Seizures and Blue Buffalo Dog Food

[Kimberly5907]

Dear Doctor: My little 4 pound Yorkie went into seizures about a week and a half ago and had about 7 in a 24 hour period. During the seizures she was rigid and crying. She was unable to walk afterward and was very weak for days.  She stayed at the vet and hospital for four days on an IV and had to be fed by hand.  For several days after we brought her home, she lay in her bed but could stand outside to go to the bathroom.  Fed by hand and given water by syringe. Over the past 4 or 5 days she has mostly recovered and I am wondering what caused all of this.  They thought it might be a brain tumor, but it has resolved.  Epilepsy is another thought but we will have to see if it recurs.  I had started her on Blue Buffalo dry dog food one and a half weeks before the episodes, because I thought she had a food allergy, she had skin itching often.  Before that, she had always been on Science Diet.  What are your thoughts on Blue Buffalo?  Is this a common reaction? I'm not finding a lot on the internet about it but I saw you had referred to the dog food in another post.  Your thoughts and experience will be most appreciated.  She is now on medicine from the vet.

[Misfits4Me]

Kimberly, Although it's unlikely her food, I would check it out further....Blue Buffalo had a Recall of a number of their foods in the middle of October....The problem was excess amounts of Vitamin D. Yes, it was causing many problems.....

They were suppose to be pulled from the shelves, but I don't trust some stores judgement pertaining to recalls......I believe it was a number of their chicken recipes if I remember correctly....

Anyway, I would look into her food for this reason anyway.....

I hope she gets better.....Merry Christmas to you & yours, Karla

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

I don't believe that your dog had seizures due to the dog food, however,  to be sure it would be best to contact the Blue Buffalo company and discuss the seizures with them.  Have the lot number handy.  There is always the possibility with any food (human or otherwise) that the food can become contaminated by a toxin, mold, parasite, infection, or other non-food component that can cause disease.

An MRI to check your dog's brain might be a good idea to rule out a brain abnormality.  If her brain does not have any lesions or abnormalities than there is a much higher chance that the seizures were due to idiopathic epilepsy and they can be controlled by medication, and in some cases Chinese herbal medications.  There are also metabolic causes of seizures but your vet can rule them out.

Milk thistle, choline and inositol, denosyl (SAM-E) and alpha lipoic acid would be good additions to your dog's dietary regimen to help lower her already elevated liver enzymes, and to prevent additional elevations that can occur with anti-seizure medications.