References
Abstract
This report discusses a case of suspected dietary hyperthyroidism in a 2-year-old male crossbreed dog. The dog presented with a history of tonic-clonic seizures, seen over the previous 6 months, and was refractory to increasing doses of phenobarbitone. Serum total thyroxine concentrations were persistently elevated on repeated sampling; the rest of the investigations were normal. The initial diet – a raw food diet – was tested and found to contain detectable levels of total thyroxine. Dietary hyperthyroidism was therefore proposed as a potential cause of seizures in this case.
A 2-year-old male neutered crossbreed dog was referred with a 6-month history of seizures. The episodes were described by the owner as typical for generalised tonic-clonic seizures: the dog would become vacant, turn and then fall onto one side, paddle the limbs as well as chomp the jaw, salivate, urinate and sometimes vocalise. The episodes would last between 60 and 90 seconds, following which he would appear disorientated, blind and anxious for around 15 minutes before returning to normal. At the point of referral, the dog was experiencing around one seizure every 2 weeks, but there was a tendency for the seizures to cluster. There was one described episode consistent with status epilepticus (four seizures with incomplete recovery occurring in between, lasting more than 1 hour). Between episodes, the dog was reported to be normal. However, he was hyperaesthetic, restless and anxious in general, with fear-related aggression to people and other dogs.
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