protein induced seizure?

[Reyven]

I was emailing a friend today when I learned that her puppy (shelter pup she got several weeks ago) started having seizures. She called the ER vet, and they said to wait for an appointment the next day as it would be cheaper. No big deal....but she again had more seizures that night. My friend realized it was only after she would eat. So my friend took her in to the ER vet. Vet gave some food and she seized again. Vet decided, without any tests, that the protein is bypassing her metabolism and going straight to the brain causing a 'sugar rush' ??
She wants to do a blood test, but the initial visit cost $200...and the blood test is $180. So my friend is trying to get some pet insurance. (She's a college student working part time) because she really wants to help her and get this figured out because she loves her puppy.

My question is though, has anyone heard anything about protein induced seizures?? I know of low or high blood sugar could cause them, but protein I've never heard of...
I emailed my friend and asked if maybe switching to a lower protein diet might help? Or maybe just switching foods in general? I don't really know, but I want to try and give her as much info as possible about treatments and things she could do to help and I didn't find anything online about protein induced seizures...

Thanks for any help

[Dauxside]

I've heard of them...took me awhile to find the related informations:

Hyperlipoproteinemia.

Dr. de Lahunta's text Veterinary Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology has a small paragraph on this disorder but we were unable to find this disorder as it is spelled or described in any of the other veterinary texts we own. He states that "defective lipid metabolism" causes this disorder. Lipids are classified as simple and complex. Simple lipids do not contain fatty acids. Complex lipids are essentially fatty acids and include glycerides, glycolipids, phospholipids, and waxes (ear wax). Lipids can combine with proteins to form lipoproteins. Apparently this disorder does not properly break down the fatty acids in the blood and the affected dog may have seizures. Dr. de Lahunta states that the Miniature Schnauzer is the most commonly affected dog. A high concentration of lipids (triglycerides) in the blood is known as hyperlipemia. Other clinical signs of hyperlipemia include dullness, poor appetite, and rapid loss of body condition.

The link will take you to a website regarding dog related seizure. It would be handy for your friend to have that to discuss with her vet.

[Reyven]

Thank you very much! I will definitely email her this link so she can read it over and talk to the vet

[Dauxside]

TA Reyven, feeling so bad for your friend. All paws crossed that it's allergies and not something worse.

What does she feed?

[Reyven]

I don't know what she feeds right now. I haven't had the chance to really talk to her about it in depth because of her busy schedule. The only thing is that this came on suddenly, and hasn't been happening since birth. It almost makes me worried that there is something IN the food causing it...but I'm no vet so I don't know!
Hopefully I can find out some more info when I get an email back from her

[alimel]

Wow, I have never heard of this. Buddy suffers from seizures, but they are under control with medication. It never occurred to me that certain types of foods can trigger them.

[alimel]

Can I ask what type of seizures your friend's dog has? Are they mild or grand mal (sp) seizures ?

[Reyven]

At first she thought it was just a muscle spasm so she ignored it. But she had more and from what I understand they were mild, not so severe that she was thrashing, but obvious it was a seizure

I too used to have a dog with seizures, but it was do to kidney or liver failure (can't remember which one) and he had to be put down. I hope with her dog it can be controlled with medicine or some kind of food!

[alimel]

Make sure your friend writes down how long the seizures last and how often they occur. This is important information the vet needs to know in order to determine what type of seizures they are along with blood work. My dog suffers from Epileptic seizures but has not had one in months with his medication. Most seizures can be managed with medication.

[Reyven]

Well I just got an email from her and this is what she has said about the seizures and vet:

Blood work came back negative for anything. They are now doing a bile test or something along those lines. The vet gave her special food to last 5 days to see if that helps (don't know what food this is...probably some kind of Science Diet) The food is suppose to help the liver manage food better.

The vet said that if the seizures can't be managed through a strict diet, they may have to remove a shunt (guess that has something to do with the protein going directly to the brain?) that should help the food flow through the system properly.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this special diet can help manage these seizures.
She applied for a medical credit card just to help her poor puppy! There is a limit of $500 on it, so I hope things start to get better with this food!