About Laura Murphy Expertise Do you have a question about nutrition, including which food is best for your pet and which should be avoided? If you’re researching homecooked or raw diets, this is the place. I can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about raw feeding. Do you want to know whether or not you need to supplement your pet’s diet and, if so, which supplements are for you? I can help you with just about any question regarding canine and feline nutrition and feeding. Although I believe in the benefits of raw feeding, I respect anyone trying to do the best thing for their pets and will answer questions on any type of pet food.
I can address many areas of holistic pet care, including illness, homeopathic remedies, herbal remedies, and flower essences. We can talk about everything from vaccinating (and when not to), to skin problems, to cancer. Please note that I am not a veterinarian and any health-related information is from my personal experience and research, but I can be a good resource.
I can also answer your questions about pet rescue, including when to use them and what kind of pet is right for you. And I love controversial subjects like puppy mills and animal experimentation. If I don’t know the answer to your question immediately, I’ll research it for you.
Basically, if you’re got a pet question – fire away. Chances are, I’ll have something you can use.
Laura Murphy
Experience An animal lover and owner all my life, I spent years as a foster parent for a national rescue group and as a volunteer at my local Humane League. Many years ago, I began researching and using natural health care methods to treat both my pets and my family. I have worked with holistic vets to develop and provide custom homeopathic and Bach Flower Essence blends for their clients. In 2002, I started Pets By Nature to give pet owners who are seeking a healthier and more natural way to feed and care for their pets a reliable source of education, support, guidance, and products. Relying on honesty, integrity, and openness with respect to natural health care for companion animals, I am able to provide quality products, services, and information with the intent of helping interested pet owners learn about and practice a more natural method of pet nutrition and health care.
Education/Credentials I am a college graduate and full time Business Systems Analyst. I have written many articles for publication on my web site and throughout the local pet community. I have been a vendor at local dog shows and do public speaking on the topics of pet nutrition and holistic health care.
Past/Present Clients My clients range from new pet owners to 4th generation raw feeding breeders. I enjoy a wonderful professional relationship with several veterinary practices who refer my diets, supplements, and homeopathics to many of their clients. I ship supplements and flower essences all over the world, and provide a quality frozen raw food to the Central Pennsylvania area. Virtually all of my marketing is word-of-mouth referrals from my current clients and I consider them all my extended family.
Question I have a 11 y/o female Min Pin.
My dog starting having slight mini seizures about fiver years ago-she may have one a year then nothing, they were like, stiffing of the body, losing bladder control for about 45secs and it was over.
Well as of last Saturday she started having Grand Mal seizures-flailing about, head baring down, tongue out and she was making this horrible noise, like she was struggling to breath and then she went limp and stopped breathing. I gave her mouth to snout and then with a huge gasp she started again, all this took placer around 6:30am. Then the next morning around 4am, she had another. I did take her to the vet on Sat and they did geriatric blood work, for the most part in perfect health. The blood work revealed she have elevated enzyme levels in her liver. He didn't want to put her on anything as she was only having slight seizures. However, that was Saturday and as I had mentioned she did have another on Sunday. So this week I took back in to have a "bile acid test done" and they also checked the thyroid. He said her T-4 was 1.8 and the bile test was normal. I told the vet that I had noticed a couple of changes in my dog prior to her having the grand mal seizures and I really didn't think anything about it, until now. Which is, in the last two weeks she has been sneezing, in addition she has started with this licking of her paws and doing this "air licking" like she had something stuck in her throat. Also when she has these big seizures it's almost like she can't breath. The seizure she had last night, she stopped breathing again, however her head didn't slump to the side and I could see her eyes and mouth twitching-it was almost like she was holding her breath and then within about 10sec she took a big gasp. Oh and typically the "air licking" starts after the seizure. So as a mother, I started wondering if there could be any link between the air licking, sneezing oh and reverse sneezing now, too? Could it be an allergy to a new dog food? She has been on Good Life for about a month now, before I was going back and forth between that and Beneful. I just don't really understand how a dog will go from having a seizure once in a blue moon and to escalade to three (bad ones) in less than a week and it not be some kind of outside influence. Anyhow, I have doggie valium at home and my vet is calling in a script for sodium something for her. Please let me know your thoughts.
Kind regards,
Sue
Answer Hi Sue. Sorry for the delay - I was unavoidably away from the computer for a couple of days.
Intermittant seizures such as you're describing with no known cause can sometimes be brought on by a hypersensitivity to something in the diet. Since you were periodically switching foods before and the seizures were infrequent, I suspect that she is exhibiting a reaction to something in the food. In many cases, these can be controlled or eliminated with a change in diet.
A natural, raw diet is the easiest thing to digest and the least likely to cause any type of food reaction. If you are not able to provide this, a home cooked diet is next best.
If you are not in a position to cook for your dog (which many people are not), I would recommend one of the more natural dog foods on the market with the most whole-meat proteins, least amount of grains, and no artificial preservatives. Examples of these are:
Dry Dog Food: Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, C&P's Organix, Solid Gold Barking at the Moon formula, Wellness CORE formula.
Canned Dog Food: Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Instinct formula, Wellness.
I would add to these a good digestive enzyme such as Prozyme. This will help her fully digest whatever you eventually decide to feed her and might help prevent future seizures.
One more suggestion I have is for a supplement called Cholodin. It's been used very successfully in seizure disorders and doesn't have any known negative side effects. A small dog like your min pin would need 1-2 tablets a day of this. I would definitely give it a try.
Again, sorry for the delay. If you need any additional information on anything I've mentioned here, please contact me at the address below and I can help you out in detail. Good luck.
Laura Murphy
Pets by Nature
www.petsbynature.com
laura@petsbynature.com
