Pancreatitis and Epilepsy: Mollie's recovery

[Robink]

I wanted to tell you all about our mini-schnauzer Mollie, who joined our family in 2000 when her original mom, my mom, passed away. When I took her to the Veterinarian for a check-up and shots, he shook his head and said I was in for one expensive dog, as the breed is prone to various ailments especially later in life. No matter, we loved her and I made a promise to give her a good life.

Mollie already had ideopathic epilepsy, which is a fancy way to say seizures with no known cause. She had an episode about once every 3-4 months, not enough to really worry about. She had two bouts of Pancreatitis in two years. Then in 2004, at age 8, her seizures started to occur more frequently, once a month. Then once a week. Then several times in one week.

We took her in for tests and bloodwork and though the Veterinarian told us all was normal and we'd have no choice but to put Mollie on anti-seizure meds (with many dire side effects) I looked at the "normal" results and noticed her triglycerides were 680!!! The Veterinarian said for a schnauzer that was normal. So I did some research on the web and read somewhere that mini-s do not process lipid fats very well and even a dog of normal weight like Mollie can have bouts of Pancreatitis for this reason. Sooooo, I checked the Natural Choice Lamb/Rice we'd been feeding her for years and noticed the fat level was "at least 12%". I ran out and bought the Lite formula (5% fat) and transitioned her to it over a few day's time.

Okay this might sound like a koinkidink (as my mom would say) but her seizures slowed and within one month, stopped. Months went by, a record time with no episodes. Then on Christmas 2005 she had one. I suspected that a friend slipped her something bad from the dinner table (we never give her anything but the lo-fat food and carrots and apples for snacks). She didn't have another seizure until one day last summer and a visiting doggy friend vomited the same day - we suspect they both got into a dead something.

So, pretty much seizure free since the diet change and...she hasn't had any more bouts of Pancreatis.

So if you have a little dog with these issues, even if its the right weight, I highly recommend trying a lo-fat diet. Mollie loves it because she gets to eat more!!

Just a happy ending that might work for others.

[bitterrootbullies]

Originally Posted by Robink

I wanted to tell you all about our mini-schnauzer Mollie, who joined our family in 2000 when her original mom, my mom, passed away. When I took her to the Veterinarian for a check-up and shots, he shook his head and said I was in for one expensive dog, as the breed is prone to various ailments especially later in life. No matter, we loved her and I made a promise to give her a good life.

Mollie already had ideopathic epilepsy, which is a fancy way to say seizures with no known cause. She had an episode about once every 3-4 months, not enough to really worry about. She had two bouts of Pancreatitis in two years. Then in 2004, at age 8, her seizures started to occur more frequently, once a month. Then once a week. Then several times in one week.

We took her in for tests and bloodwork and though the Veterinarian told us all was normal and we'd have no choice but to put Mollie on anti-seizure meds (with many dire side effects) I looked at the "normal" results and noticed her triglycerides were 680!!! The Veterinarian said for a schnauzer that was normal. So I did some research on the web and read somewhere that mini-s do not process lipid fats very well and even a dog of normal weight like Mollie can have bouts of Pancreatitis for this reason. Sooooo, I checked the Natural Choice Lamb/Rice we'd been feeding her for years and noticed the fat level was "at least 12%". I ran out and bought the Lite formula (5% fat) and transitioned her to it over a few day's time.

Okay this might sound like a koinkidink (as my mom would say) but her seizures slowed and within one month, stopped. Months went by, a record time with no episodes. Then on Christmas 2005 she had one. I suspected that a friend slipped her something bad from the dinner table (we never give her anything but the lo-fat food and carrots and apples for snacks). She didn't have another seizure until one day last summer and a visiting doggy friend vomited the same day - we suspect they both got into a dead something.

So, pretty much seizure free since the diet change and...she hasn't had any more bouts of Pancreatis.

So if you have a little dog with these issues, even if its the right weight, I highly recommend trying a lo-fat diet. Mollie loves it because she gets to eat more!!

Just a happy ending that might work for others.

Congrats to you and Mollie and great detective work! I don't think its coincidence at all. Fat and cholestoral play a huge role in the functioning of the brain. In fact its been shown in people that cholestoral plays a role in Alzheimers disease!
amanda samantha sydney murphy and foster

ps this doesn't mean low fat will cure all seizure disorders, but its definitely something to keep in mind.