My dog's seizures returned after eating chicken. Is it a food allergy?

HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Olaf! The food change is very unlikely to be the cause of his seizures. The most likely cause is epilepsy. If Olaf is having 2-3 or more seizures in a 24 hour period (clustering) that is an emergency and he should be hospitalized and started on anti-seizure medication. If there isn't a 24 hour emergency hospital in your area then you need to have him see first thing in the morning when your vet opens. I hope this helps and I wish Olaf the very best!

It is possible it may be food related - certain liver issues such as shunts can cause build up of chemicals in the blood causing seizures after food. This would need specific liver blood tests and possibly ultrasound to identify and if present can be managed with diet and medication for the most part although some may require surgery. Certain chemicals and molds in food can also trigger seizures

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Diet likely will not change the frequencies of seizures or prevent them. There is likely something else going on. I would recommend having him examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. This may be idiopathic epilepsy, in which a cause is not identified. I would at least test his blood to make sure there are no systemic abnormalities causing the seizures. If blood testing is normal, then monitoring the seizures for now is what I would recommend. If they become longer in duration and more frequent, this would warrant putting Rhino on anti seizure medications. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would just transition to the new food that is not chicken based right away. There is no need to transition slowly to prevent vomiting since he already vomits on the original diet. I would start a new diet with a different meat protein such as salmon, venison, rabbit, etc. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! First, you are no bother at all-that's what's we are here for. Secondly, yes, you have a cause for concern. Any time a known epileptic starts seizing again, especially with any frequency, it's time for a vet visit asap. Likely they will do bloodwork to make sure nothing has changed since you were prescribed medications last. You did not mention any phenobarbital or potassium bromide for long term relief from seizures? Is your dog on any any antiseizure medications or just the Valium as needed? If he is not on medications currently they may very well start him on something for long term relief. If he already is-they will likely adjust the dosages. I hope this helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If no diagnostics have been performed yet, I would strongly recommend having Oscar's blood tested and see if there are any abnormalities moving forward. If there are no abnormalities, a neurologist would be the next one to see for a second opinion on why we may be seeing seizures in Oscar. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!