Lowest fat Kibble? - Page 2

Hi Liz,
yes that is my Kaiserin the avitar-and that is what he looks like today . add a coupkle pounds but basically the same-his coat is the same as well. I am trying to do the best I can for him-I was devastated when he had seizures-I never had a GSD with  them.
They ran all kinds of tests and now thousands of dollars later and all these tests every three months he still is the same very active healthy ( to a point) GSD and I will  love him and care for him with no regrets for the rest of his life and go without just to get him the best that I can. He is my boy!!
Thanks for the tips.
Katrina and Kaiser

ooops .........


sorry about the double posts-each time I refreshed my page it posted twice:(

just curious....  did you abbreviate epilepsy as epi?  fat for a dog with epi ( exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) is very bad as they cannot digest it.  maybe they think your dog has epi, not epilepsy?

just curious....  did you abbreviate epilepsy as epi?  fat for a dog with epi ( exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) is very bad as they cannot digest it.  maybe they think your dog has epi, not epilepsy?

Yes, I did abbreviate it - EPI is how they abreviate it on the Canine Epilepsy Board.

Katrina,
I have never heard of fat being an issue with Epilepsy. I am also a little confused because you mentioned the EPI board as having given you this info. EPI is Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. This is a condition where the dog's pancreas does not produce enough enzymes to break down the food in the digestive system. Did you mistakenly go to the wrong web board? They would have surely recommend a low fat diet if your dog had EPI.

Grains can be devastating with Epilepsy.
If you are going to continue to feed kibble I would stay with a grain free kibble like Wellness Core.
The likely reason for a low fat diet recommended by your vet is that most pet foods contain too much grain which ends up being stored as fat in the body.
A doctor has actually developed a diet that I would strongly suggest that you look in to.
It is called the G.A.R.D. diet.  http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id16.html
It is used with humans and dogs and from what I have read many, many humans and dogs have become seizure free with this diet.

The reason the fat is an issue in epilepsy is that the dog is not going to get exercised as much as he might otherwise for two reasons: 1) The medication he is on, at least until the lowest possible dose that will control the siezures is titrated will make the dog sleep more and lethargic when awake. Hopefully he will adjust to the medication and do fine and be more normal in some time. and 2) There is always the possibility that too much stimulus will bring on seizures. So this remains to be seen and Katrina will be keeping a log of any seizure activity as to when it occurs, what the dog was doing etc. Sometimes reducing stimuli, or reducing certain types of stimuli can be helpful in reducing the frequency of the seizures.

All in all, a normal low fat diet Katrina is probably sufficient. Most kibbles have around 11% at the lowest, until you head into the speciailzed and very expensive formulas. But, for example, Wellness canned foods only have 5% or other brands 8%. So if you really want to reduce the fat you can add those and reduce the amount of kibble or expensive kibble.

It sounds like you are on the right path with your dog. Follow your vets' advice and good luck. If you change anything, do only one thing at a time and give the change at least a full week to make associations more likely to hold up under scrutiny. Too many people change too many things too fast and just end up going around in circles.

OGBS,

The board that I joined a while ago is . and sorry for the confusion-I should have been more specific.

Hodie, You are  so right about that-and we have been doing that since last June!

Kaiser only had them when he was sleeping though never awake.

Yes- actually my husband is a perfect record keeper and he has not missed a seizure time/ duration - a medicine dose - he is right on 12 and 12 .
I pay careful attention to the pre-ictal ( never noticed one as he was always asleep) I have noticed the behavior after ( post ictal?) shortened tremendously as well as time went by.
Kaiser lost the lethargy after the first week of Pheno -he seems to tolerate the meds- his last panel was done last week and the vet said he was right where he should be range wise and liver and kidneys fine. He said better than he ever was as far as that goes.
I joined the EPI  list and have received all the best  they can offer-and am truly grateful to have them available for people and their beloved dogs.
 I wanted to ask this board to which I am grateful as well. I like any and all suggestions-I can get!!
 I own a German Shepherd-this is a German Shepherd Board-I wanted and still do-to learn all I can about this Canine Idiopathic Epilepsy and since  every dog is different -I am selfishly seeking all I can:)
Sorry for the confusion-but actually? I am still confused so I will go back and read the whole website on fat and why I need to keep it low!
Thanks so much...
All my best,

Katrina and Kaiser

Katrina,
Please do report back about the low fat. I would be interested to know.
Good luck with Kaiser! He is lucky to have you.
I went through seizures with a six week old puppy a few years ago.
He was from a female GSD that I had rescued that gave birth to nine pups.
The vets at the emergency hospital wanted to euthanize. They thought he had a liver shunt.
I told them no way and paid the $900 for the over-night stay.
Took him to my vet in the morning. He had ingested a bunch a water while playing with his litter mates and a bunch of it went in to his lungs. His lungs could not keep up with the amount of oxygen needed by his brain and he started having seizures. I feel for you. They are horrible to watch.
We got him dried out and on anti-biotics. It took a few weeks to get him back to about normal.  It was interesting to see his mother, who was pretty much done with the pups at that point, take over and start caring for him again.
He is now a happy dog living with a Chicago Police Detective and his family.