(Did my dog have an epileptic seizure on the Ides of March? How Caesarian.)
I've done some research into possible causes. The most frightening possibility, of course, is a brain tumor. But one other possibility keeps coming up in my research: Mercury poisoning due to the tuna that was in her diet.
A few readers offered that suggestion at the time of Bella's first episode. I'll never forgive myself for choosing the wrong diet. Tuna seemed like a good idea because Bella loved the stuff, and because one frequently hears that fish oil helps keep cancer away.(Right now, she eats only chicken.)
My hound's travails point to a much larger problem. I had not realized until recent times just how systemic and widespread the problem of Mercury poisoning is. The fish we eat is loaded with heavy metal toxins -- and it can easily affect children, and even adults.
I honestly had no idea that this kind of thing is going on. It is recommended that adults eat only three cans of albacore in a month! Shouldn't this information be on the packaging?
Fortunately, light tuna is safer than the pricier white tuna.
Where does mercury come from?My poor Bella. Poor everyone!
Air pollution. Specifically, it rains down on rivers, lakes and oceans after being emitted from power plants and other industrial sources that burn fossil fuels.
How to stop mercury pollution?
We have been pressing for full implementation of new EPA rules, known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, to help protect everyone from these toxic chemicals. Families and clean air advocates helped us secure the standards, but industry opponents are fighting these rules in the court system.
7 comments:
I had the same thing with my dog Tony, then 14, when he had a seizure, vomiting and not keeping food down, and general disorientation. He was almost totally blind at that point and was pacing around and bumping into walls. I had to make the decision to have him put down. It almost killed me to do it.
Now I don't know about your dog, but what I described is a case where a dog was nearing the end.
Have you had her heart checked and also blood work to see if she is deficient in any vitamins?
Joseph, are you living, walking Bella, in an area that is or was a home to plastics manufacture? Or do you utilize the open spaces of a golf course for a doggie run? Mecurial chloride would be present in either of those scenarios.
Tuna has a lifespan of approximately 15 years. This allows mercury to build up in their bodies. Salmon is a much better choice since they live 3 to 5 years depending on the specific species and the levels of mercury are much lower. At this point in time tuna should be avoided almost entirely. I eat tuna maybe once a year. I live in the PNW and salmon is a well regulated fishery and they seem to be slowly rebounding from the devastation of the last 30 years of over harvesting. Of course Fukushima is still a concern. Good luck and best wishes to Bella.
Joseph; there is a detox with essence of cilantro. Be careful that it doesn't dislodge and find another home. I beleive you direct it to eexcretion with chlorella
Ben
I've noticed a lack of respect for commentators joseph. I hope its my imaginatipn.
You'll find the same warnings about mercury buildup when eating seaweed on a daily basis. I suppose that any food that comes out of the ocean should be eaten very moderately. I had considered local fresh water fish as an alternative, but the heavy metal contamination from our two riverside coal-fired power plants and the heavy volume of factory farm runoff rule out anything that comes from our waterways. That includes, I'm sorry to say, our tap water which I've started running through a filter in order to remove arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
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