RIP Mya 4/29/17

[amydunn19]

Hi, all. I started this thread because my other dog, Mya, is having some issues and I and the vet are at a loss as to what is happening. She is not diabetic. She has started a pattern of vomiting quite often, especially when it storms, or there is drama or when my husband is out of town. Sometimes, it just happens for no apparent reason but usually it coincides with drama. She doesn't eat her food fast at all. Normally, she is a very slow eater.

On Wednesday night, it was stormy, and she was very sick and she refused food, and was still shaky on Thursday morning. I took her to the vet thinking maybe it was pancreatitis. He did very complete blood work on her and it was perfect - no pancreatitis or any indicator of anything else. He said it was some of the best schnauzer blood results with the breed's propensity for high lipids, cholesterol, etc. He mentioned that it could be IBS of some kind. Without endoscopic testing, it would be hard to diagnose. He thought we should treat symptoms as they come along for now and if it begins to look like a more regular occurrence, then do that type of testing. He seemed to think if it was anxiety related, then she would more likely have diarrhea (which she doesn't) than vomiting. But he said with the correlation of thunderstorms and Jeff traveling, that could be it.

We agreed that I would start keeping track of the episodes and what was going on, timing, etc. Does anyone have any ideas on this? I hate to see her so sick. She is a very neurotic dog.

[jesse girl]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

we have spent a lifetime with anxiety with loud bangs . even the wind can be a problem which correlates with her epilepsy as a trigger .

so it appears with your pup there are triggers which creates the symptoms but like you said you have to continue to watch and monitor for clues .

i thought possibly with jesse she may have some cortisol issues not an addison dog but maybe deficiency's but i never had her tested actually the symptoms have decreased as she got older .

judi has seen first hand both sides of the cortisol equation with her jenny and there were a few others on the forum

its weird to see the other symptoms being sick which maybe just so much anxiety .i guess something has changed . which can be neurological or chemical imbalance .

i know you call it drama would you say you are seeing anxiety from these events that appear to upset her ?

wish i could be more help i understand the anxiety factor and the fear and anxiety it brings us .

if anyone can figure it out amy it would be you

[parje1]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

I just wanted to send along our well wishes that your pup feels better soon. My Lab is very nervous too but she's only thrown up a few times over fear. I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions.

We're thinking about you.

Jen & Mia

[Charlie's mom]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

I have a friend whose boxer was on Prozac for the first 4 years after he was adopted . I don't remember his symptoms but the medication helped

[amydunn19]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

Drama for her is just too much activity going on - if we are talking loud, moving things around, going in and out, etc.. She does like to play with us and her toys but in general, she doesn't go with the flow very well. She has a fear of anyone getting too close with their feet - my dog trainer is fairly certain she was kicked because she is pretty extreme. It is very lucky that she is in a place without children - she would never be able to handle noise and running like that.

I just hate to see her so anxious she is sick because of just life things that just happen, many out of our control. She does like to do work on her mat so we are planning to do more of that kind of work at home to see if it helps. I hate the thought of drugging her.

[momofdecker]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

Don't have much to offer, Amy. With Decker we did use drugs, and though they were likely not appropriate nor should they have been given without any blood work, they did buy us enough time to work with him. Thankfully we did not keep him on them long term as the training did pay off enough that we were able to stop use of them. Maybe short term drugs would give you enough time to re-direct some of the behavior? I'm not a fan of drugs in general (have gone against Rebecca's pediatricians advice to put her back on prescription allergy meds because I think her system can combat them on it's own) but do believe there comes a time and place where they are worth trying.

We could never fully eliminate Decker's nervous behaviors though - the nervousness remained even after he was on thyroid meds. We only were able to re-direct the reactive piece and that pretty much went away after being on the meds for awhile. Before the thyroid meds we did use a series of words to calm him when he displayed his nervousness - specifically towards Rebecca. It was never perfect but worked to stop him from snarling and snapping at her.

Hoping you find some peace for all of your sakes.

[Cara Sandler]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

Drama for her is just too much activity going on - if we are talking loud, moving things around, going in and out, etc.. She does like to play with us and her toys but in general, she doesn't go with the flow very well. She has a fear of anyone getting too close with their feet - my dog trainer is fairly certain she was kicked because she is pretty extreme. It is very lucky that she is in a place without children - she would never be able to handle noise and running like that.

I just hate to see her so anxious she is sick because of just life things that just happen, many out of our control. She does like to do work on her mat so we are planning to do more of that kind of work at home to see if it helps. I hate the thought of drugging her.

Have you considered a dog behaviorist (you know, because having dogs with medical needs doesn't deplete your bank account quickly enough)? Seriously though, Sparky used to be afraid of other dogs, or of some people if they got too close to him. He was also extremely anxious about being abandoned. He was a rescue so I never knew exactly why he was so anxious. But I found a great dog training school nearby (NOT a pet store, but a private school devoted to training dogs) and they were able to work with Sparky and help him conquer his fear. But I got really lucky to have a school with one of the country's top trainers to work with. It might be worth trying to find someone. If you do decide to go the training route, make sure you look for trainers who use ONLY positive training methods.

[Eddie]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

Have you tried pheremone products (collars or diffuser-type things)?

One of our rescues was extremely nervous every bed time, never during the day. He had been taken away from what was described as a "very chaotic household with a lot of drugs and alcohol" so we assume that maybe everything kicked off at night time and he was badly treated in the middle of it all.
He would be in a terrible fearful state every night and was very destructive with it. The vet suggested a pheremone collar which I was very sceptical about but it did seem to make the difference. He started sleeping through the night and stopped all the whimpering and shaking. It may have been coincidence and just due to him settling in - but I'd definitely try it again with a nervy dog.

(he's fine now and we only had to keep the collar on him for about a month).
Antonia

[k9diabetes]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

Prozac is an excellent anti-anxiety medication for dogs and it certainly wouldn't hurt to try her on it and see if it helps her. She could be a much happier dog 24/7 if she could feel less anxious.

Our border collie Jack has been on it now for... years. Four years, five years. It has made a huge difference for him. He has gone from scanning his surroundings every moment for something threatening to just living life and generally not thinking anything is going to threaten him. We decided to just leave him on it since he tolerates it well and it has been so helpful.

It's not drugging him at all like a tranquilizer. It provides a better balance of brain chemicals.

We tried very hard to avoid going to Prozac with Jack - neither of us wanted to go that route even though I'm generally a fan of it for people.

We did a ton of training and worked with a very good behaviorist. She was the one who ultimately pushed us to try him on Prozac because he was just so anxious all the time - it seemed very much to have a physical / chemical basis.

After seeing how much it helped him, I wish we had started it sooner! It's cheap too.

It can't be fun to be an anxious wreck all the time...

Natalie

[amydunn19]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

I wouldn't be opposed to Prozac. It would be much preferable to tranquilizers especially if it didn't interfere with her being a schnauzer. Part of the reason I like schnauzers and JRTs are their spirit and energy.

Mya has been through alot in her years. Originally, when I was adopting her, I was unaware of her puppy mill background. She was a mom dog who they surrendered to the rescue after she developed a hernia which was interfering with her ability to have puppies. Of course, knowing her background wouldn't have stopped me. We have been working with her for three years in training establishing trust and she really loves to do mat work and has come a long way. This anxiety with storms/noises and vomiting is new for us.

I would love to find the person(s) responsible for this dog's issues. My trainer has always thought she had an abusive background based on her many fears.

[Judi]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

A woman who works part time for me had a dog with some type of throat obstruction. (I think it was cancer). By using prozac, they got a few more months with him as it relaxed him enough that he could eat around the obstruction

[momofdecker]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

This article showed up in my FB feed today. Not sure if there is anything that might be helpful or not but thought I'd pass it along. It starts out by saying, "Acepromazine won't help and will probably make his fears worse. " but goes on to give tips as to other things that may help:

http://www.drmartybecker.com/news/tu...irework-fears/

[Cara Sandler]

Re: Need Help with Nondiabetic Schnauzer

I would love to find the person(s) responsible for this dog's issues. My trainer has always thought she had an abusive background based on her many fears.

Yes, I always thought that if I ever met the person responsible for Sparky's anxiety and fear, I would kick their a** from here to China. And then I would start getting mean.

[amydunn19]

Re: RIP Mya 4/29/17

We lost Maggie's best friend and "caretaker" this past Saturday. It was a devastating loss because despite having congestive heart failure, she was running and barking all day Friday, and eating well. She suddenly started the labored breathing and then she started throwing up a little. My husband took her to the ER - we both thought a shot of lasix would do the trick. She went into cardiac arrest within probably 20 minutes of being there. I never dreamed she would never be coming back when she left. I hate that I wasn't there. I was actually getting ready to go take her to our regular vet when my husband walked through the door without her. It really has been tough because it opens up all the pain of Maggie again and I feel really guilty. Maybe if I hadn't been so preoccupied with Maggie's care...... but I know that it is not right to feel like that. She was loved and had a pretty good life. If nothing else, I blame the horrible puppy mill - maybe if she wasn't starved and abused or had decent nutrition as a young dog instead of being forced to have puppies, life might have been different for her. At least, she knew we loved her.

[jesse girl]

Re: RIP Mya 4/29/17

oh amy i completely understand. just lost my uncle to a stoke . it happens so quick one day everything is fine the next everything has changed

its amazing how you cared for these medically challenged pups its an inspiration to me with jesse saying i can do this and still give her a happy life

rest in peace sweet Mya