A multicenter randomized controlled trial of medium-chain triglyceride dietary supplementation on epilepsy in dogs
Berk, B.A. et al.
2020
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine

This study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of medium chained triglyceride (MCT) as a dietary supplement to assess seizure control and anti-seizure drug’s (ASD) adverse effect profiles.
28 dogs completed the study protocol: a 6 month prospective, randomized, double blinded, placebo-control, multicenter dietary crossover trial comparing the Medium-chain triglyceride MCT dietary supplement (DS) and a standardized control oil DS for canine epilepsy.
Dogs enrolled were fed for 3 months initially with either control-DS or MCT-DS alongside their normal diet, followed by a respective switch for another 3 months to the other supplement Anti-seizure drug (ASD) treatment was not altered and all dogs presented resistance to at least 1 of the ASD given. The test oil was a MCT-DS purified from palm and rapeseed oil, the control was extra virgin olive oil..
The diet supplementation was well tolerated. Seizure frequency and seizure day frequency were significantly lower when dogs were fed MCT-DS (respectively: median 2.51/month and 1.68/month) in comparison with the control (median 2.67/month; 1.99/ month). 2 dogs were seizure free, and 3 dogs had a 50% or greater reduction in seizure frequency.
Results demonstrate the antiseizure properties of an MCT-DS and support previous evidence for the efficacy of MCTs potential implications of dietary management for dogs with resistant epilepsy.