Puggy-boy seems to have had a fit, or similar

[Chilli]

Puggy-boy went out for his usual walk, and came back in the arms of a distressed Mrs C. Seems he's had a funny turn where one of his rear legs went into a kind of spasm, and he didn't really know where he was. Then he paced around looking all confused and didn't respond to anything. The vets here a fu... not so good and had little answers. Mrs C googled it and came up with the fact that he'd got this Pug Specific disease and that he'll be dead soon.
He's a bit better now... a long shot, but has anyone any thoughts? I suggest a mini-seizure (sp?) or perhaps epilepsy. Mrs C now taken him to bed in tears, leaving the rest of the Vino Rouge to me.
Many thanks.

[mrsxllifts]

How old is he? We had a Lab who when he got to 12-14 used quite a few mini strokes, he would go rigid/limp/lame, then be a bit confused but after a few hours rest he seemed ok as as normal as he was before.

As for the vet, vote with your feet.....

[Gnits]

I had a lab that had some kind of seizure he seemed really distressed by it but never had another one ever again. I would not worry just yet.

[Chilli]

He's about 18 months. tried our usual vet ( a personal friend, so we thought) but no joy. The only other vet suggested that we turn down the tely, and turn off the lights.....the tv hasn't been on and only have a small lamp on. Clueless. Just panicing really....

[croggers]

How much was he exercising during the walk? My pug was normally quite good, but if we had a decent run around, he would never stop and just keep going. A couple of times, he just suddenly wandered around like he was drunk, collapsed on the ground and then would lie there for a few minutes, nefore righting himself.

[Chilli]

Not a lot TBH, he'd only just gone out. He's not completely passed out on the bed, having very vocal dreams...The Mrs is almost inconsolable..... might have to slap her in a minute...

[Backseatdriver]

My Cavalier had something called Vestibular Syndrome which is something to do with the balance in the inner ear. He would fall over to one side and seem very disorientated, after about 20 minutes he would recover. His eyes would flick from side to side whilst this was happening. When it first happened we thought he had had a stroke.

[Jasandjules]

Chilli said:

Not a lot TBH, he'd only just gone out. He's not completely passed out on the bed, having very vocal dreams...The Mrs is almost inconsolable..... might have to slap her in a minute...

I don't wish to be rude, but if you are both worried to this extent - get the pooch to a vet to get him checked out?

[bexVN]

How is he doing now?

I hope your wife is a bit calmer, it must have been very distressing to witness. Few things to consider.

If an animal has a seizure there is not a lot a vet can do unless the seizure (grand mal) is comtinuimg for more than 5mins or a pet recovers then has another a short while later, especially if it is a first time.

Any seizure whether a petit or grand can take a dog a while to recover completely from, however you would hope if the initial seizure was quite small that recovery will complete after a couple of hours.

Did your little dog get very worked up/ excited/ hot etc before this episode?

The advice re: peace and quiet was the right advice. This may be a one off but if another one occurs then it will be time for tests (or if recovery is not complete by next day at latest)

I hope this was a one off, all the best for the little man.

[Chilli]

Morning,

Many thanks for the replies. The little fella is much better this morning, back to his old self. We tried to go to the vets last night, but the only person who was on call was a nurse who was just reading the internet.
This is the second time it's happened in a month, so we'll take him in this morning for a few tests.

The Mrs is still upset, and is convinced this is the beginning of the end.

Thanks again.

[Jasandjules]

Chilli said:

This is the second time it's happened in a month, so we'll take him in this morning for a few tests.

Sounds like it might be mini-strokes then if he's back to normal and especially given that he is a pug.

Don't take him out for a walk until after you've seen the vet.

[Z4monster]

Might be a heart beat problem. My cairn, Hamish, had a few fits and collapsed twitching a couple of times. Once the vets had a look at him, she diagnosed a slow heart beat and put him on myllopholin (sp?)
Apparently this is a little like caffeine and boosts the heart to right the problem. He was great after that.

Might be something simple so try not to worry too much.

Incidentally, my nephews Pug has had something similar recently. They are still unclear of the cause but the dog is right as rain now.

[Chilli]

Well the vet took blood samoples and we had the results back within the hour....Nothing abnormal. She seems to think that he has mild epilepsy, and that we should monitor and record them. If it becomes a regular thing, then we'll try medication.
Poor littel fella, feel so sorry for him. Oh, and he weighs in at 10.5kg....20% more than he should, so it's no longer funny and he's on a strict diet....end of....don't care about those puppy eyes.....he's not having any....I mean it......period!

[bexVN]

^^Fingers crossed, you know weight loss may help reduce the episodes, excess weight = exercise intolerance = possible collapsing episodes, bit of a long shot though. I am very glad to see you taking weight loss seriously 20% is a lot. Have they put him on a diet plan including regular weight ck visits?

[Chilli]

bexVN said:

^^Fingers crossed, you know weight loss may help reduce the episodes, excess weight = exercise intolerance = possible collapsing episodes, bit of a long shot though. I am very glad to see you taking weight loss seriously 20% is a lot. Have they put him on a diet plan including regular weight ck visits?

Thanks.
Agreed. We felt like really bad parents, and were actually embarrassed. He's already eating all the right stuff, just too much of it. Now we will carefully measure the amounts he has, especially as it's starting to warm up here, and walks during the day will become impossible.
Thanks again.

[bexVN]

Chilli said:

bexVN said:

^^Fingers crossed, you know weight loss may help reduce the episodes, excess weight = exercise intolerance = possible collapsing episodes, bit of a long shot though. I am very glad to see you taking weight loss seriously 20% is a lot. Have they put him on a diet plan including regular weight ck visits?

Thanks.
Agreed. We felt like really bad parents, and were actually embarrassed. He's already eating all the right stuff, just too much of it. Now we will carefully measure the amounts he has, especially as it's starting to warm up here, and walks during the day will become impossible.
Thanks again.

Please don't feel bad, you are doing something about it now, that's the important thing, pugs are chunky dogs anyway so it's easy to let them become overweight, do get him checked monthly, he should be able to lose at least 100g a week, any less than this becomes too low (however any loss is better than a gain!) I hope your vets will support you with it. I run weight watcher clinics, foc, for pets and more so, their owners, where I work, this is my area of knowledge, if you need help pm me.

[Chilli]

bexVN said:

Please don't feel bad, you are doing something about it now, that's the important thing, pugs are chunky dogs anyway so it's easy to let them become overweight, do get him checked monthly, he should be able to lose at least 100g a week, any less than this becomes too low (however any loss is better than a gain!) I hope your vets will support you with it. I run weight watcher clinics, foc, for pets and more so, their owners, where I work, this is my area of knowledge, if you need help pm me.

Lovely, will do. Many thanks again.

[macp]

Totally feel for you both as our yorkie cross keeled over last week having been perfect an hour before.We both thought it was game over and the vet was perplexed too until the penny dropped and with drugs two weeks on he is virtually back to normal.

[Chilli]

macp said:

Totally feel for you both as our yorkie cross keeled over last week having been perfect an hour before.We both thought it was game over and the vet was perplexed too until the penny dropped and with drugs two weeks on he is virtually back to normal.

Scary, eh? Wished they could talk (sometimes) and let you know what's going on!

[nick_j007]

I may have missed it, so sorry if it's already been raised, but with 20% to lose we may have a simple respiratory issue here, i.e. he is not getting sufficient oxygen during exercise. That combined with their little pug noses may be causing the problem? I have heard of a few Boxers having similar breathing problems in hot weather when exercised...they just fell over and collapsed.

What brand will you be feeding him now?

Thanks.

Nick