Marfan - 2014-09-10 2:58 PM Switching my Aussie off of Purina Beneful dogfood to Evolve stopped her seizures.   She had them pretty often for about 3 years.  Very scary.  She had a couple a few months ago and I finally figured out that she had eaten some Beneful at my sister's house, so I think it was not a coincidence.

gypsy1997 - 2014-09-10 3:07 PM Just an FYI-if you are only using Heartgard every other month, it won't work. Not trying to be unfriendly but with the heartworm lifecycle, every other month won't kill all of the immature heartworms. You may still get an infection. Also, in the south, year round prevention is recommended.  

Kaycee - 2014-09-10 1:02 PM I was talking to my breeder yesterday and she was telling me that a lot of the seizures seem to completely stop after a food change to a better food or raw diet.

My girls are all on raw meat diet, mainly beef and chicken.  I decided to switch the one with seizure to only hormone free chicken and no beef because of her liver enzymes being high. We'll see how it all goes. 

Katie's - 2014-09-10 3:54 PM What a little sweetheart!! 

LuckyNGG'sGirl - 2014-09-10 9:41 PM One of our collies suffers from seizures. We give him phenobarbital twice a day at the same time. Also noticed a difference when we switched food and try to keep him on a a meat and vegetables/home cooked kind of diet - hasn't had one in a long time and is a happy dog.

Kaycee - 2014-09-10 3:24 PM Yeah I know that the dosing is lx/mo but there has been some evidence that Ivermectin may be good for over two months.  I have also read that mesquitos may be coming resistant to Ivermectin, too.  It's a confusing world out there and I have to weigh my risks vs benefits with her having seizures, which have been shown to occur with Ivermectin in dogs, and keeping the heartworms at bay.  

lizzy - 2014-09-11 3:17 PM I have a rescue doxie I have had for approximately 5 years.  A couple months ago out of the blue she had a seizure, the first one I didnt realize it was a seizure I thought she was chocking on something. She has about 1 a month. The second time she had one and I realized what it was it was after hours so I called the "on call" vet by the time I gotten a return call she had stopped and the vet said it wouldnt do any good to bring her in just document it and document when she had another. Of course the next one came after hours as well.  I really dont know how old she is but she is extremely afraid of people and I am the only one who can touch her.  We believe she was dumped from a puppy mill as there were 5 of them dumped and all were females who had not been touched much because they were scared to death of us and we had to run them down with our 4 wheeler to catch them.  She is the only one we did not rehome out because she is so timid with people. That is one reason why I hesitate to take her to the vet I dont want it to trigger another seizure.  The only change we have made with her is we put her on trifexus for heartworm and flea protection and I am thinking that may have been what started causing them.  They last for up to 5 minutes and her eyes get completely dialated she drooling and deficates. I do as others have said take her to a quiet dark place and ride it out.  

Stitch4k9 - 2014-09-11 9:44 PM Look at your foods..... Get them off corn, wheat and soy.  Check treats as well.  NO Dyes.  You would not believe the amount of Red dye 40 used in beneful, milk bones, etc..   We have seen some dogs reacting to flax seed.



As for heartworm meds.  Something you should look at and discuss with your Vet.  If your dog is an Aussie, Border Collie, Herding breeds.   They may well be having issues with Ivermectin and other drugs.  Read about MDR1, print info. and discuss it with your vet.   I will take my chances with heartworm over knowingly poisoning my dogs.   



   It is generally helpful to keep a journal.  When the seizure happened, length, food prior, recent vaccinations, heartworm, wormer, etc..  Also exercise,  how hot it was outside, etc..  If the dog has epilepsy it is generally very treatable with meds.  Most vets will want to see a dog asap and run a blood panel. 



karen