My poor dog (Long & Sad)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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We have an 11 1/2 year old Boxer, named Spike. We’ve had him since shortly after his 6th birthday.

He’s had no big health problems up until now. A few years ago he had a seizure after drinking some VERY cold water from an icy pond. He kinda lost his breath. We ran over and got him up and he was back to his normal self. He didn’t do it again for almost 2 years. After it happened a second time, inside, with nothing happening before hand, we took him to the vet, who could find nothing. He said possible epilepsy, but since it was happening so infrequently, it was hard to say. Keep in mind, during these mini seizures, he lost control of his bladder, but was fine after a minute or two. His last one was about a year ago, maybe a bit more.

Fast forward to a week ago Monday. We picked him up the day before from my grandfathers, who had him for a week while we were on vacation. He was fine when we left for work on the Monday and when we got home he had peed on the floor and had a BM, which is totally unlike him. We chalked it up to adjusting to not being outside a hundred times a day with my grandfather and readjusting. (We have a neighbor who lets him out at noon) We had dinner plans and when we got home, he had thrown up 3 times, just water, which he does from time to time if he drinks too fast. We were kind of worried, so I called my grandfather to see if he could have gotten into anything there, and he said he hadn’t. He was pacing a little bit, but after some TLC, calmed down.

He was okay during the week, but generally not acting like his happy go lucky self. He was a bit stiff and we wondered if he possibly fell down the stairs. We called the vet and his regular vet was on vacation, so we spoke to a tech who said to keep an eye on him.

Saturday morning at 6:30 I awoke to him having an absolutely horrible seizure. His bed is right beside my side of the bed. Jeff sprinted over the bed and talked him out of it, while I bawled my eyes out. Jeff left for work an hour later and I stayed home with him all day. It was like looking after a sick 2 year old. His strength went down, he started pacing a lot, doing laps around the living and dining rooms, he couldn’t walk up the stairs himself, he walks like he’s drunk, staggaring all over the place. It’s almost like he has an ear infection and it’s affecting his balance. If that’s all it is, I will be greatful.

I’m leaving work in 10 minutes to being him to the vet. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the worst, and my stomach is in knots. I am so scared.

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Good thoughts being sent to Lady Jeff and Spike in Ottowa!

Quasi

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Sending warm thoughts your way.

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Healing thoughts coming your way. It will probably turn out to be nothing harmful, but I know the feeling. Try not to worry too much.

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Big Doggy Hugs and good wishes to you.

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Oh my goodness! Here’s some more good vibes for you and your puppy.

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It sounds like it could be vestibular disorder. The good news is that very often there is no identified reason and the disorder clears up on its own in about 2 weeks. My late labrador had a very bad bout with this and couldn’t walk for over a week. She recovered fully with the exception of a slight head tilt.

It can also be caused by hypothyroidism, a brain tumor, or an ear infection, but is usually idiopathic. I hope your dog feels better soon.

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Thanks for all the warm thoughts.

A little update…

We took him to the vet and she was awesome with him. She is looking at a few different things. She thinks that he may have had a seizure the first Monday we had him back while no one was home and that caused the cognitive changes we are seeing. We won’t ever know if he had a seizure or not. She’s doing a bunch of blood tests, which we will get the results today. She said if it’s something Metabolic, we can deal with it with drugs. If it’s a cognitive deficiency, then it will be more difficult.

Calliope
I read that article and it suits what is going on with him to a tee. I will bring this up to the vet and see what she says. Thanks.
I will post another update when we get results of the blood and urine tests.

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Lady Venom, I’m sorry to hear about Spike , and just wanted to make a suggestion to check out Boxerworld . The forums there are filled with people who know LOTS about boxer health, and they may be able to help you understand the blood panels you get back better, offer suggestions and advice on how to deal with what is hopefully a short illness, or just give you support to help you through. The people are very nice and kindhearted, they will do their best to help you deal with this. I have an older boxer male with several health issues, and honestly would have not made it through this sane without the wonderful people there. I’ll be thinking about Spike and watching this thread to hear of his return back to his kidney-beaning self!

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** themindreels **

Thanks for the site suggestion. I would love to join and participate in the forums, but they’re not accepting new registrations right now :frowning:

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Hope all goes well with your dog. Our 10 yr. old poodle has seizures. Not often, but when it does happen I freak out. My other half is good with him and just holds him. It can be scary when that happens. Please keep us posted on your pooch.

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I have two dogs with epilepsy. The older one (Ivan) started having cluster seizures about 2 weeks after we got him. He was 4 years old and a rescue. We didn’t know anything about his medical history before that.

Our heart dog, Sasha, started having seizures about 2 1/2 years ago. We think she may have had a head injury one night when she got away from us and ran down the street.

Blood tests may not show anything. (They didn’t on either of our dogs.) However, be sure they test for thyroid levels, because thyroid problems can cause seizures in dogs.

They may want to put the dog on medication. Both our epi-dogs take phenobarbital. Ivan’s seizures are very well-controlled. He hasn’t had a seizure in a couple of years. It was harder to get some control with Sasha. She would be ok for a couple of months, then gradually start having increasing numbers of seizures. And she has grand mal seizures, which are very distressing to watch. She loses bladder control, but so far hasn’t lost bowel control. (Losing control like that is apparently not uncommon during seizures.) We ended up having to add potassium bromide to her medication regimen, and (knock wood) she hasn’t had a seizure since last November. That’s the best run for her so far since she started seizuring.

A good resource is the Canine Epilepsy Resource Center.

If it’s epilepsy (and it sounds like it from here) it’s not a death sentence. It takes some time and effort to manage it, but many dogs go on to live good lives with epilepsy.

Best wishes, and good luck!

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Archergal

Our vet is fairly certain it is not epilepsy. She said that it is VERY rare that a senior dog will develop epilepsy. She said the two “seizure’s” we described after playing in the ice water and again after coming inside on a hot day and drinking fast were likely faints, not seizures.

We will take what is given to us. We want him to have a good life.

I’m still awaiting the test results. This waiting is killing me!

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Good luck with the pup…

I realise you’re in Ottawa, just like I usually am… you should meet up with us (LadyDisco, Stephi n’ myself) sometime. We’re all dog people.

I hope your pup feels better soon… Even if he’s an old man, they’re alreays “pups” to us. Remember that if things worsen at night or something, you can always take him to Alta Vista - they have the 24 hour emergency care.

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Elenfair

I’d love to meet up sometime. That’d be great. My email address is in my profile.

I know Alta Vista is 24 hours, but they are SO expensive. There is another one just off of Carling/Clyde, I can’t remember the name though.

When we took him in last night, he was really good, not like he had been days previous. I joked with Jeff that he was like a car with a problem. As soon as you bring it into the shop, there’s nothing wrong with it. :smiley:

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Might help if I actually allow my address to be shown huh? hehe

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Hmm, she’s probably thinking that most cases of idiopathic epilepsy (basically, a seizure disorder that they don’t know the cause of) occur in dogs under 4 years of age. But not all of them do. Ivan was about 4 when we found out he had seizures. Sasha was 6 when she started having seizures. And I’m not trying to scare you with this, but one cause of seizures in dogs older than 4 or 5 is brain tumors. There have been people on the EPILK9-L (canine epilepsy mailing list) that have gone through this with their dogs.

The other thing you mentioned is how, after the seizure you witnessed, the dog was restless and did a lot of pacing. This sounds like post-ictal behavior, or post-seizure behavior. Sasha’s post-ictal phase was very distressing (she would pace relentlessly for 45 minutes or an hour, panting and just generally not acting like herself at all.) Is this what you saw with Spike?

Do check out the canine epilepsy site I mentioned in my first post. There are other treatment modalities you can investigate, like homeopathic methods, accupuncture, etc. The main thing is not to let a pattern of seizures get started.

Best of luck –

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A little update.

I spoke to the vet at length last night and the blood work & urine came back, showing no signs of kidney problems, liver problems and all his levels are fine. She said aside from his current behaviour problems, he is healthy.

She has come to the conclusion that he either had a horrible seizure while we were away at work and that is causing brain swelling OR he fell down the stairs and bonked his head pretty bad.

We are going to try him on a steroidal anti-inflammatory for a week long course and see if that helps at all. She says the yelping for no apparent reason is, for lack of a better term, a headache, caused by this pressure.

We are keeping a close eye on him, watching him for any signs of a seizure and documenting it. Yesterday he was almost back to his normal self. Jeff was home all day with him and he was great.

Archergal

Aside from the pacing, he was acting pretty normal. His balance has improved and his strength has improved dramatically. He is able to walk up the stairs on his own.

He paced for maybe 5 minutes last night until I directed him upstairs to lay on the futon.

I am aware that if the anti-inflammatory does not work, we’re likely looking at a tumor. I am not sure what we’ll do if that’s the case.

We’re taking it day by day.

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Lady Venom, IF Spike has another seizure (and I’ve got my fingers crossed for you that he won’t!), here’s what we do for Sasha right after. It seems to help cut her post-ictal pacing and discomfort way down.

Keep in mind that after a violent seizure, the dog is overheated and has just expended a fair amount of energy. Sasha is also hugely ravenous after a seizure.

We usually have some vanilla ice cream in the fridge (Breyer’s is good, cuz it doesn’t have any additives.) We make up a small dish of that, and I usually put some honey on it too, for a few extra calories. I also add a couple of droppers of Rescue Remedy (available at health food stores) to it. I got this from the EPILK9-L list, and it seems to help.

Also, just in case you see Spike starting a seizure, you might try using ocular compression. Basically, what I do with Sasha is cup my hand over her eyes and press gently. Ocular compression supposedly stimulates the vagus nerve and helps to ease the seizure. See Ocular Compression for more details.

It really seems to ease the seizure a little, and also seems to reduce the amount of post-ictal pacing and staggering.

All that said, I truly hope the nsaids will take care of Spike’s problem, and you won’t have to worry any more!

Very best of luck, and feel free to email me if there’s anything I can help with!

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Archergal

Thanks so much for the tips. He can’t stomach human food at all (gives him the runs) so I’m not sure how he’d handle ice cream, but I will definately try it.

I hope I’m not alone if he has another seizure. It scared me so bad. Jeff was great with him when it happened. I will definately tell him about the OC and try it if it happens again.

Thanks so much for listening guys. Spike has my heart wrapped around his paw and these past 2 weeks has been very trying for us.

I will update you all Monday.