Seizure Episodes

[AnimalCaregiver]

I have a 2 year old Eastern Grey that I've hand raised since he was about 4 weeks old. His tree was cut down and I acquired him from someone who worked in tree service. He has always had seizure episodes and that's why he was never released. They only happened occasionally but seem to be getting a little more frequent now. His energy is good, he is bright and alert all of the time. No lack of appetite, or any appearance of discomfort. When he has an episode hes acting like his normal self one moment, and the next he's not. After he comes to, he is inconsolable and starts flipping around his kennel, but after a few moments calms down and is back to his normal self. I am paranoid about MBD but I am religious about his food intake. He gets fresh veggies and some fruits each day in the AM, topped with mealworms that are coated in calcium. In the PM he gets 2 Henry's squirrel blocks, and only gets 2 nuts in the shell per day as snacks. His usual veggies consist of some broccoli, brussel sprout, mushroom, and spring mix. But I rotate his other veggies and he sometimes gets snap peas, mini tomatos, cauliflower, cilantro, and red cabbage, ect. I try to follow the Henry's Healthy diet closely. He very rarely gets human food. Sometimes i will give him the smallest morsel of cheese or a cracker. But ONLY sometimes. He gets apple wood sticks to chew on, and I soak antler pieces in peanut butter (no sugar or salt) to entice him to chew on them, which he does. Is there any recommendations on anything that should be changed or done differently? Am I doing something wrong? He is happy otherwise. Should I do the MBD treatment just incase?

[Spanky]

I am paranoid about MBD but I am religious about his food intake. He gets fresh veggies and some fruits each day in the AM, topped with mealworms that are coated in calcium. In the PM he gets 2 Henry's squirrel blocks, and only gets 2 nuts in the shell per day as snacks.

Meal worms are terrible from a Ca:P ratio persepective, worse than most nuts. Unfortunately it is not possible to compensate for a very poor Ca:P ratio by adding additional calcium. Adding the calcium is good, as long as it is not over done, but it can be much like feeding a toddler cotton candy, gummy bears, etc. all day and McD's for dinner and having them wash down a multivitamin and then rationalizing their diet is healthy because they get a multivitamin every day.

How many meal-worms are used to "top" his food? Are these freeze dried meal-worms (the Ca:P ratio is worse in dried versus fresh)?

The MBD protocol cannot hurt, just monitor his poops to make sure he is not getting more calcium than he can process. If improvements are observed keep him on it.

As for nuts, almonds are among the best choices because of their lower Ca:P ration and high level of magnesium which help a bit with seizures. However, seizures are very hard on them and if they are increasing in frequency, and the MBD protocol does not help, then you may need to find a vet to help with getting your guy on proper medications (e.g. phenobarbital) to control the seizures.