Epilepsy, which causes recurrent seizures, is the most common neurological disease in dogs, with as many as four in 100 dogs affected.
It can be triggered by many causes, such as inflammation of the brain or brain tumours, but often the underlying cause remains unknown. This type of epilepsy is called idiopathic epilepsy (IE). In these cases, epilepsy is thought to have a genetic origin, and seizures can begin in dogs as young as six months old.
Epilepsy cannot be cured, but seizures can be managed with medication. Yet, up to 30% of medicated dogs continue to suffer from seizures. These seizures are distressing for both dogs and their owners, therefore, finding new treatment options for epilepsy is critical to improving the quality of life for pets and their owners.
Research from Professor Holger Volk and Dr Rowena Packer at the Royal Veterinary College looked for such a treatment in dog diets.
Diet as a therapy
Epilepsy is not a uniquely canine disease. It also affects humans. One of the therapies for human seizures is the ketogenic diet, a low-carbohydrate and high-fat diet. Could the same seizure reduction benefit be seen in dogs if they followed this diet too?
Professor Volk approached American pet-care company Nestlé Purina to determine just this, proposing a ketogenic diet trial in epileptic dogs.
The research team for the trial included a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded PhD student, supervised by Volk. They designed a test whereby dogs were fed Nestlé Purina PetCare for six months. For three of these, the feed was enriched with 5.5% medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which get readily metabolised into ketone bodies. Raised ketone body levels are thought to protect against seizures.
Owners observed that when dogs consumed food supplemented with MCTs, their seizure frequency was significantly lower, and some dogs even became seizure-free. Owners also reported that the MCT diet positively impacted dog behaviour, reducing chasing and stranger directed fear, behaviours often associated with ADHD in dogs.
The success of the trial led to the development and commercialisation of Purina ProPlan NC Neurocare dry dog food. The product is formulated with 6.5% MCTs, among other important nutrients, to benefit brain function.
Making research findings accessible
Canine health issues, aside from epilepsy, can make it detrimental for dogs to change their diet and owners may not be able to afford the change. So, how can these dogs be helped?
To ensure accessibility, Volk and Packer repeated the MCT diet experiment using the dog’s regular diet, rather than changing to Purina PetCare, supplemented with MCTs.
This work was supported by the American Kennel Club and dovetailed with BBSRC responsive mode investment.
Here, 9% of the dog’s calorie intake, based on the individual dog’s daily requirement, was MCTs. The MCT oil used was commercially available for human consumption, and easy to get hold of, making this form of supplementation accessible to more dogs. With this diet, the same benefits of reduced seizure frequency, reduced anti-epileptic drug side effects and improved cognitive function were seen.
Dr Rowena Packer says:
Our novel findings indicate that a relatively small change to the diet of dogs with hard-to-treat epilepsy can potentially reduce the number of seizures they have, while also improving their medication side effects and overall quality of life. MCT oil offers a promising addition to the wider epilepsy management toolkit.
Lived experiences
One owner who introduced MCT oils into their dog’s diet said:
We have a 6-year-old Border Collie, he developed epilepsy at 3. He was previously going about 25-30 days between episodes and having 6-7 seizures within each episode. Since starting on MCT oil (C8/C10) he’s now coming up to 80 days since his last full seizure and has only had a focal seizure in that time. So, it’s been a significant improvement for us so far.
Another owner said:
Our ridgeback was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy just before she turned 2. We started her on MCT oil (neat, as a supplement) not long after and I believe that it lessened the severity and the duration of her seizures, she has just turned 4 and with a combination of meds, MCT and a raw diet avoiding any kind of carbs or processed foods, we seem to be managing to create stability.
The significance
Thanks to the research of Volk and Packer, we now have a better understanding of the influence of diet on IE seizures. Therapeutics alone are not the solution for epilepsy in canines, instead, a varied toolkit of medication, trigger avoidance and diet should be employed.
The MCT diet has become widely recognised as a supplement to anti-epileptic drugs to reduce seizures in dogs with IE. Vets can now advise on the use of an MCT supplemented diet, through oils or Purina Neurocare, to help treat canine epilepsy. Veterinary guidance encourages pet owners to implement the dietary intervention, increasing uptake of the treatment and improving the wellbeing of dogs and owners around the world.
Volk and Packer have continued to explore canine IE with investment from BBSRC. In particular, they have investigated the:
- association of ‘doggy dementia’ with IE
- impact of IE on dog trainability
- ability for owners to predict epileptic seizures
- perception towards MCTs as a non-drug therapy