Ed Schmitz
,@edschmitz
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My dog Sampson is a 15 year old boxer/pittie mix(50 pounds). Has had diabetes for 7 years. Been on arthritis pain meds the last year.. Has become very sluggish the past 2-3 weeks. Vet diagnosed him with a early stage heart murmur and slight anemia. Changed his arthritis pain meds to Gabapentin. It made him so drowsy that he fell asleep while eating. Became unable to walk without assistance. We weaned him off the Gabapentin and back on the old pain meds. His walking has improved a little but still is wobbly. Yesterday he refused to eat, which is highly unusual for him. Still drinking, but not eating today. He sleeps a lot but also has 30-60 minute spells of restless/repetitive behavior. I’m thinking he may have dementia. Any suggestions on how to help him?
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We are treating out 12 yr old beagle for IVDD with crate rest, prednosine, and tramadol. His back legs have been paralyzed for 14 days. For the past several days, when I hold him to urinate or massage his legs, I feel jerky movements and trembling. Is this a positive sign or simply his reflexes?
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Ed Schmitz Post author Thank you. I will talk to the vet tomorrow. I watched your youtube videos with Hank. Looks a lot like my Buddy. It was encouraging to see Hank’s recovery.
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Krista Magnifico Hello,
Please check with your vet. But in general I try to posture them to stand at every instance I can to help them regain muscle mass and strength. I hope it is trembling to regain the nerve function that feeds the muscles to tell them to work. But please confirm with your vet.
Hello,
This is largely a diagnosis of exclusion. I would call your vet back. Go over everything and repeat the blood work, cheat radiographs and discuss a cardiologist. There are too many things going on with your pup for me to say with any kind of degree of confidence to add that diagnosis to the list. All of the conditions you speak of can cause mental depression. So I would start over and ask for a referral to both an internal medicine specialist and even a catdiologist. I have a lot of information on my blog about cognitive dysfunction and there are lots of things you can do at home to help. But don’t over look previous issues before jumping into a new condition. To find the information on cognitive dysfunction please go to kmdvm.blogspot.com and in the search bar type cognitive dysfunction. I hope this helps.
Your dog needs a cardiologist, stat.