Seizures and allergies

[Amanda and Quinn]

I’m wondering how many of our seizure-cursed doodles are also allergy sufferers.  As I’ve started to make more connections with other owners who are dealing with this issue, it’s coming up more and more that their dogs have allergies in addition to epilepsy.  My primary vet and neurologist haven’t really noticed a connection, and there isn’t a whole lot about it online.

It could just be coincidence—or a sign that he’s just not a very healthy dog in general—but the fact that these are Quinn’s two main health issues has given me pause.  We don’t know what he’s allergic to yet—the allergy specialist is next up on the list—but his allergies are severe year-round.  He gets relief from Atopica, but I’ve been hesitant to keep him on it because a) it’s outrageously expensive and b) it often makes him vomit, which makes me very nervous about keeping down his twice-daily seizure medication.  I also don’t like the idea of keeping him on a heavy-duty medication for the rest of his life without knowing what the real problem is.  The one and only time we used steroids, they were effective, but he had two seizures in 24 hours. 

We’ve been focusing on the seizures for the past few months, and often keeping a cone on him to keep him from biting and scratching, but obviously that’s not a long-term solution. Now that he has gone two months without a seizure, I’m feeling more comfortable with shifting the focus to his allergies.  Before we see the specialist, though, I wanted to see if anyone else has seen a connection between these two health problems.  And who knows, maybe it doesn’t even matter…  I’m kind of rambling here!

[Debbie and Toby]

Last October, right before Toby started having seizures, we went to the vet with severe inflammation of the ear and paw chewing. He was treated with antibiotics and a medicated ear wash. We never really found out what caused it, but we switched his food to grain free and switched him from chicken to fish formulas....have not had any problems since. When we tried to add chicken back into his diet, he again started paw chewing. Maybe this is all coincidence but he has had no symptoms whatsoever as long as we eliminate chicken, corn, wheat, etc. from his diet.. Lots of hugs to Quinn!

[Kirsy & Jasper]

VERY INTERESTING DEBBIE! Jasper also had an ear infection, paw chewing and scratching his ears till they bled. My Vet gave him a CONVENIA Antibiotic injection, VOREN Anti-Inflammatory and SUROLAN topical ear treatment. It settled it all down fast, BUT he had 3 seizures within 3 weeks of that those treatments. Normally he goes up to 9 weeks max. without a seizure. Coincidence, maybe?
We have also now switched Jasper to ONLY cooked meat, as he often vomited and then seizured after raw chicken or turkey necks. He still gets a raw beef bone every 3 days for his teeth and he doesn't vomit from them! Maybe it is a raw poultry allergy, he developed with his seizures???
He has not had another fit since the COOKED DIET started. Raw poultry might be one of the TRIGGERS?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's not unusual for a dog to have an allergic reaction to Convenia...that's an injectable cephalosporin drug, and cephalosporium acremonium, a common water mold, is one of the most common allergens for allergic dogs.
There is no difference nutritionally between raw and cooked poultry. it would be impossible for a dog (or person) to be allergic to raw chicken but not to cooked chicken, or vice versa. The vomiting is another story...raw foods are much harder to digest than cooked foods.
Poor Jasper was being given two different forms of steroids and two different antibiotics all at the same time. That might be enough to bring on vomiting, seizures, and anything else!
My Jack has very severe allergies and has infected himself many times...but they never put him on so many drugs at once! I think Jasper might be another candidate for a dermatology specialist.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

An acute allergic reaction produces symptoms that can look like a mild seizure: drooling, spastic facial movements, tics, twitching, glassy eyes, etc. But I have researched both issues as thoroughly as possible and there is no connection that I can find between epilepsy and allergies. If an epileptic dog also has allergies, a severe allergic reaction can definitely bring on a seizure.
Amanda, I have written fairly extensively here about Atopica, and it disturbs me that your general practice vet prescribed it without referring you to an allergy specialist. Atopica is the veterinary brand-name version of the drug cyclosporine, which is a very powerful immunosuppressant used in humans to prevent organ rejection in organ recipients. It does this by basically shutting down the whole immune system. For many of us who have allergic dogs, it is drug to be reserved for when all else fails. It leaves dogs (and people) wide open to all kinds of opportunistic infections, it requires modified versions of all vaccines, and it has been linked to cancer in humans...use in dogs hasn't been long enough to have determined a link to cancer in dogs, but Jack's specialist believes there is one. The first step should have been the allergy specialist. Run, do not walk! The specialist can also address your questions about any links between the allergies and the seizures.

[Amanda and Quinn]

I'm beyond disturbed by Atopica too. I'd like to know what is going on with that drug and my general vet's office--they prescribe it to EVERYONE whose dog has even mild allergies, and when you're put on hold there, instead of music, you get a recorded spiel about the wonders of Atopica. Even if I hadn't read about the connections between the drug and immune system problems, I'd have been suspicious. It's like all the vets there have been brainwashed that it's the second coming.

We're absolutely going to the specialist, don't worry! I've done my research and found one that sounds amazing. Fingers crossed.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What's going on is that just like human doctors, the drug companies "compensate" the vets for prescribing their drugs. And Atopica is a gold mine for them. It's what's called a "big ticket" drug in human pharmacies. After the human version went generic, the drug company needed a way to make up for the loss of revenue, and came up with a veterinary version that can still only be sold under the brand name, ka-ching! What makes this even more upsetting is that it is the exact same thing as the human drug cyclosporine, but the law prohibits us from getting the human generic version, which is a hundred dollars cheaper per prescription, for our dogs. And who lobbies for those kinds of laws? Three guesses. So you are paying more for Quinn's drugs than you would be if you were taking the drug yourself.

[Amanda and Quinn]

I really, really hope I don't run into the same problem with the specialist.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If it's a board certified veterinary dermatology specialist, he/she is going to suggest testing first. Then you'll get treatment options. Jack's specialist wanted to try the immunotherapy first, and only go to Atopica if that fails.
Another thing that bothers me is the fact that Quinn has year-round symptoms and you live in a temperate climate. That suggests either food allergies or indoor allergens such as dust mites, storage mites, cat dander, etc. Usually, with year-round allergies, the vets will suggest a food trial, since that's one of the few scenarios in which it might actually be a food allergy. Did your vet even consider that?

[Amanda and Quinn]

Yes, we did food trials first and things did seem to get better once he was off chicken and beef--his ear infections cleared up and so did the paw chewing. I couldn't believe that we got lucky and it really was a food allergy. The weird thing is that immediately after putting him on Zonisamide for seizures, things got bad again. Both the neurologist and my regular vet think there is no possible way he could be allergic to something in the medication or the capsules themselves, but the timing was so strange. I definitely want to get testing done, which is part of the reason we were holding off until now. I figured they'll have to shave off a lot of his fur and I didn't want to do that in the dead of winter. I just want to know for sure what he's allergic to. If there's any way we can avoid giving him more medication, that would be amazing. (Benadryl and that sort of drug does nothing.)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

They shave a relatively small patch for the testing:

The thing is, they usually do the testing during a dog's "off" season, which is usually winter. I'm not sure what they do when the symptoms are year round. Your specialist may want to try something else first, based on Quinn's history with foods & meds.
The only drugs I'm aware of that will cause allergy symptoms in dogs are antibiotics, because they're mold-based.
Benadryl is never the antihistamine of first-choice for allergic dogs. Zyrtec, Atarax, Chlor-trimeton and Claritin are all more effective. They also work much better when given along with evening primrose oil; each enhances the effects of the other. But again, Quinn's case may be different from Jack's and your specialist may have other ideas.
The one thing I can tell you is that chances are great that Quinn will have to be on some kind of meds for the rest of his life. Real allergies can't be cured, only managed.
That was one of the hardest things for me to accept.

[Amanda and Quinn]

Oh that is a smaller patch than I thought it would be. Still looks awfully sad though... poor Jack.

Thanks so much for all your help. I'll keep you posted with details of our visit.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I was hoping you would! :)