My 1 year old german shepherd is suffering from severe seizures. He has been diagnosed with epilepsy and is on medication. I have also been in touch with the breeder who recommended some homepathic remedies to help and urged me to find a homeopathic vet in my area. So far I have had no luck with that but I am still looking. His seizures began after he got vaccinated and started heartworm medication. Any connection?
I’d like to wean him off his medication if possible. Please help. Thank You
I know of NO “homeopathic remedies” that are proven to be useful in treating seizures successfully in dogs. If your breeder knows of the existence of well constructed double-blinded scientific studies PROVING the existence of such remedies usefulness in treating epilepsy, he/she would do us a great favor by letting the world of veterinary medicine know where they can be found. If phenobarbital does not work, perhaps potassium bromide will? Sometimes both medications need to be used to gain satisfactory control. Blood tests are ALWAYS necessary to make certain these drugs are being absorbed at therapeutic levels.
As far as vaccinations and/or heartworm preventatives are concerned, dogs were having seizures long before these were available to prevent disease in dogs. In fact, canine distemper was the LEADING CAUSE OF SEIZURES prior to the advent of vaccination to prevent that dreadful disease. It is utter foolishness to blame either on causing epilepsy in your German Shepherd dog.
Mike Keem, DVM
Aurora Pet Hospital
East Aurora, NY
Hello I am a veterinary technician I work in emergency and critical care. We also have a homeopathic veterinarian that works out of our office. Although I truly believe she helps many a pet with her homeopathic remedies I wouldn’t recommend taking your pet off of heartworm medication. There are different types of heartworm medication and you might try switching to a different type but heartworm disease is a terribly debilating disease. I understand epilepsy and how scary that can be; but you do not want to make it worse by having a heartworm positive epileptic patient. Then you would have 2 disease processes going on at the same time. Have you tried locating a neurologist? They would be able to better steer what medications would be best for your pet and which ones to use. Good luck
Andrea – RVT
Tampa, FL
You might mean something holistic rather than homeopathic, but I’m not aware of either for treatment of seizures. No connection exists between vaccinations and heartworm preventative (you dog wasn’t vaccinated and started on heartworm preventative at one year of age for the first time, was he?). Most cases of epilepsy in dogs are first diagnosed between 1-2 years of age. Try KBr if other meds are not preventing seizures. Please don’t use him as a guinea pig.
Phillip McHugh, DVM
Park Veterinary Hospital
Durham, NC
Go to the website here, and enter your location to get a list of holistic vets in your area, or try
http://www.ahvma.org or http://www.ivas.org
Sara Winikoff, DVM
Rockland Holistic Vet Care
Blauvelt, NY
The dietary management of idiopathic epilepsy has become my “specialty” and life’s work in both pets and humans. The response to the elimination of all gluten (wheat, barley, rye), dairy products, soy and corn has been absolutely astounding in all of the afflicted species (dogs, cats, humans) in which we have employed this approach.
My Website (www.dogtorj.net) has a huge section on this topic and explains everything, including why we see major spikes in seizures in April/May and then again in October/November. In Shepherds, I also make sure that I check the thyroid function as this breed has a very high incidence of hypothyroidism and this condition is the single most important reason why an epileptic pet does not respond completely to the diet change. The second reason is concurrent liver problems or abnormalities (e.g. liver shunt), which are also common in the Shepherd.
I hope this helps,
John
John B. Symes, D.V.M. (aka “Dogtor J”)
Beltline Animal Hospital
Mobile, AL
Sometimes the existence of “well constructed double-blinded scientific studies that are “PROVEN”, are nothing more that Veterinarians being BOUGHT by the major drug companies, and have long-term, toxic side effects. Try evaluating his diet, and find a holistic vet instead of using more and more drugs. Don’t always listen to the legalized drug dealers with closed minds and a Phd.