<p>Our old dog had pharangeal paralysis. This is a progressive loosening and paralysis of the throat muscles, but it comes and goes in severity, and tends to be bad at night. When the dog lies down, relaxes, goes to sleep, often the windpipe closes off and he can’t breathe. This can happen over and over again, making the dog panic and breathe in a wheezing, gasping manner. Our dog would often lose control of his bladder during these episodes, and he would just seem beside himself. The more upset he got, the worse he would pant. During the day, when we were at the vet’s, he seemed fine, but the vet was able to make the diagnosis from my description of the symptoms.</p>
<p>There is a surgery that can sometimes, though not always, correct the problem by “tacking up” the loose neck muscles. Our dog was 13 years old and had other issues, including cancer and dementia, so we didn’t want to put him through that. We lived with the condition for about a year. The dog would come to our bed and wake up my husband when he got agitated, and my H would go out and sleep with him on the family room couch. Finally H couldn’t take it any more–he felt like a zombie during the day–so I had the dog put to sleep.</p>
<p>Interestingly, my elderly father was recently diagnosed with something similar. In humans, it is considered a form of sleep apnea. He now sleeps with a mask that blows air into his windpipe to keep it open–took him awhile to get used to it.</p>
<p>The video idea is a real good one. One day last fall my 8yo DD (dear dog) had symptoms that were very alarming to me. I couldn’t wait til the appt. When it was time to go, I told her we were going to the car, and her face lit up! Instead of acting like she could barely move, she started jumping excitedly all over the place, and hopped up in the car. I was almost embarrassed to be taking her in. We no sooner got back home when she started whining in pain again! I told her sternly that I wasn’t falling for it, and that was the end of it. A mystery, tho.</p>
<p>One of our dogs once was acting very, very strange. He was young, and one day he was very wobbly, would fall over sitting up, had a very goofy look on his face, etc… It ended up he had gotten into my step-brother’s marijuana. The next day he was perfectly fine.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear that, switters. We had a dog suffer from seizures several years ago and it’s so disturbing to see them go through that. {hugs} to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind thoughts. We went to the emergency vet that I was avoiding earlier in the thread. The seizure was terrible to see. His blood work that we got from the Saturday morning visit was available and the on call vet emailed it to me so I could take it to the emergency vet. She said the likely scenario given his age and how healthy he was otherwise is a brain tumor. We could get an MRI but we won’t because of the cost and because we wouldn’t put him through surgery or radiation. But we started him on anti seizure medication. I was very impressed with the emergency vet and i think we will switch to her for his care. If the anti seizure medication works it could buy us some months, or years if it’s not a brain tumor. If I was very rich I might do the MRI just to know. Right now I just want weeks so my son can get home from college , since it’s really his dog. So sad, but I am grateful for the chance at good stewardship. We rescued him and got him put together after what must have been a neglected life. We’ve had him 10 years.</p>
<p>Oh, switters. This is difficult. I am sorry. I understand the desire on behalf of your son. You have a fortunate doggie, that he has such love. Nonetheless: So hard. So sad.</p>
<p>Switters, I am so sorry to hear this. I do hope the pup lasts til your son gets home. Even though our older daughter was home on spring break the week before our dog died, it was very hard for her to be away.
The anti-seizure meds worked well for our dog. Hugs to you and the dog.</p>
<p>Hello everyone
Thank you all for the kind thoughts. Just for closure I wanted to let you know that we put him down last night. I spent a couple of days watching him have small breakthrough seizures that increased in frequency. We took him in and he was starting to have bigger ones. He died in our arms. I am glad to have put him out of his misery.</p>
<p>switters, I’ve been thinking about you and your family. I’m sorry for your loss. Having been through the same scenario with one of our dogs, I know how very difficult it is to watch a much loved pup have seizures. Big hugs to you. May your fond memories of him help you all to heal.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry for your loss. Our Golden Retriever had petit mal seizures and he suddenly became ill and even though we did tons of tests and xrays we still did not know the cause of death. We did not do a MRI but just about everything else came back negative. You did what you could and even if you had done a MRI you may not have known anymore than you do now. You did a humane deed for your dog. Keep the good memories.</p>
<p>I am so sorry you had to go through this, I know how very hard it is. Your dog was so fortunate to be rescued by a loving family. Your love for him is what gave you the strength to do what was best for him. We lost our dog a few days before my son cam home he sophomore year of college. He was heartbroken that he was not there, but so grateful that his beloved friend was no longer in pain. I am so sorry for your family’s loss.</p>
<p>You did the right thing and I am so sorry for your loss. It is so hard to see your dog suffer. I also was asked to do an mri - but I had a school trip for 3 days and he seemed fine (except for the bump on his head) so I scheduled the MRI for the following week. He was fine when I left but during those 3 days, my husband didn’t tell me how rapidly he declined, he wanted to keep him alive for my return and keep me in the dark so I wouldn’t be upset with the class. We had to put him to sleep a few hours after I returned - it was awful to see him that way and realize that he had been suffering for days needlessly for me (?) which I would have never wanted.</p>
<p>Switters - today is the birthday of my sweet doggie, who would have been 16. We put her down on March 18, so it is still very fresh. </p>
<p>I’ve found that every time I start to miss her so terribly, what I’m missing is who she was prior to all the chronic health issues. When I think of the suffering she had at the end (and honestly, how it really, really disrupted our lives - I was getting little, quality sleep), I realize there was no other decision to be made. </p>