6 year old rat terrier falls over when excited

lauperlover34

I have a 6 year old rat terrier/female named casey. this year she has started doing something scary to me. when she gets really excited/barking and such, she gets dizzy and just falls over on her side. she twitches a little,but not seizures. she wavers back and forth and just falls over on her side for a moment. I'm not sure what to make of that. the vet said she heard a small click in her heart valve, but that it didnt seem severe. i dont know if its a heart condition or has anyone had this experience with their small dogs. it has happened 3 times this year. thanks for any feedback.

Dogged

There is a condition called Syncope which is when the brain is not getting enough oxygen or blood to function properly, and they will pass out for a short time. Before you mentioned the "click", I was thinking this could be a heart problem, and so with that history, I think you really need to get this looked into much further. That usually means x-rays, ECG, cardiac ultrasound, and probably bloodwork too. Expensive, but how would you feel if she suddenly died one day because of an undiagnosed heart defect that could have been treated with medication or surgery?

It might not be heart though, could have been seizures, which a blood panel would still be recomended for.

Good luck.

thomasina

Wow that is scary. That kind of reminds me of those fainting goats. When they get scared they just fall over stiff for a few moments and then get up again. I is a medical condition in goats. And instead of humans trying to get rid of that gene in the goats, they've actually intentionally bred it into those goats - and are selling them as fainting goats.

I know it might seem like my post has nothing to do with your problem, but you never know, maybe it's a similar condition to the goats I am speaking about. But only your vet would be able to determin that.

Good luck.

cshellenberger

Get her to a cardiac specialist for a full work up.

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