Dakota's turn...injury |fear |kidneys ???

[MontananDakota]

Hey guys. Dakota's been doing great all this time I've been posting about Montana. One incident stands out-late summer we were at the park and she began to shake almost uncontrollably and actually went down on the ground as if she couldn't stand. I tried to pick her up to carry her back to my car ( 1/2 a mile away!) but she stopped shaking and we continued our walk. weird. I thought maybe a small seizure? nothing further. Until last week I was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her to come outside & she didn't want to come down the stairs. She eventually did and all was fine. Sunday the shaking started again and stopped just like at the park. She seemed a bit quieter than usual but I thought maybe its just MY anxiety as she does react to my stress sometimes. Yesterday my husband said she twirled but would not go down the stairs.(she twirls when she wants to go out) HE tried to take her out the front-same thing. I took her out and she seemed ok, still a bit quieter. Today the shaking again and I just cant tell if she is afraid of Montana-could she be sensing a change now that he is on the steroids? he hasn't shown any crankiness toward her. Or is she hurting? she was panting this morning too, again I cant tell if this is an injury or a sickness or a fear. Im so stressed. I am trying to avoid running the vet right away unless necessary because these last few weeks have been pretty costly with Montana and we have no pet insurance. Any ideas???
She is eating, pooping peeing drinking....nothing else unusual. Normally she is with me in every room I am in, since Sunday she keeps laying by my husband and with her nose-making him pet her -she will come to me when I call her but she goes back & forth between him and I...Have to figure this out...

[smartrock]

I don't remember how old Dakota is, and it probably doesn't matter. The only dog I've seen doing this was one we had when I was a child. The vet said she was having seizures and she was treated with phenobarbital. Maybe if your phone will take a video, if these spells continue and you can capture one or more on a video, if you do end up at the vet you'll have something to show him/her so they can see what you're seeing.

Sorry you're having to deal with things with both dogs at the same time, as if one isn't stressful enough!

[MontananDakota]

ahhh great idea to video this-thanks!!!
my husband says she is laying on the bed bow all stretched out relaxed in her usual position, no more shaking. so perplexing

[Annette47]

How old is she?

If it is a seizure, that makes a difference in what it could be. If she is eating/drinking/relieving herself normally I don’t think I would worry about kidney failure as strong possibility. I think a good first step is trying to see what exactly is happening to her - is it a seizure or something else. Maybe eventually some bloodwork to rule out things like thyroid or diabetes. The clinginess to your husband makes me think a stress reaction of some sort. She can probably tell you are worried about Montana ...

[MontananDakota]

She is 11 1/2.
Jeez you know this morning when I was thinking "shes got to be stressed by ME..." i was thinking is there something wrong with me? You know how dogs can sense things. Like they both knew & acted differently when I was pregnant and didn't yet know it myself. I feel healthy(and Im not pregnant)...great now I'm going to worry about this too LOL

[Berna]

She is clingy because she may be scared or confused after the seizure.

When an older dog starts experiencing seizures it may be very serious. If these continue happening frequently, I'd definitely go to a vet. Although it's not impossible that stress can cause a seizure, I'd like to rule out health issues first (bloodwork, ct scan).

[MontananDakota]

I am starting to think less & less that this is a seizure because I replay it in my head & it is not the same as a time long ago when she did have a seizure and I was certain, going over on her side, paddling motions with her legs. This is strictly back end shaking, tail goes between her legs. She has a look on her face like she is scared. Puzzling though she layed down and seemed like she couldn't stand for a moment when this happened in the park over the summer.
I bought some raw goats milk Friday and have been giving this to Montana and since I read so much about how its so great for dogs I gave some to her too. No change in pottying though....

[Sue-Ram]

Vestibular disease? Vestibular Disease - Fitzpatrick Referrals

[MontananDakota]

Hmmm...not quite sure I can completely rule that out-there's no obvious symptoms though other than the shaking and I don't see that on the list.

[Annette47]

Hmmm...not quite sure I can completely rule that out-there's no obvious symptoms though other than the shaking and I don't see that on the list.

Doesn’t sound like vestibular to me ... maybe some sort of muscle spasm?