Changing earth, changing our ways
ar readers: our experience with you.
Our 9-year-old female black Lab began having what we later learned were seizures at about 3 months old. We had never seen anything like it before: very violent, with a lot of head spinning, eyes rolling, foamingatthemouth, and all four legs going. She had no idea where she was or who we were. The first time, we e ndedupwith stitches after thinking she might have been choking.
We took her to the vet immediately, who said,
“If she does it again, then she has epilepsy and she needs to be on phenobarbital for life.” Well, she was averaging about one seizure per week, all of them just as intense. I couldn’t bear the idea of lifelong meds that could possibly shorten her life, so I started poking around.
I began giving her melatonin in different doses unt ilI settled on a 5 mg slow-release dose, twice a day. By the time she was about 9 months old, she would have an occasional, less-intense seizure (about every three weeks). By the age of 1 year, her seizures had pretty much stopped.
She reminded m eof someone with migraines: She could feel it coming on, and would come to me and pretty much as k for her meds. On those few occasions, I would give her an extra melatonin and she’d go to her safe room (our dark, quiet closet) until it would pass — usually about 30 minutes.
She has not had a fullblown seizure since she was a little over 1 year old.
Shest ill gets the same dose of melatonin, and every now and then will come to me with the signs, but it’s very rare. She is on no other meds and lives a very happy and healthy life now. — S.D., Palm Beach, Florida
Dear S.D.: Ihope that you have informed your dog’s veterinarian of the possi bleb enefits of melatonin in helping control and prevent seizures in your dog.
More studies are called for in this regard, and I agree with you that putti nga dog for li fe on ab arbiturate drug is not the best solution if it can possib lybeavoided because of potentially harmful side effects.
Forsomedogs, eliminating wheat in the diet or making coconut oil the main fat in a highfat diet have proven beneficial.
I recall several years a go one reader writing to me that their dog’s terror of thunderstorms was effectively alleviate dby giving 6 mg of melatonin whe na storm was anticipated.
Melatonin, which is the plant hormone that puts plants to “sleep” at night and links them with acirca dian rhythm, can also give us a good night’s sleep and help blind people set their circadian clocks. As a superantioxi dant,itmaya lso help with inflammatory conditions an d possibly some cancers. It is one of many gifts from the plant kingdom being laid to waste by herbicides and our collective desecration of the natural environment.