Amazing results using just food for kitten with seizures

[Rhiannon12866]

I'm posting this for a new member looking for feedback:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=881662

Amazing results using just food for kitten with seizures

Hello - just found this place because there were old posts about seizures in kittens. If anyone knows a more appropriate place to post this info please let me know.

We also just found a black kitten three evenings ago, but in a wood pile on our property. She's probably around 4-weeks old and in great shape. I'm more of a dog person because I have too many lizards, birds, rabbits, and chickens around to trust a cat and I certainly don't want wild cats running around our property. Well, it took about 10 minutes to calm the wildness away and then my 7-year old daughter fell in love with her.

I happen to have had kitten formula because of a recent issue with a baby bunny so I tried to give her some formula that evening. Didn't have much luck and she slept peacefully next to my daughter. The next day we tried a grain free wet food mixed with formula and she took some and that evening gave her more plus about an ounce of formula. She had what looked like a mild seizure a short time after and my daughter started tearing up when she saw the concern in my eyes. That night was awful as the kitten had at least 4 serious seizures lasting about 45 sec to a little over a minute (she meowed/screamed loudly each time at the start) and her box was a mess in the morning.

I'm a biologist so I did some research. Lots of info for seizure with everyone giving drugs as the cure. I am NOT going to give phenobarbital to this cat for the rest of its life. I suspected something in the food or lack of nutrient was the cause because of the peaceful first evening we had. With a little more digging found wonderful case where woman changed diet and added fats/oils (e.g., coconut oil/bacon grease) to help support brain function (also found supporting data on the importance of fats for those with underlying seizure disorders).

The second day we used a grain free hard food (higher protein and fat content than wet food) soaked to mush with just water. I went to work, when I came back family reported just one mild seizure. That evening we added a generous amount of coconut oil to the water/food mush (NOTE: NO kitten formula at all for over 16 hrs now). This morning we are happy to report that it looks like NO seizures occurred. I heard nothing, there was no mess everywhere, my daughter slept next to her and wasn't woken up, and the kitten is calm and alert.

Could it be so simple? I am not going to test my hypothesis that it was the food or formula combo because I don't have the heart to put the kitten back on it. And maybe this is a spurious correlation and tonight will be hell again. The problem is there are no studies out there testing diet against the different types of seizure issues in pets (and why when the drug companies do not want to support the studies). However, surely there are families out there that have litters of kittens with seizure issues (many are genetic and would be easy to get litters for study purposes) and some cat group that would stand behind such a study or someone with the funding to do so? I certainly can assist with proper scientific methodology as that is one of my strengths. Wouldn't it be something if we could discover that one of the main culprits is associated with food and a properly designed diet could get rid of the issue with NO DRUGS? Please pass on this info to whomever can help and to whomever needs the info for their own pet with seizure problems. I'm not saying its a cure but surely it is worth a try. Thanks!

[Scarsdale]

1. Thank you

Little kitten landed in the right place for help. So glad you had the expertise to help the little lady.

[CurtEastPoint]

4. Ditto. Thank you all for taking care of her!

[Sienna86]

2. There was a British show several years ago

That worked with people with various ailments by changing their diets. I was always impressed with the difference that food could make in their health. This area certainly deserves more work. Kudos to you and I hope your kitten continues to do well.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Might just be a transitional phase, but definitely you took the right step.

Since the kitten had to fend for itself somewhat, it might have been eating grubs and worms or mother might have been. Plus woodpiles can have toxins from paint or rot-prevention treatments. So some good food might have mobilized a load of toxins.

In other words, it is not definitively shown that the initial kitten formula is bad for that kitten.

All the same, high protein and higher fat more approximates the food sources wild cats evolved eating (carnivorous). You've got something that works.

[PurgedVoter]

5. Nutritional Yeast in Milk

For numerous reasons I switched to lurking quite a while ago. This thread has managed to pull me out of lurk mode.

I have had amazing luck with dog and cat developmental health by giving them milk thickened with yellow start nutritional yeast. I have seen the runt of the litter turn into big healthy giants. The overall personality of the animals that have been raised with nutritional yeast appears to be warmer and calmer.

I also try to provide fish during the developmental stages of dogs and cats. I suspect that it makes for smarter animals.

[japple]

6. This is amazing. I know that topical flea applications and other chemicals

can cause seizures in kittens and cats, and I know many in the rescue world are looking for alternatives. I know that some are using virgin coconut oil in place of ivermectin for heartworm prevention.

[ginnyinWI]

7. It could be true

I'm sure that nutritional deficiency can cause things like seizures.

If she is really only four weeks old, however, she really should be getting kitten milk replacer until she is at least six weeks old. You can mix some dry powder into her wet food or put some in a saucer or bottle.

You can tell her age better by looking at her teeth, because she might be undersized due to starvation. If she seems to have a complete set of baby teeth already, she is probably more like six weeks old.

A normal weight one month old weighs about a pound.