Brain Tumor?

[IGGYZ]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I guess the hardest thing when you are writing about advents or issues is that it doesn't sound right, I am hopeless with these forum things as far as answering people individual comments or puting quotes in then answering them so bare with me.

It was a good 12 months since we lost our old dog that she started to show the fear and or anxiety symptoms, the prozac was prescribed as she was escaping the yard and taking off from fear and or anxiety, (we thought at first it was being lonely but then discovered it was noise phobia), after she had her first head tremor I asked the vet whether it could be the medication and whether I should take her of it, she said that if a dog is already prone to have fits that it may bring them on, (or something along those lines), so we lowered the dose.

Symptoms she had prior to being on the medication were, sudden fear/anxiety she hadn't had before, the different sized pupils, (notcied in the past six months) she had had a funny mouth seizure thing that I didn't realise what it was until I started looking all this stuff up, in fact she has had a couple of times she had acted a bit off, but just didn't think to much of it, lack of appitite, increasingly sleeping more, less active, I remember saying to the vet its like she gets headaches and you can see her frown and cringe at load noises.

Since being on the medication the latest symptoms are the head tremors, she has had 4 or 5 that I have seen, her appitite had improved, her fear/anxiety has improved, she has had another of the mouth seizures and a few other funny turns.

I think the greatest evidence that something isn't right neurologicaly is the different sized pupils which were present prior to the medication, the changes in the pupils with out head trauma is a real worrying sign.

On the weekend my son mowed the back lawn, never has she been worried by the lawn mower, she wasn't scared but she did go and press her head into a bush, like the noise really hurt, I get headaches and sometimes migraines and that is what I think she is getting, its like you can see it in her eyes.

At this point I think we will just take each day as it comes, we have decided to enjoy her as much as possible and spend as much time with her as we can and make her life as comfortable as possible.

[persephone]

Head pressing ...

from memory, this can happen with brain disease , or toxicity, or tumours . please mention this to a vet ,and get some bloods done to check for liver function , etc .

[*kirty*]

Isn't head pressing a symptom of liver shunts?

[twodoggies2001]

Isn't head pressing a symptom of liver shunts?

Yes Kirty, it is.

[~Anne~]

Isn't head pressing a symptom of liver shunts?

Also enchaphalitis.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Yes, my dog also had two different sized pupils which the vet said was an indication of neurological issues.

So sorry you are having to go through all this, it really is so upsetting.

[Erny]

Head pressing ...

from memory, this can happen with brain disease , or toxicity, or tumours . please mention this to a vet ,and get some bloods done to check for liver function , etc .

This ^ .

Perhaps the vet and the assumed diagnosis is right, but I think the situation deserves more checking.

[Staff'n'Toller]

From what you say now. I don't think she is comfortable at all. You need to work it up ASAP.

I understand what it's like to have your dog sick and feel helpless, but there is a chance it's not a brain tumour and you are not helping by doing nothing.

If money is an issue there's a few companies that offer payment plan finance and the specialist vet can help you arrange this if you mention it when booking.

Please take this further, she is still a young dog. She is not just phobic.

[JulesP]

The initial blood test for liver function isn't super expensive. I would have thought a general blood test would have been the first thing the vet did?

[kayla1]

Agree with what others have said. She's only young and you need to know what's going on to be able to treat it.

Even if tests indicate the cause is in fact a brain tumour and surgery is not an option, the vets may be able to prescribe medication to reduce any swelling/inflammation and at least make her more comfortable. But you need to find out more about the cause first, and I think the sooner the better.

[dancinbcs]

I would be checking the medication and getting blood done to check her liver and anything else that may be contributing to the problem.

If you can rule out all of that then it is either a brain tumour or some other serious neuro disorder and I would have her pts. Nothing they find in an MRI will be fixable and as my vet said to me once, even if they could do surgery, the dog cannot tell you if the pain is gone so you will never be able to trust them again. If she is pressing her head, she is in pain and very severe pain can come on suddenly.

I was badly attacked and had my face ripped up by a 5 year old dog of mine who turned out to have brain damage, most likely from undetected bacterial meningitis at some stage before. He just snapped one day, let out a scream and launched an attack on me and I am sure that a few minuted later, he had no idea he had done it. He must have been in terrible pain as his brain was being compressed out towards his skull by the fluid trapped inside his brain. He showed very few signs that anything was wrong before he attacked me and he was pts a few days later, after discussions with my vet. The autopsy gave me the answer to what was going on and knowing that made the decision easier to live with. No amount of money would have changed the outcome for him.

My last cancer dog also seemed to have a brain tumour as well as a chest full of tumours. She had been running around as normal then suddenly had a cough breathing problems, so we x-rayed her. We were doing a chest drain the same day, to try to buy her some more time, when she had a seizure and that made the vet suspect a possible brain tumour. I took her home and nursed her for a week but one morning she didn't want to get up and when I touched her head, she squealed in pain. I had her pts immediately and greatly regret making her suffer through that last week.

Dogs are good at hiding pain and they are often suffering badly without us knowing. Dogs with neuro problems can be a ticking time bomb and are very dangerous to handle as you never know when they may suddenly attack.

[JB1824]

Wishing all the best for you and your staffy.

Based on your description of head tremors, changed behaviour, funny mouth movements, turns and different pupil sizes, I would suspect some form of CNS disease. Unfortunately, there are heaps of things that can cause it, including parasites, bacteria, tumours/cancer, liver shunts and other liver disease (as other people have said).

I read a case on placement recently of a dog that had presented with circling, pupils with different sizes (with 1 being non-responsive to light) and many neurological signs. He worsened over the next few days so much that the vets thought he wouldn't make it. The owners were, luckily able to afford everything. He had an MRI, cerebrospinal fluid culture and tests for Neospora and Toxoplasma (parasites) as well as a few nights at an emergency centre where they could monitor his progress more frequently.

The diagnosis was GME, which you can read a bit on google I think (there's a PDF from the AVA somewhere on the Internet).

After a few days of treatment, he massively improved.

[dancinbcs]

Another thought. Have her parents been tested for L-2-HGA? If not get her tested by Genetic Technologies

[essentialdog]

You mentioned 'mouth seizures'. These 'mouth seizures' could be anxiety related ticks/tremours and very common in GAD (generalised anxiety disorder) which is exceptionally debilitating. Those with GAD experience daily hyper vigilance as opposed to one or two phobias. These ticks/tremours are also very commonly mistaken as epileptic seizures. Anxiety can stem from traumatic events, however some have a genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause for the anxiety,the anxiety itself disrupts normal neurological pathways which can explain abnormal behaviour.

Obviously you are seeking your vets advice, but you may like to think about getting a referral to a neurological specialist or psychiatrist.

We can only hypothesise what may be wrong with your poor dog but I guess it's a case of investigating different options until you find the cause.