Seizures in Dogs and Other Pets
It is certainly heartbreaking and stressful to see your pet suffer with these kinds of problems. Witnessing your precious pet succumb to the convulsions, possible loss of consciousness, expulsion of bodily fluids, or maybe even biting of the tongue, can be traumatic for you as the owner. You immediately want to find out all you can about the problem itself, and what can be done to help prevent such occurrences, if possible.
UNDERSTANDING SEIZURES
Seizures are neurological events involving the misfiring of the neurotransmitters. Classically, true seizures are preceded by an aura, or special feeling associated with a coming seizure. As animals cannot speak, we usually do not notice any changes associated with the aura. The seizure is typically followed by a post-ictal period during which the animal appears disoriented, even blind. This period may last only a few minutes or may last several hours.
Generalized Seizures (Grand Mal)
…Are the most common form of seizure in small animals. The entire body becomes involved in stiffness/contraction cycles (tonic/clonic action). The animal loses consciousness and may urinate or defecate.
Partial Seizures
…Originates from some specific area in the brain and thus involves the activity of a specific region of the body. Partial seizures may eventually "generalize" to involve the whole body.
Psychomotor Seizures
…Are predominantly behavioral with the animal involuntarily howling, snapping, circling, etc. This behavior may be followed by a generalized seizure.
Veterinary Care
In evaluating a pet in question, a vet will likely want to run tests to determine or rule out possible contributors. Blood tests can reveal whether blood sugar or thyroid levels are off. In some cases, a tap of spinal fluid may be drawn to check for an infection in the brain. If nothing is conclusive, then a diagnosis of "idiopathic" (unknown cause) will be made. Anti-convulsion medications like Phenobarbitol or Potassium-Bromide are commonly prescribed, but do carry risks.
Special Cases
Many Collies, Sight Hounds and related breeds are affected by a gene mutation. Affected dogs with this MDR-1 Gene Mutation, can be seriously affected by certain medications and Heartworm treatments. For more, click
HERE
CAUSATIVE FACTORS
Regardless of the actual root problem, whether true epilepsy or other issue, the onset of those seizures is affected by some common factors. In speaking to hundreds of pet owners whose pets are having seizures, we have found two common factors involved in many of the cases. The two factors are Stress and Toxin levels of the body. If you can positively affect either or both of these areas, you can have a positive impact on the frequency or severity of seizure activity.
MANAGING STRESS
For instance, if the mailman showing up gets the dog all excited - jumping, barking, etc. is a form of stress. This excitement, can lead to chemical imbalances in the body that would help promote an episode. So, learning how to control and manage your pet's responses at times like this could help prevent the incident. For training we recommend the Dog Whisperer - Cesar Millan
CLEARING TOXIC BUILD-UP
We believe that the build-up of toxins in the body from the various chemicals and additives found in big-brand foods, snacks, and pet related treatments can be major factors in the proliferation of this sort of ailment. This is one reason we always recommend premium quality foods along with our own nutritional supplements. Feeding NZYMES Antioxidant Treats or Granules provides the body with powerful Antioxidant support. Antioxidants are responsible for cellular detoxification and repair.
For more on this, please advance to the next TAB above, How NZYMES Can Help.
ALSO, FOR FURTHER EDUCATION - REFER TO THE FOLLOWING SITE:
This site will provide you with a great deal of knowledge regarding epilepsy and many good resources. Guardian Angels
Finding Help for Seizures
When calling in for help for seizures, a common theme expressed by our callers is the desire, if possible, to avoid the need for medications like Phenobarbitol or Potassium Bromide, because they are known to carry potentially harsh side effects. We feel that regardless of the nature of the seizure activity, a sound nutritional regimen is always a good idea. Since it is our goal to help people to have the healthiest pets possible, via nutritional means, we make the following recommendations.
First and Foremost – Give NZYMES Antioxidant Treats or Granules to your pet daily. This simple action can greatly help reduce the toxic build up which is at the root of most seizure activity by providing ‘live food' nutrition which is missing from all processed pet foods and even raw fed diets. The NZYMES Treats or Granules are DIETARY enzymes, that is, enzymes that are derived from food sources, and not to be confused with Digestive enzymes.
Secondly – Feed only Super-Premium or Holistic foods and treats. (Recommended List). These foods avoid all of the suspect ingredients, additives, colorings, preservatives, etc found in main line or grocery store level foods. Instead, they are formulated with Human grade ingredients, natural preservation methods, balanced omega fatty acids, incorporation of digestive enzymes and microbials, and they utilize special methods (chelation or sequestering) to protect the vitamin/mineral content of the food. These methods help prevent the break-down of the vitamin/mineral structure of the food while stored in the bag, and protects them from being destroyed by stomach acids, greatly increasing the delivery of these vital nutrients to the small intestine for absorption. The minerals, in particular, are instrumental in running the body's electrical system. This is very important when dealing with a neurological problem like Epilepsy/Seizures.
Thirdly – If your pet must be vaccinated, receive flea or heartworm medication, undergo surgical procedures, or endure any period of increased stress, it is important to double the usage of the Treats or Granules 1-2 days prior and 4-7 afterwards. This will help to increase the body's detoxification ability, and lessen the impact of these problematic factors.
Additional note: - If your pet is already taking a prescription medication for Seizures, we are NOT suggesting to discontinue using them. We would highly recommend following our recommendations outlined above. If you note that your pet is seizure free for 2-3 months, you should consult with your vet about the possibility of lowering the dosage in stages, with the overall goal of weaning the pet off of them if possible. All changes to medications should be recommended only by a Veterinary professional.
For correct usage of Nzymes Products
In order to provide effective help for your Pet for seizure issues, two things are recommended:
Provide your pet with the Normal recommended SERVING of either the NZYMES Antioxidant Treats or the Granules daily. However, we always recommend starting out with a 2-week DOUBLING PERIOD, where the Normal serving is doubled for 14-15 days - in order to get a really strong start in clearing toxin levels from the body. If your pet has has very significant seizure issues, it may be advantageous to extend the doubling period by two or more weeks - to effect greater processing of TOXIN removal from the bodily systems.
Also, you may have to guage the benefit received from the standard serving. If the pet gets stabilized and does well on the standard serving - after the doubling period - and thereby is experiencing very infrequent episodes, or none at all, then that is great - and is what we hope for. But, for serious cases, with true epilepsy or whatever, more than the standing serving may be needed for an extended period of time. It is best to let the body "tell you" what it needs in such circumstances. These products can be safely doubled, or more, for as long as necessary.
