Linda and Ladybug

[amydunn19]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Very scary, Linda. Maybe it is just a blip and not a regular thing.

Congrats on five years! Time flies when you are having fun

[jebsmom]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

It does sound like it could be a seizure. I’ve worked with children with seizure disorders and they can take a variety of forms (at least with people) and sometimes don’t even look like what we’d think of as a seizure. Is she on any medication other than insulin? Sometimes seizures can be a side-effect of medication. I think it would be good to talk with your vet as soon as you can. I'm glad she's back to normal now.

Congratulations on five years. That’s fantastic!

[eileen]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Sending positive vibes for Ladybug, Linda, as well as Belated Happy Sugarversary Wishes!

Mildred's sister, Patsy, has recently begun having 'seizures', the first one a month ago took her 2 weeks to recover from. Her Vet put her on Keppra which is suppose to help.
She had another very slight one last week.
I feel for you, I know how scary this sort of thing can be.

[Monsters Momma]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

That sounds incredibly scary! I hope it was just a 'blip' but I'm glad you are doing your research...exactly what most of us would do I suspect! Hope it doesn't happen again!

Happy Sugarversary! Five years is quite a landmark!

[Judi]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

5 years is awesome. congratulations. seizures are so scary. I hope it was a one time deal

[Ladybug]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Hi all,

Thanks for all the support, you folks are so wonderful.

We had a good night, everything was normal. She always sleeps with me for a few hours then gets down on her bed which she did last night, so that was good.

She woke up this morning ready to go, ate a good breakfast, did all her pees and poops as normal. Her sugar was 361 which is high but that doesn't worry me at the moment. Right now she's doing her normal sleep time.

Everything is so normal...like yesterday didn't even happen. Maybe she just had a dizzy spell instead of a seizure, which I know needs to be checked out anyway. Maybe her sugar did a fast drop that I didn't catch then rebounded.

I hate taking her to the vet, they are so terribly expensive and I have a feeling he might say it's her time to go because she is getting old, 13-1/2.

She just recovered so quickly, I hope it was just a one-time thing.

Linda

[sherryandfred]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Hi all,

Thanks for all the support, you folks are so wonderful.

We had a good night, everything was normal. She always sleeps with me for a few hours then gets down on her bed which she did last night, so that was good.

She woke up this morning ready to go, ate a good breakfast, did all her pees and poops as normal. Her sugar was 361 which is high but that doesn't worry me at the moment. Right now she's doing her normal sleep time.

Everything is so normal...like yesterday didn't even happen. Maybe she just had a dizzy spell instead of a seizure, which I know needs to be checked out anyway. Maybe her sugar did a fast drop that I didn't catch then rebounded.

I hate taking her to the vet, they are so terribly expensive and I have a feeling he might say it's her time to go because she is getting old, 13-1/2.

She just recovered so quickly, I hope it was just a one-time thing.

Linda

so glad to hear she is doing better today..i find that fred seems a little off balance at times and always wonder if he is having a drop..so lets hope that was all it was..and i get how you feel about the vets we are the same way..the last time we went and we thought it was the end..turned out not to be and the vet was like they will tell you..so as parents we fear it for our babies but as long as they are normal and not in pain then enjoy the time they have left with you..she will tell you...

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Linda,

I am going to chime in here, but it could be ear related as well. I am just saying this, because I know that perhaps an inner ear infection could make them fell dizzy. My first clue to something wrong, was higher than normal blood sugar. I had something like this with Abby just recently. She shook, and she fell over. Found that it was inner ear related. What the funny thing was that I didn't smell any foul odor and her ear looked fine, but swabbing it they detected some yeast and bacteria.

Just something else to think about, and perhaps not so alarming. Hope you find out soon what it may be.

Barb

[Ladybug]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Thanks Barb and Sherry,

The inner ear thing has already been going through my mind. I'm watching her like a hawk today, so much that i'm starting to feel stressed and really nauseated. LOL!

If they could only talk....you know? My car is in the shop so I can't get to the vet until I get my car back.

She has been her normal self all day so far.

Linda

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Thanks Barb and Sherry,

The inner ear thing has already been going through my mind. I'm watching her like a hawk today, so much that i'm starting to feel stressed and really nauseated. LOL!

If they could only talk....you know? My car is in the shop so I can't get to the vet until I get my car back.

She has been her normal self all day so far.

Linda

When Abby developed a lump from the inner ear in her lymph node.... my car was in the shop.... I know exactly how you feel. Luckily, my husband just drove up, and we were able to rush to the vet.

Hope it is nothing serious, but I know.... you sure wish they could talk and let you know what is going on.

Keep us posted.
Barb

[Ladybug]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

After watching Ladybug like a hawk all day, an I mean watching her every move, I notice a few things happening and Googled "rear leg weakness in dogs".

I found that everything that is happening know and has been happening in the past few week points to Degenerative Myelopathy which is the same as Lou Gehrig's disease.

This is what I found, the symptoms that I have colored in red are what she is experiencing.

DM is very subtle. It comes on slowly and gradually, making the disease horribly insidious. It may attack one or both sides of the body and presents with waxing and waning of the following symptoms, or combinations:

Hindquarter weakness, rear limb ataxia (unsteadiness), loss of balance, stumbling, difficulty rising up or laying down, knuckling (toes bent under while walking), rear legs crossing under body, rear leg drag, spinal ataxia, hoarseness of bark, limp tail, muscle wasting, and/or the loss of rear musculature.

This debilitating illness leads to paralysis and incontinence in its final stages.

The article continued to say that dogs who turn around too quickly or move too fast can have dizzy spells and fall.

She was very thin when we went in for our checkup in June and he just wanted me to feed her more. Her blood panel in June came back beautiful.

I read about all the tests they have to do to confirm that she has this, but I will not put her through that just to find out she does have the disease and will die in 3-6 months. I will be calling him tomorrow.

Hope none of this is true and I am just overeacting.

Linda

[momofdecker]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

After watching Ladybug like a hawk all day, an I mean watching her every move, I notice a few things happening and Googled "rear leg weakness in dogs".

I found that everything that is happening know and has been happening in the past few week points to Degenerative Myelopathy which is the same as Lou Gehrig's disease.

This is what I found, the symptoms that I have colored in red are what she is experiencing.



The article continued to say that dogs who turn around too quickly or move too fast can have dizzy spells and fall.

She was very thin when we went in for our checkup in June and he just wanted me to feed her more. Her blood panel in June came back beautiful.

I read about all the tests they have to do to confirm that she has this, but I will not put her through that just to find out she does have the disease and will die in 3-6 months. I will be calling him tomorrow.

Hope none of this is true and I am just overeacting.

Linda

Linda,
Decker had on/off rear leg weakness since his diabetes diagnosis and his over night stay at his diagnosing vets. Over time, it progressed to his front legs. He became quite unsteady on his feet (loss of balance = spinal ataxia). Both his rear legs and his front legs crossed. He also had a change in bark. His GP vet had told us more than once she suspected degenerative myleopathy with him. I was heart broken. We'd just gotten his diabetes mellitus (DM) under control and now another DM was suspected to due him in. We continued to walk him in fear of stopping and the DM progressing. His nails on all four feet scraped to the point his nails got worn down so badly we had to stop walking him. Because he was so off balance (and blind) he didn't walk well in grass or uneven terrain - so the road helped keep balance but was brutal on the nails. Here is a link to some pictures (if you forward the next three you will see the nails on all four feet):
https://inmemoryofdecker.shutterfly.com/pictures/338

Decker didn't seem to be in any initial pain. He would still get excited to walk. He'd try to play with Kinser. He just looked a bit quirky in the process. Here is a video we took of him in September. Shortly there after we had to stop walking him. You can see the low head carriage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_m_xqND1k

And this was about two weeks after the neuro visit and about a month before he started the steroids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HXYp_rocWc

This was him outside in mid-Nov:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zg8bBFfIco

This is him after 10 of doses of steroids - not perfect but some marked improvement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZT7wj1uad4

The progression in his front legs was actually quite a bit worse than the rear legs and was what ultimately prompted us to take him to a neurologist. By the time he saw the neruo his left rear leg would knuckle under at times, he was quite off balance and both front paws would knuckle so badly he'd fall forward many times a day. He had bouts of fecal incontinence - only a couple of times in the house but there were times during walks he would not be aware of what was happening. But his tail continued to wag.


What the neuro discovered was that he had a c1-c5 cervical lesion (neck area) which was causing spinal compression. We had enough funds to have neck x-rays taken which didn't reveal any concerns. But did not have the funds to run the full battery of testing which may have given us a cause for the compression. Decker held his head low, which we'd noticed, but had attributed to the blindness (using his nose more to compensate for loss of vision). They did prescribe gabapentin and his insulin needs decreased within a dose or two, indicating that he likely was in some pain.

What you describe does sound somewhat different than what we went through with Decker. The reason I share though is that what his GP vet had determined might have been wrong and what the neuro determined were two very different things. With Decker's injury, we were ultimately able to treat with steroids to relieve inflammation, though his neuro refused to prescribe them without a diagnosis. The treatment bought us two more months with him. Had we continued to believe it was DM, steroids would not have helped him. Nor would have pain relievers such as gabapentin and tramadol. In reality, they all made a difference for him.

His GP vet gave us the gift of extra time with him when she was willing to work with us to provide him with quality of life (by prescribing the steroids) even though we couldn't afford to diagnose the cause. My take on the neuro - it was worth the initial visit. It was a teaching hospital and we were not allowed to be present for the exam. I would liked to have been present. But I think the cervical diagnosis was solid. If you have access to a neurologist and the funds for an initial consult, I'd say it will be well worth the peace of mind to gain a better understanding of what may be going on.

My heart goes out to you and your girl. Congrats on the five years - that is quite an achievement!

[Ladybug]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Hi Holli,

I am so appreciative of your post and videos. I need to reply to you but tonight I am totally exhausted. I will post in the morning. Hope that's ok with you.

Ladybug is fine right now....resting after dinner which she gobbled like a pig ...bg was 212 before dinner. I'm pleased with that reading.

I really need a restful sleep tonight with my Ladybug.

Linda

[momofdecker]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

Hi Holli,

I am so appreciative of your post and videos. I need to reply to you but tonight I am totally exhausted. I will post in the morning. Hope that's ok with you.

Ladybug is fine right now....resting after dinner which she gobbled like a pig ...bg was 212 before dinner. I'm pleased with that reading.

I really need a restful sleep tonight with my Ladybug.

Linda

Love that she enjoyed dinner. Good appetite is a wonderful thing to see!
No need to reply - just sharing in hopes it helps you some. Patty and Natalie had shared a lot with me and it was a HUGE help in understanding what to be prepared for.

I also searched a lot of youtube videos for dogs with DM. They are out there. Then I came across a canine neuro series which was helpful in preparing me to understand the neuro terms and to better understand what testing would be done on Decker and why it would be done. Here is a link to that:
http://www.youtube.com/user/callandeat/videos

I have Decker's neuro report online. Here is the link - scroll down to Photo Journal - on left you'll see Oct. 16 neuro report - it's an attached PDF file:
https://inmemoryofdecker.shutterfly.com/

One other thing we'd considered with Decker was GOLPP- formerly known as "idiopathic laryngeal paralysis". Decker was hypothyroid. Had a change in bark that could not be explained by GP vet or neuro. He also had rear leg weakness. But if he did have the early onset of LP itself, it was never diagnosed. He was a pretty excited eater - more inhaled his food than chewed. Here is a link more as an FYI. Labs seem to be an over represented group.
https://cvm.msu.edu/hospital/clinica...pp-study-group


One final thought - hypothyroidism itself can cause some neurological complications in dogs. It's rare, but they do exist. Would think unlikely with Ladybug if her last CBC was good and she has lost weight - but another FYI - Here are a couple of articles:

https://cvm.msu.edu/hospital/clinica...pp-study-group


from: http://www.greenvillevet.com/GVC_Hyp...sm__Canine.pdf

"Neuromuscular signs may include seizures; ataxia or stumbling; circling;
knuckling or dragging the feet that results in the dorsal, or top, part of the nails being worn down; and forelimb lameness. "


from: http://siriusdog.com/hypothyroid-dog-signs.htm

"Neuromuscular Problems (like loss of smooth muscle tone)
weakness (esp. hind end) stiffness
knuckling/dragging feet
laryngeal paralysis (bark changes)
incontinence
facial paralysis (droopy)
head tilt
"tragic" expression (looks old/sad
drooping eyelids
muscle wasting (temporal, withers)
ruptured cruciate ligament
megaesophagus (reflux gastritis)"


Hope you are able to get some much needed rest and that Ladybug has a good night!

[CarolW]

Re: Linda and Ladybug

My sympathies, Linda, for your difficulties. You certainly are and always have been a great DogMum. I'll be watching and holding you and Ladybug close to my heart, and sending prayers. Five years! Congrats!