Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term nutritional management of an obese German Spitz with paroxysmal dyskinesia, calcium oxalate urolithiasis, and suspected pancreatitis—A case report
- Journal:
- Frontiers in Veterinary Science
- Year:
- 2023
- Authors:
- Camila Baptista da Silva et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopaedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium · CH
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old male German Spitz, who was overweight, was brought in for help with his diet after being diagnosed with calcium oxalate stones in his bladder and suspected pancreatitis. He had a history of neurological issues that were initially thought to be seizures, for which he was treated with medication. A weight loss program was started, and while it worked initially, he began having neurological episodes again about 10 months later. After switching to a gluten-free diet, his episodes decreased significantly, allowing for a gradual reduction of his seizure medication. However, when his diet changed to another gluten-free option that was higher in fat, he started vomiting and had another neurological episode. Once he returned to the original gluten-free diet, he improved and did not show any further signs for the next five months. Overall, while we can't say for sure that gluten was the cause of his issues, the dog's condition improved with dietary changes and reducing his medication.
Abstract
BackgroundTo our knowledge, this is the first description of long-term nutritional management in a dog with paroxysmal dyskinesia.Case summaryAn obese 9-year-old, male entire, German Spitz was presented for dietary management after being diagnosed with calcium oxalate urolithiasis and suspected pancreatitis. Since he was seven years old, the dog has had a history of neurological signs, which were thought to be epileptic seizures. He was treated with phenobarbital and potassium bromide and was clinically controlled. For his nutritional advice, aiming to minimize one of the most important risk factors for the diseases, a weight loss program was started and successfully executed. However, 10 months later, the dog restarted presenting neurological episodes at a high frequency (3x/week). Based on videos and the characteristics of the neurological signs, the dog was diagnosed with paroxysmal dyskinesia. To investigate the role of gluten intake on this patient's neurological signs, a dietary trial with a commercial hypoallergenic diet (gluten-free; hydrolyzed protein) was followed. During the 3 months of the dietary trial, four neurologic episodes related to food indiscretion occurred. Upon the decrease in neurological episodes, the anti-seizure drugs were slowly discontinued. During this period, the dog presented only two neurologic episodes that were related to the days that the anti-seizure drugs were decreased. For 4 months the dog remained episode-free. However, a change in the dog's diet to another gluten-free diet (higher fat) led the dog to vomit and experience another neurologic episode. Once the dog was back to the previous gluten-free diet, it clinically improved, and no other clinical signs were reported by the client during the next 5 months.ConclusionAlthough a relationship between gluten and paroxysmal dyskinesia cannot be confirmed, the dog's improvement after the nutritional management and the removal of the anti-seizure therapy is supportive of dietary association.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1054251