Bella-Not sure if she is having seizures
 

My 9 year old yorkie Bella was acting strange on Monday. She seemed lethargic all day; not her usually peppy self. On Tuesday she woke up and seemed better...a little more pep in her step. Then in the afternoon, my nephew said, I think Bella wants you. I looked down and she was shaking, and almost curled up. I picked her up and her tongue was sticking out like she was hot and she was shaking and her eyes looked like they were bugging out of her head a bit...like she was very scared. We immediatly got in the car and took her to the vet. By the time we got there, she was better. Nothing like she was at home. Vet said he could not find anything wrong with her, her vitals were good and we could either get some x-rays or take her home and observe her. We opted to take her home. Last night she was ok and this morning, she was fully back to herself. She ran and got a toy and my daughter started playing with her and in the middle of playing, she started shaking, tongue was out again, tail was tucked, eyes looked glassy and she stooped down low and was just walking back and forth very slowly. She even winced once. That lasted about 5 minutes. I called my vet back and they can't get me in until tomorrow morning. And they are going to charge me for a second office visit! Ugh. They want to test her for heartworms as she has not been on preventative. What the heck is going on with my baby? Is she having seizures? Is this what heartworm symptoms look like? Should I change vets? Help!

Do you have a video camera or video on your cell? I would try to video an episode so that your vet can see exactly what you see. There are members on here who have had exp w seizures in their pups. I hope they see your thread. I would be suspicious of that also.

I'm not sure what heartworms would have to do w those symptoms. Maybe someone else can answer that for you.

Hoping your vet can get to the bottom of this w/o your poor pup having to go through many more of these episodes. If not, maybe a 2nd op or a specialist. The specialist might cost a little more for a visit, but if they can get to the bottom of things quickly it will save you $ in the end.

Please let us know how you make out at the vet.

Any coughing?

These symptoms are very serious. If she gets any worse, she needs to go to the ER. If this vet isn't attempting to figure it out beyond a heartworm test, then I'd switch. Xray should be done if they want it. General bloodwork should have been done when they first saw her.

If these are seizures and they start coming too close together, they can cluster and the prognosis isn't good. Honestly, if my dog had symptoms like this and they continued while I wasn't able to see my vet immediately, I'd be getting ready to go to the ER.

Yes, we took a video this afternoon and will show the vet tomorrow. No coughing. Now she seems perfectly fine. But we are keeping a very close eye on her. So strange. We are very scared. Like most people, funds are very tight for us so we are trying to get the diagnosis as quickly and as affordable as possible without comprising her health. We love her and would do anything for her.

I would definitely get her tested for heartworms and back on preventative, however, this does not sound like heartworm symptoms to me. Dull coat, persistent cough, easily out of breath for medium stage heartworms. This does not seem to meet that description.