strange reaction to walking

[EMWAZ]

I have been walking my dogs, regularly for about 2 years or longer now and recently my white boxer has seemed to have some problems. He doesn't seem weak or hurt. The symptoms I know is he is lagging behind more than he used too and twice he got sick, once in the middle of the walk and once when we got home. He seems fine otherwise, he's always been kind of a couch potato at home but fine on the walks.

Yesterday I tried walking around the block with him and he seemed to be lagging behind some but okay. Then he started drooling and vomitted bile. He has had a full stomach sometimes and an empty stomach others so I don't think its related to eating or not. Any ideas?? He's going to the vet on Tuesday.

He is deaf, I also wondered about vertigo or something with his eyes..

 

[gmacleod]

Well, it is pure guess - but I wonder a little about possible cardiac issues. When he's lagging behind, and when he's been sick - have you had a look at his gums? Wondering if they're nice and pink as they should be, or if they're white and tacky - which would tend to indicate lack of circulation.

In any case, a doctor to take a look at him is very much needed, I think. It could be something as simple as an ear infection affecting his balance and making him nauseous, or it could be something more serious. Definitely something a vet needs to investigate though.

 

[EMWAZ]

Well, it is pure guess - but I wonder a little about possible cardiac issues. When he's lagging behind, and when he's been sick - have you had a look at his gums? Wondering if they're nice and pink as they should be, or if they're white and tacky - which would tend to indicate lack of circulation.

In any case, a doctor to take a look at him is very much needed, I think. It could be something as simple as an ear infection affecting his balance and making him nauseous, or it could be something more serious. Definitely something a vet needs to investigate though.

As far as I can tell his gums seem to appear okay and I did check them as we just lost our other boxer Pancho to hemagiosarcoma and that was one of the ways I could tell he was bleeding.

I did think about the cardiac issues I just could figure out how it happened so quickly. If it is cardiac I hope there is medication for it. He did have his heart checked out about 3 years ago with a cardiac sonogram but that was a while ago.

 

[gmacleod]

Well, if his gums are OK, then probably his circulation is too. Which lessens the concern that it might be cardiac related Hopefully it is something relatively simple that can be cured quickly. There is such a wide range of possible causes though, that it's really something a vet is going to have to adjudicate on. Do post back and let us know what happens Tuesday.

 

[EMWAZ]

Thanks for the info and I hope they can figure it out. I will let everyone know what they think on Tuesday....

 

[ELubas]

Hope it is something simple and your boy is fine. Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[EMWAZ]

Okay, Buster was checked out from head to toe and did not have any specific problems. My vet checked out his eyes, ears and his physical being with no answers. He did say that he does want me to follow up on his heart because even though there was nothing glaring he did have an extremely rapid heartbeat and the vet was looking at his history with the arrhythmias which we thought were specific to his being under anesthesia (see prior posts) and with that information he recommended I follow up on this to ensure nothing is new.. He also gave me a prescription for dramamine (meccalizine(sp) to see if it may be motion sickness.

It could be what you said gmacleod, but the vet did say they have a lot of medications to control heart issues and recommended a cardiac sonogram like he had about 3 or more years ago when he was dealing with his eye ulcers...

 

[EMWAZ]

Okay, the diagnosis is not really good but after a week on meds he is doing okay. The diagnosis is Dilated Cardiomyopathy, right sided congestive heart failure and he also has a ventricular arrhythmia.

The only thing he is on so far is lasix and enalapril which do seem to be helping some. They drained a over a liter of fluid from his lungs and he seemed to feel way better than he had been feeling. The other medication is Pimobendan which is supposedly a new drug only available in Canada and I had to order it over the internet and haven't received it yet. Its also supposed to be very promising

His other bloodwork looked good and they say if he responds to the medication he will be around for 9 months or more. Has anyone else had a similiar diagnosis, can you give me some good news about it..

I'm just really amazed at how he was so well and this problem just cropped up and we had his heart checked in the past and he was okay. Any information or advice is welcome.

gmacleod your instincts and knowledge were right on, but hopefully we can keep him around for awhile. The veterinarian and everyone praised him so much for being such a great patient, they were amazed at how well he took to everything... For him it was just attention, he loves it because he's such a sweetie...

He goes back for a one week re-check tomorrow..

 

[gmacleod]

Well, I'm glad you've got a diagnosis now (even if it's not what one might have hoped for), and medication under way. Especially when it's caught early, dilated cardiomyopathy is something that dogs can live several good years with. Have a check of the forums - this isn't the most common form of cardiomyopathy in boxers (though it is for most breeds). But there are a few threads on here about it.

 

[GoCougs]

Your description of the problem existing on the right ventrical and existence of arrythmias sounds to me that he has arrythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Otherwise commonly known as, Boxer Cardiomyopthy.

There are a small subset of boxers who reach a stage of ARVC where the ventrical will dilate, which can sometimes cause a misdiagnosis. What is important to this case though is the arrythmia. DCM is a systemic heart problem, while ARVC is a electrical conduction problem. They are quite different disease.

I'm curious, did your vet mention ARVC? If so, did he mention why he didn't think that was it?

Either way, many a boxer with ARVC (and dogs with DCM) live a number a happy years with the proper treatment. While it can be heart breaking, you're one of the lucky ones who know about the issue and can treat it before it was too late.