We’re having a problem with our 8 year old female black Lab that maybe someone can help us with. I’ll warn you this will probably be long, but I want to give as much info as I can.
Around the first of July, I took her to our local vet for her annual check up and shots. She has had a lump in her mouth, up along the gum line, for quite a few years. This time our vet thought it had gotten bigger and thought it should be removed. She referred us to a surgeon, 50 miles away.
We took her to the surgeon on a Wednesday and he agreed it needed to come off. We left her and he did the surgery the next morning, Thursday. We picked her up later that afternoon. He gave us pain pills for her and an antibiotic.
She did great and by Sunday morning she was even playing with her little brother. But that evening she started acting funny. She was panting a lot, pacing, stretching, sniffing and crying. When we went to bed, we thought she might settle down, but it got worse. We took turns staying up with her. Still, she was crying, pacing, panting, and stretching first her front legs, then her back legs. She would try laying down to rest, but would jump right back up and start up again. We gave her Pepto Bismal a couple times, since that had helped in the past. It did nothing. It was a very long night.
First thing the next morning, I called our local vet and got the earliest appointment they had, 11:30. When we got there and they found out why we were there, they told us we had to take her back to the surgeon. We luckily got an appointment for that afternoon. Meanwhile, poor Daisy (we call her Diz) is still having problems.
We take her to the surgeon and he looks her over and can’t find anything wrong with her. He says her mouth where he operated looks fine. He can’t find any reason for her to be acting this way. He gives us some sedatives for her and we take her home. The sedatives work and finally the poor dog gets some rest.
She’s fine until Tuesday afternoon and then seems to be starting another spell. I go and talk to my vet about it and she says it sounds like anxiety to her and gives me Valium to give her. Diz seems better when I got home, but later that night, it starts again. I give her the Valium and it does nothing. And because I’ve given her the Valium, I can’t give her the sedative from the surgeon. I’m up with her all night again.
The next day we take her back to the surgeon. He looks at her again, can still find nothing wrong. He says he thinks it’s anxiety (I didn’t tell her what our local vet had said). We keep her sedated for a few days and finally the spells pass.
I take her back to the surgeon for him to check her mouth and he says she needs surgery again. He says the biopsy shows cancer and it appears to have come back a little. This time I take her early in the morning and pick her up that night, so she doesn’t have to stay over night. And I get more sedatives from him, just in case she has more spells. This time she only has a few times of fussing but nothing like before and she gets over them without them sedatives.
After a few weeks, I call him to check the results of the second biopsy. He says it shows a different type of cancer this time and he can’t understand that. He wants to look at her again. I take her over there and he wants to remove another spot. Again, I don’t leave her over night, I take her early in the morning and pick her up that afternoon. This was on 9/25. He gives me some pain pills for her. He said he doesn’t need to see her again unless her mouth looks red.
Last Monday I took her to our vet, so she could have a look at her mouth, to see how it is now, for comparison later on.
Then last Thursday, the spells started again. She’s acting a little funny Thursday afternoon, but it’s not until we go to bed that she starts up. She acts just like before, crying, pacing, panting, but she wasn’t doing the stretching this time. Or least as much. We gave her the sedatives from before and eventually they kicked in and she got some rest. Saturday, and yesterday, she seemed to be starting again, so we gave her more sedatives, before it got bad, which worked.
I have spent a LOT of time thinking about this problem and trying to figure it out. There was a time when she was just a few years old, she had a spell like this. At the time, she was on an antibiotic for something and we thought she was having a reaction to it. We discontinued the antibiotic and gave her Pepto Bismal and she was fine. Another time, a few years ago, we were on a camping trip quite a ways from home. She had another spell then, just like these but she vomited that time. But then, we thought it was because she’d gotten into the trash and got some barbecue ribs, tho I’d gotten them away from her pretty quick. Again Pepto Bismal seemed to work that time.
About 2 years ago, we left her with my daughter and son in law for a weekend camping trip to visit friends. Diz knows my daughter and son in law and loves them but she had a spell again. At least we think it was the same type, we weren’t there to see it. But she was fine by the time we got home.
I just don’t know what to think about all this. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? Would anxiety attacks cause her to be in physical pain? Any thoughts at all would be appreciated.
And thanks to everyone who read the whole story. I know it’s long and I’m sorry for that.
Lynn
* This post was
edited 10/18/08 05:48am by msmatch *
A few years ago one of mine had some weird problems nobody could quite explain. The tests went on and on for months. There was always always one more test and no answers.
I finally stopped at a new vet when we had problems on the road in AL. She referred me to the clinic at Auburn University Vet School. It wasn't cheap but they had all the equipment. labs and specialists right there in one place. 24 hours later we had a clear diagnosis, treatment plan and now, 2 years later, all is well.
If I was in your shoes I'd ask for a referral to the nearest big veterinary teaching hospital.
It sounds like maybe a reaction to some of the meds. Our Aussie had a spell just like that a while back, it was a reaction to phenylpropanolamine. I know that is a far stretch from anitbiotics, but I think a drug reaction is a drug reaction. I know that when I had an antibiotic reaction myself, I was anxious and restless. Maybe they can change the type of antibiotic?
Thank you both for your responses. Larry, what was wrong with your dog?
After this last surgery, Diz wasn't on an antibiotic, just pain meds.
When I took her to our local vet last Monday, we were talking about how she used to send patients to the U of IL clinic instead of the surgeon she did send us to. She told me horror stories about them. But maybe we do need another opinion. Both vets told us it was anxiety. I guess I'm wondering if that is just a "catch all" term when they don't know, or if it's a real condition dogs can have?
Sometimes I lean towards thinking this is an anxiety problem. I used to take her to groomer and leave her, but after I picked her up, it would take her a long time to calm down. Now, I have an arrangement with the groomer. We live 5 minutes away and she calls when she's ready for her and I stay with her and help. Then I bring her right home. Diz is fine with this. And when she's having her spells now, she wants us right with her. But for the spells to happen a few days after her appointments doesn't make sense, for it to be anxiety, but maybe I'm wrong. And she seems to be in physical pain.
How far are you from Ames IA? The Iowa State University Veteranary School there is ranked one of the best in the country, I understand. They certainly did a top notch job when we had to take Katie there after she was hit by a car.
msmatch wrote: Thank you both for your responses. Larry, what was wrong with your dog?
After several diagnosis by a couple vets, each sounding more ominous that the last, the Auburn folks said she had chronic rhinitis (sp?). Which means she sneezes a lot and always will. No tumors, polyps, fungal infections, etc, etc, etc.
That's almost certainly not related to your problem. The lesson I learned and wanted to pass on was that when the locals obviously don't know, skip the months of tests and guesses and go somewhere with the resources to get answers.
Certainly no horror story at Auburn. I was impressed by their professional, no nonsense attitude from the moment i walked in the door.
This sounds a lot like our Hershey when he was on his pain meds. It turned out he was "halucinating" from the narcotics. Boy did he act strange! We only use non-narcotic pain meds and he has not had an episode. Good luck and keep us informed!
-Lab
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"Hershey" the Chocolate Lab!
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You are probably about equal distance from Chicago as Champaign. There are two good specialty clinic I frequently refer to in the Chicago area, Vet Specialy Clinic in Buffalo Grove, and Arboretum View in Aurora (I think). I've had good results with U of Il. also.
It sounds like pain response to me, but I wouldn't rule out behavior or neuro (seizure like episode). Since Pepto worked, I'd lean towards some sort of GI pain. I also see the stretchng and panting with GI pain.
Doug, DVM
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I agree with Colochoclab - if the pain killers were narcotic in nature - they might be giving the dog a case of nausea??? They certainly can do that to humans... and the dog's symptoms/actions sound like "colic" in horses - which basically means "stomach ache".
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