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.
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.