Advice Needed

[OSoSwift]

Good luck and I hope Jessie is okay.

I also take restlessness, pacing and panting as a sign of illness or pain.

Hopefully your boss/es are sympathetic

[poodlemum]

Hope all goes OK with Jessie

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Best of luck and everything crossed that she is fine!!!

[newfsie]

It will be a long ride.........Your heart is in the right place, good luck

[kirsty79]

So, I got home Friday lunchtime. Whenever I arrive home Jessie is at the gate woofing and wagging her tail. I fly into an immediate panic – its silent. I dashed out the back and find Jessie kind of wandering. Anyway, the afternoon she basically sat down inside, didn’t move, just lay there panting. Off we went for our appointment at the vets. Had a thorough looking over but seemed to have the vet stumped. She took some blood and said she would send them for urgent test (intestinal mainly) and she would contact me the next morning. She gave her a painkiller injection and said that would help if she was in any discomfort. We leave the consultation room and come face to face with another collie. Jessie’s ears prick up and the tail is wagging furiously. I’m starting to think she is putting this all on! Lol.

We get home, she lies by the backdoor. She doesn’t want to go out but there she stays for most of the evening (she normally sits in the lounge with us). Later that evening she gets up, I call her over. She starts walking very quickly in all directions. Looks completely disorientated and confused – to the point she actually walks into me. She eats her dinner but is not excited like she normally is. She lies back down, again panting and trembling. Saturday morning we have a repeat of Friday morning – she wanders off into the garden and paces back and forth. She then did the strangest thing – she sat on her haunches (she never sits up, she lays downs). Her front right leg/paw starts to violently shake. I’m in panic and so call the vet. The receptionist tells me the vet will call me back as soon as she finishes the consultation she is in. The vet calls and says nothing has shown up in the blood tests. I told her about Jessie getting disorientated and her trembling. The vet is completely stumped.

Yesterday she seemed perkier, however we went to feed her in the morning. She was lying about 2 metres from where I placed the food bowl. She is licking her chops (she always does that where food is concerned) but she is not getting up. I try to coax her, she looks like she is struggling to stand so my OH gently lifts her back end. Clearly gave her some kind of boost because she was straight to her food bowl. Exactly the same happened last night. I placed the food down, she didn’t go to it. I even walked away and just left it there. Again, 10 minutes later we helped her up and straight to the food she went.

I’m so confused – I know something is wrong but I haven’t a clue what – unfortunately, neither does the vet. She said the next step is to do further test (neurological).

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[Kirislin]

Is she going to the toilet normally?

Did they feel her for pain anywhere, either internally or skeletally? I wonder if it's her spine. How awful for you not knowing when you are sure something's wrong. I hope you get it sorted soon.

[mutt lover]

Is it possible she have picked up a TICK but would depend on which area you live if there are ticks there, not sure if it would show up in blood tests, I'd be checking her all over or asking vet to check her all over as the shaking etc sounds like she's picked up a tick. If so get her to vet asap is an emergency dogs will die if not treated.

Good luck hope you're baby is OK.

[Flashsmum]

Good luck, hopefully the vet will sort it out soon, and you'll have an answer.

[dancinbcs]

Definitely something really wrong. Licking her lips can be a sign of pain.

My guess would also be spine or a neurological problem because most other things would show something in a blood test.

Times like this you really wish dogs could talk and tell you how they feel.

Fingers crossed that more investigation reveals something treatable.

[kezzzza]

After reading your kid's symptoms it reminded me of a cat we had, she was doing the same things and turns out she had a stroke. She was about 12 years old when it happened.

Hope Jessie gets over her problem.

[~Anne~]

It does sound like it may be neurolgocial. Maybe a stroke or some kind of seizure disorder?

[poodlefan]

Stroke was my first thought also.

[kirsty79]

Two things had crossed my mind:

The beginning of dementia because she genuinely seemed confused and disorientated. However, she has full bowel control, and the vet seemed to think that would be a major sign.

My second was a stroke or seizure etc. The weird thing is, she couldn't get up to get to her food bowl, yet once she is up, she is walking ok??? Would she be doing this if it was a stroke?

[Diva]

My second was a stroke or seizure etc. The weird thing is, she couldn't get up to get to her food bowl, yet once she is up, she is walking ok??? Would she be doing this if it was a stroke?

I'm not sure, but maybe. When an older dog of mine had vestibular disorder she was better once she was up and had some momentum going than she was starting off.

I wouldn't think dementia, the onset doesn't sound right, too sudden, no night wandering or unusual vocalisation. But my experience with it is pretty limited.

Edited February 8, 2010 by Diva

[yellowgirl]

I've lost 2 dogs to strokes in their older years. Just horrible to watch and I know how helpless you feel Kirsty. Is Jessie's head tilting to the side even the tiniest bit? My second dog had a minor head tilt as an after effect of her stroke and had it not been for that the vet wouldn't have picked it. This was the third vet I'd taken her to as the first two vets couldn't find the cause either, nothing came up in any of the tests. Her symptoms were very similar to what you have described with Jessie.

I hope your girl is okay

Please keep us updated

xxx

[jipsi01]

Just wondering how jessie is????

[kirsty79]

So, got home yesterday. Pulled into the driveway and straight away I hear Jessie boofing - which she hasn't done AT ALL in the past 3/4 days she has been poorly. Hopeful, I rush inside and low and behold there she is at the back pation door, hopping from paw to paw, trying to barge my 3 year old 25kg basset hound Fred out of the way. I let them in and for the next 10 minutes they are playing.

I am astonished. WTF?! What happened to my sick dog who yesterday couldn't stand up for her dinner??? Of course, I'm not complaining - I was so relieved I felt like crying, but there is also part of me that is now wondering. Yes, she might felt better for the time being, but is there something underlying that means it might happen again.

I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on her.

Either that, or Jessie was aiming for an oscar for best acting and was actually faking it just so she could cuddle in bed with us

I just wanted to also say - thank you for everyone's thoughts and best wishes.

[Crazy Daisy]

Great news. Glad she is feeling better.

[kirsty79]

This is so weird.

So Jessie is back to her spritely self. However last night, we fed Fred the basset as per usual and about 10 minutes later he'd brought up the entire contents of his stomach on our newly steam cleaned carpets. Ironically, we have the rental agents coming in next week for an inspection - its almost like Fred knew Ok, I don't fret too much, normally he has stupidly been chewing on a bit of grass. BUT, about 15 minutes later we cannot find Fred. We eventually find him in our bedroom and he has peed on our bed

Now Fred, in the 18 months we have had him has only ever had one accident in the house. It was about a week after we got him, got caught up at the shops and were gone for longer than we thought and he couldn't hold it. What on earth would possess my housetrained basset to pee on our bed?????

He was extremely quiet and subdued for the rest of the evening

My second question is - what do fellow dolers do when their dogs are sick? Vets back in the UK had told me once to starve the dog for 24 hours, and another also suggested after the 24 hours to introduce food again but something such as scrambled egg or chicken with white rice? What does everyone else do?

[Sandra777]

I would have to wonder if there's something in their environment causing this. Perhaps noises they find distressing/unusual (a builder using a nail gun can be very upsetting to some dogs for example); perhaps something actually physically harmful to them - plant, mushrooms, garden mulch.

I'd be inspecting the whole garden and maybe even staying home for the day and seeing if there's something you don't know about happening in your neighbourhood when you're not around.