Husky just started having seizures. Please help

[alex1505]

Hi everyone

I have an almost 3 year old red husky named Pizza. We live in Northern Virginia and I've had him since he was about 4/5 months old and got him from a family who could not care for him properly. He's your typical high energy, goofy, husky and the absolute love of my life.

On June 18 of this year (2020) Pizza had his first seizure at about 5:30/6am. I was sleeping and was woken by the sound of him vomiting and immediately after he tipped over and started having a grand Mal seizure. I have never seen a dog or human have a seizure and went I into absolute hysterics. I ran to him to try and comfort and sooth him because I had no idea what was going on. The seizure itself lasted maybe 1-2 minutes and his disorientation about 15 minutes. Once he stopped convulsing I was still rubbing his head and body when he started growling at me. He bit my hand extremely hard (fractured my finger and needed stitches. I did not know you were not supposed to get close to a dog when they are having a seizure. It was natural instinct to run and comfort him). I rushed him to the vet where they did blood work and everything came back normal. The vet did not want to start him on anti seizure meds since it was his first time. We hoped and prayed it wouldn't happen again, but sadly it just happened again this weekend (Aug 1). Same exact thing, 7am, vomitted first and then went into a seizure. This time I remained very calm and did not get close and the seizure was much shorter and his disorientation afterwards was much shorter (1 minute). I took him to a neurologist today who did not think it was necessary for an MRI and suggested putting him on phenobarbital. I will also combine this with CBD and a very low dose of THC oil at night time.

I have done tons of research and have found many articles stating huskies suffer Zinc deficiencies which is a "silent killer" in dogs (google it, there's a bunch of articles). Does anyone have experience or personal knowledge on this?

Also, Pizza has been on core wellness dog food for the first year and a half and then I put him on Farmers Dog (fresh dog food delivered weekly). Due to covid and my income I had to take him off farmers dog because it was extremely expensive and I put him back on core wellness. I wonder if putting him back on core wellness attributed to his seizure? Does anyone recommend a good dog food for huskies? Pizza is my first husky so I am learning every day about huskies.

Thanks for reading this, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[wolfpup]

My boy Marley started fitting at 10 months old   - he averaged every 27 days so was not put on meds.  Usually for idiopathic epilepsy  (unknown cause)  vets do not prescribe meds if they remain about a month apart.  A couple of years later he progressed to 4 fits in 12 days  -  3 fits in 4 days  - the vet wanted to put him on meds at that point.   As he was still so young I did not want to go down that route if there was an alternative.    I had been researching different  cbd available in the UK  and decided to try that first.     The cbd worked for him (does not work for all dogs  - and different oils work for different dogs) -  after some experimentation and trying different oils   he has so far stayed away from vet meds.   In  59 days he will reach his 2 year fit-free milestone.      I know what you are going through. There are a few of us here with epi dogs.

As far as zinc deficiency  -  if he suffered from that you would have noticed crusty type sores around his nose, eyes and mouth  -  which would go away on the application of a zinc cream.  If he has not had any symptoms of zinc deficiency then do not treat him for it.   Excess zinc can cause other deficiencies.   Zinc and Magnesium can bind to Calcium and make it unavailable for absorption.

I belong to a UK based Facebook group  for dogs with epilepsy and have found this to be extremely useful   - you will no doubt be able to find a similar group in the USA.   

I will state up front that I am a raw feeder  - so you can account for any bias  - but it is generally recognised that most dogs with epilepsy do fare better on a raw diet.    I later found out that my boy suffered with 9 different food allergies  (he was raw fed at the time),  and once I eliminated all those from his diet his fits stopped altogether.  The cbd had taken him from  roughly weekly fits to  106 days and 108 days between fits  -  I then changed him to a stronger oil and this together with the elimination of allergy causing food has ceased his fitting totally.

Because of his allergies I have to ensure that the meat he eats has not been fed  soya, corn, rice, wheat   (the only remaining allergies he has)   which cuts out all poultry and pork  i.e.  the cheaper meats.  He also has to have grass fed beef and lamb  or wild game  -  and in the last 3 weeks I have spent £130 on food for my two dogs  (this will last them another two weeks).     I am on a pension  so every penny counts  ................. but I happily go without other things to ensure my boy stays healthy.   I do understand the financial constraints.

However, if you could feed from scratch, rather than using the overly expensive commercial foods - you can cut the cost of raw feeding approximately in half.   I do use some commercially produced food  -  but cannot afford to feed both dogs on this all the time  -  and I have to take his allergies into account on top.    It takes a bit of research and effort to find locally sourced  reasonably priced raw food  but the cost reduction is worth the effort.

There are no guarantees it would work for your boy, but if you want to at least try and source raw food from scratch in order to work out if it is financially viable for you at this time,  then I will help you to sort out a balanced diet for him if you want.     I recently qualified as a raw dog food nutrition specialist  (no charge  -  I am not looking for work,  nutrition is sort of an obsession with me).

One thing I would mention however, is that if you are going to mix vet meds and cbd,  you should leave at least 2 hours between the two.   They both use the same receptors in the brain.

[alex1505]

Thank you for your reply wolfpup! Very helpful.

I have also heard from a few people raw diet is the way to go. I am a little reluctant because I don’t want to give him something wrong and cause him to get sick. But I can’t imagine the burnt, processed food I’m giving him now is any better for his health. I look at every single ingredient when I give him )and even myself) something to eat and Core wellness definitely had one of the better ingredient lists. How did you introduce the raw diet to your boys? What did you start on? Or what would you recommend me starting on Pizza?

I too am very reluctant to put Pizza on meds because he is only 2 (will be 3 this November), however seeing him go through 2 seizures is the most heart wrenching thing I’ve ever witnessed and I would like to do everything in my power to prevent it from happening again. I’m wondering if maybe the raw diet in combination with cbd & thc oil might be a good place to start and use the meds if it does not get better and they continue. 

Thanks so much again for your reply, genuinely appreciate it! 

[wolfpup]

I usually go the whole hog  - change them over immediately.   However most times you are advised to make the transition over a  few days to a week in order to minimise any tummy upsets  - depending if your dog has tummy issues.     Normally when changing over to real raw meat you find the stools become smaller, firmer, and have a lot less smell.

I would try some raw mince, raw chicken, or even, if you want baby steps,  give him a raw beaten egg in with his normal food to see how he reacts to it.   Push his food to one side of his bowl - and pour the beaten egg in the other side ................... watch what he eats first.    It might take him a minute or two to work out what it is - but I have never met a dog that doesn't love it.

Raw (frozen) sardines or herrings are one of the best things you can add to any food  -  even raw food -  they contain every vitamin & mineral there is  and can also help balance out the fats between say chicken, pork and ruminants.     These are very cheap to buy at any raw dog food shop  -  here I pay  £4.50 for a kilo   - usually containing around 30-40 fish  - and you only need one as part of a meal  so very cost effective.   

If you want to explore the raw feeding  send me a message and we can go into further detail.  I have loads of articles I can send you to read up on, and start you out on your raw feeding journey   - a lot will depend on your dog's preferences  i.e.   one of Marley's favourite meat is venison   - but Mikey, my other husky - would not thank you for it -  the same goes for rabbit.