Geriatric Dogs - What do you know about brain tumors?

psychbabe314

Sunday morning, I woke up to my dog have what may have been a seizure. She will be 13 in October (average lifespan for a Shih-tzu). She was under the covers and wanted to get out, so I pulled up the covers, but she seemed disoriented and kept trying to pusher her way out the other direction. So I tapped her on the butt to turn her around and she stared walking towards me. The next thing I know, her she was falling over herself, her legs going in different directions and she fell over. She stretched her head out and made a loud whining sound and then started panting loudly. She did not respond when I called her name and it took her 2 minutes to recover and sit up. She was still disoriented, but acknowledging me at this point. I called my vet and they said that it sounded like a seizure but that it was best to wait and see if she had another one before bringing her in. An hour later she was up, running around and eating like normal.

So, or course I googled it... because why the hell not? And the one thing that kept coming up over and over again was brain tumor. She is the right age. The right breed... I have set up an appointment with my vet to discuss this and to get her looked at, but I don't know... Anyone else have experience with this? What else could cause a seizure in a dog her age?

[Deleted User]

I don't have any experience with pet seizures, but I just wanted to say i'm so sorry you're going through this! I can't imagine how I would feel if I was going through this with one of my pets. Good luck figuring everything out - and I hope you baby is ok.

bethsmiles

I don't have experience with this but my guess is that googling symptoms of for your dog can be just as misguiding as googling your own symptoms. Don't panic just because of what the internet says because it pretty much always says it the worst.

Good luck at your visit with the vet *hugs*

[Deleted User]

oh gosh, how scary!!!  hope everything is okay.  when is the vet appointment?

psychbabe314

Thanks everyone! I have an appointment Saturday afternoon.

Dignity100

I do not have experience with seizures in dogs. I know they can be caused by a number of things. Try not to panic until you can find out what is really going on.

psychbabe314

Dignity100 said:

I do not have experience with seizures in dogs. I know they can be caused by a number of things. Try not to panic until you can find out what is really going on.

Ya, I'm trying. She's just my baby girl :-( It is hard enough watching them get old. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. Gah! I'm sure it will be fine. It is just strange that the day before the seizure I had called up my vet to see if they had any open appoints because she is going blind and I wanted to know how much vision she has left and because I think she is losing her hearing. (of course, another symptom of brain tumors is vision/hearing loss).

loves2shop4shoes

I'm so sorry!  I don't have experience with brain tumors, but I do have experience with geriatric dogs.  Gemini was 13 when she passed, which is old for a German Shepherd.  The muscles in her back legs had atrophied and she was really suffering.  Poor thing.  She was a good girl.

I think the important thing to do is to do the appropriate testing at the vet, and if they tell you that she is suffering, make an unselfish decision.

labro

I don't have any experience with dogs getting brain tumors or developing seizure disorders as they get older. However, my parent's golden retriever Cheyanne has epilepsy, so I do know there are plenty of drugs available for dogs to control their seizures if this ends up becoming an ongoing thing for your dog. Keep in mind, they are expensive. Chey gets 10 pills a day (6 pills total for her seizure meds, 1 pill for her arthiritis, and 3 small pills that are again related to the seizure medication). She also has to go in for regulae check ups to get her blood tested to make sure her liver levels are in a normal range as the seizure medications can lead to other problems. The medication tends to make her throw up frequently as well and sometimes causes a loss in appetite...however we seemed to have mostly resolved that by giving her a mix of canned and dry food.

KeptInStitches

I have no experience to help you, but hugs to you and your dog!

psychbabe314

loves2shop4shoes said:

I'm so sorry!  I don't have experience with brain tumors, but I do have experience with geriatric dogs.  Gemini was 13 when she passed, which is old for a German Shepherd.  The muscles in her back legs had atrophied and she was really suffering.  Poor thing.  She was a good girl.

I think the important thing to do is to do the appropriate testing at the vet, and if they tell you that she is suffering, make an unselfish decision.

13 is the average age for a shih-tzu. I will definitely see what the vet has to say.

psychbabe314

LaPeanut1018 said:

I don't have any experience with dogs getting brain tumors or developing seizure disorders as they get older. However, my parent's golden retriever Cheyanne has epilepsy, so I do know there are plenty of drugs available for dogs to control their seizures if this ends up becoming an ongoing thing for your dog. Keep in mind, they are expensive. Chey gets 10 pills a day (6 pills total for her seizure meds, 1 pill for her arthiritis, and 3 small pills that are again related to the seizure medication). She also has to go in for regulae check ups to get her blood tested to make sure her liver levels are in a normal range as the seizure medications can lead to other problems. The medication tends to make her throw up frequently as well and sometimes causes a loss in appetite...however we seemed to have mostly resolved that by giving her a mix of canned and dry food.

Good to know,

Pepperally

As luck would have it, I have way too much experience with dogs and seizures. Our family dog had them occasionally but not often enough for meds. It's scary when they first have one, and her case she fell down the stairs, so keep them away from stairs, try to contain them. Then the two dogs I have had both had/have seizures most of their lives. My one who is now 15 has had them pretty bad so she's been medicated for years. Good thing is she hasn't had a seizure that I know of in years. She doesn't have any problems or side effects from her meds and she is on two different kinds. Her seizures caused her to tense up to the point she couldn't walk but she tried her darnedest to during them. I would just hold her. She would have a dazed look in her eye, and I always knew when she was coming out of one when she started panting a lot and occasionally would have an accident. First thing to do when they are done is take them out to the bathroom. They lose control of that and could have an accident. Then they usually just sleep for a bit after. I don't have a clue why your dog would start with them now. I wish you the best in finding out and helping her the best you can.

Swazzle

Sending you big hugs. I hope the appointment goes ok. 

psychbabe314

Thanks! @pepperally - I will remember to take her out after she is done. I didn't think about that at all, lol!

Pepperally

Sure, the main things I learned when researching and through experience was:

• keep them off of things they can fall of, so keep them on the floor, and away from trying to use the stairs (personal experience!)
• take them outside afterward due to losing control of bladder/bowels, they may also throw up just due to their body tensing up
• you may or may not want to hold them during the seizure, some dogs might react by biting since they are disoriented - mine never did and they really appreciated me holding them and reassuring them through the whole thing
• my vet gave her a med first to give just during the seizure itself, but it didn't do crap (it was a valium to try and calm her) - she also threw it back up at times
• there are meds that you have to give every day that help - this is what ended up helping my dog - your vet may or may not determine to put on meds - usually this is done if they are frequent enough or long in duration (my dogs lasted for over an hour at times at their worst - she would go in and out of multiple seizures during that period of time).  my other two dogs were never medicated for them and just had to live with having one every now and then

Again, good luck!

Pepperally

Any updates?

[Deleted User]

hope you had some good news this weekend!  one of my pups is at the vet right now getting a lump checked out, so I can definitely relate right now.

psychbabe314

@CoCoBellaF - I hope your pup is fine :-(

Pepperally said:

Any updates?

Vet said that since it was only one seizure, there is nothing to do right now. We are waiting some blood test results and I dropped off a stool sample Sunday. She said that Cookie looked fine but was a little underweight. The vet said that she was not comfortable doing an x-ray because of Cookies age and tracheal collapse (although it is mild apparently). In the end, she convinced me that it was best not to do too many tests. She said "If we put Cookie through all of these tests and find out she does have a brain tumor, what would it change?"

I think she is right. For now, Cookie is doing fine. Even if she does have a brain tumor, there is nothing that can be done at this point. She is too old for surgery. The Vet taught me a few things to help with seizures and warning signs to look out for if they occur again. She is going to get back to me on the lab results and wants to see Cookie in a few weeks to see if adding some puppy food back into her diet helps her to put on some more weight.

[Deleted User]

it looks like Bella just has an infected lymph node, so we're on a round of antibiotics and a check-up after 10 days.  hopefully Cookie doesn't have anymore seizures!!

[Deleted User]

@psychbabe314 - I hope Cookie is going to be okay!  I have a lhasa apso who's almost 8, and she has seizures occasionally as well.  It sounds like your vet gave you really good advice, but I know how hard it must have been.  I hope the test results come back all clear!

Pepperally

Glad everything is fine as of now.  You mentioned collapsing trachea, my old dog had that as well.  I'm not quite sure what the deal is with that diagnosis but as I recall it is more common in smaller dogs.  Mine also had an enlarged heart and coughed a lot, so I'm not sure if the coughing was related to the collapsing trachea or the heart condition. 

It's crazy how resilient our pets can be!  I'm glad there's nothing to do except be there for her if she happens to have another one, and that your vet gave you some good info about the seizures. 

psychbabe314

Ya, it was comforting to know that I just don't have to sit back and watch if it happens again. She actually recommended putting a cold cloth against the bottom of her feet if she has a bad one, or at the back base of her head.