Gilmore had a spell

[gilmore]

I have a male boxer, Gilmore who is about a 1 1/2 years old and yesterday he was outside playing in the snow with my husband... it was our first real snow of the season. He played and ran and ran for about 45 mins and then he stopped and dry heaved a twice and nothing came out so my husband brought him inside and he immediatly laid on the floor and did not look at us when we called his name or anything. The inside of his mouth and his toung lost all color along with his ears and paws. We rushed him to the vet and once at the vet he finaly started to perk up and look around he also drank some water but the Vet was not sure what cause this 'spell' . The vet said it was like a fainting spell and they drew blood and are doing test and we will know the results in a few days. Gilmore has been eating very well since we brought him home from the vet and all his color has returned and with lots of rest yesterday and this morning he is getting back to his normal playful self.

Sorry to run on with details but I am wondering if anyone else has ever experianced anything like this with their dog? I really love my Gil and I am worried.

 

[Chewy's Mom]

I've heard of several such incidents with boxers. The first thought that always pops into my head is possible boxer cardiomyopathy. It's a common heart condition. IF your dog has this, your regular vet will not be able to tell. And the blood tests will come back normal. You would need to see a board certified verterinary cardiologist, who would run some other tests such as a 24 hour holter test. Do a search on this site for "cardiomyopathy" and you will find tons of info. If this is what he has, consider yourself lucky that he had a symptom. Good luck to you.

Monique

 

[JulieM]

Aortic stenosis is another condition that produces these symptoms. A visit to the cardiologist is probably not a bad idea.

 

[Trish727]

If he lost all color to his lips and it looked almost white......same thing happened here with Domino about 8months ago he was fine and then all of a sudden looked at me and dropped I picked him up and ran to the vet and they did the blood and checked his heart but nothing came up and about 3 mins at the vet his color came back. Haven't taken him to a cardiologist yet ...But I do plan on it.

 

[American]

My parents have lost a boxer to boxer cardiomyopathy, I was living at home at the time. That was also the first sign we noticed, when he had a spell, and he was about the same age. We were able to prolong his life for a year after that. It's tough to loose a dog like that, but the eariler you know the better.

 

[gilmore]

Thank you to all of you. YOur information and stories have been helpful. I did do alot of research on the net about Cardiomyopathy and it sounds like that is what is happening with Gilmore. I am going to start searching for are cardiologist vet today. Thanks again and I appriciate any more information anyone has.

Thank you- Gilmore and Family