We all hope you had a wonderful Labor Day holiday.  My team and I enjoyed our long weekend with activities such as boating, cooking out and lounging poolside.

There are so many exciting things going on at Sun Dog Cat Moon that I don't even know where to begin! 

For a long while, many of you have been asking about chiropractic care for your pet.  Well, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Rob LeZotte, D.C., a human chiropractor, is working on his certification to treat animals which will be completed in February, 2014.  In the interim, he has been seeing pets already and I have witnessed how his work has helped some of my patients - they were clearly moving better and feeling better after receiving chiropractic treatment.  Dr. Rob is going to be at Sun Dog Cat Moon for limited hours each week.  The goal is a consistent schedule of 1pm to 3pm every Thursday.  You may call us to schedule an appointment.  Continue reading this newsletter to learn more about Dr. Rob.

Additionally, Dr. Meredith Borakove is my Associate Veterinarian who has been working at Sun Dog Cat Moon on Tuesdays.  She has been a veterinarian for over 10 years and presently she is studying Chinese Medicine at the Chi Institute.  You are now going to be seeing her around the clinic more often as she shadows me for Chinese Medicine and sees appointments too.

For our topic this month, Dr. Borakove and I have each written about seizures.  She is presenting you some information from the western perspective while I offer insight from the TCVM perspective.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

 

Dr. Ruth Roberts

Seizures are a relatively common disorder in dogs, less so in cats. For pets who have seizures only once a month or less, medications are typically not prescribed unless the seizures are severe and intense. The anticonvulsant medications commonly used can create a great deal of sedation and other side effects. The most common cause of seizures in western medicine is idiopathic epilepsy ("idiopathic" means "unknown"). However, they can also be caused by severe liver disease, as well as disease in the central nervous system. In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, the pattern, Internal Wind, is the same regardless of the cause and is most often the result of excess liver heat. Treatment would involve killing Wind, and cooling the Liver, as well as moving Liver Qi stagnation.

To treat Seizures more holistically, I would use acupuncture, herbal formulas and diet therapy to help control seizures. Acupuncture would be given every 1 to 2 weeks initially, and then treatments could be spread further apart as the patient improves. Herbs would be used to help resolve the pattern diagnosis above, plus whatever other patterns the pet shows.

Because there is a great deal of research indicating a ketogenic diet can help control epilepsy in children, I will often recommend making the crockpot diet carb free - using only meats, non-starchy vegetables, and fats, and adding additional fats as needed to help maintain body weight. Ketogenic diets are very low in carbohydrate, and transform the body into a fat burning machine. It's theorized the ketones produced reduce seizure activity. 

Additionally, natural anti-inflammatories as well as supplements like fish oil and antioxidants like Alpha-lipoic acid can be helpful, as they support liver detoxification.

While none of this is a panacea, it can markedly help reduce the frequency of seizures and improves the pet's quality of life in doing so.

 

Dr. Meredith Borakove

Has your pet or someone in your family ever had a seizure? It can be very scary if you've never experienced it before but hopefully we can help you to understand seizures better so you can help your pet. If your pet has a seizure, it's best for them to get a full exam and labwork with us because there is a wide range of underlying issues: brain tumors, head trauma, toxins, nutritional deficiencies, liver disease, infections, electrolyte disturbances, congenital abnormalities, structural brain abnormalities, inflammatory diseases, and a variety of other disorders including primary epilepsy. Many pets with seizures are diagnosed with epilepsy which is a disease that has no one underlying cause but may have triggers and can usually be controlled by medication. This disease is not well understood in pets or in people. It seems to be more common in certain breeds of dogs and there can be a food allergy or environmental components too.
 
Seizures can also be confused with other disorders including cardiovascular disease (fainting from poor blood flow to the brain), vestibular diseases (problems with balance due to inner ear problems) and other neurologic diseases that cause weakness. That's why it is so important for your pet to come in if you think they are having or have had a seizure. That way we can do a complete physical exam (including listening to their heart and lungs), do full labwork (including checking their blood sugar, electrolytes, liver/kidney function, white blood cell count), evaluate their diet, check for environmental triggers, and decide if any other tests are indicated. Certain food allergies like wheat, corn and soy can be associated with increased seizure frequency, as can certain activities, and certain times of the year can be triggers as well.
 
So please let us know if we can help you manage your pet's seizures through a holistic approach!

 

Dr. Robert LeZotte will be offering chiropractic adjustments to pets on Thursdays from 1-3 in our office.  Pet adjustments are $35 each and if you buy 5, you get 1 free!  Please call us at 843-437-0063 to schedule.  

 

Dr. LeZotte was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. He began receiving Chiropractic care as a child and realized early on how beneficial regular adjustments were to his body. This experience, along with the strong desire to help people lead him to seek a Doctorate in Chiropractic from Sherman College of Chiropractic in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He has studied techniques such as: Diversified, Gonstead, Thompson, Activator and also has additional training in Pediatric Chiropractic.

 

Dr. Rob believes that Chiropractic care is an integral part of a healthy, natural lifestyle. By adjusting the spine and eliminating nerve interference, the body is able to function optimally and heal itself when needed. He believes that the entire family can benefit from Chiropractic care and he is rewarded and driven by the success of the patients that he treats.

 

Dr. Rob believes that your entire family includes your pets, and they also need to be adjusted and receive regular chiropractic care.  He is enrolled to be certified by the International Veterinary Chiropractic Association (IVCA) and the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA) to increase his ability to serve all the Dogs, Cats and Horses in Charleston.

 

Dr. Rob lives in Charleston with his wife, Kelly, and his faithful companion, K.C. When he is not treating patients, he can be found relaxing with his family and friends. He loves the low country lifestyle, Charleston's restaurants and it's beaches. He also enjoys sports, cooking and live music.