Two fainting spells within the month

[Anna E.]

Our one-year old Boxer is a super active, psycho dog. Buster has enough energy to tire out our 8-year old white Boxer, and our Bullmastiff/pit mix. Oct 22, my husband and I woke up at 4:30, his work starts at 5:30am. As usual, we let our dogs out. Buster runs out, stops, hacks three times and collasped on the patio, at the same time loosing control of his bladder. My husband, Mark, yells at me for me to come. In a matter of seconds I'm right there, and I see Buster in a pool of piss, Marksolding the little guy up, but by then he's comin around, but still shocky. His bottom eyelids were white and his gums were white. We were shaken up more than Buster, who went to sleep for awhile then woke up like his psycho self.

Second episode was just last week. Same time. Buster wakes up like a Tasmanian Devil ready to greet the world. Could'nt even make the patio door to let the dogs out, when Buster hacks again, sways, and then collasped. As I yelled for my husband, my hand was on Buster's chest the whole time. I could feel his heart so I knew he was breathing. He came around quickley and has been none the worse for wear ever since.

His X-rays are normal, blood work was normal. I'm so scared he may have Cardiomyopthy. I have the appointment with this cardiologist tomorrow who will do an ultrasound and then a Holter moniter on our Boxer. Why does our Boxer need an ultra sound when all the posts I've read talk about the echocardiogram
and the Holter monitor. I have not heard a word about the ultrasound.
Anna E.

 

[katrien]

Hi there. Same as my Uzzi. She was an athletic dog, never tired of playing ball etc.... Running 10 kms besides a bike was nothing to her, sometimes even carrying a large stick. Then on a spring day in 1994 all of a sudden she collapsed when running after her ring. She was up almost immediately but very weak and calm. her gums and eyelids white. So I gave her some fructose and went to the vet. He listened to her heart and made eyes like tennis balls all of a sudden. He said :This dog has some bad heart. A very deficient valve. You could almost not hear a clearly defined heart beat, it was more like a flush ! BUT : if she would not have had some other problem at 9 yo, we would still have her. We put her on heart medicine (LANITOP = german name) and sometimes on very heavy summer days, we gave her some additional homeopathics and she did absolutely fine. She could not endure stress : like fights with other dogs (which she loved !) and one time when I was mad at her, she also fainted. That was the second time, years after the first time. We went into the mountains with her on skiing holidays etc... She did really well. Of course no more running beside the bike or jogging. But hey, that is a small price to pay. Have a look at buster, if he is only good in short dynamic spells and has no long time condition, then it might be something like that. But give him medicine to support his heart. How old is he ? Good luck !

 

[Debbie Magon]

Hi Anna, I read your post and think it sounds like low blood pressure?

You say both times he has collapsed , he has just risen from a long sleep, and although he is white in the gums and eyes , his heart is beating ok?

I am not very familiar with BCM or those related problems, but I am sure it does cause reduced blood flow .

Fortunately, we do not seem to have a high incidence of it here in NZ but I wonder if this is his problem.

I do know boxers can faint from adrenaline overload, but I would not imagine this to be the case as you describe for your boy.

The sooner he is tested and treated the better.

I would recommend, not too much excitement or stimulation for him till you find out what you are dealing with.

PS: I know boxers only have one speed 100 miles per hour, but just ignore his crazy boxer self and this often quietens them

Good luck ! We are all hoping it is nothing much and your boy is fine.

 

[Anna E.]

It does sound more like adreneline overload to me. Both times he had just woke up and he starts at not 100 mph, but 200 mph. Much more hyper than our 8 year old White Boxer Jake had ever been. He had not been up for more than a minute. The second time, I supported him by his chest and could feel his heart beating. He was breathing shallow. We are taking him today to a heart specialist. They called the procedure an ultrasound, but it may be the same as an echocardiogram. The vet uses an ultrasound device, and on the screen, he gets a good look at the heart and the function of all the valves, the size of the chambers, ect. We know about this because they also did it to our beloved English Springer Spaniel Gaedor (RIP) after a botched EKG when they thought there was heart trouble. I will post when we get back this evening and update you. Thanks for your input, Anna E.

 

[Albie]

Lacy had fainting spells too. She was always running around the back yard like a crazy dog when it happened. We had blood work, x-rays and EKG done at the vet, who recommended we see a cardiologist. At the cardiologist, they did a doppler echo, which showed that Lacy had two leaky valves in her heart. But the cardiologist didn't think this would cause fainting spells. So, we had the Holter monitor done. The Holter results came back normal. So, we still don't know what caused Lacy's fainting, but knock on wood, it hasn't happened again for several months now!

 

[MJ&Sams_Momma]

Have you had him checked for heartworms recently? It kind of sounds to me like it could be those, which in turn makes major heart problems occur. I've seen a few dogs come into the clinic and have some of the exact same symptoms and find out it was heartworms. I think I would check into getting him heartworm tested before doing the major heart exams. Then, if the test comes out o.k., go do the heart tests. Hope this helps!!

 

[Anna E.]

Well we just got back from the vet. Buster now has a Holter monitor until tomorrow. He also has a E-collar because he was not that happy about the backpack. I am sure the shave job and sticky things did not help either. Now he is just plain miserable. We asked a bunch of questions and after the vet checked out Buster, we decided the Holter was the best way to go. I just hope his being so miserable and moping around will not mask any real problem due to his inactivity. He gets the monitor off tomorrow evening, and we should hear from him within 24 hours. Thanks for all the help and ideas. We will update when we hear from the vet. Anna and Mark E.

 

[Albie]

When Lacy wore the Holter she was pretty miserable too. She went to lick herself and tipped over because she was so top heavy. Of course, we laughed at her, which didn't help! I was concerned about Lacy's inactivity while she wore the monitor. We could only get her to chase a ball one direction in the yard. Usually, she tears around like a crazy dog. The cardiologist explained that even without heavy activity, if she had a problem, there would be some indication of irregularities in her heart. She told us that a dog with heart problems wouldn't have perfectly normal Holter results, which was what Lacy had!

 

[Anna E.]

Buster's heart is fine!

Well, The vet called today and the Holter monitor results were completely normal. We think that he just wakes up, goes 200 mph immediately and uses all the oxygen in his blood before his heart and lungs can ramp up to handle all that activity. I know if I woke up and jumped out of bed going like he does I would probably faint too! We are going to try to keep him more calm when he first wakes up. Please wish us luck........ The most important thing to us is his heart is normal and he does not have cardiomyopathy. Thank you all for your input and concern for our Buster. It helped to know we were not alone... Mark and Anna E.

 

[kassa]

I don't mean to alarm you, but a 24 hour clear Holter
does not mean the dog does not have FVA (boxer cardiomyopathy). Dr. Meurs has begun holtering
dogs over the course of a week and found dogs that
have zero PVCs one day and thousands another day.

Given that the dog is symptomatic (having fainting
episodes), I would actively seek further testing.