I am not a Veterinarian, just a fellow animal lover- it might help if you post what your Vet actually said was wrong with your dog and the name of the medication you are to give him.
My thoughts are with you and your wife that things go well for your dog; they are a special part of our lives and I know how I feel when something is wrong with one of them.
I’m afraid I can’t offer any ideas or solutions, but I can and do wish the best of luck to both you and Toto. Good luck.
I’m NOT a vet, but it could be a problem with the “inner” ear.
The Inner ear can affect balance: He may be getting dizzy.
The sound of the cap gun may have set it off.
As you know dogs hearing is very sensitive.
That’s my unprofessional opinion.
Good luck.
I had a dog that acted in a similar way. After many different diagnosis it was finally diagnosed with having mini epileptic seizures.
My cousin once had a German Shepard that would collapse if you scared him. Later diagnosed with epilepsy … more common in older dogs. Back in the day, nothing could be done, you just waited a few and he would get up and be back to normal.
Any chance of your dog getting chocolate ?
Ahhh, hope you find the cause and that your little buddie can be treated. Our Lab began to pant as he got older. Dr. Said it was becuase the air flow is more restricted at that age. :( Still miss him so much after all these years. Good luck.
One of our bulldogs had similar symptoms many years ago, but much more severe. He was having seizures, believed to have been brought on by a tic bite. I believe the treatment was steroids, but can’t be sure.
Haven’t read through the replies yet, but what you described sounds like seizures.
I’m not a vet, but a very experienced caretaker of ancient cats with multiple medical problems under the care of various veterinary ‘ologists. This does NOT sound like a heart problem. Any heart problem severe enough to cause sudden and total collapse and loss of consciousness, would not be followed by the animal being back to its usual perky self a minute later. As other posters have noted, this sounds like epilepsy. If it is epilepsy or any sort of seizure disorder, phenobarbitol is the usual first-try medication. I had a cat with a strange seizure disorder in old age — basically very frequent collapse with twitching for a few seconds, but no loss of consciousness and always fine after a few seconds. A tiny dose of phenobarbitol solved the problem and kept kitty seizure free for the last 4 of his 21 years.
This doesn’t mean that your dog doesn’t ALSO have a heart condition, and it’s possible the vet has prescribed an appropriate medication for whatever heart condition he detected. But no heart medication would be expected to stop seizures. I wouldn’t have a whole lot of faith in a vet who doesn’t recognize what you described as some type of seizure.
Ping! FReeper needing veterinary advice for a dog in Japan.
They had him on one medication, but the doctor wasn't happy with how it was working. In the meantime, the cat began to have episodes where he passes out. He's out for 5-10 minutes at the most, but then when he comes out of it, he's his old self. These episodes seem to be preceded by coughing, as if the cat is trying to hack up a hairball. He's on a different medication, but has still experienced at least one or two of the passing-out episodes. The vet says it's obvious that his passing out is related to his heart problem, but they still haven't managed to find the right dosage to alleviate the problem, or regulate his heart rate.
Your dog could have a heart problem or may have developed something that would bring on a seizure or fainting. I'm surprised your vet didn't do any extensive tests on your dog, as my son's vet had the cat go through a battery of tests, x-rays, scans, etc. But then again, all vets are different in how they approach treatment.
Sorry to hear about your buddy. It might not pertain here but I’ve started my dogs on a raw diet 4 months ago and they’re thriving on it.My chihuahua had hot spots near his tail,hair missing, the whole nine yards. After one week on the raw diet they were completly gone! Raw meat, chicken,beef,fish and organ meat including bones ,just don’t cook the bones. Dogs are not meant to eat cereal ,they’re carnivores. Also doing research on over vaccination. You don’t get vaccinated every year why should your dogs. There are studies that say the one year rabies vaccine is good for 7 years, maybe longer.
Maybe you've heard of the sleep disorder, narcolepsy? There's a famous video of a poodle with narcolepsy. You can watch it and see if it's similar to your dog.
Stanford Researchers Nab Gene For Narcolepsy in Dogs
The most dramatic symptom, however, is sudden episodes of muscle weakness known as cataplexy. The knees may buckle, the neck muscles may go slack, and in extreme cases the person may collapse to the floor completely paralyzed. Loss of muscle tone can last from a few seconds to several minutes. These abrupt attacks can occur at any time but are often triggered by strong emotions such as anger, joy or surprise. It's common for narcoleptics to have such an attack while laughing.
Sporadic cases of narcolepsy in dogs is due to hypocretin peptide deficiency while the familial form is due to mutations in one of the two hypocretin receptor genes (hcrtr2). Various dogs are shown here in a clip narrated by Dr. Mignot.
Seizures, Narcolepsy and REM
Narcolepsy is a disorder characterized by cataplexy, excessive sleepiness, and an abnormality in the phase of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In dogs, the most obvious sign is recurring cataleptic attacks. During a cataplectic attack, the dog suddenly collapses with paralysis of all muscles except for muscles that move the eyes and muscles responsible for breathing. The attacks are often provoked by excitement, such as feeding or play. They usually last only a few seconds, although severe episodes can last for several minutes.
During a cataplectic attack, the dog is usually conscious but unable to move. During a cataplectic attack the dog may enter REM sleep. Calling to the dog or touching the dog may terminate an attack.
I hope this helps you to solve your problem or rule it out. Good luck.
I have a dog who has seizures - they are much like what you describe. Noise is major trigger for her. In fact, thunderstorms are the worst. I give her Phenobarb once daily and more when there are storms.
I had a beagle once that looked healthy as could be but would have a seizure if she ran for a few minutes. Vet wanted to put her on medication. I thought about it for a couple of days and realized that some of my other beagles were having other problems so I changed to a different brand of dog food. Problem solved.
Now, this doesn't mean you should change to a high protein dog food. That can cause kidney problems from what I understand. Try a good name brand dry dog food.