know the second time it happened my nephew had him SO wound up that day from playing with him.  My mom said he just suddenly stopped and started acting funny.  So after that I've been trying to keep him relatively calm to see if that helps.

[Misfits4Me]

Hello Applepie.....First, Seizures may be common, but they shouldn't be......My first thought after reading your question is that it's something you do monthly that may be causing the seizure activity....Your going to need to play detective!

Have you thought about chemicals that you may give regularly that could be the cause? The reason I ask is I have a friend that's little Chi (About the same age) started having seizures.....The cause was finally narrowed down to the heartworm medication he was on.....Once he was traded to a different brand (Different chemical), the seizures stopped......

Flea & tick products (Including shampoos) can also be your culprit.....Any of these products purchased from the grocery store or walmart can be deadly! That includes flea/tick shampoos.....

Chemical preservatives, dangerous ingredients & dyes in low quality pet food can cause them......That would include prescription foods from your Vet! The three Most dangerous chemicals used in Petfood are BHA, BHT, & Ethoxyquin.....BHA & BHT are used as preservatives to make a product last longer....They are known to cause cancer, SEIZURES, Kidney & organ failure, yet are still used in inferior petfoods.....These have been banned for Human consumption.....Read the ingredients list on the dogfood you serve...If any of these chemicals are listed, you may have found your answer......Artificial coloring agents can cause these problems, too...You will find these ingredients only in Inferior Grocery store & Discount centers......

Ethoxyquin (Another chemical preservative) was originally developed to use in the Rubber making industry....It's a known Herbicide AND Pesticide and causes Cancer! Again, still used in Low quality Pet foods.......


Any chemical going into or on your dog could be the source.....That would also include FOOD....In your free time, you need to look into a fresh food diet for your pet & do research on how toxic most commercial brands of food really are......

Yard chemicals, floor chemicals, toxic water, etc., are other sources......

I don't know about the erratic behavior....I would need more details on that.....Unusual grass eating IMO is an upset stomach......

Anyway, just wanted to give you some ideas to think about......I do hope you find the source...AT least, give it some thought...Let me know what you think.....Karla

[morgance]

Not exactly the same but I have a now 2 year old cat who not only has a heart murmur (with no actual issues with her heart) but a seizure disorder as well. She had two minor episodes before with discussion with my primary vet and then a neurological consult/evaluation we put her on prednesode(can't spell it but its an anti-seizure meds), my advice would be to talk to your vet about possible causes and see if you have a neurologist in the area that you can have your dog taken to for evaluation. Were there any similarities between the seizures? like loud noises or excitement like the doorbell? good luck i know how you feel.