I have a 6 year old Labrador Retriever called Thorn who has been epileptic for about 3 years. I have lost faith in the vets within my area as when we first took him in to be checked after his first fit we were told there was no treatment, this was repeated every time we asked until we stopped asking. Now through my own research I know differently but still haven't found an effective way to treat him without vet prescriptions, but of course, as he has been diagnosed and it's now classed as pre-exsisting the insurance company won't pay for treatment.
     I was hoping that using Epitaur would be safe as it's a supplement and any excess he'll excrete himself but i'm looking for some extra advice i guess. His fits are between 4 and 8 weeks apart though normally between 5 and 6 weeks. The intensity of the fits also reduced after i changed his food brand about 8 months ago.

Is he not on any medication from the vet at all? Epiphen (phenobarbitol) & Epilease (potassium bromide) each alone or in combination are commonly used (prescription only medicines) for fitting dogs.

No the vet told me there wasn't anything. Finding out there are many treatments has made me more than slightly angry as you may gather.

Thats ridiculous - I'd be putting a complaint to the RCVS about the vet - there are lots of treatment options :( - if you put a google search 'canine epilepsy' there are several forums with people with expertise.

Thanks i'll do that. Thorn says Thank you aswell

> the vet told me there wasn't anything

This site is a useful resource. There are ideas for diet on here too, as well as medication and personal testimonies. Good luck with your Lab. Epilepsy can be a very distressing disease but can often respond well to treatment.

Thanks, I'll look through and see what i can do.

You get taurine in cat food so I would be adding that to his food as well as looking into the Phenobarbitone/Valium/Libromide issue.

Could be an easier option. Just have to find a way to do it without making my other 2 jealous.

Hi,
just read your forum about your epileptic dog. 
Our dog is epileptic and is now nearly 10 yrs old (Gordon Setter) who has been treated entirely with complementary medicine since he was about 3yrs old.  Prior to that (from 18months old till 3) he was treated with epiphren.

The epiphren very quickly turned our contented, affectionate young dog into a depressed and miserable old grump who became increasingly possessive over toys, personal space and really started to retire into his own miserable world.  He didn't want to go out, became paranoid of all but the very start of our garden (he would get really agitated if we were working in the garden but wouldn't come down it himself) and was turning his face literally to the wall and distancing himself away from us (his family unit) and retreating into his own solitary world.   

This is why we took him (under vet's reluctant recommendation) slowly off the epiphren and started the (expensive!) complementary stuff (and he's on loads!) His main drug for the epilepsy is scullcap and valerian (which he has 10 tabs am and 15 tabs pm of) taurine capsules which he has 2 capsules per day and I am just about to add Epitaur to my shopping list at my vet's suggestion to see if this helps.  He also has a plethora of dietary supplements and even though he is nearly 10 and VERY lazy, he still has the most wonderful springy walk, bounce and ridiculous turn of speed if he chooses.  Had he been on epiphren he would almost undoubtedly be dead by now - big dog, old dog, acute long-term condition - epiphren attacks the liver and to keep the fitting to the level he's been at for many years which was approx 6-8 weeks meant he needed to be on a fairly high dosage.

Although he still has always fitted with the complementary medicine, the fitting was at an acceptable level for us to cope with and the change in him was miraculous (although he is still incredibly lazy and may or may not be bothered to leave his beloved bed - end of the garden is now his private place!

This year his epilepsy has deteriorated in that he has started barking endlessly, at 3:00 - 5:00 am.. for several days before or after a fit and the fitting has upped to near enough every 1-2 weeks -  we feel too old for broken nights now - it is a bit like having a new-born baby - but coped better with the new-born baby broken nights!

I agree with previous forum answers in that you have been seriously let down by your vets - there are loads of treatments out there both conventional and non-conventional.  I may re-start the epiphren if our dog continues on a downward decline, but diet is, I think, an essential component in any treatment of any condition.  I raw feed our dog (and our cats such fantastic looking cats!) with raw chicken wings and raw beef trimmings from our local butcher.  I do add dried biccies too though which is definitely cheating!  My homeopathic vet is called Birgit Ahlemeyer and she is an amazing vet. She lives in Forest Row in East Sussex but if you Google her and contact her I am sure she can recommend a homeopathic vet (who will also have trained conventionally - 2 for 1 I say!) in your area.  I am very lucky in that I picked our Insurers (the NFU) out very carefully (and way before his epilepsy had begun) because they had no yearly or life-cap limits for a condition - I never dreamed that my careful choice would be such a Godsend in paying for our dog's future condition - I was insuring him because he was such a clumsy thug and I thought he might damage someone's car by running headlong into it! 

I hope this (very long) message is a help in your long journey with your dog - it is a journey and it is problematic.  I found housing him when we went away on holiday such an issue  - because I knew the stress of a noisy kennels would send him into fit mode and he would have to be isolated from the other dogs because (apart from the fitting that would occur) although he is very well socialised, he is not conventionally wormed (I use something called Vermex), kennel coughed (I use homeopathic nosodes etc. because these treatments have contra-indications to pets with epilepsy and other long-term conditions).  The up-shot of this all was that I became a dog-sitter and have a booming business!  (Hence my boy is VERY well socialised!) One of my doggy-client's   owners is now our own fantastic house-sitter who looks after our boy our puddytats and any other 'regulars' who are booked in when we go away - so my worst stress of going away on holiday is now a stress of the past!

Good Luck!
   

PS!!  Don't add cat food to the dog's food!  You can just get Taurine capsules that you sprinkle over..  When you have more than one dog I think that all dogs should be watched whilst eating and whoever is finished first is removed from the area (I feed all our animals outside - or in separate parts of the room inside if the weather is too Blighty).

Then there is no over/under eating or fights for food!  Simples!

fitting has upped to near enough every 1-2 weeks

Oh Boy, I would hate that.  My bitch has been on epiphen for years, and is definitely not depressed!  :-)

And every 4-5 months is more like it.  I am a huge believer in epiphen.  :-)

My bitch is blood tested twice a year.

I had a bitch who started fitting - for about 6 months she was having 4 or 5 fits a week; after a few months of tinkering with the dose, epiphen totally stopped the fits and we could, after 3 fit-free years, eventually wean her off it. The last 8 years of her life we drug-free and fit-free.

That sounds wonderful.  I would love her to have 3 years fit free.  Unfortunately, after a recent fit, her dosage has been upped by 1/4 of a tablet.  (Toy breed.)  But I will carry on hoping.  :-)

We have a GSP that comes to our surgery, has been on epiphen since a young age and is now 15 years of age, it doesn't always have negative effects. Much more important to get the fitting under control.

The problem is that if you have a dog who IS zombified by the Epiphen, it really does affect their quality of life ime.

Hi,

We went to see Dr Birgit Ahlemeyer in Forest Row, after reading all online testimonials supporting her work first, including this one, which came up in a Google search. However, we have not found success in the treatment of our pet. After five visits, and spending +£700, we are none the better for it. It would appear that some people are lucky and have success, but not our pet.

Regarding taurine flaw heart contains high levels of taurine  so u could add that two his meals or by it in powder form as suggested. I give too my cats to help woth eye problems one has .fortnately  it doesn't matter if bith animals eat  it eat  as u say it is excreted .Most cat food is so full of junk the amount it contains probably won't increase what he has very much anyway.if u use heart just go carefully until know he can tolerate as heart as it's quite rich.dark meats for example chicken thighs contain reasonable amounts too