Pain or seizures?

[win4profit]

Looking to see if anyone has seen this behavior.  Last Friday Diamond (5 year old perfectly healthy) had an 'episode' as we were preparing her dinner. My dh noticed that she was favoring her front foot, so we both go to examine her.  He checks her pad and I massage her shoulder thinking its a muscle cramp.  When we turn her loose to see how she is, she starts dragging her rear leg (same side).  She is panting and seems mildly stressed. We get her in to her bed and sit with her awhile all the while doing frantic online searches for strokes in dogs.  About 20 minutes later she is better, no more limping and seems normal, other than not wanting to eat her dinner. She is fine the rest of the night.....until 4:45 in the morning when she wakes us up circling at the end of the bed.  She is panting and drooling and very rigid.  We try to get her to stop circling but it is as if she is stuck. When I do get her to move in a semi forward direction down the hall she is leaning her head against the wall, so much so that her nose bumps into the door frame.  We take her immediately to the evet and they diagnose severe back pain, either a pulled muscle or IVDD.  We leave her for observation and she has no more episodes.  She comes home on Gabapentin and Carprofen every 12 hours.  She also has Methocarbamol as needed.  She has been on this cocktail since Saturday, last night we had a similar episode, where she pulled up lame on her front leg and then followed up with the rear leg. The episode passed quickly and she acted normal the rest of the night. Today she is not right, she walks like she is drunk, leans on me and stumbles.  When she walks it's almost like a crab walk.  Her tail is straight out acting like a rudder.  I have a call into her regular vet and also called the evet asking about a neuro consult, can't get in until Wednesday.  So is this pain related or neurological?  I will also mention that I have noticed her stretching a lot. 

[JohnF]

Neurological plus real pain and real fear. Needs a scan urgently. What a worry for you, I hope your vet can do something to help her.

[macoduck]

Has a vestibular incident been considered? My boy walked like a drunken sailor for several hours. Are you seeing any shifting in her eyes rapidly from side to side? That would be nystagmus. Might affect her disorientation.

Please keep us posted on Diamond.

[MaryJane]

As suggested by previous post ... vestibular disease ..

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/vestibular-disease-in-dogs

[KF_in_Georgia]

Try to get a video for her vet to see. On the video, talk to her, make sure to get a shot of her face and any eye movement, etc. You want the vet to see all the perplexing stuff.

Edited September 7, 2019 by KF_in_Georgia
additional info

[win4profit]

Update-I spoke at length with our vet and she is convinced that Diamond is simply over medicated. She has instructed us to cut her Gabapentin by a third.  Diamond has been sleeping comfortably most of the evening and ate all her dinner.  Hopefully we will have a quiet and uneventful night. 

[cleptogrey]

Carprofen can also stimulate some strange reactions. One of my dogs was on the correct dose per pound and he was acting very strangely, especially his movement.