Oh no :( Panic attack in elderly dog?

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Amy greyhound had what I can only describe as a panic attack tonight. She was asleep on the sofa, then she suddenly shot off the sofa and just couldn’t keep her balance. She was tangled in the cables for the internet and phone in a minor way, and she banged herself on the door jamb as she was rolling around, but I noticed she was significantly lame on her left side (far more than would result from the bang)

Although she was on carpet, it was like Amy was on slippy Lino or parquet flooring and she just couldn’t get her balance and get to her feet? I sat next to her and talked constantly and quietly to her to reassure her, after 5 mins or so she calmed down and she is now asleep on the sofa as usual (sorry, make that following my ex out to the kitchen to beg for our used dinner plates!)

She is anywhere between 10 & 12 years old, she has always been a very very active but I have noticed over the past 6-8 months she has had to think carefully about jumping into the back of the car (Landrover Discovery so quite high), which I’ve taken as natural for age. The only other difference from 100% normal is that she has been eating grass to make herself sick a lot recently - I sorted it with her, then she started again a few days later

I have a call in to my vet but not sure he is on call this weekend - I want to wait and see him, I know this sort of activity is hard to diagnose/treat until the vet sees it happening and she is fine between attacks.

Has anyone had something like this with their dog??
 
is it a panic attack or a seizure, sounds like what happened to my lurcher . have a look at the post on seizures as there are a few different scenarios on there
 
Thanks Splashgirl I will have a look now - I've been chatting online to Cayla, who I got her from - she is a vet nurse as well as running a rescue organisation, she has also suggested a seizure or possible minor stroke :( I will ring my vets tomorrow morning and see when my vet is on duty next, then make a decision whether to wait or not for an appointment.

I am just devastated, I knew Amy was getting older of course but she has always been so very active, engaged and loving I thought she would go on forever
 
It does sound more like a seizure or stroke. I had an elderly Lab who had a stroke, she lived for at least another two years, (can't quite remember) until she was fifteen, with no further similar episodes. She saw the vet the same day and he did give her some treatment in the form of an injection, I believe but it is well over 15 yrs ago and I'm not sure now what she had.

I hope Amy is as unaffected by this episode as my girl was.
 
Thanks PS - she seems to be a bit stiff and sore now on her left side (the one that was affected by the seizure/stroke/episode) so I've given her some metacam, she is quite quiet and relaxed in herself now and she will sleep on my bed tonight to monitor her.

She had a similar event 5 weeks ago when I wasn't around, I am (naturally for me!) thinking the worst..... I'll see what the vets say
 
Yup, happened to my lurcher as well. I think it happened more than once but I just happened to catch it the once. We had her PTS shortly afterwards as she started behaving very erratically and became really reactive and aggressive. We made the decision not to go down the vet investigation route as she was traumatised by vets visits and it just didnt seem fair. It may well be totally different for Amy though!
 
my lurcher fell down the stairs one night and i think it was a seizure , this was the first time and then she had one in the bedroom in the middle of the night and the next one was in the living room late at night but i was still up so i saw everything, she did lots of staggering and i think she would have fallen over if i hadnt been holding her. they were the episodes i know about and i lost her when she was almost 13 due to hip arthritis which didnt respond to pain relief, so nothing to do with the seizures.. hope all is well with amy and try not to worry...
 
Poor Amy. I would not leave her alone with the other dogs at all, as a seizure can lead to them attacking the poorly one as they don't understand what is happening.
 
Yes I’ve seen that behaviour before with dogs Clodagh, it’s horrid - last night Millie was particularly agitated and did try to attack her.

Amy was crying out every time she moved at first last night, I gave her more Metacam at 3am and that seemed to sort that out

She is fragile but OK this morning, she is walking fine and doesn’t seem to be hurting. So worried about her :(
 
Remember that anything over 10 is very old for a dog, especially a big one. I do hope she can have many happy more years with you.
 
Sounds rather like what my girl had. Vet called it a 'vestibular episode' ... something to do with the balance bits in the ear. But i never did understand it. After that she was always walked on the lead in case she fell, she found it hard to turn left. Kept her going for 6 months until it happened again & we decided that was enough. She was 13.
 
If she is showing reluctance to jump in the vehicle she is probably in discomfort or pain, perhaps from arthritis of the spine or something else and a ramp might make life easier for her.

I bought a good one when my elderly lurcher was hesitant to jump in. It is a Dogwalk3 and I would recommend it. Telescopic, lightweight and easy to manoeuvre even when holding on to several dog leads.

The first ramp I bought was a Petstep. Very substantial but far too heavy and cumbersome for me to manhandle easily but probably okay for someone larger and younger.
 
My old girl had something that sounded quite similar a few months back, episode lasted a few minutes but she seemed scared for about 30 mins. I looked up various seizures on you tube and thought it looked most like cerebellar ataxia but vet thought vestibular was more likely. I was really panicked as at 10 years old she is in "old age" category for a malamute and thought this was the start of the end but she hasn't had any issues since and the vet said it's not uncommon for these things to be a one off.
 
Amy saw the vet this morning, it’s definitely not vestibular syndrome. The vet said to keep a seizure diary and if they become more often they will try epilepsy medication. If that doesn’t work then it is a brain lesion, for which there is no treatment.

Amy is also very suddenly dead lane on her near fore - hopefully she’s just wrenched it during the seizure but if she isn’t sound by Thursday she will have an X-ray for possible bone cancer ☹️☹️☹️
 
Oh, poor Amy dog :( no experience or advice to share so just posting to say I'm keeping my fingers crossed xx
 
Carlosmum said:
Sounds rather like what my girl had. Vet called it a 'vestibular episode' ... something to do with the balance bits in the ear. But i never did understand it. After that she was always walked on the lead in case she fell, she found it hard to turn left. Kept her going for 6 months until it happened again & we decided that was enough. She was 13.
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I was going to mention this, as I did wonder if that what it might have been. Did you notice whether her eyes were flicking from side to side OP?
 
Lévrier;13780982 said:
Amy saw the vet this morning, it’s definitely not vestibular syndrome. The vet said to keep a seizure diary and if they become more often they will try epilepsy medication. If that doesn’t work then it is a brain lesion, for which there is no treatment.

Amy is also very suddenly dead lane on her near fore - hopefully she’s just wrenched it during the seizure but if she isn’t sound by Thursday she will have an X-ray for possible bone cancer ☹️☹️☹️
Click to expand...

Oh gosh - just catching up and am so sorry to hear you are having such a worrying time with Amy. I do hope it is nothing so serious.
 
Thank you everyone for your lovely supportive comments - it seems only yesterday that I was going through so much stress with Islay and here we are all over again :(

I left Amy with my ex-now-lodger this afternoon to go and ride Jensen - when I came home she greeted me like her usual self so fingers crossed she has picked up again after the seizure :) The horrible thing is waiting for the next one, but there is nothing I can do about that
 
just to reassure you, ive checked my diary and my lurcher fell down the stairs in the middle of the night in aug 2014, in hindsight i think it must have been a seizure as she seemed very shocked and confused, this happened again in october ,again in the middle of the night,same result, from then on i put a child gate on the bedroom door so she couldnt do the same...... .on christmas eve 2014 i heard crashing and banging,again in the middle of the night, and i rushed in and cuddled her and she seemed shocked and confused. it was 2 years till she had another one and i lost her shortly after as she had arthritis in her hips and it couldnt be controlled with painkillers. hope this helps a bit but i know you will still worry.....
 
Thank you very much Splashgirl that is really kind of you to look everything up - it is also very reassuring :) :)

Amy went for a little walk today in the shady cool woods as she has decided today that she isn’t remotely lame (!!!!), she is still slightly subdued but she enjoyed her walk and her tea tonight so she’s definitely feeling much better :)
 
Glad her leg seems ok and hope she makes a full recovery. I have no doubt she'll get the best care possible.
 
She is definitely feeling back to normal again :D Begging for crisps today.....

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I know it is just 'until the next time' but it is great to see :) :) :)
 
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