Any vets on here familiar with dogs?

[brucemillar]

Quick question if I may. Not a full consultation.

 

[BaldGuy]

I'm familiar with dogs after living in Basingstoke....

 

[stevewicks69]

Hi Bruce, I am quite familiar with dogs, I also have two Siberian Huskies as shown in your profile pic

 

[JudgeVFR]

Not a vet, but have been out with a few dogs in my time.

 

[brucemillar]

Hi Bruce, I am quite familiar with dogs, I also have two Siberian Huskies as shown in your profile pic

Steve

many thanks for replying. One of my huskies had, what I would best describe as a fit. Without any warning he was paralysed in his back legs. Unable to stand up and attempting to drag himself across the floor. A very distressing time for him and us.

This lasted for about 7 hours. The slowly wore off. With him walking about as if drunk. Eventually all back to normal. Emergency vets could not see him on the night and by morning he was up and about and within 24 hours acting as if nothing happened.

I have been unable to find anything that would suggest what went wrong with him. Some have said that it could be severe reaction to something he ate.

He seems absolutely fine now with no ill effects. He is 12 years old and otherwise perfectly fit.

Any clues?

 

[whitenemesis]

Something similar happened to our (late) black Lab. He was running along fine then collapsed, his back legs paralysed. He didn't appear to be in pain, just puzzled as to why his legs wouldn't work! Dragged himself along for a bit until I caught up with him and managed to get him home by using my coat as a sling..
Anyways, turns out he caught a nerve in his lower spine. The condition eased over the next day or so but never fully resolved. He had a weakness to lateral pressure i.e. you could push him over quite easily by pushing on his hip!
Lived happily like that for ~5yrs.

 

[cl55 amg]

could also be a stroke.

 

[whitenemesis]

could also be a stroke.

Don't think dogs can suffer stroke, they get vestibular(?) syndrome but that manifests itself by the dog walking round in circles, head tilted to one side..

In the absence of any dribbling, vomiting etc. I would bet on spinal nerve damage

 

[swannymere]

One of my customers had something very similar happen to one of her labs, the vet thinks it may have eaten a mushroom of some sort or other as it hasn't happened again.

 

[clk208]

With him walking about as if drunk.

Any clues?

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Have you checked your drinks cabinet/beer supply/wine cellar?

Hope it was just a one off and he is now fully recovered.

 

[bernie driscoll]

Any clues?

Ring a vet.

 

[brucemillar]

Ring a vet.

We did that (it's in my post)

 

[BTB 500]

As above, I would get him properly checked over by a vet.

One of my Collies had exactly the same symptoms, but at a much younger age. That turned out to be epilepsy - six months later he did start fitting (full convulsions etc.). But this is unlikely to be the cause in a 12 year old dog.

How long do huskies normally live for?

 

[brucemillar]

As above, I would get him properly checked over by a vet.

One of my Collies had exactly the same symptoms, but at a much younger age. That turned out to be epilepsy - six months later he did start fitting (full convulsions etc.). But this is unlikely to be the cause in a 12 year old dog.

How long do huskies normally live for?

They can (and do) live up to seventeen. Great dogs to be around. Big advantage with Huskies = They don't pong when wet - or dry.

 

[IanA2]

They can (and do) live up to seventeen. Great dogs to be around. Big advantage with Huskies = They don't pong when wet - or dry.

That's so the Bears don't get a sniff of lunch....

 

[BTB 500]

One of my other collies had similar symptoms last year - he was thirteen and a half when it started. Initially occasional loss of back legs and 'dazed/confused' behaviour ... this slowly happened more often and eventually he started having proper fits as well.

Blood tests for kidney function etc. didn't show any problems, vet thought a brain tumour was most likely but no point doing scans etc. as realistically nothing could be done anyway. He went on phenobarbitone to help control the fitting (same medication used for epilepsy) ... had a decent quality of life for about 4 months before he had to be put to sleep.

There are a range of other possible causes so if it happens again you definitely want to get your dog thoroughly checked out.