Canine Hepatic Seizures

Causes and Symptoms

• Hepatic encephalopathy is a degenerative disease of the brain. Typical symptoms are seizures and behavioral changes such as compulsive pacing and circling. The cause is a congenital abnormality called a "portosystemic shunt." This defect causes blood to flow around the liver instead of through it. As a result, toxins with high levels of ammonia reach the brain via the blood, as the liver cannot remove them.
  
  

Diagnosis

• A dog presenting with seizures is at an advanced stage of hepatic encephalopathy. The veterinarian tests the dog's blood, urine, bile, takes abdominal ultrasound and a liver biopsy to make sure there is no other cause of the seizures.
  
  

Treatment and Prevention

• Treatment includes antibiotics, lactulose and dietary changes. Dogs with hepatic seizures should not eat high-protein meals and require a carefully balanced prescription diet. In some cases, surgery can repair a portosystemic shunt. According to Dr. Arnold Plotnick, hepatic encephalopathy with seizures can be reversible "if the precipitating factor can be controlled or eliminated, and liver function is stable." If liver function cannot be stabilized or is deteriorating, a prognosis would be guarded.