# Relieved Today by My Visit to the Vets



## SeaBreeze (Jul 5, 2019)

I noticed some time ago that my dog was limping on his back legs in the first couple of steps he took after lying down for awhile, like after a nap.  It only lasted a few steps, then he was back to normal.  He ran and jumped just fine, and had no problems when he walked.

It started to weigh heavy on my mind (and my husband's), since we had a girl who did have hip dysplasia.  So, a couple of weeks ago I made an appointment for him, today was the earliest they could fit me in to see the doctor I wanted.

Monday, I gave him his monthly heartworm chewable, mixed in with cat food because he's not food driven and won't take anything like that in cheese, hot dog or regular dog food.  He's never had bad side effects from it, except maybe being a little lethargic for a couple of days after, maybe loss of appetite a bit.

Well, Tuesday and Wednesday, he was acting very strange.  He was very spacey and off in his own world.  He would stand next to me and not even move, not lay down like usual, and his mind was somewhere else.  He wouldn't eat dry or canned, and wouldn't even drink water.  He stood in those still weird positions for the longest time, I would try and talk to him and figure out what he wanted or what was the matter, to no avail.

I had to really coax him to go out into the yard with me so he could take a peewee, once he was out there with me he just stood there.  I had to gently urge him to follow me and take a few steps, because he usually is walking when he goes, then stops, does his thing, and keeps walking.  Well, he wasn't doing anything.

I got him to go over the two days a couple of times, but he really wasn't drinking water.  I was able to get him to drink a little by putting in in a small plastic glass and holding it for him, that got me thinking it was something to do with his neck, maybe he couldn't use the bowls on the floor for some reason.

I always wish that they could talk to us, I felt so sorry for him and did all I could to help him get out of that mindset he was in.  Then we started thinking it had something to do with the heartworm meds.....or, the tick we removed from his nose on June 15th, I posted about it here.  We started thinking he was having some kind of paralysis, or even a mild stroke.

My husband suggested it might have something to do with the fireworks in the neighborhood, but I didn't think so.  He was weird like that early in the day when there was no noise, and he was okay with fireworks in years past.

Yesterday he seemed to be coming out of his trance, and even ate a bit of his kibble, still wasn't drinking water except a little out of the glass.  Today he appeared to be back to his old self, thank goodness.

Since we had a dog who suffered with hip dysplasia, I was ready to hear the worst.  My husband is still having issues with his legs, so he couldn't go with me like he always used to.  I expected xrays to be ordered after a physical exam, and I feared they'd show bad hip joints.  Also, he had a bump on his snout where we removed the tick a couple of weeks ago, and I was concerned that there was a problem from that.

Well, she said she didn't think the heartworm meds or the tick bite had anything to do with how he was acting.  She was just guessing that maybe he hurt himself doing something and was reacting in that odd way.  She thoroughly examined his face, nose, mouth and said the bump was probable a result of the tick bite, and it should go away.  It was only in the skin, and nothing to be concerned about.

She spent a long time giving him a thorough exam all over, she checked his hip joint and manipulated all of his legs and joints down to his feet and paws.  She pointed his head up and did a good examination of his neck, then she held him a certain way and turned his head completely from one side to the other.

She felt each and every bone in his spine, I heard some mild cracking.  After everything, she also checked his heart and lungs, eyes, teeth, etc.  She said her examination of him was unremarkable.  He was fine and everything felt normal.  He had no sign of any discomfort or pain throughout all of her manipulations.  I was in the office watching the whole thing, I had seen it before with bad results, but he was fine, no yelping or stress.

She said there was no reason to take any xrays, he showed no symptoms of hip dysplasia or any joint or bone problems.  She said that there are dogs that, after lying down for awhile, will limp in the first step or two and walk normal after that, so I shouldn't worry.  She said if we noticed anything getting worse six months down the road, we could have him xray'd then, but now it was not needed, nothing was wrong with him.

He was playful with her in the office, and he ate well when he came home, and he's drinking water out of his bowl like normal.  My husband was waiting for me to call him after I got out of there, and we were both relieved that he didn't have any problems or need any medications.

I'm glad I took him in, this was on my mind constantly.  Like the other thread, I was making a mountain out of a molehill I guess.  Good to have peace of mind, I worry about my babies.


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## Lara (Jul 5, 2019)

Aww, we do worry about our babies. I'm glad he's okay. Keep us posted if he shows anymore signs. I'm always noticing things about my dogs and trying to diagnose them.

It's ongoing with my beagle because I have a fenced back yard and he sniffs and eats things I'm afraid he shouldn't like different grasses, weeds, plants, and even a mushroom that popped up out of nowhere one day. Plus his long ears pick up things from the ground that give him an ear infection from time to time. I even read they can get poisoned by touching a frog even....I've got to stop reading this stuff lol.


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## Butterfly (Jul 5, 2019)

SeaBreeze said:


> I noticed some time ago that my dog was limping on his back legs in the first couple of steps he took after lying down for awhile, like after a nap.  It only lasted a few steps, then he was back to normal.  He ran and jumped just fine, and had no problems when he walked.
> 
> It started to weigh heavy on my mind (and my husband's), since we had a girl who did have hip dysplasia.  So, a couple of weeks ago I made an appointment for him, today was the earliest they could fit me in to see the doctor I wanted.
> 
> ...



SB, I don't mean to be a fearmonger, but did they run a blood test for tick borne illnesses?  One of my dogs started acting much like you are describing and bloodwork revealed a tickborne illness.  I can't remember the name of it -- it was a mouthfull of Latin . With treatment, she was fine.  Without it, she could have died.  I hadn't even realized she had had a tick.  I started being quite religious about flea and tick preventative stuff right after that.


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## mike4lorie (Jul 6, 2019)

Butterfly said:


> SB, I don't mean to be a fearmonger, but did they run a blood test for tick borne illnesses?  One of my dogs started acting much like you are describing and bloodwork revealed a tickborne illness.  I can't remember the name of it -- it was a mouthfull of Latin . With treatment, she was fine.  Without it, she could have died.  I hadn't even realized she had had a tick.  I started being quite religious about flea and tick preventative stuff right after that.



Exactly what I was going to say, Our Lennie was acting just like that and thought maybe he was dying or sumthin... So we took him to the vets, they did some blood tests, and it came back positive with Lyme disease. After a month on antibiotics, he's back to himself... I'd get blood tests done if you haven't already... Hope your pup feels better soon! After all, they are one of the kids...


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 6, 2019)

Butterfly said:


> SB, I don't mean to be a fearmonger, but did they run a blood test for tick borne illnesses?  One of my dogs started acting much like you are describing and bloodwork revealed a tickborne illness.  I can't remember the name of it -- it was a mouthfull of Latin . With treatment, she was fine.  Without it, she could have died.  I hadn't even realized she had had a tick.  I started being quite religious about flea and tick preventative stuff right after that.


No Butterfly, the symptoms just happened in a two day span, then he began feeling back to normal and now he's fully recovered and back to wanting to play, wants treats, anxious to go on walks, etc.  If it lasted maybe a week, I would have insisted on a blood test, but then the vet would have likely ordered it anyway.

My old dog Hans acted in a similar way, his blood test showed that he had a blood auto-immune disease "IMHA".  He was killing off his red blood cells, and the count of the white cells doubled.  He also had internal bleeding from it, and he was vomiting coagulated blood.  We've had to deal with different health issues in the past with our dogs, bad kneecaps, hip dysplasia, Idiopathic epilepsy, Vestibular Disease, etc., etc.  I'm always paranoid that it's something bad, big relief when it's not.

We brush him daily and check for ticks often, but he's almost 4 now, and since he was a pup he's really only had a few, they've never been a problem in my area in the past with my other dogs.

Like Lara said, we have a lot of weeds around here, mushrooms in our yard that I don't think are poisonous, and even though he's not food driven, I will scold him at times in the park or in the woods, ordering him to 'drop it!' if I catch him eating something off the ground.  Sometimes he drops it, sometimes I have to open his mouth and try to get it out, and sometimes it's too late....already gone.

Thanks Mike, I'm glad your dog recovered from Lyme disease, we're in Colorado and I don't think that's a problem in my area, but we'll keep a watchful eye, my husband is also very involved with brushing and checking him and doing other things to keep him healthy and happy.  They are our furbabies and an important part of our little family.


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## hollydolly (Jul 6, 2019)

What a relief!! Thank goodness. !!

The times we've said that same thing...I wish they could tell us what's wrong... but of  course they can't.

sadly our elder  labradoodle who passed a few months ago had symptoms similar to what you described before having a stroke.. and he went on to have several over a period of a few months, and each time he would act out in that spaced out manner, be very clingy and be fine the next day etc.. etc..  but as you've found out those symptoms could mean a myriad of things so don't let me scare you... big ((hugs)) to your gorgeous pooch


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## Marie5656 (Jul 6, 2019)

*Hope your little furkid feels better.  Give him a head scratch from me.*


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 6, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> What a relief!! Thank goodness. !!
> 
> The times we've said that same thing...I wish they could tell us what's wrong... but of  course they can't.
> 
> sadly our elder  labradoodle who passed a few months ago had symptoms similar to what you described before having a stroke.. and he went on to have several over a period of a few months, and each time he would act out in that spaced out manner, be very clingy and be fine the next day etc.. etc..  but as you've found out those symptoms could mean a myriad of things so don't let me scare you... big ((hugs)) to your gorgeous pooch


Thanks Holly, he was a beautiful dog, may he rest peacefully.  My old dog was having small strokes after his Vestibular Disease diagnosis, for that he was just walking down the short hall at home one day at an angle, leaning against the wall, couldn't stand upright for several minutes without my physical support.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 6, 2019)

Marie5656 said:


> *Hope your little furkid feels better.  Give him a head scratch from me.*



Thank you Marie, will scratch his head and throw in a hug.


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## Ronni (Jul 6, 2019)

It's scary when they start acting strange, and so frustrating that often a diagnosis is the result of treating for, and then ruling out various potentials,  or trying a med and seeing if it produces any result.  

I'm so glad you got a good report and that he's now back to normal.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 6, 2019)

Thank you Ronni.


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## C'est Moi (Jul 6, 2019)

I hope he's OK, SeaBreeze.   I know how scary it can be when our furry little ones are not themselves.   I always worry about all the chemicals we inject and feed to our pets now.   A month before my little dog died, he had vaccines and was not himself for a week or so.   I'm not convinced that those vaccines didn't cause his kidney failure.


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## JustBonee (Jul 6, 2019)

A little different situation than yours  SB,   but I had an episode with Lil'Bear (Bichon) a few months ago, where he went  thru bouts of not touching food or water and mopping around for days,  and sometimes sit there 'spacey',   but was more than happy to go romp outside. ..  then come back inside and act like he was dying!   (No limping issues or bites though.)   
I chalked it up to being spoiled and wanting to dictate what we did.   ...
Vet  told me that they will not starve themselves and they can go days w/o food/water.
He is almost 10 years old,  and I was wondering why he didn't eat anything at all,  had lots of energy, BUT never lost any weight .. none.  Didn't make sense to me. 
So vet did a complete checkup (heart, ears, eyes, teeth, throat, anal).  Had a blood test that  checked thyroid, liver and kidneys.  Everything came back normal in the blood test, except liver values were higher than normal.   Vet said that is okay in an older dog. ?
He's on monthly heart worm and  flea meds.,   and just finished with 3 wks. of  allergy pills .. hopefully for the year.


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## Ruthanne (Jul 6, 2019)

I'm so glad he is okay.  Sorry I just found this thread now.  Been using my cell on this site and did not see this earlier.  I bet you are relieved since she gave him a thorough exam.  I'm happy for you and your furkid!


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