Worried About My Old Girl....

[k9angel]

I noted during the past couple of weeks my Old girl Gypsy having little head twitches. It usually only happened if there was a sudden movement around her. I explained this all to the vet and they suspected as she is ageing and her eyes are getting a little opaque, that it was probably due to her starting to lose her sight and/or hearing with age. It wasn't happening all the time just occassionally.

Tonight however, about 20 mins ago she did it again. I got to see it from start to finish and this time it was a little scarier as I observed with the twitching she went down on her front right leg. I saw it all in slow motion. She didn't fall. She kinda melted to the ground like a camel does but it was definately related to the twitching. She hasn't done that before. I am scared its a brain tumor or something else that's bad.

Gypsy has had her fair share of ops. She has been desexed, had cysts removed from her eyelids, has had 2 surgeries to remove mammary tumours on seperate occassions, she has also managed to regain use of her back legs and tail after crushing a disc in her spine. She is tough old girl however after her last op, she almost didnt make it. It was a 3 hr long operation and it took her a long time to regain normal temperature afterwards. The vet admitted being worried about her.

But tonight my heart stopped, literally. I felt sick to the stomach thinking she wasn't going to get up but after a minute or so, she got up and all was fine. Any ideas what this can be? has anyone elses dog had this before?

Gypsy will be 11 on the 28th of this month. She is a husky.

She will have to go back to the vet for tests this time, that was just scary.

My belly is in knots as I watch her sleeping on the floor. She means so much to me and I am so scared of losing her. :p

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

I noted during the past couple of weeks my Old girl Gypsy having little head twitches. It usually only happened if there was a sudden movement around her. I explained this all to the vet and they suspected as she is ageing and her eyes are getting a little opaque, that it was probably due to her starting to lose her sight and/or hearing with age. It wasn't happening all the time just occassionally.

Tonight however, about 20 mins ago she did it again. I got to see it from start to finish and this time it was a little scarier as I observed with the twitching she went down on her front right leg. I saw it all in slow motion. She didn't fall. She kinda melted to the ground like a camel does but it was definately related to the twitching. She hasn't done that before. I am scared its a brain tumor or something else that's bad.

Gypsy has had her fair share of ops. She has been desexed, had cysts removed from her eyelids, has had 2 surgeries to remove mammary tumours on seperate occassions, she has also managed to regain use of her back legs and tail after crushing a disc in her spine. She is tough old girl however after her last op, she almost didnt make it. It was a 3 hr long operation and it took her a long time to regain normal temperature afterwards. The vet admitted being worried about her.

But tonight my heart stopped, literally. I felt sick to the stomach thinking she wasn't going to get up but after a minute or so, she got up and all was fine. Any ideas what this can be? has anyone elses dog had this before?

Gypsy will be 11 on the 28th of this month. She is a husky.

She will have to go back to the vet for tests this time, that was just scary.

My belly is in knots as I watch her sleeping on the floor. She means so much to me and I am so scared of losing her. :p

this must be awful for you. is she on cortisone? the reason i ask is that 2 dogs i know that have been on cortisone have had odd head twitching. when the cortisone stopped so did the head twitching

[k9angel]

No she isn't on any cortisone.

She went down for a second time and is now laying on her bed. She just ate some bikkies and appears fine otherwise.

She just looked at me and cried.

I am ready to go incase I have to take her to the emergency (after hours) vet at Bass Hill.

[Erny]

We can only guess from this side of our computers, k9angel, but it sounds a bit like mild seizure activity - even the cry she gave could have been through seizure activity and not because she was in pain or discomfort. I agree that she should see a Vet. It doesn't sound urgent, but you need to be the judge of that.

Know that with meds, a fair bit can be done to help dogs who develop seizure activities. So hold on to that thought for the night and if your dog can rest easy, make sure that you rest easy as well. If you're worried, as I imagine would be the case (no amount of "it will be ok" would prevent that), why not ring emergency and see if someone there would be able to give you some information at least enough to determine whether you need to see them tonight or whether a visit to your normal Vet tomorrow (has to be a weekend, doesn't it) will suffice.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

We can only guess from this side of our computers, k9angel, but it sounds a bit like mild seizure activity - even the cry she gave could have been through seizure activity and not because she was in pain or discomfort. I agree that she should see a Vet. It doesn't sound urgent, but you need to be the judge of that.

Know that with meds, a fair bit can be done to help dogs who develop seizure activities. So hold on to that thought for the night and if your dog can rest easy, make sure that you rest easy as well. If you're worried, as I imagine would be the case (no amount of "it will be ok" would prevent that), why not ring emergency and see if someone there would be able to give you some information at least enough to determine whether you need to see them tonight or whether a visit to your normal Vet tomorrow (has to be a weekend, doesn't it) will suffice.

x 2

i do this if i am in doubt or worried and the vets dont seem to mind.

[k9angel]

Thanks Guys.

She has been asleep on her bed since the last episode and weve just coaxed her onto the lounge.

She made it there ok.

I will be getting her to the vet first thing in the morning. My hands are shaking, and my heart is racing. I feel sick to the stomach and I am so worried.

[baifra]

I hope you get some sleep tonight and all is ok in the morning.

Good luck with the vet in the morning.

[Cheyd]

Oh K9Angel, my thoughts are with you and Gypsy

[spottychick]

Is she okay????

My old girl did this sort of thing for a while after an operation - she had been over-anaesthetised at the vets who dosed her up while waiting for me to come and pick her up because "she was making too much noise" and about 2 hours after I took her home she went into a coma (non-responsive and her gums were blue). I raced her to an after-hours vet who put her on a drip and kept her with him over night. Anyway, she recovered and just after that she started fitting. She'd be sitting looking at me begging for food with the other dog and she'd suddenly start jerking and fall over!!!

The second vet checked her again for me and I remember him suggesting lecithin for her as it boosts brain function and he felt that she might have had some effects on her brain from the anasthetic over-dose. I gave her a liquid form of it (which she seemed to love) for a couple of months and the problem went away. (wether it just healed by itself or the lecithin did it I couldn't say).

ANyway - my thoughts go out to you both!

ETA typo fix

Edited August 7, 2010 by spottychick

[Dobeliscious]

I hope everything is ok for you and your girl, you are both in my thoughts.

[k9angel]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts. It means alot.

Well I called the vet this morning (thought I had better prior to leaving) and his wife answered as Ross was busy in consults. I told Noelene about the symptoms and she said "Ahhh" as if she knows what it is.

She told me sometimes older dogs have these kind of seizures. She asked me to call back at 12 when things should of quietened down and so I can speak to Ross directly.

As for Gyps she is fine. She collapsed the 2 times last night but appeared fine afterwards. I didn't fall asleep until early hours of the morning with worry and when I awoke at 8 I got the fright of my life when I thought she wasn't breathing. I jumped up out of bed, heart pounding and pat her on the rump saying "Good morning 'Ol girl", she jumped up and was ready to go outside for a wee. She has been fine so far today but I am keeping a very close eye on her.

Gypz is like one of my kids. (she is the one pic in my avatar) We been together since she was 8 mths old and how I came to have her in my life is a whole other story. She's my baby. I just hope this is nothing serious. Atm she is staring at me on the lounge. Would you believe she actually winks?. I taught her as a pup. No word of a lie, if I wink my eye at her she always winks back at me.

[Trishm]

My (nearly 15) whippet has these twitching movements too, they are so quick that if you aren't watching her at the time you would miss them.

She is on Vivitonin which really hasn't helped her slight dementia at all, but she is not having any treatment for the twitching at this time as they are so quick and slight.

I will be very interested to hear what your Vet says about your girl.

I hope it is nothing serious, it is heartbreaking when they get old isn't it ?

I treat every day with my girl as a gift.

[k9angel]

I have spoken to the vet and explained everything.

I told him about the head twitching and how she collapsed last night. I told him she didn't black out and go down with a thud, it was more like she was dizzy and knew what was coming so gently lowered to the floor and sat there for a moment until whatever it was had passed.

He asked some general questions about her, her appetite, whether she was her normal self. I told him she was and she is apart from the head twitching. He said it could possibly be epilepsy. He said not to panic and that it wasn't an emergency but to bring her in during the week and he will take a look at her and run some tests depending on what he finds.

I told him I will keep a close eye on her and watch to see if it happens again.

So fingers crossed for my old girl. It has been a worrying night. I am a little more relieved now as I know if it was urgent Ross would of told me to bring her straight down and I also would of sensed the urgency in his voice, instead he sounded calm and confident about it all.

[k9angel]

My (nearly 15) whippet has these twitching movements too, they are so quick that if you aren't watching her at the time you would miss them.

She is on Vivitonin which really hasn't helped her slight dementia at all, but she is not having any treatment for the twitching at this time as they are so quick and slight.

I will be very interested to hear what your Vet says about your girl.

I hope it is nothing serious, it is heartbreaking when they get old isn't it ?

I treat every day with my girl as a gift.

Same.

[aussielover]

I hope it is nothing serious. My old girl developed head twitches about 2 months before she eventually died. We think she had a neurological problem but despite seeing a neurologist were we not able to diagnose exactly what was going on. She most likely had a brain tumour or a degenerative disease. It was not worth putting her thru the stress of a GA in order to do CT scans or MRIs to get a definitive diagnosis.

Enjoy every precious moment with your beautiful old girl while you can. It sucks that dog don't live for longer.

[westiemum]

Yep agree with Erny. k9, it sounds to me too like seizure activity.

I have a five year old (?) rescue westie with mild focal epilepsey. He's very mild and the vet doesn't want to medicate him, although after he has an episode (spaced out, head shaking, no loss of consciousness and no incontinence) he has a big post-ictal (post seizure) sleep. Luckily for me I haven't seen Andy have a seizure since November last year. So for us the seizures appear to be becoming more and more infrequent and mild and I'm hoping he has had his last. Do remember some dogs, like humans will have one or a spate of them and then not have any more - I soo hope this is how it works out for you.

Suggest you buy a small diary or keep a dated notebook. Date and time each episode, note in detail what happens including the need to sleep afterwards. Because its really hard for the vet to observe a seizure as they are usually all over by the time you get there, the diary or even a video camera record of one is enormously helpful diagnostically.

Hope that helps and

We can only guess from this side of our computers, k9angel, but it sounds a bit like mild seizure activity - even the cry she gave could have been through seizure activity and not because she was in pain or discomfort. I agree that she should see a Vet. It doesn't sound urgent, but you need to be the judge of that.

Know that with meds, a fair bit can be done to help dogs who develop seizure activities. So hold on to that thought for the night and if your dog can rest easy, make sure that you rest easy as well. If you're worried, as I imagine would be the case (no amount of "it will be ok" would prevent that), why not ring emergency and see if someone there would be able to give you some information at least enough to determine whether you need to see them tonight or whether a visit to your normal Vet tomorrow (has to be a weekend, doesn't it) will suffice.

[Flash30Aus]

Hi K9A,

My old girl has just been diagnosed with diabetes and as I googled the symptoms the other night some seizure activity is common. Along with the opaque eyes and lethargy. Its a fine line between what you expect with old age also, but it might be worth a thought.

All the best,

Christie