Bailey

[SpringerLover]

I'm currently trying to remember what's happened since March 4th, as we have an appt next Monday to discuss what's been going on with a vet who has experience with elderly dogs (and especially those with cognitive problems).

It's been a frustrating month for Bailey and as a result, for me. She seemed to be adjusting well enough to the big move but had an absolute melt down on March 4th, a Sunday, while I was helping a friend move. I had to come back to the house to pick her up because she was pacing and howling and so very frantic. My roommates, nor I, could pin point a trigger so I just picked her up and she "helped" me move a friend. The first couple years of her life, she hated riding in the car and would routinely express her anal glands and whine. For the last 5+ years, she's adored the car and is relaxed the whole ride whether seat belted in or crated. I've used this to my advantage a lot and she still loves the car. When we picked her up on March 4th, she didn't settle in the car and she didn't settle in any noticeable way for at least 4 hours.

She continued to be frantic and unsettled into the next week so we tried Alprazolam (Xanax). It seemed to do the trick. Since then we've had 4 major freak out episodes where she's howling, pacing, and very very frantic.

She's had problems her whole life but her regular care staff is concerned about cognitive problems now. I'm frustrated, and sad.

Her regular vet (my old boss) and I had a discussion tonight about med changes since she can't get into the other vet until Monday at the earliest. We're going to increase the Alprazolam for now and keep her Fluoxetine the same. I am so stressed out about this and I'm not able to think of other alternatives for her right now.

Options I've sort of got on the table if the consult on Monday doesn't give me results I'm looking for...
1) Daycare, she'd do okay in the environment as long as she'd have crate breaks. I suspect it'd settle her rather than let her stress more, but I could be wrong.
2) Non-traditional daycare, calling around to local vet clinics to see if she could be crated there during the day while I work. At least then she'd have people watching her and maybe they could find a trigger/time/something.
3) 98% of the time if she's crated, it's a non-issue but I'm thinking it's coincidence more than anything. She's typically left gated into my bedroom with access to a dog bed, water, and her crate while I'm gone.
4) More drugs? But I really want to know what's got her so freaked out!
5) ?I don't think I have a number 5, but 4 isn't a good number to end on...

Today Tim let them out for me because I had a meeting at work. She was so freaking frantic it took her over an hour to settle down and that was basically him holding her down on the bed so she couldn't pace.

I have wondered if it's diet related, or if that's coincidence, too?

I guess I'm just venting. Poor Bailey

Oh yeah, #6) Veterinary Behaviorist.

I still think she's excessively adorable!

[stardogs]

I had a friend whose dog had really similar panic attacks - turns out a part on the stove was bad and creating a noise she could hear but the humans couldn't. They figured it out because she always freaked out about dinner time and then started showing the same issues when food prep started even if the oven wasn't on. Fixing the stove fixed the issue.

[Beanie]

Poor girl... I hope this new vet will give you some new insights.
If she's pacing and frantic and you crate her, what happens? Does she just stand up in her crate panting the whole time and not settle? Will she eat and drink during these episodes..?

[SaraB]

I have nothing to add other than ((((((((hugs)))))))) to you and Bailey! I hope you guys figure this out.

[SpringerLover]

Originally Posted by stardogs

I had a friend whose dog had really similar panic attacks - turns out a part on the stove was bad and creating a noise she could hear but the humans couldn't. They figured it out because she always freaked out about dinner time and then started showing the same issues when food prep started even if the oven wasn't on. Fixing the stove fixed the issue.

We've actually had two similar episodes, but I haven't thought about that with this one! One was with the stove that has actually been a lasting problem as she has an issue with some part of gas stoves (the click when turning on or the smell, dunno). The other was a music-playing toy that was doing a high pitched scream barely audible to humans. Once we located the toy and threw it out, she returned to normal.

I wonder if something is happening outside the home while she's in it?

[SpringerLover]

Originally Posted by Beanie

Poor girl... I hope this new vet will give you some new insights.
If she's pacing and frantic and you crate her, what happens? Does she just stand up in her crate panting the whole time and not settle? Will she eat and drink during these episodes..?

She becomes more frantic if I crate her it seems. Rather than circle and lay down, she does the stand and pant. Last night she made some noise when settling, which I noticed has become "normal" for her (it never used to be) but then had no problems actually going to sleep in her crate.

She will not eat but I think she drinks...?

[SpringerLover]

Originally Posted by SaraB

I have nothing to add other than ((((((((hugs)))))))) to you and Bailey! I hope you guys figure this out.

I did order another adaptil collar, on the off chance that's helping and is wearing out? She had an episode on Saturday and today (Tuesday) so... maybe?

And, thanks!

[Moth]

Poor girl... I wish I had help to offer, but all I have is (((Hugs))) and (((Vibes))).

Hopefully the vet will be able to figure out what might be going on with her.

[PWCorgi]

I wonder if one of your neighbors might have one of those devices that emits a super high pitched tone when dogs bark. The kind that are supposed to stop dogs from barking?

I don't know how far they reach, but...maybe?

[SpringerLover]

A quick synopsis of our appointment before we head off for a walk.

1) We're running a Urinalysis on Friday at our regular vet (save $$ and it's not urgent) to rule in/out some things. It's also 4DX time so we'll do that.
2) He started her on an anti anxiety herbal supplement. She had her first dose tonight. We're to try for a month and a half then re-evaluate.
3) I wasn't completely off base thinking neurological in nature. However, in order to rule that in/out, we'd need an MRI. I don't have the kind of job for that!
4) DAP is good, work on thundershirt again (she seems to get more agitated by it), try to get more video during the day to see if I can find a trigger.
5) He thought she was incredibly fit for her age, and relaxed in the appointment.
6) We discussed her loss of hearing and possible vision loss. He's on the same page regarding doing an ERG (eyes) as Dr. Larocca. It's not going to give us enough additional information to warrant it. We'll just assume her vision is fading in some form that a normal CERF isn't picking up.

For right now we're not changing her Fluoxetine at all but we're trying to figure out how to give less Xanax.

He wants me to try carb free with her.

At this point I'm very thankful it's not causing aggression from her in any way. I guess we'll try the new things and other than that, keep on keeping on and reassess in a month and a half.