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Anxiety? Or Something Else?


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Hey all just had my older girl outside for a while with 4 foster puppies plus 1 older foster who is an older puppy. I fell asleep on the couch and didn't let her back inside in right away :rofl: , which normally isn't a drama. She was only out there for an hour. But since she has been back in she is doing something really weird! He keeps rasing her head up and down slightly and her mouth is opening and closing but thern she will stop and then it will start again.. What on earth is this???

She is an anxious dog to a degree i guess.. i mean she is petrified of the home ice cream truck bell and thunder but normally she will quiver and be clingy towards me and hide under tables. But i have never seen her do this before not this weird head movement..

Can anyone tell me what this could be?? I am a bit worried hey,,, :rofl:

Edited by openarms
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No it wasn't anxiety! Not long after that post she had a fit!!!

I am told by the vet that the weird head and mouth movements was a small seizure which was then folllowed by a series of bigger ones... In all i think i counted 8 or 9 lasting roughly 5 mintues each but i don't know they seemed to go for a long time and then she would stop for a few minutes then start again. The emergency vet gave her valium which stopped it and Phenelbarbitone or something like that.. I have her here with me she will be seeing the vet first thing. Right now she is sleeping.. Honey is 11 but has been in perfcet health up till now. I don't believe she has eaten anything posionous. And it's note worthy that my ex has her brother who is on meds for fits.. so i don't know maybe it's genetic??? God it's scary watching a dog fit..I hope i never see it ever again i am so worried she will fit again before i can get her to the vet. I have been given a Valium supoository just in case but ugh still i pray she stays sleepy till then. :rofl: I'm so worried about my poor girl.. :rofl:

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Thanks .. I am taking her shortly.. She woke up an hour ago and was looking at me but was swaying her head back and forth kind of like a person with Parkinsons. I am worried that this means she has suffered brain damage from the seizures :love:

Can anyone tell me if this is the cuase or is it normal for a dog to move this way after having a fit? Like will it go away?

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How old is she?

My previous dog Belle had Vestibular disease when she got older, sounds similar to this, looked like a stroke. She recovered each time (happened 2 or 3 times after she reached 14) within a week, but was disoriented, had a head tilt, salivated and panted a lot etc in that time. I'd take her to the vet to get her checked out.

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She's 11 years old. The fits were pretty bad, she was frothing at the mouth and flipping round and her head turned right back in a really awkward postion. It was horrendous. Just when i thought she had stopped she would have another one, and another :love: Just spoke to vet she's just giving her meds for the moment to see if we can control the seizures and we will take it from there. I am scared to pat her in case i cause her to have another fit. It's really scary hey :love: She's still sleeping right now..

What is vestibular disease?

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It doesn't sound like Vestibular disease as she isn't falling over when she is walking, leaning to one side or having rapid eye movement.

Sounds like her new twitching, mouth opening and shutting, is another form of the epelepcy she is already suffering.

Possibly she could have that genetic condition that Cav's get where the brain is to big for the skull.

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Thanks guys. She had another mild fit this morning about 10 hours after the shot was given to her, but not as bad as last nights. She went to the vet and got another shot and is now on 2 tabs per day to help control the seizures. She's staying pretty close to me at the moment, it's almost as though she knows she's not well and wants reasurrance..

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Has she had seizures in the past? In dogs who develop seizures at 11 year of age, unfortunately you have to be concerned about the possibility of a tumour. If these seizures have just started, I would recommend some kind of brain imaging- CT scan or MRI. The comment about her brain being too big for her skull (hydrocephalus) doesn't apply to her because that is a congenital abnormality which usually shows up in much younger dogs. It also does not sound like vestibular disease to me., either. If it stopped at just the yawning and putting her head back, it would be consistent with anxiety (which, given her personality, certainly could apply). I am sorry you are going through this.

Charles

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At this age I would be definitely looking for a cause for the seizures. She is too old to develop epilepsy.

The smaller seizures are called focal seizures (also knwon as petit mal). The larger ones, where she goes into unconciousness and arches back, are called clonic tonic (also known as grand mal). The period after her siezures, when she is still not quite back to normal is called post-ictal.

There are two types of seizures - primary (which have no known cause and is called epilepsy) and secondary. Secondary seizures are caused by toxins, metabolic disorders (disease), and physical damage (such as brain trauma).

Your Vet needs to do a complete blood work up and then look at the possibility of and MRI and further tests. Scans are very expensive though.

Common diseases that cause seizures in elderly dogs are cushings, tumours and liver disease.

Edited for typos.

Edited by PugRescueSydney
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