Not sure if I should take my dog to the vet?

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CJ's mom

Boxer Booster
Hi everyone. It's been a long time since I've been at this forum, but I don't know where else I can ask these questions, because something very strange happened to my boxer yesterday and I don't know if it's a sign of old age, or a problem I should follow up with his vet. He is perfectly normal and healthy today with no sign of anything at all being wrong, so I suspect the vet would say he's fine and don't worry about it, but I would like to get the opinions of other concerned Boxer lovers like all of you.

My Boxer is CJ, a 10 year old neutered male. I know that's considered old for Boxers, but other than bad teeth (had 9 pulled already), a little stiffness especially during the winter, and a gray face, he still doesn't look or act like an old dog, he just moves a little slower these days.

Yesterday I gave my two dogs CJ and a Minpin some leftovers, mostly bread, a small amount of ham with cream cheese, but also included some very small pieces of leftover cakes, one of which I think had bits of almonds in it. I'm not sure how much of it he actually got to ate because the Minpin inhales food before CJ gets to even smell it. I'm just mentioning this in case what followed was an allergic reaction. Everything was normal, then suddenly I heard some scratching/slipping noise, and noticed CJ's hind legs slip on the hardwood floor and shake as if he was standing on ice and was having a hard time staying upright. He was standing completely still, and I could see his muscles in his hind legs straining. I couldn't see his face because I was behind him. I spoke to him and got no reaction. I became concerned and went to him and even after touching him, he still did not move or have any reaction to me. Then after a few seconds, maybe a minute or so he did move, but he moved more stiff than usual, with his head hanging low and he wouldn't lift his head to look at me or even look in my direction. Talking to him and petting him resulted in no reaction from him, not even a little twitch of the tail, which is really strange since CJ is the type of dog who wiggles his entire body just because someone looks at him. I could not get him to look at me or lift his head. He seemed uncomfortable and walked to the door appearing to want to go outside, so I let him out of the kitchen which opens into a doggie room with a doggie door. He walked to the doggie door and looked like he wanted to go outside, but couldn't go through the doggie door. So I opened another two doors to the back yard. He went out that way ok, and he did need to relieve himself, but he was still acting strange and disoriented, and the whole time he kept his head low, below shoulder level and not looking at me or in my direction at all. He did not wag his tail, but he did come when I called him back into the house. I wanted him to stay close to me after that so I could keep an eye on him, and noticed that the fur on his hind and front legs looked strange, ruffled up and bumpy, as if he had some sort of bumps or hives under the fur? These bumps were NOT there when he started acting strange, just a few minutes earlier. He was acting pretty normal by this time, he just laid down and rested as usual. This morning everything seemed fine. Tonight after I came home, I've been watching him closely, and he is energetic, happy, and there is nothing wrong with his fur, and there are no signs of the bumps I saw last night.

I have no idea what to think. It couldn't have been a stroke since that would have left some kind of damage and he is fine. He has never had any seizures, and I didn't see him trashing around, I only heard one quick noise when his hind legs slipped. And seizures wouldn't have caused the bumpy looking fur, right? Could something like this be some sort of allergic reaction? Should I take him to the vet? Should I be concerned, or is this just a sign that he is getting older? I don't know what to think or what to do, especially since he isn't even acting like an old dog today, and there is nothing the vet would see wrong with him.

Sorry for the long post, I hope someone has some ideas on what might have happened and what I should do about it.
 

Jan

Reasonable Moderator
Staff member
Taking CJ to your vet certainly wouldn't hurt, but they probably won't find anything since he is no longer showing any symptoms. He may have had a minor seizure, but there is no way that they can test for that. I would be inclined to just keep a close eye on CJ and watch for any more episodes.

Good luck!
 

Gatorblu

Boxer Insane
The only thing a vet might do is run a complete blood work up. If he hasn't had one in a while, it might not be a bad idea. At the very least I would write everything down and mark the date. That way if there is another episode, you have info on hand and your are not trying to recall all the particulars. Has he had nuts before? If so did he have any kind of reaction? I know dogs will lower their heads if they have trouble breathing, which could be a sign of an allergic reaction. I would definitely keep a close eye on him either way.
 

CJ's mom

Boxer Booster
thanks

Thanks for the responses. I forgot to mention that he also had very itchy ears soon after the bumps appeared on him. He didn't scratch the bumps, but he was trying to scratch his ears and also kept shaking his head. This was some minutes (maybe even an hour?) after the hanging head and unresponsive parts, he was acting normal otherwise, just not energetic or happy like he normally is. So now I'm thinking it was an allergic reaction, and the unresponsiveness may have been a sign of a breathing problem as the hanging head, which was pointed out above (thanks!). I just didn't recognize it at the time. Anyway, that explanation at least makes sense and fits everything that happened.
I can't think of any time he would have had almonds before, and even this time he couldn't have had more than two slivers at most, but that's the only thing I can think of that he could have reacted to. I know he is not allergic to peanut butter, but don't know if he ever had any other kind of nuts. I will be making sure to keep nuts away from him from now on, and keeping an eye on him in case it was some sort of seizure. Next time he goes to the vet, I'm going to ask for a blood workup too, he is old enough that it is worthwhile anyway.

Thanks again for the responses. It is good to have people to turn to when worrying about our furbabies. People who do not have dogs just can't understand the level of attachment and worry we go through when something bad happens to them.
 

rena

Boxer Booster
My Roxy has had similar symptoms twice. It is so scary when it happens - I thought I was losing her both times.

The first time we were at the lake and she had been swimming for some time. I rushed her to the vet and they thought she might have low blood sugar. So we limited long swim times and followed them up with some high protein treats. I think she was about 5 years when this one happened.

The second time she was eight - she came over in front of me and then became very stiff and a bit of glassy eye look. I seem to recall her toes curled a bit, but she did not fall. I rushed her to the vet immediately, but as others said, the vet could not pin point the cause because they did not see it happen. We did a number of tests and ultimately put her on some heart medicine - they suspected she may have had an irregular beat the restricted the flow to her body.

I don't remember bumps from either episode. There were never any lingering effects from either of the events. Roxy is now eleven and we have not had any more episodes (thankfully). She is still on the heart medicine and has been taking thyroid meds since she was a pup. Same as your fur baby - she is now gray, seems a bit stiff some days, but still plays like a puppy, but just not as long. I hope you don't have any further problems.

I am blessed everyday she is at my side, have never had a better friend.
 

avaboxer

Boxer Booster
IF they get worse or if he has another one, call the vet and ask them to test their blood. There is a blood disease in labs where dogs have:
Seizures
Excessive Drooling and Disoriented after seizures
(call name, hold treats little or no reaction)
Can't use hind legs or rear eventually
Change of appetite

I can't remember what all my lab had but his vet said he had hip dysplasia and that was not what it was. Our new Lab her breeder told me about the disease but he couldn't remember what it was called but my previous Labrador matched all symptoms.
 

CJ's mom

Boxer Booster
Thanks Rena and Avaboxer. I've been keeping an eye on CJ and there's no sign of anything at all wrong since the morning after that scary episode. But it still worries me, because he doesn't whine or look for attention when something is wrong, he just accepts the pain with not much reaction and keeps on playing. He cut his paw once bad enough to bleed all over my kitchen without pausing for even one second. Another time he broke one of his canines and the only reason I figured that one out was because he started eating everything, leaves, dirt, twigs and when he started licking the carpet I looked around in his mouth because I ran out of other ideas for why he might be acting so weird. I can't even imagine how much a broken canine must have hurt, and yet he showed no sign of pain at all, he just couldn't be distracted away from using his mouth on everything. My other dog, a Minpin screamed his little head off and threw himself flat on the ground the first time his bare paws came in contact with snow, because he thought the cold snow was so painful! The two dogs couldn't be more different, and I am always more worried about CJ (the Boxer), because he does not show me or signal in any way when something is wrong.

Rena; how old was Roxy when the episodes you describe happened? Please let me know if you ever get any new info on what happened to her, CJ had that glassy eye you describe also.
 

CJ's mom

Boxer Booster
oops, I guess I was too tired last night, I see that Roxy was 5 and 8 years old. So that's a lot of time in between episodes. I hope neither Roxy nor CJ has another one!
 

Cami

Boxer Insane
A good portion of dogs instinctually don't often show signs of pain. To do so in the wild could perhaps be their demise. The weak (and in pain) get take advantage of hence a reason for them to not show signs of pain if they can help it.
I am glad to hear that CJ seems to be acting fine now however something WAS amiss for him to experience what he did. At his age at minimum I would take him in for a senior exam including blood work. Sadly bad things don't happen for no reason.
He may no longer be showing outwardly signs like he did previously but there could very well be something going on that prompted his symptoms. Better to find out sooner rather than later in a lot of situations.
 

rena

Boxer Booster
CJ's Mom - I think it is interesting - Roxy has really bad teeth also. She has a broken canine and we have removed two upper molars because they had cracked (at different times). Really makes you wonder if there are common traits that lead to certain disease end points. Maybe someday there will be a database we can input all this information and search for common threads. Until then we have this forum - which has been a wealth of information for me.
 
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