Help? Has anyone seen their dog do this??
 

Does anyone know what is happening to my dog~here is a video of it...

PrinceEpisodeMay211645 - YouTube

At first my 10 y.o dog was having stomach issues. Every time he'd eat human food, he would get the runs. He would wake up with an upset tummy and wouldn't eat all day...until about 8pm at night.

Then...he started having these "episodes" this winter. I don't know what else to call them bc I don't know what they are. The first time, when the episode was over, I could literally hear his heart beating from across the room. I rushed him to the vet(a new vet) and they diagnosed him with a heart murmur and Congestive Heart Failure. He had a chest x ray(which diagnosed the CHF)and bloodwork done and his bloodwork was normal. He was put on Vetmedin for it.

He kept having episodes despite the medicine, so I went back to the vet I used to work for, because I trust him. He put him on Lasix and he took the xrays to the cardiologist to look at. The cardiologist confirmed the CHF, via the xrays and said he didn't think the "episodes" were related.


So...off to a specialist we went. She specializes in neurology. With her, we did an EKG, bloodwork and an ultrasound of his heart and abdomen. We found out that his heart valves look good and that his heart murmur looks innocent..BUT he did have sludge in his gall bladder, which inflamed his pancreas and his liver...and we still don't know WHY he is having episodes. He is now on gall bladder meds and vetmedin.


He stabilized on his food...his appetite was consistent with no digestive issues...and a few weeks ago, I decided I would switch up his dry food and move him to from Royal Canine to Wellness Core...but I kept his wet foods the same. The last few days, he hasn't wanted to eat his breakfast again...so I took him back off the core and just fed him his wet food. He had diarrhea yesterday....and he did eat his breakfast today...but he had another episode again this afternoon...the first in over a month, and it lasted longer and was worse than normal. We were out walking, and it is a bit warmer than I expected and when I stopped him to rest, it started.

His episodes look neurological to me. He starts shaking/shivering...he looses balance and stumbles around....today he even laid down. He also picks up his back legs like he's stepped on something sharp. He will take treats during these episodes and he is alert...so it doesn't look like a full blown seizure to me. They last anywhere from 2-5 minutes and then he returns to his normal self.


I just called the specialist on Monday to check in and tell her how great he was doing. I swear, every time I've called the vet to report good things, he ends up going downhill shortly afterwards. I really thought we had everything under control:(


Has anyone seen their dog do similar things?? Maybe it's a gall bladder attack?? Maybe a mild seizure?? Anyone got any ideas??

I am totally stumped here and I've literally exhausted my funds trying to figure out what's wrong with him.

About 48 seconds into the video is where you begin to see him stumbling and he almost falls down shortly after and later on in the video, you can see him picking up his back feet....

Was a spinal examination done? Any Xrays of the spine?

Is he tender over any of his vertebrae?

Has his weight remained stable - no gains or losses?

It is so very worrisome when things like this happen. We do have several members who dogs have epilepsy, to me it doesn't look like a full blown seizure as he appears to stay conscious throughout.

I hate to admit this, but my puppy Ichabod does that all the time.
It's because of something he's eaten out in the yard.

I try to watch him closely, but he gets into things, and will try to eat anything including rocks. He's never swallowed a rock though.

I wish I could tell you what to look for, but I just don't know exactly. I think if you just confine him, lots of water available, and wait, it will pass.

Not knowing is frustrating. What kind of treats do you feed him? I would try holding the treats for a long time and see if that ends the episodes. Stick to one food too to remove all variables and rule things out.

I don't trust store bought dog treats.

When it first happened, I thought he had injured his back...but he hasn't had any spine x rays. The neurologist did do a thorough physical exam over him, checking his reflexes and seeing how far he could extend his legs and such.

Since he got sick, he hasn't had any significant weight loss or weight gain. He has gained a little over a lb in the last 2 years, but he's at a healthy weight still.

For treats, he only gets dentastix now...and he gets one at night...but his episodes happen at all times. They've happened during the day and late at night...at rest and at full exercise. I did see if he was willing to eat during an episode(I didn't actually give it to him)....only to see if he was alert and aware enough and to do so, and because my dog won't eat in stressful situations. I wanted to see how out of it and/or stressed he was.

The vet and I have talked about anti-convulsive meds. We had held off on giving them to him because we wanted give the gall bladder meds a chance to clear thing up...and his episodes aren't happening super frequently(once every month or 2)...but maybe it's time to start talking about them again.

I am wondering if/how they tie to the upset stomach. He hasn't had any digestive problems in a month and poof...he doesn't feel good for a few days and today he has an episode.

I am so sorry that this is happening. I have no advice to offer, however it doesn't look like a seizure to me.