Disoriented Dog?

[Guest jenwalsh]

Hello,

 

We had a strange occurence this morning with our boy greyhound "Car". We woke up usual time to let them out for their morning bathroom break and Car would not walk out of the room. So we finally got him to walk out but he was staggering back and forth down the hallway and even bumped into the wall. It was as if he had no idea where he was or anything. He proceeded to walk around our condo sniffing everywhere like he had never been there before and not walking in a straight line. We decided to try and leash him and take him downstairs to go potty but he would not walk down the stairs either! It was like he had never seen stairs before..so I had to carry him down three flights of stairs, which was not fun! Outside he was even acting really strange, not walking straight, going in slow circles and bizarre things like that. We got him to go pee finally and brought him back inside where he would not climb the stairs either...We got him to walk up the third flight but it seemed like a struggle for him. We tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat, and keep in mind he is very food motivated! He just layed down on the floor in the living room instead. A half an hour of laying there and I tried to get him to eat again by saying "are you hungry?" as always, and he popped up like nothing happened! And just like that he was fine, he ate his whole food and everything and tail was wagging! This happened one other time about 5 or so months ago...but I don't think it was as bad. We have a vet appointment on Tuesday but we wanted to see any of you have heard of this or experienced something similar? He is only 3 years old (4 in January) and no medical conditions that we know of...He did break his leg racing but has been recovered since we have had him.....We are really worried about him! Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.....

 

Best,

 

 

[Guest SLM4956]

It almost sounds like a Stroke to DH and I. We were talking about your post and we really hope that all is well.

[Guest ScottH]

He might have had a seizure during the night. It takes a while to recover from that. Vet. check is definatly called for as stroke, as mentioned above, is also a possibility.

[Guest Patti604]

I hope your boy is OK. You said his name is Car. Is his reg. name Northern Car?

[Guest jenwalsh]

I hope your boy is OK. You said his name is Car. Is his reg. name Northern Car?

No his regular name is Sharp Carp, it was shortened to Carr when we adopted him but we dropped the extra r because we thought Car was a great name!

[Guest Patti604]

OK thanks. My broodmama has a pup named Northern Car. Is your guy doing better now?

[SAVED2]

Sounds like a mild stroke.

[Guest jenwalsh]

Thanks for the replies so far everyone...sounds like everyone thinks it might be a stroke or along those lines...Should we get him to the Vet right away? Our appointment isn't until next Tuesday the 7th. Now I'm really starting to worry!

[Remolacha]

could be mild stroke or seizure, although 3 is young for a stroke. I'd have your vet check for both.

[Guest Redpack]

Since it's happened before, I'd suspect a siezure. I'd call the vet for their opinion.

[Guest luckydog]

Since it's happened before, I'd suspect a siezure. I'd call the vet for their opinion.

 

I second this. Just give the office a call and give them this additional information and ask if they would like to see Car earlier.

[MP_the4pack]

No, I don't think it's a stroke. You've just described exactly several episodes Onyx has had over the years. I took her to a neurologist and did MRIs. He found nothing. If it had been a mini-stroke, it would have shown up either there or in the blood work.

 

He stated that ruling everything else out, they were probably mini seisures. They always seem to occur just as she woke up. (morning, middle of the night, but never after she's been up and awake and active). They lasts just about 30 minutes. Interestingly enough, when she has had anesthesia. like for the MRI, afterwards they would disappear for a while.

 

She has trouble doing stairs like she doesn't know what they are. THe whole house looks new and foreign to her.

 

When she was 8 yrs old, she had several episode. We had the MRI, then she was episode free for 2 yrs. She had a few more, then she needed anesthesia for something. They disappeared again. She had a couple last year. Not severe, not many. Nothing yet this year.

 

She just celebrated her 13th BD last week.

 

 

[Guest jenwalsh]

No, I don't think it's a stroke. You've just described exactly several episodes Onyx has had over the years. I took her to a neurologist and did MRIs. He found nothing. If it had been a mini-stroke, it would have shown up either there or in the blood work.

 

He stated that ruling everything else out, they were probably mini seisures. They always seem to occur just as she woke up. (morning, middle of the night, but never after she's been up and awake and active). They lasts just about 30 minutes. Interestingly enough, when she has had anesthesia. like for the MRI, afterwards they would disappear for a while.

 

She has trouble doing stairs like she doesn't know what they are. THe whole house looks new and foreign to her.

 

When she was 8 yrs old, she had several episode. We had the MRI, then she was episode free for 2 yrs. She had a few more, then she needed anesthesia for something. They disappeared again. She had a couple last year. Not severe, not many. Nothing yet this year.

 

She just celebrated her 13th BD last week.

Wow, thank you for the information! That is exactly what Car has gone through both times it happened. Also they have only happened when he was waking up in the morning....so wierd! I feel a bit better now. We still will take him to the vet and get him checked out. Great information! Oh and Happy Belated Birthday to Onyx! Our grey Kisha just had her 4th B-Day in September

Edited October 3, 2008 by jenwalsh

[patricia]

The behavior that you are describing is what our Angel Cody did after a seizure. He tended to seize in the night vs the day time. It was like he did not even know us...after he was fully recovered from the seizure, he was back to normal. The fact you said this happened 5 months ago and because he is so young...I would tend to think he has had some mild seizures. Please let us know what you find out. Hug Car for me.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Does Carl sleep in your room? If so, I doubt it was a seizure, because if he had a seizure bad enoough to cause him to have post-ictal that badly afterwards, it seems you would have heard him seizing. Henry's seizures are very loud and impossible to sleep through by accident. Our last dog with epilepsy, his seizures were not serious enough to warrant hardly any post-ictal afterwards, and his we could have easily accidentally slept through. I know seizures can vary greatly so while I don't think it was seizures, I wouldn't rule it out 100%.

 

I have no experience wth strokes so I can't comment on that. One more thing you may want to check is Car's glucose level. We used to have a diabetic dog and he behaved similar to that when his glucose was out of whack.

[Guest jenwalsh]

Does Carl sleep in your room? If so, I doubt it was a seizure, because if he had a seizure bad enoough to cause him to have post-ictal that badly afterwards, it seems you would have heard him seizing. Henry's seizures are very loud and impossible to sleep through by accident. Our last dog with epilepsy, his seizures were not serious enough to warrant hardly any post-ictal afterwards, and his we could have easily accidentally slept through. I know seizures can vary greatly so while I don't think it was seizures, I wouldn't rule it out 100%.

 

I have no experience wth strokes so I can't comment on that. One more thing you may want to check is Car's glucose level. We used to have a diabetic dog and he behaved similar to that when his glucose was out of whack.

Yes both our grey's sleep in our room and we did not hear anything (except Kisha pacing which she loves to do throughout the night because she is afraid of the closet!) Both times this has happened we haven't heard anything...Great advice on the checking out his Glucose level, we will do that as well when we go to the vet...Thank you so much!

[Guest LindsaySF]

Since it's happened before, I'd suspect a siezure. I'd call the vet for their opinion.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Oh, and one more thing, sharing my own experience with seeizures, glucose and appetites...

 

Post seizure~always ravenous and ready to eat a horse. I feed in multiple small portions because Henry tries to eat way too fast after a seizure.

 

Glucose too high~No appetite, extreme thirst

 

Glucose too low~has appetite, food helps glucose come back up.

[nancy14]

I would definitely call the vet.

[rycezmom]

My best guess also would be a seizure. There is a period after a seizure called the postictal phase. It is a short period of time after a seizure that can last anywhere from a few minutes to and hour. As with people, the postictal phase is evidenced by confusion, disorientation, ataxia (unsteady gait) and a few other commonly noted postictal behaviors. A good article that is easy to understand from the University of Missouri posted below. A mini stroke or TIA (Transcient Ischemic Atack) may be another possibility. They are usualy noted to cause stroke-like symptoms that are self limiting and resolve within a relatively short period of time. They are often a "warning" of the possibility of a full blown stroke and should not be taken lightly or ignored. A trip to the vet is definitly a good idea.

 

Hope this helps

 

http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/basics_main.html

[patricia]

I would still suspect seizure activity. Angel Cody only woke us once in the night because he was in our bed. His activity after his seizure did wake us! His first 2 seizures were in the day time...then he tended to seize at night. His labs were normal and we were instructed to keep a seizure diary and for 2 years he did not require medication...then his seizures became more often and more intense and he was started on Kbr. Cody's seizures were always followed by a postictal phase and how long that phase lasted depended on the severity of his seizure. We have had babes that had much more violent seizures that did wake us in the night... Hope this helps!

Edited October 3, 2008 by patricia

[Guest jenwalsh]

Car had another episode last night! This one lasted for 4 hours or so, now we are super worried!.....We took him to the vet this morning instead of waiting till next week. They didn't really give us any information because they said it's best to bring him in while he is in that state, but they are going to do a blood test and we will find out on Monday if they find anything. We can't believe it lasted for 4 hours though....His heart was racing he was panting and disoriented, and wouldn't lay down...So sad....poor buddy We don't want to have to wait till he has another episode because what if it goes away before we get to the vet? And it's usually in the wee hours of the morning. We aren't sure what to do!

 

 

[Guest SusanP]

Oh dear. What did they say a blood test show?

[Hawthorn]

Just a thought, but if it happens again at a time when you can't get him to the vet, maybe you could make a video of it?

[Guest greytkidsmom]

Ask them to check his thyroid too. Low thyroid can be one (of many) cause of seizures.

Fingers crossed that the vet figures it out soon.