stroke?

[tualizzy]

Do you know if a dog could have a stroke, while walking?

 

The reason I ask is last night we took all three of our dogs to a local off leash park for a hike (A very rugged and hilly park where they LOVE to play). We were walking up the main access road… dogs playing… and Brassy started to carry her rear left foot funny. She would pull it up high, and then tap, tap, tap it on the ground, then she’d try to put it back down and it would cross behind the left rear foot. She would do this a couple times, and then trot along to play. This happened a few times, and then she started to have the same with her front right leg. Similar as the rear… the right foot would cross behind the left one. A couple times it happened to the front and back at the same time and she almost fall over. We were half way into our hike when this started happening. So I put Brassy on her leash and decided to take her back to the truck while my husband continued on with Jak & Lizzy. The whole time her eyes were bright and she seemed happy…. but perhaps looked “drunk” each time it happened. She wanted to run and play after each episode. And as much as I wanted to let her…I didn’t. This happened approx 6 times within an hour.

 

Back at the truck she had a good drink and then settled down beside me on the tailgate for a rest. (don't worry, my dogs do not ride in the back of an open pick-up) When Craig arrived with the other two, she barked and wagged her tail with excitement. It didn’t happen again after that. She is happy-go-lucky today (and was at home last night)… everything seems normal.

 

What do you think? We will be seeing the vet on Saturday, but thought I would run it past the group in case someone has experienced something similar.

\

Thank you.

Cheers, Claudine

 

Ps… Brassy will be 16 yrs this year. She is in great shape, has a healthy appetite and a wonderfully happy personality.

[airbear]

How odd, I was going to post something quite similar! My Bear, who is somewhere between 11 and 13, was walking very oddly yesterday morning. His back legs weren't coordinated and he kept hitting the wall. I suppose one could say he was listing. Anyway, as I was preparing to enter a full-blown panic, he straightened out and seems fine now. He has no problem navigating the stairs, played a bit of ball last night, and appears overall to be right as rain. I think I will take him to the vet, as our vet understands my Munchausen's tendencies, and he just fits us in at the end of the day.

 

Hope Brassy is ok!

[MrSnappy]

I've no idea, but I hope both Brass and Bear are fine. Is Brass really almost 16? Holy crow .. where has the time gone?

 

RDM

[MaryP]

I have no idea, but could they have been TIAs (transient ischemic attack) that she was having? I don't have any experience with them in dogs, but I have some experience with them in people. The symptoms sound pretty similar (sudden numbness or weakness, loss of balance or coordination that is temporary). Unfortunately, they are usually early predictors of a possible future stroke. I sure hope that Brassy will be OK, though. She's always been one of my favorites.

[bcnewe2]

If my dogs are starting to get to hot they will do funny things with their gate. Listing is a good word for describing what Mick was doing lately. Like he was veering off the path and running into my leggs. Dew actually was letting her back foot stay flipped over when she'd come in the house after the walk. And i"m not talking huge hike. Just our reg. nightly walk. the humidity is horrible so that's what I was thinking first.

Since this happened I figued out one of the dogs had hook worms. I wormed them all and the symptoms went away. the heat was getting to them way quicker than it should, that is a sign of worms too. But I had no idea they were that comprimised. I had noticed that all were itchy latey. I was blaming it on the weeds and no see ums that bite. BUt since worming they've all stopped itching too.

Kristen

[tualizzy]

Isn't that funny how both Bear and Brassy seem to have experienced something very similar at the same time.

I hope Bear is ok too.

 

TIAs (transient ischemic attack)

I looked this up... very similar. A real possibility I think.

 

If my dogs are starting to get to hot they will do funny things with their gate.

 

It wasn't too warm out when this happened to Brassy, a fairly cool evening actually...

but it has been warm the last few weeks and perhaps the heat had taken a toll on her.

She LOVES the fan and air conditioning in the house.

 

Since this happened I figued out one of the dogs had hook worms.

 

Hmmmm... she is a poo eater... perhaps worms... yuck!

 

Gosh these older dogs really know how to get your heart racing don't they. I also find it amazing that she'll be 16 some time this year (no idea when, but we'll celebrate on her "gotcha day" in November). Some days she's pretty slow, but most days she plays like a pup.

 

I'll post an update after our visit to the vet... my niece works at the clinic we go to, so Brassy will get lots of extra snuggles from the AHTs there.

 

Thanks everyone!

[tualizzy]

An update on Miss Brassy Pants...

 

Based on the results of her physical exam on Saturday, our vet does feel that Brassy may have had a series of mini srokes. In fact she refered to them as TIAs (transient ischemic attack), which Mary mentioned in her post. Of course we don't know 100%, but the vet feels its a real posibility. Brassy has also been very stiff lately and has some difficulties getting up and down from a laying position... so, to help with the stiffness, and thin her blood a little (incase she was having strokes) she will now have a little Metacam each day. And luckily, Brassy thinks it's a tasty treat.

 

Now....time for a walk.

Enjoy the day everyone!

[Bo Peep]

My old male had a stoke at 17 years old. It was overnight and so fast. He didn't know where he was, he would go to an open kennel and just stand at the back of the kennel all day. I tried so hard to help him, but his mind was gone. The vet agreed with me that it was a BIG one and nothing could save Mick from his dementia. The small ones, I wouldn't worry about. I found out in a MRI that I have had a series of them. For a couple weeks, I couldn't remember ANYTHING past 1987. Finally came back to me, now I can laugh about it, but it wasn't funny at the time.

[SoloRiver]

Some possibly relevant info (taken with a grain of salt since it's from Wikipedia):

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception

 

Symptoms like this would personally scare the crap out of me and necessitate a vet trip right away. Unfortunately, the ultimate cause is probably really hard to diagnose and I don't know that there are a whole lot of treatment options.

 

Similarly, Solo's had two episodes of anisocoria, which means having pupils that are of different sizes. In both instances, his right pupil remained normal and his left pupil was constricted to almost a pinprick and not quite round besides. Anisocoria can be a sign of Very Bad Things (like traumatic brain injury) so needless to say, I totally freaked out. But, barring extensive neurological examinations (which are difficult to impossible to carry out with Solo since he cannot be examined closely by a vet unless he is out cold), there is really no way to ever figure out what was going on. Each time he was totally normal other than having pupils of different sizes, and the problem resolved itself quickly. Apparently, the usual causes of anisocoria can be roughly divided into categories corresponding to "no reason in particular" and "you are about to die." Solo's looks like it was due to nothing much and it's been over a year since the last time so I try not to worry about it.

[Allie Oop]

I hope that Brassy is doing okay. I had a dear old dog who suffered from seizures and then had some mini-strokes. He had stiffness and lack of coordination in the hind quarters initially, but we still walked him every day and he regained some of his mobility and control - we just went verrrrryyy sloooowwwwwlllly. I think his quality of life was pretty good, even after the strokes, until he finally lost the fight to lung cancer.

 

Wishing you and Miss Brassy Pants all of the best.

 

Regards,

[tualizzy]

I hope that Brassy is doing okay. I had a dear old dog who suffered from seizures and then had some mini-strokes. He had stiffness and lack of coordination in the hind quarters initially, but we still walked him every day and he regained some of his mobility and control - we just went verrrrryyy sloooowwwwwlllly.

Brassy is doing really well, thank you for asking.

She's happy, LOVES her metacam, and hasn't had another episode that we know of.

We keep her active... lots of walks.... and there verrrrrrryyyyyyy sloooooooow sometimes too. Buts she's so happy when she's out hiking in the hills. Even at a snail's pace its fun.

 

Right now she's stretched out on the kitchen floor with Romi (our 14 yrd old cat) cuddled up next to her... they have become very close buddies in the last six months.

 

Symptoms like this would personally scare the crap out of me and necessitate a vet trip right away.

After loosing Tua... anything like this freaks me out.

One day Tua looked up at us and his eyes were shaking from side to side.... we rushed to the vet that morning to be told it was very likely that he had a brain tumor. We booked an appointment with a neurologist for the following week. Two days before the appointment he had a couple really bad seizures, the morning we were about to leave to drive to Vancouver for the appointment he died in my arms. Only one week after the inital appointment. He was only 6 years old.

 

The small ones, I wouldn't worry about. I found out in a MRI that I have had a series of them.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about Mick. And I'm really sorry for what you have gone thru yourself. Scary times for you both.

 

 

Thank you very much everyone for sharing your personal experiences and knowledge.

I really do appreciate it.