Diamond - Restlessness, Occasional Yelps And General "offness"

[vjgrey]

Going through Osteo with Gabe, I've become the world's most paranoid mama, but I think there's something more to this than my craziness -

 

Twice this week - Monday and yesterday evening - Diamond suddenly screamed while laying down (possibly in the process of getting up - I wasn't in the room). Both times, when I came into the room, she was standing there, shaking, and the muscles in her hips/abdomen felt tight. That lasted for about five minutes each time.

 

For the last several days, she's just been really "off." She won't lay down for long but just wanders from room to room and stands there. The process of laying down and standing up don't seem to hurt - she doest lay down or get up slowly or with any signs of pain, but something about it is clearly making her uncomfortable. She went to bed with us last night but sat up/didn't seem to sleep for a big part of the night.

 

I just can't tell what's hurting - no pain reaction to manipulating her legs or hips. Her stomach/abdomen feels slightly tight, but she isn't showing any signs of bloat - no panting, no attempts to vomit, no gagging or licking.

 

I'm tempted to try to get her into the vet today, but I don't know if that's coming from sensible mama or paranoid mama.

 

Thoughts?

[TheFullHouse]

May be gas? She may have a belly full of gas and they get very uncomfortable when they do. A lot of getting up and down. Is she stretching at all. Sometimes they will stretch a lot when they have a gas problem also.

[Guest verthib]

Could she have eaten something like a toy or sock?

[vjgrey]

I'd be surprised if she'd swallowed anything. She's not a chewer. She has been known to disembowel stuffies, but she leaves the evidence on the floor for us to pick up.

 

She's eating and drinking normally. Normal poops, as far as I can tell (didn't watch her carefully in the back yard, but she seemed to go about her normal routine. She played bitey face with Lucy this morning. She's completely normal except when she isn't.

 

Gas is a possibility. Is there anything I can give her at home to help? We have canned pumpkin and can go buy yogurt if needed. Any over the counter meds?

 

Obviously I'll take her in to the vet if necessary, but I'm trying to ride that line between reacting and overreacting (which I'm very prone to do these days when it comes to the hounds' health *sigh*)

Edited January 20, 2012 by vjgrey

[KF_in_Georgia]

I've heard that greys can take Gas-X. Someone will probably chime in with the correct dosage.

 

Meanwhile, despite no obvious pain when she lies down or stands up, test her range of motion: hold yummy treat under her nose, then move it around toward her side, so that she has to turn her head to follow it. Move it to both sides, and see if one side is better/worse than the other. Also, high--so she has to look up--and down. She could be exhibiting some signs of spinal arthritis or something similarly non-dire...but occasionally super-painful.

 

P.S. She gets to eat the treat.

[tbhounds]

Sounds like it might be cervical or back pain.

[racindog]

Sounds like it might be cervical or back pain.

Double ditto on that. Momma had the exact same symtoms,maybe a little more so as I took her to evet just to be on safe side. Turns out there were 2 injured places in her neck. She's better now. Accupuncture/homeopathy/Duralactin/DGP/and Advanced Hip & Joint (Springtime) tabs and prayer worked.

[EnzaFerrari]

I have given Enza pepcid in the past - one dose - and that has helped. But she has never yelped in pain when gassy. If it happens a third time I say bring her in because then it's a pattern.

[greyhead]

It doesn't sound like gas to me either. (But yes, greys can have simethecone -- what's in Gas-X -- and can handle the human dose easily. We usually start with one pill and give additional as needed.) Hope it's that simple, but I'd probably go to the vet.

[vjgrey]

Thanks so much for the comments. She has had neck pain in the past and saw a chiropractor years ago, but this doesn't look like that to me. She's still doing the full body, legs flailing shake, which she usually won't do if her neck is bothering her. She'll turn her head side to side and up and down for chicken.

 

I did give her a Pepcid (have lots on hand, since Gabe has to take them daily), and that may've helped. She's been sleeping on the couch for an hour and a half, which is longer than she's tended to stay settled the last few days.

 

I'll continue to watch her, and will definitely get her in to see her vet if it continues.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Does Diamond really go to town on the shake? Or does she try to stop and clamp down on the shake?

 

When Sam's back is bothering him a little, he shakes frequently (as if he has water in his coat). When it's bothering him a lot, he starts to shake, then stops abruptly (with an "Ow! That hurts!" look in his eyes). (At first I wasn't aware of the "That hurts!" look...until his vet had already diagnosed arthritis trouble. Then I started noticing differences in Sam's signals.)

 

Sam has issues in two areas of his back: high up, just about where his shoulder blades end along his spine; and lower down his back, an inch or so before his hip bones). In therapist talk, I think that's T10 and L5. L5 is slightly herniated. T10 is the one that interferes with his turning to take a treat.

[Guest happygrey]

Just wondering if you ever got to the bottom of the cause of her restlessness? One of our greys is suffering from something sort of similar and so far we are not finding any biological cause of what's the issue. He's very restless, often looks lost and has recently started shaking his head more then usual. His hind legs sometimes shake too, but it does not look like the seizures I've seen. We are at a loss.

[vjgrey]

Oddly, it seems to have been connected to the supplement we'd just started giving her - Springtime Fresh Factors. I seriously doubted it at first, because I've never seen anyone else's dog have a bad reaction to it, but we started the supplement, and about a week later, all of this weirdness (restlessness, yelps, etc) started. Stopped the supplement and she was totally fine. Restarted the Fresh Factors and the weirdness happened again. Gave the Fresh Factors away. She can take other supplements without any issues, but there must be something in those that cause her gas (or something)?

 

Have you checked for an ear infection? Could be causing the head shaking.

[Guest happygrey]

Thanks. Yes, he's had a complete exam and bloodwork. No signs of infection. We're thinking it's likely something neurological. Just not sure what yet. It's very stressful to live with a hound who's not well and not really know what the matter is. We are keeping him on round the clock tramadol for now and it seems to be helping a bit. Sigh. Hopefully we will figure it out soon.