Night terrors

conniegirl

conniegirl

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 November 2004
Messages
9,318
Visit site
Just had a very scary experience with Daisy my BT, She was asleep on the sofa and suddenly she bolted upright, fell over sideways, wet her self and lay there panting for a couple of seconds before getting up, staggering off the sofa and to the back door as though she was drunk.
I let her out into the yard and kept an eye on her whilst phoning the emergency vet.
by the time i got through to the vet (probs about 10 mins to locate phone, call normal vet, get emergency vet number, call them twice because it cut off the first time) she was almost back to normal and by the time I’d described what happened she was happily begging for food and terrorising Jezza.

Vet said it sounded like she had had a night terror as it lacked a lot of symptoms of most other forms of fitting in dogs (no vomiting, drooling, pooing or trembling).
she has had a stressful day with manic puppy jumping all over her earlier and the mad woman shouting (daisy hates shouting, she starts shaking in terror) then the massive storm we had for most of the evening (she also hates storms and this was right overhead, she was curled up with me shaking like a leaf).

vet thinks she was probably totally exhausted and fell into a deep sleep when she finally relaxed and then had a night terror. The wetting was probably because she had a full bladder from refusing to go out most of the evening and then the disorientation

plan is to keep her cool, calm and quiet for the evening and monitor, if it happens again we are to take her straight in and if we are concerned tomorrow to take her to our normal vet.

I’ve never seen anything like it in over 30 years of owning dogs and it was terrifying.

has anyone else had any experience of this sort of thing?
 
I've never seen such a thing and thought seizure. I hope it isn't. Maybe have your regular vet do a check up and run some blood work when you can.
 
I've never seen or heard of night terrors in dogs. I'd have thought a seizure. One of mine has had seizures . In her she comes looking for me. Then goes rigid, usually lasts for a minute or so. Slowly comes round then sometimes vomits. Afterwards clingy and sleepy. I found that it was usually brought on by noise as in fireworks or thunderstorms. It's not a problem now as sadly she's quite deaf now at 14. Hope she settles and doesn't have anymore.
 
Sounds like a seizure to me too. They can be more subtle than people think, and in my experience the dog is (or in our case was) often hungry afterwards.
 
I really did think that it was some sort of fit too but vet didn’t want to bring her in.

I will be getting her checked by my normal vet as soon as i can but covid is making it difficult. They are now not open until monday.

she appears fine this morning, husband and I took turns staying up to monitor her last night so we’re shattered.
 
I would have thought seizure too but as she is fine this mornig all you can do is monitor.

I had a brown Lab with epilepsy and after trying medication which really did not suit her, we just made sure that she was safe if/when she had a seizure. She was diagnosed before she was 2 and lived to be almost 15, sometimes they are best with least intervention.
 
With my girl she had very few seizures. Possibly 2 to 3 a year. With the vet we decided not to treat as some of the medication can have side effects. It would have been different if she had more regular ones.
I think a scan is sometimes needed to rule out any more sinister causes but some times there is no known cause. (Idiopathic epilepsy )
obviously your dog may not be the same but sometimes they never have more than one, with others it's more of a problem. I'd just keep her quiet and keep a close eye on her.
Its frightening to see and the first one my dog had I thought she was dying. Like you by the time I got through to vet she had recovered.
good luck and I hope she will be ok.
 
They wont see Daisy but I’M currently sat outside the vets waiting for then to see Jezza, he went on his walk this morning and when he got on the field let out a huge yelp and then refused to put his off hind foot on the floor. Ive had a prod and poke and cant find anything in his paw and tbh it seems to be coming from higher up, stifle area i think.
 
conniegirl said:
They wont see Daisy but I’M currently sat outside the vets waiting for then to see Jezza, he went on his walk this morning and when he got on the field let out a huge yelp and then refused to put his off hind foot on the floor. Ive had a prod and poke and cant find anything in his paw and tbh it seems to be coming from higher up, stifle area i think.
Click to expand...

God what a time you are having. I hope both are OK. x
 
Errin Paddywack said:
That sounds like a cruciate problem. Hope it isn't, good luck.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately vet thinks it is. By the time we got there there was too much swelling for good Xrays so 7days strict rest (god thats going to be hard work) with antiinflamitories and pain killers then take him back for xRays. Due to his age they will only operate if it is a full tear, if it is only partial it will be physio and hydro therapy
 
Long time lurker here...I thought I'd create an account to share that my nine year old Miniature Schnauzer had an almost identical experience last summer, I didn't see the actual fit or night terror but my fifteen year old brother was reading with Shadow on the bed next to him and described almost the exact symptoms as what happened to your dog, scared my brother half to death, he came rushing down to the living room with Shadow in his arms convinced that he was dying. Fortunately Shadow was completely fine after a few minutes and hasn't had any side effects, the vet gave him a clean bill of health a few days later; I hope your dog gets the same.
 
Jezza is not impressed about the cage at all. He has tried jumping already (too fat for his one good back leg to give required push) and then tried barging and in now sat in his bed sulking
 
Clodagh said:
Not to teach my Grandmother, but if he isn't fat it will help him recover and in the future. x
Click to expand...
He isnt that fat and believe me we’ve tried everything to get that last bit of weight off him. Exercise works best but not an option here, he is already on a very low calorie diet and that maintains his weight. Vet happy with his weight at the moment, he is just a very stocky dog naturally.
He gets called fat dog because when we got him he was enormously obese, he actually waddled instead of walked.
 
conniegirl said:
He isnt that fat and believe me we’ve tried everything to get that last bit of weight off him. Exercise works best but not an option here, he is already on a very low calorie diet and that maintains his weight. Vet happy with his weight at the moment, he is just a very stocky dog naturally.
He gets called fat dog because when we got him he was enormously obese, he actually waddled instead of walked.
Click to expand...

They do like their grub! I hope he can soon be back on his feet again.
 
Yikes! You've had your share of bad luck lately. Can you get a lick mat for Jezza and mash his meals into it so that he has to eat it slowly and keep him occupied for a little while? Good luck.
 
Well Jezza is feeling a lot better, to the point he is now jumping out of the cage everytime we turn our backs.
he also appears to be putting weight through it when we take him out for the toilet (on lead).

so today im going to have to borrow an actual cage from a friend!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top