We adopted our dog 6 years ago. She was an adult at the time and they estimated her age to be about 2-making her about 8 now. She is a medium sized mixed breed: not sure what the mix is. She’s been a fantastic dog thus far, but lately it seems like something is wrong. She has been pooping on the floor, tripping on stairs, and doing other odd things…such as hanging out under the table, when she is normally very social and likes to be in the thick of things. We took her to the vet who could find nothing wrong. Then after she tripped down the stairs and hurt herself, we took her to the animal hospital and that treating vet could not find anything wrong either. But she is definitely acting strange and has been snoring really loudly at night. What can be wrong with her? I am worried and she seems to really need a lot of tlc lately. Any ideas?? I feel like she is suffering but don[t know how to help her 
What did the vets do in order to tell you they couldn’t find anything wrong? Full-panel bloodwork (chemistry and CBC), possibly a 4DX snap test, and whole-body x-rays are the place to start. There’s a long list of things that could be wrong, and just a physical exam can only tell them so much. There could be other diagnostics that could tell you even more, but x-rays and bloodwork are the most basic, and you must start there. If the vets suggested these and you declined, their hands are tied. If they didn’t suggest these because they couldn’t find anything obvious to them during the exam, then you should insist. They may come back normal, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s wrong, it’s the beginning of ruling out things and making the list of possibilities much smaller.
I’m a firm believer that most people are fairly in-tune with their pets, and a change in behavior like that, plus new clumsiness and accidents, means you are correct and something is wrong. Could be arthritis, could be heart disease, could be 20 other things. Gotta start with basic diagnostics.
It stinks when our pets “aren’t right” and they can’t tell us why.
Hope you find out what’s wrong.
[mod]Moving to IMHO.[/mod]
Did the vet do the test where they turn the dog’s paw so the "back of the hand’ part is touching the table/floor? A normal dog will immediately right the paw to the pads-down position, but in the case of some neurological issues, the dog will just stand there as if not noticing the paw is not pads-down.
Since 2 different vets found nothing wrong, I’m going to take a wild guess. You said you weren’t certain how old she is. She might be a little older than you think (determining age in dogs is not an exact science after puppyhood) and she is simply showing her age. For a medium-to-large dog 10 years would be getting pretty old.
Thank you for the replies. I was not in the room when the vet did the exam as I had kids with me and he thought it best if we waited outside. When he was done, he said he found nothing and she seems normal-but I am not exactly sure which tests were done. In looking over the paperwork, it says this:
Coat: bright & shiny
Eyes:Clear
Ears: red/itchy (this has been an ongoing problem–he gave us more drops)
Nose/throat/lymph: normal
Mouth/teeth/gums: normal
Lungs: normal sounds
Heart: normal rhythm
Abdomen: normal, not painful
Urogenital System: normal
Anal sacs: empty/normal
Musculoskeletal: normal/non painful
Neurological: normal behavior & responses
Condition: excellent
**the above were all check boxes, the following were written in:
Physical exam
Ear cleaning-Level 1
Ear swab and microscopic exam
Express anal glands
Heartworm/Lyme/Ehrlichia Test
Fecal Exam
This was over a week ago and the tests all came back negative, except she did has “mild otitis externa” … which she has had from time to time due to ear flap damage that she had before we adopted her. It has since cleared up.
No mention of blood work, xrays, or the specific paw test but I will call the office when they open and ask about those.
When she fell down the stairs on Saturday (and these are stairs in our house that she navigates multiple times per day), she walked over to her bed and stayed there looking depressed. We took her to the hospital, but they did a physical exam–no xrays-and she was walking normally, so they thought she was ok.
I should also point out that her behavior changes are intermittent. For example, when we came home last night, she greeted us at the door like she normally does. But just now when the kids/husband left for school/work, she did not see them off as usual–just stayed in her bed upstairs (odd for her as she always runs to the door whenever it opens -we have a loud security system).
She also did not want to go for a walk this morning, which is really weird for her.
Sorry for the long, rambling message but I am worried. I’ll get her in for the tests they did not do and see what the results are. Thx again for the replies.
You actually may be right…she always seems so peppy and puppy-like that I never think of her as old…but maybe it’s just the beginning of old age. I’ll get the other tests done and report back.
How gradual, or sudden, is the onset of these changes?
Rather sudden. She started acting strange about 2-3 weeks ago–not being her normal social self, pooping on the floor. We thought, ok maybe she’s just having an off day or off week–happens to me sometimes too.
But it continued and seemed to get worse, so we took her to the vet a little over a week ago and he did the above tests. She fell down the stairs on Saturday, which prompted the trip to the animal hospital.
Does seem too rapid to be old age setting in, but this is our first dog so I’m sure how it’s supposed to go.
Is she eating and drinking like normal? Does she act like it hurts when she pees or poops? Is she reluctant to squat?
If the answers are No, Yes, Yes - she should go back to the Vet today.
Otherwise, schedule her for the full tests that SeaDragonTattoo recommended.
ETA: It sounds like you’re right to suspect something is up.
My initial WAG about the tripping/stair problem is eye troubles.
If it were a human, I’d suggest neurological problems, but I’ve never studied animal A&P. Next time you go, I’d go in with the dog and make sure that all of the tests are being done thoroughly.
I remember when we thought one of our ferrets, Captain Belvedere, had either swallowed something he shouldn’t or had a hairball - he suddenly wouldn’t eat or play, and he lost a lot of weight over a few days. My boyfriend took him to the vet to get whatever was stuck removed only to find out that he had a ginormous tumor.
So if you feel like something is wrong, something is probably wrong. Get x-rays done.
I truly hope that you find the source of the problem and are able to solve it. It sucks when your pets aren’t themselves.
My dog just had a coughing/wheezing fit and the vet can’t see her until 2 :(. I’m not sure if dogs can get colds ( a google search showed mixed results) but maybe she just has a cold or the flu? That would explain her listlessness. I just hope it’s not something serious.
I just noticed on her paperwork from last week that she had a SNAP 3Dx test (heartworm, ecanis, and Lyme disease) but not the 4 Dx that SeaDragonTattoo mentioned. Will ask the vet about the 4dx, bloodwork, etc.
Merneith-she is eating and drinking like normal. She has been pooping/peeing in the house (which I haven’t observed)–normally she goes out thru dog door into the yard so I don’t pay much attention…so I’m not sure if she’s reluctant to squat. Been trying to observe that all morning, but she won’t go out.
Also my husband thinks the vet’s office may be reluctant to do the additional testing because we are on a “Wellness Plan” where we payed a lot up front and everything is supposed to be covered–and they didn’t see a reason to incur the additional expenses. If that’s the case I’ll just pay out of pocket.
Thanks everyone for the replies.
Too damned bad!
The only thing “missing” from the 3DX is anaplasmosis, and since anaplasma used to be called erhrlichia, you might be OK on that front. I would definitely ask for some bloodwork and Xrays, and if that shows nothing, she may just be having cognitive changes. You could always ask for a referral to a neurologist, if there’s one nearby.
[quote=“Enola_Gay, post:13, topic:615534”]
My dog just had a coughing/wheezing fit and the vet can’t see her until 2 :(. I’m not sure if dogs can get colds ( a google search showed mixed results) but maybe she just has a cold or the flu? <snip>QUOTE]
Dogs and cats can definitely get colds and other respiratory infections(some of which can be passed back & forth between humans) but IMHO that’s not the primary thing going on here. I would think the coughing/wheezing would be an earlier symptom if that were the case.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a veterinarian!
This. Demand x-rays and bloodwork.
I may be too late getting back to you, but make sure they do both chest and abdomen xrays. The 3DX is sufficient, don’t worry about that. Dogs can get viruses that look like colds or flu, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.
Except for the potty issues, this sounds a lot like me when I had an inner ear virus. I was dizzy and uncoordinated, and didn’t want to move around any more than necessary. Is the poop runny or anything? Could it just be that she doesn’t want to walk all the way outside?
If so, my guess would be that the ear problem is actually deeper than the vet realizes.
That was my first reaction, too - now with coughing and wheeziness, maybe poochie has a respiratory infection that has moved into her ears (or vice versa).
the coughing could easily be caused by drainage down the throat. The wheezing would not though. Hmmnnn.
Must be Lupus.
Lord, forgive me for that there, and be with the starving Pygmy’s, Amen.