Head shaking and drooling :(

[joeys mom]

I dont know what just happened but I am worried. I had posted last week that Joey had hurt his knee. The vet put him on a joint supplement and DERAMAXX. All has been fine until tonight..... I dont know if I am freaking out over nothing but this is what happened....

Joey had taken his half dose of DERAMAXX every afternoon (with plenty food) and I have been watching him very close. He has been fine. Poop has looked good in color and consistency. Uriunating has been normal as well as his eating and drinking habits. All has been fine. Tonight I gave him his dose if DERAMAXX and i dont know if it had anything to do with what happened next ( maybe 30 min later) but, he was asleep on the couch and he all of the sudden woke up and started looking around like he heard something???? He then started to kind of wobble his head, very odd, I have never seen him do this. Then as I jumped up and started talking to him he drooled all over the place. Not a major amount but enough to notice that he was drooling. This all happened over about a 5 to 10 second period. He jumped off the couch.... I think cause I scared him by saying JOEY ARE YOU OK. He walked around the living room and seemed to be fine. He has acted normal ever since.
I will continue to watch him very closely tonight and call his vet in the morning unless I see this again or any other changes!

Has this happened to anyone? I would appreciate any input or similar stories!

 

[darwinsmom]

I would not administer another dose until speaking with your vet. I just looked up the side effects again (see link below) and seizures are listed under allergic reaction. What you described sound potentially like a seizure (I have no direct experience with seizures). I don't know what if anything an e-vet could do but I would definitely put a call in to your regular vet first thing in the morning.

Common Deramaxx Side Effects

 

[joeys mom]

after posting i searched the forums and I too think of seizures! I WILL DEFFINITLY NOT GIVE HIM ANOTHER DOSE! The thing that worries me now is that he just had his dose right before this happened so I am afraid it will happen again. It will take many hours to get it out if his system. He has been totally normal since but I will still worry onight and even more so while I am work tomorrow! :( His vet wont be in until 8 in the morning!

 

[Cami]

I completely understand your freaking out! I would be too.
If I am not mistaken (you can ask your vet) this medication lowers the threshold for a patient to have a seizure. Taking them off of the medication will stop the seizures (if they caused it). I don't think it is something that will have any long term effects. If that makes sense?

I know you will for sure be calling the vet tomorrow. Let us know what they say! I hope you both can have an uneventful and restful night.

 

[Sportsnutim]

we are having the same problems

I asked a question about seizures and drooling. We are taking Emma into the vet again to have her evaluated. Twice she stiffened up and had severe shakes then real bad drooling the next day. So we (my wife) understand what you maybe going through. Good luck. If you get any information could you place it on the forum. Thanks. Tim

 

[joeys mom]

So I call the vet's office First thing this morning and Joey's regular vet is not available so I had to talk to the tech. She has seen Joey many many times and knows both he and I very well. I explain to her what happened and remind her that he was in there last week and what the Dr. prescribed and she remembers all this . So anyway after the story is told I ask if she thinks he has had a seizure? she says NO she didnt...... I dont agree! I then ask her if she thinks "whatever" went on could be from the DERAMAXX and she says no....... I dont agree! I asked if she thought I should bring him in for any reason, test's, blood work or just the fact the he wouldnt have to be alone while I was at work incase this happens again. She says no :( She "thinks" that he was probaly having a bad dream and woke up just a "lil out of it".......... I DONT AGREE! She also told me to keep giving him the medication as directed.......... I wont! I have all the faith in the world in Joey's regular Dr. so I am going to wait until she is back and maybe give her a call and see what she thinks. I am also thinking of going to another vet to explain what happened and what meds he was on and see what they have to say. On a good note he is acting completley normal and running around doing his usuall boxer burns right now!

btw.....SPORTSNUTIM, Joey did not have any stiffness when this happened. I hope you get some answers too! I will pass along any additional info I find out when I talk to another Dr. I hope Emma doesnt have anymore problems! Keep is posted!

 

[darwinsmom]

It is frustrating when vets or techs totally brush off your concerns. 1) Deramaxx is not a critical medication for your dog. He can heal without it although it may take longer and be more painful. 2) you can give your dog a safe pain medication (like tramadol) although it won't do anything for inflammation.

Unless they have had a patient with serious side effects most vets will look at the statistics and say a drug is safe. When we learned that Darwin's BUN and creatinine were elevated our regular vet advised us to visit another vet for an ultrasound of the kidneys. He told us that he does not like to prescribe NSAIDs because they have had 3 dogs in their practice with adverse reactions. All three survived, but one suffered permanent damage.

Unfortunately, I believe adverse reactions are underreported. And I fear many vets do not appropriately warn of side effects because they are afraid of scaring the pet owner away from medicating.

I would suggest talking to your vet about either alternative NSAIDs (maybe something like Metacam) or just going with a straight pain med.

 

[jadyn]

head bobing and drooling

I dont know what just happened but I am worried. I had posted last week that Joey had hurt his knee. The vet put him on a joint supplement and DERAMAXX. All has been fine until tonight..... I dont know if I am freaking out over nothing but this is what happened....

Joey had taken his half dose of DERAMAXX every afternoon (with plenty food) and I have been watching him very close. He has been fine. Poop has looked good in color and consistency. Uriunating has been normal as well as his eating and drinking habits. All has been fine. Tonight I gave him his dose if DERAMAXX and i dont know if it had anything to do with what happened next ( maybe 30 min later) but, he was asleep on the couch and he all of the sudden woke up and started looking around like he heard something???? He then started to kind of wobble his head, very odd, I have never seen him do this. Then as I jumped up and started talking to him he drooled all over the place. Not a major amount but enough to notice that he was drooling. This all happened over about a 5 to 10 second period. He jumped off the couch.... I think cause I scared him by saying JOEY ARE YOU OK. He walked around the living room and seemed to be fine. He has acted normal ever since.
I will continue to watch him very closely tonight and call his vet in the morning unless I see this again or any other changes!

Has this happened to anyone? I would appreciate any input or similar stories!

I had this same thing happen to my boxer Lily. But for Lily and my family turned for the worst. Lily died from a massavive seizure. How it came about Im not sure, but it started out with the head bobbing and drooling then just keep getting worst and worst by the time we got Lily to the vet she couldnt hold on any longer. Now Lily had just been to the vet to be spayed and when she came home she was on rimadyl and some kind of other med. Lily started acting weird two weeks after her spay and was still on rimadyl. I have no idea what caused it or how. I am letting you know my expience so you can maybe talk to your vet about having Joey screened. I hope this helps and I hope Joey will be ok.

 

[jadyn]

Head bobbing and drooling

I had this same thing happen to my boxer Lily. But for Lily and my family turned for the worst. Lily died from a massavive seizure. How it came about Im not sure, but it started out with the head bobbing and drooling then just keep getting worst and worst by the time we got Lily to the vet she couldnt hold on any longer. Now Lily had just been to the vet to be spayed and when she came home she was on rimadyl and some kind of other med. Lily started acting weird two weeks after her spay and was still on rimadyl. I have no idea what caused it or how. I am letting you know my expience so you can maybe talk to your vet about having Joey screened. I hope this helps and I hope Joey will be ok.

 

[djheitz]

Jadyn - I'm very sorry to hear about Lily. If you do a search on rimadyl, you'll see there have been some very serious reactions to it, including death.