Unusual Behavior

[Guest missecho]

Our 10- year old grey has started acting strangely, getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around the house looking into different rooms. This has never happened before, but has happened for the past three nights. Also, during the day at points she seems very lethargic and her nose is dry and warm at times. Any ideas as to what is wrong?

[Guest june]

I would take her to the vet to rule out anything medical. Take in a urine and stool sample too.

Edited April 30, 2014 by june

[Jiffer]

Could be a lot of things.

 

* A medical work up with blood, urine and stool tests is a great idea. Express these concerns to your vet.

 

* Any chance you have a mouse in the house? Mine start to act "flighty" when a mouse is up to no good... they can hear and smell it.

 

Warm/dry nose isn't anything to be worried about It's an old wives tale that a dog's nose should be wet and cold all the time.

[juliemac]

My boy does that 'wandering' when the weather changes. Or when he hears things. Or when my girl has the bed that he really wants. Or when something has changed in his environment.

 

Since its a new behavior for your boy, though, I would check that he's healthy. A UTI or other illness could cause restlessness before other symptoms show.

 

Good luck, and keep us informed.

[NeylasMom]

Is he acting like he's seen a ghost? This starting happening for a little while with Neyla. We were never certain, but the vet suspected she had gas and suggested we dose her with gas-x. The other somewhat likely culprit was Tramad, but I think the stomach upset was more likely as the behavior eventually resolved without us taking her off of the Tramadol. I think I still have video of it somewhere, or the thread about it may still be on GT if you want me to find it to see if its the same thing.

[Guest missecho]

Things have changed. Now Molly is wandering around the house, seemingly sniffing at some books in a bookcase near her food dish, and in the corner of our dining room--repeatedly. My husband actually removed the books to make sure nothing was behind them, which there was not.

 

She waves her head back and forth, a bit like she is smelling something behind the books or inside the walls of the corner of the dining room. (I am ruling out actual mice since she was doing this in our house in California and now in our house in Arizona this same week--I don't think we have mice but will bet we don't have two separate families of mice in two different states.) Molly seems unable to be at ease, yet she is not whining or acting like she is in pain. The head waving around activity is disturbing to say the least.

Edited May 1, 2014 by missecho

[NeylasMom]

Yep, sounds exactly like what we saw. I suppose there's also the chance that she's having small seizures. I would start by getting video and showing it to your vet.

 

Is she responsive if you call her? What happens if you take her out to potty (on leash)? That was the other inkling we had that it might be GI issues. Often, although not always I would take her out, she would go and then be okay once we got inside.

[NeylasMom]

I found our old threads. This one has video, a link to the earlier thread, and lots of feedback:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/257915-neylas-weird-episodes-are-back/page-1

[Guest missecho]

Thank you so much for posting the video. Molly is doing nearly the exact same thing. We are taking her to the vet in the morning. I read the comments posted following the video, just to note, she is not on any meds whatsoever.

[Guest missecho]

Ok, really dumb question. How in the world do you get a urine sample from a greyhound?

[NeylasMom]

Ok, really dumb question. How in the world do you get a urine sample from a greyhound?

You can either do a free catch where you place a sterile container under her midstream or the vet can do it by placing a small needle into her bladder. The latter is technically ideal in that the sample will be completely sterile, but it can be difficult to do if her bladder is empty. So ideally let them know which one you'd like to do, arrive with her with a full bladder and then immediately get the container and go back outside to do the free catch or let them take her back to do the sterile draw.

Eta: I really don't think it was the meds for Neyla. She had osteo and was on much higher doses of Tramafol toward the end and we did not see a corresponding increase in that behavior. I suspect it was just gas, although there is I suppose a small chance that she was just having really intermittent seizure activity since there were a couple of people who had experienced that with their own pups. Best to check with your own vet of course and if they persist, see a neurologist.

 

Let us know what your vet says.

[carronstar]

Ok, really dumb question. How in the world do you get a urine sample from a greyhound?

 

Sterile/new Gladware (or type) container is what I use. When we were at a vet at Grapehounds a few years ago the tech there used a ladle which I though was rather brilliant. Long handle and a built in pour spout! That gets decanted into a small tube or container for transport.

[silverfish]

Some drugs - like Tramadol - will definitely cause this type of behaviour in some dogs. If she's not on any drugs which could be the cause, then either you do have some kind of wildlife in the walls or floors, or she's having some kind of 'event'. Definitely get a video to show your vet - a picture speaks a thousands words, as they say.

Oh, and for urine samples .. the boys are easier and generally don't mind a tub being popped into the stream of urine to catch some. The girls are a tad more difficult but I've had success with a flat container taped to a stick so that I could slide it underneath the bottom as they squat. Some people use a soup ladle (and then go and buy another one for the soup!).

[RaineysMom]

I saw this the other day and hesitated to post.

 

as soon as I read your post (and moreso with the update) I immediately thought of our Rainey. She had a brain tumor that made her increasingly act oddly, like your girl Among other things, she too woud wander around sniffing, and acting like she'd never seen her backyard, the living room etc ever before. She too had seizures.

 

I really hope this isn't the case for your girl Our Rainey was also 10 when this started.

Edited May 1, 2014 by RaineysMom

[greyhead]

Shane is doing the same thing, so you have my every sympathy. (Except Shane is doing it every 15 to 30 minutes all night.) Any update from the vet visit?

[Guest missecho]

Vet visit update: we had complete blood panel tests done--have not yet gotten the results. Last night before bed, Molly was wandering around the house in a disoriented fashion, and became very interested in sniffing the door to the bedroom closet, waving her head back and forth in a sort of figure eight fashion. After much cajoling and some chicken treats we finally got her to lay down in her bed and stay put. This morning, first thing, she was back at the closet door sniffing.

 

She seems to be calmed down so far today and did actually do her normal sun-bathing by the pool routine.

 

Vet tested for Valley fever and eurlychia (is that how you spell it?), but she doesn't have the symptoms of either one. I'll update when we hear more after the tests.

[NeylasMom]

I don't remember if you answered this - are you sure you don't have mice, including in your walls? I doubt that's it, but it is something worth ruling out, especially if she's starting to hone in one spot. Hope you get some answers.

[Guest missecho]

That's a good question--I have never even considered it. We will look into it!

[greyhead]

I found a carpenter ant in the dogs' room this a.m., and one outside on the wall two days ago. They're active at night, especially in spring, and do make a sound in the walls if there's a nest. Calling the pest guy now! Here's a link to the most informative thing I found in my internet search, even though we're in WA and it focuses on MN.

That's a good question--I have never even considered it. We will look into it!

 

 

Edited May 5, 2014 by greyhead

[Guest missecho]

Got the report from the Vet today regarding all the tests--complete blood panel, urine, stool, etc. All clear. Meanwhile, the symptoms have completely disappeared. Perfectly normal behavior now.

[RaineysMom]

Got the report from the Vet today regarding all the tests--complete blood panel, urine, stool, etc. All clear. Meanwhile, the symptoms have completely disappeared. Perfectly normal behavior now.

VERY glad to hear this!

[Guest Houston1219]

I thought that we had a medical problem on our hands a few weeks ago when Houston suddenly wanted to make frequent trips outside (rather unlike him) he started acting funny, always sniffing the air and on alert at nothing, spaced out and agitated at the same time. Our patio is a deck that is flush with the ground (more of a wood floor than a deck) and it turns out there were rats underneath! Lousy new neighbors in the condo next door were putting their trash in their back yard instead of making the long 25 yard trip to the dumpster. Grrr.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

This may be one of those things that you never learn the reason for. But as long as your girl is healthy it doesn't really matter.

[greyhead]

I suspect it was just gas, although there is I suppose a small chance that she was just having really intermittent seizure activity since there were a couple of people who had experienced that with their own pups. Best to check with your own vet of course and if they persist, see a neurologist.

 

Let us know what your vet says.

 

Jen, I just have to ask: I know your vet suggested the gas possibility (IIRC from checking your old threads on it). Was there any smell that made her think of that? Reason I ask is that Shane was doing this, it didn't seem to be the carpenter ants, so we went with Gas-X treatment 3 times a day, and the problem resolved. Other than jumping up suddenly from time to time, which I guess could be from trapped gas, there were no other signs of gas, and particularly no smell or sound. Was that also true of Neyla?

 

SO glad missecho's dog is doing well, and I hope this isn't a hijack!

[NeylasMom]

 

Jen, I just have to ask: I know your vet suggested the gas possibility (IIRC from checking your old threads on it). Was there any smell that made her think of that? Reason I ask is that Shane was doing this, it didn't seem to be the carpenter ants, so we went with Gas-X treatment 3 times a day, and the problem resolved. Other than jumping up suddenly from time to time, which I guess could be from trapped gas, there were no other signs of gas, and particularly no smell or sound. Was that also true of Neyla?

 

SO glad missecho's dog is doing well, and I hope this isn't a hijack!

No, no smell, nothing audible other than the tummy grumbling at times.