Ask Me Help Desk - She Won't Eat

My dog has seizures. Last week she had a series of back to back seizures and five hours later had one which lasted thirty minutes. This only happened like this once before. She was weak, sluggish and sleepy for about four days. This time she's not eating, ANYTHING. She wouldn't drink water for a day, but now, thank God, she's doing that. She is 11 years old (but has had the seizures since we found her 7 years ago). She is so listless. What can I offer her to get her to start eating? Please help, we are so upset. Also, she keeps making a guttural sound.

Have you taken her to the vet after this most recent spate of seizures? The guttural sound does not sound like she is doing very well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Have you taken her to the vet after this most recent spate of seizures? The guttural sound does not sound like she is doing very well.

I spoke with one. He says she has epilepsy and I should bring in for meds. He said she will probably be OK with the meds. She did eat a little after I posted this question. I will take her to the vet tomorrow. Interestingly, he stated that small female dogs which haven't been fixed (she hasn't) tend to develop epilepsy. The vet we took her to when we found her said that since she is an inside dog, she didn't need spaying!! So much for him. Thank you very much for the suggestion, we were sooo worried.

I had a dog with epilepsy. I've told his story on this site many times. I won't bore you with the details, I'll just suggest the thing that worked for us. Green beans. You heard right. Put green beans in her food. She's a small dog, so 1/4 can of green beans in her food each day, should be enough. You can add more if you feel it's needed.

My dog went from having multiple seizures daily, in the double digits for years, to being seizure free for the last 10 years of his life. He lived to 16 years of age. He was on medication for years with no change, then green beans and no meds for 10 years, seizure free. This was the recommendation of a holistic vet.

I would suggest taking your dog to the vet, and by all means, if he prescribes meds, do give them to your dog, but try the green beans as well. They won't hurt her, and could make all the difference.

Good luck.

I am glad you are taking the dog to a vet, and glad that you are a very, very caring person. I do hope the dog gets better, or doesn't have the seizures as often, or better yet, not at all. Good luck.

Thanks to all of you who have replied. I took April to the vet this morning and he prescribed a 16.2mg tab twice daily for a wek, then one tab daily. I must bring her back in two months for liver tests. I've been reading up on the side effects and believe we can handle them. I really don't like giving my pets, or myself, drugs. But I can't watch her suffer with the seizures. Thanks for the green beans solution and the holistic vet idea. I will definitely look into it as I hate drugs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onetoops1

Thanks to all of you who have replied. I took April to the vet this morning and he prescribed a 16.2mg tab twice daily for a wek, then one tab daily. I must bring her back in two months for liver tests. I've been reading up on the side effects and believe we can handle them. I really don't like giving my pets, or myself, drugs. But I can't watch her suffer with the seizures. Thanks for the green beans solution and the holistic vet idea. I will definitely look into it as I hate drugs.

I'm the same way. When Indy (my lab with epilepsy) was on the medication, he became a different dog. I could have handled that, if the seizures had stopped, but they didn't. He still had multiple seizures a day.

I actually got lucky. I made an appointment at my vet clinic because of my concern of the drugs, and the fact that they weren't doing anything other than making my dog sleep all day, urinate in his sleep, no actual living. He was only 6 at that time. It hurt to see him sleep all day and lose all his Indyness.

Well, my vet clinic employs multiple vets. I never get the same vet twice. That's annoying, and also a blessing. The day I took him in there was a visiting vet, a holistic vet. I got him, and he changed our lives, and most importantly, Indy's life.

I fed him green beans every day, and from that time on he never had another seizure, and he wasn't on any meds. Ten years seizure free. Green beans really are worth a try, and their risk free. If they don't work for your dog the only side effect is a bit of extra nutrition, and a few dollars spent on green beans (they don't have to be fresh, you can use canned).

I really hope you give it a try. I did, and I don't regret it. I had my dog for an extra 10 years, healthy, happy, and seizure free. :)