Weird Episodes - Need Input Asap

[Guest LindsaySF]

I was wondering if weather or strange noises outside could be freaking her out. My other thoughts were seizure activity, or mini-strokes. The episodes might be too mild to really know for sure, especially if her lab work is normal. Good luck.

[RaineysMom]

my first thought was small seizures, too. Hoping she is doing better and no more weird episodes!

[greyhead]

"Thank you, guys. DeeDee had no issues last night, although she also didn't have any unusually high exertional activities yesterday. It was her first day on the pain med too, but I'm 99.999% sure she's not been in any pain. Still, we will continue the pain med through Saturday at least when I have to call the vet back with a report."

 

Wouldn't it be better to get at least some exercise for DeeDee while she's on the pain med? To rule out pain during exertion. Otherwise, how will you know?

[Guest limbrooke83]

I was wondering if weather or strange noises outside could be freaking her out. My other thoughts were seizure activity, or mini-strokes. The episodes might be too mild to really know for sure, especially if her lab work is normal. Good luck.

 

DeeDee is not bothered by weather or strange noises. As a service dog, she is regularly exposed to strange new environments, new noises, etc. and is very confident and calm in all of these settings. She has alerted me to noises outside the home before, but is quick to relax again as soon as I acknowledge her alert and the situation, knowing I have things under control.

 

"Thank you, guys. DeeDee had no issues last night, although she also didn't have any unusually high exertional activities yesterday. It was her first day on the pain med too, but I'm 99.999% sure she's not been in any pain. Still, we will continue the pain med through Saturday at least when I have to call the vet back with a report."

 

Wouldn't it be better to get at least some exercise for DeeDee while she's on the pain med? To rule out pain during exertion. Otherwise, how will you know?

 

DeeDee gets two walks a day with my husband plus in-home work with me every day. She had never displayed any signs of pain. The episodes both occurred on days where she had a highly unusual level of exertion during a higher-than-usual exertional week. A friend and service dog mentor came to visit us for a week, requiring a higher amount of energy output on both my part and DeeDee's during the visit. My health condition usually limits outings to one every couple of weeks at most. This was five days of outings every single day, though not more than a couple hours at a time, and with periods of rest during each outing (DeeDee lays down during these times).

 

The first episode happened in the evening of a day where DeeDee and my friend's service dog were allowed to run, romp, play, and even swim (yes, DeeDee can swim, lol!) at a family lake house, followed by needing a bath to wash the mud off of her, lol. This was in addition to helping me across the large yard, up and down stairs, etc throughout the day. The second episode happened on the evening of a day during which we went to a local dog park's agility area with my friend and another local service dog team. The other service dog had been attacked four times in the past year by off leash dogs in town and was demonstrating some dog reactivity. My mentor friend and I went to the dog park to evaluate and work with the other service dog team (thankfully, her dog is very treat responsive and will not need to be retired - yay!). The other dog and DeeDee are regular play mates (thus the reason I had no fear allowing DeeDee to be around her, whereas my mentor/friend left her service dog at home with my husband for safety), so they played together quite a bit during our stay at the park (about 2 hours), along with two shelties brought in by another local dog trainer and friend in order to assist us with evaluating the service dog who'd been attacked. After this, we went home and rested for an hour before going to Walmart and then dinner at Applebee's. DeeDee worked fine at both places, providing a ton of hard physical assistance in Walmart with no problems or signs of discomfort whatsoever. In fact, she rather enjoyed it, as she always does. Had she shown any signs of discomfort, I would have immediately stopped working her and remained at home while we figured out what was causing her pain.

 

All that is to say that I cannot at this point physically re-create a situation where DeeDee would put out that level of exertion during a week of extra exertion. This is because my own body is struggling to recuperate from the level of exertion I put out during my friend's visit. Because of my illness, it will take weeks or months to get back to my previous level of functioning, if I am able to get back to it at all. It's all part of my condition. Meanwhile DeeDee will continue to work in home for me. My husband trusts her with my safety for 9 hours every day while he's at work, and she takes her job very seriously (though it's obvious she wishes I would work her more, and is very disappointed when I ask her to do just one or two things at a time). But I cannot physically get her out every day again, and won't be able to re-create this situation for several months, if then. Still, my friend agrees with me that DeeDee showed no signs of pain at all during my friend's visit. This particular friend has quite a bit of experience working with/training service dogs, and wouldn't hesitate to point it out to me if she thought DeeDee were in pain.

 

In addition, the vet does not believe DeeDee has any injuries - she just wants to rule out some form of arthritis she read greyhounds can get. But DeeDee is only five and has always been in good shape and at a healthy weight. Plus she just had her annual veterinary exam last month (after her appetite had decreased), where the vet thoroughly examined every single joint, down to the individual toes on each foot. With a mobility dog, it is essential to make sure they are never in any pain or discomfort, and DeeDee got a clean bill of health once again from the vet during that exam (I also had the vet examine and approve the fit and style of DeeDee's gear and the methods in which DeeDee works for me - she does no brace work (i.e. I don't put any pressure on her spine), only counter balance and momentum pull). If she had arthritis developing, surely the vet would have noticed something out of the ordinary during that exam.

 

The vet actually agrees with me that all of the symptoms and the circumstances surrounding them point to exertional hypoglycemia, which often causes the seizure-like activity I observed. The pain meds were just an extra measure to see if we could positively rule out arthritis by observing another episode while DeeDee was on them. However, my friend left that same day, so the timing was just off. So unless another episode happens tonight (unlikely, since most of DeeDee's job entails lying around today, lol), the vet will most likely have me take her off the pain meds tomorrow and keep a packet of honey handy in case it happens again. If just honey (or Karo syrup if we're home) fixes it, we'll know for certain it is hypoglycemia, and can make appropriate changes to DeeDee's diet to keep it from happening again.

 

Thanks again for all of the input, everyone! All of this is making me wonder how many greyhounds diagnosed with epilepsy might actually have exertional hypoglycemia. After all, if hunting dogs regularly get it, why not our 45-mph-couch-potato greyhounds? After all, it wouldn't take much exertion to be more than most retired greyhounds usually get in a day or week. Hmmm.... food for thought, perhaps?

[greyhead]

It was just a thought. Good luck.

[Guest limbrooke83]

Just wanted to post a final update for everyone who helped out. I called the vet's office on Saturday as requested, and since both the vet and myself think it is exertional hypoglycemia based on the symptoms and surrounding circumstances, and since DeeDee had never shown any signs of being in pain (and I watch her closely), I took her off the pain meds. The plan is to watch her and if she ever has another episode, give her a tablespoon of Karo syrup and call the vet the next morning (or the same day if it's earlier in the day), and we'll go from there. There doesn't seem to be any need for concern at this point, so we'll just keep on going as usual with our vet's full blessing! What a relief!

 

DeeDee and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who left comments, suggestions, and well wishes. We're just happy things seem to be okay now! Here's a big working smile from DeeDee to make everyone's day. Thanks again!