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Post by suziriot on Oct 20, 2011 22:38:14 GMT -5
When I got home from work around 7pm tonight, I immediately notice that something was wrong with Barley. He's a very hyper dog, and always barks and goes crazy in his crate when I get home. He was lying down, lethargic, not barking, etc. His gums were very white, which alarmed me. I took him outside and his urine and stool seemed normal. Went back inside, he was a little wobbly and just had this "sick to his stomach" kind of look. He was trembling very slightly. He had not vomited. He had no access to anything during the 4 hours he had been crated. He had been acting normal earlier in the day. He had not been fed yet. The other dogs were all acting normal. He was walking a little hunched over, but no vomiting. The fur on his back was all "ruffed up." I called our vet, they were still open and I just threw him in the car and went. Our two usual vets were not there so I had to see somebody new to us. He seemed very knowledgeable and explained everything in technical detail, which I prefer from docs/vets. All organs felt normal. Rectal exam normal. Lungs and heart sounded normal. No signs of dehydration. Complete blood panel, all normal. His gums were normal and pink again, with good rapid refill. Couldn't get a urine or stool sample, as he had gone just before I left for the vet. I didn't think to get them at the time, unfortunately. At the vet he started to act normal again, just a little less hyper than usual. Vet couldn't find anything to diagnose, thought maybe Barley just had a rapid drop in blood pressure for some reason. He seemed better, so I took him home and was just going to keep an eye on him. Within ten minutes he was exhibiting all the same symptoms again. He would not lie down, kept pacing, whining, etc. It worsened for the next 30 minutes, so I decided to call our vet's emergency line because I knew that our normal vet who owns the practice would at least give me a call back. He did within a few minutes. Gave him the run down. He had me check his stomach again to make sure it wasn't distended. Still normal, not hard or bloated. Vet said he wants to see him first thing in the morning with a urine and stool sample. Told me to give him an aspirin in the meantime and let him have some food if he wanted it. So he got aspirin and half of his normal amount of food. After that he finally settled down on the couch and is dozing in my lap. He seems a little better, only because he's at least resting and staying put. Still a little whining once in a while and a little trembling. I keep checking his stomach for bloat, so far no signs. I'm really anxious just because I have no idea what could be going on. Thoughts???? ???
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Post by suziriot on Oct 20, 2011 23:02:16 GMT -5
Update: He got up off the couch when I left the room, but was unsteady in his back legs and wobbled/slipped a little. I have him back on the couch and he's snoozing again. He seems very tired.
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Post by melonie on Oct 21, 2011 0:40:00 GMT -5
Poor guy. it's odd he perked up at the vet. Have you brought in any new warmer scents? Turned on the furnace? Snuck something in the yard earlier? Hopefully your normal vet can pin point the problem in the morning. It's nerve wracking having to wait, not knowing.
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Post by maryellen on Oct 21, 2011 5:30:01 GMT -5
slipped disc in back possibly?
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Post by adoptapitbull on Oct 21, 2011 6:35:00 GMT -5
I would have suspected bloat first, too. If he's eating, though, it's not GDV. Plus, if you think the vet missed it, Barley would probably be gone by now. Phyl's bloat went from early stages to death's door in a little over an hour.
Do you think he has internal bleeding? It would account for the pale gums and tiredness. Any hard, distended areas in his abdomen?
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Post by RealPitBull on Oct 21, 2011 8:06:26 GMT -5
Hey Suzi, I'm sorry Barley isn't feeling well. I'll be anxiously awaiting an update post from you.. The symptoms you described are definately alarming. Hopefully the vet will decide to do further diagnostics to figure out what's wrong......I don't want to freak you out at all, but the symptoms sound similar to what I saw in Krash when he suddenly became ill due to the spleen tumor (minus the pacing/whining). I bring this up to make sure they rule tumors out as quickly as possible. Hugs to Barley and you as well!
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Post by suziriot on Oct 21, 2011 8:14:01 GMT -5
Thanks ladies. He's at the vet with Brook right now, so I'm anxiously awaiting an update. He's still the same this morning, just a little more energetic because he's excited to go in the car. But still not bouncing around like he normally would.
Vet last night checked to feel if his spleen was swollen at all and it was normal. Still no bloating or hardening of the stomach.
ME, it doesn't seem like it's a slipped disc or anything muscular/skeletal. He has no pain back there and the vet didn't feel anything off or swollen. But who knows. It didn't seem like any neurological either... I'm very familiar with what that looks like because of Nine.
I hate not knowing what's going on. I'll update when I find out anything.
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Post by RealPitBull on Oct 21, 2011 8:20:06 GMT -5
Waiting is the worst.
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Post by sugar on Oct 21, 2011 8:42:58 GMT -5
Fingers and paws crossed that he was just having a drama-pibble moment!
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mhaze
I Love RPBF!
Posts: 455
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Post by mhaze on Oct 21, 2011 8:59:56 GMT -5
Fingers and paws crossed that he was just having a drama-pibble moment! Same here. Hope he's ok.
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Post by suziriot on Oct 21, 2011 10:03:29 GMT -5
Brook just called with an update. Both of our regular vets did a tag team exam on Barley. Urine sample showed a little bit of bacteria, but not enough to really be a full blown UTI. They ruled out a lot of things, did some neurological testing, and their strongest suspicion is that he's having "absence" seizures and this may be the start of something neurological. These seizures would not be obvious, it would seem like he just "checked out" for a few seconds to a minute. And afterwards he would be lethargic, wobbly and not feeling like himself. He's having micro-tremors in his back legs, which is another indicator. He's on an antibiotic just in case it is bacterial. We just have to watch him and if he's not back to himself within a few days, they want to see him again. If it continues, or if he gets better and then it happens again, they'll do xrays and more neuro tests.
So I feel like an idiot, because I was certain it wasn't anything neurological. I think I really just didn't want to even go there in my mind because I'm still so raw from dealing with Nine's myelopathy. I'm glad that there's nothing immediately life threatening, but I'm really upset that we may be dealing with another degenerative issue. Our best guess is that Barley is around 7 to 8 years old. Nine was about 9 yo when she started having symptoms of myelopathy.
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Post by RealPitBull on Oct 21, 2011 10:15:09 GMT -5
Thanks for posting. I'll be keeping Barley in my thoughts. Seizures can be easily overlooked, they manifest in a variety of odd ways.
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Post by michele5611 on Oct 21, 2011 11:19:32 GMT -5
Late to the forum today. Suzi sooo sorry. How is Barley doing? Did they do an x-ray of the chest to just rule out that there was nothing in there...just curious.
I just read an article on seizures on the K9 kidney forum....let me see if I can dig it up and get it to you. Keep us posted! Hugs to you and pups!
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Post by suziriot on Oct 21, 2011 11:45:38 GMT -5
Thanks Mary and Michele. They did not xray his chest, since his breathing sounded normal. Maybe I'll ask about that. He's home with his daddy, so at least I don't have to worry about him being alone while I'm at work. I'm really hoping he's back to his crazy self by the time I get home. It's so weird to not have him bouncing around like an idiot.
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Post by melonie on Oct 21, 2011 11:59:03 GMT -5
I'm glad to hear it isn't immediately life threatening, but sad you may be dealing with a long term issue. Just hope he feels better soon.
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Post by bubsy on Oct 21, 2011 16:21:03 GMT -5
Sending good thoughts to you and Barley!
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Post by emilys on Oct 21, 2011 16:53:40 GMT -5
wow.. so sorry to hear about Bailey Did the vet explain how a neurologic condition could result in white gums? Is there any chance there's something toxic in the house?
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Post by loverocksalot on Oct 21, 2011 16:58:38 GMT -5
Feel better Bailey!
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Post by maryellen on Oct 21, 2011 18:27:53 GMT -5
feel better Barley!! hopefully the vets can get to the bottom of this
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Post by suziriot on Oct 21, 2011 18:59:47 GMT -5
Barley is not much better this evening. I noticed he's having some trouble with his back right leg. Having a hard time using it to scratch, etc. A couple of times his back end kind of leaned to one side like he lost his balance, but he didn't fall.
Em, we're really careful about not having anything toxic in the house. We use natural cleaning products, etc. I did check to make sure but couldn't find any suspects. And the white gums when I had initially found him like this last night may have been from low blood pressure from a seizure. His gums have been fine since then.
Thanks for all the support. I'm very upset.
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