I have a 14 year old lab, that other than the issues I am about to describe, is pretty healthy. Meaning, his mobility is still pretty good, his appetite is normal, he isn't lethargic in any way, his bowel movements are normal, no vomiting, etc...
About 7 months ago I went to the vet to inquire about some skin problems he was having. Long story short, the doctor did some bloodwork and saw that his thyroid level was on the low side of normal. He had me try thyroid supplement which I did, and in line with that, I began to notice he was getting very hyper, restless (particularly during the day), pacing alot, and just generally bouncing off the walls. I decreased the dose thinking he was getting too much thyroid but that didn't really do much. He was also coughing here and there so the doctor x-rayd his chest to see if there was anything obvious in the way of congestive heart failure, etc... The cray came back clean. A couple weeks back I complained to him that he was still acting really crazy, bouncing off the walls, wouldn't settle down, endless amount of energy, etc.. Still eating well but he began losing a lot of weight.
The doctor thought we needed to rule out any cancer in the abdoman so early last week he got an ultrasound and other than slightly enlarged adrenal glands, they saw nothing out of the ordinary. His restlessness got so bad that he refused to fall asleep, would hide under desks, and even in the shower, and otherwise contuniously pace. He was given ace sedative which I started giving him to sleep. A few backs, I also reported to the vet that a weird thing would happen where when he is laying down on his right side, he would be in the rest position, and he would get some kind of a JOLT that would make him jump up out of sleep and then he would get scared and begin pacing yet again. The vet didn't think much of it. Late last week I told the vet that the restlessness wasn't getting better and that sometimes even the sedative wouldn't keep him from pacing and panting, etc... the jolts kept happening. The doctors now think it might be a tumor in his brain so they put him on prednisone starting Friday (3 days ago). I expected his pacing and restlessness to get a little better but so far the prednisone has done nothing to alleviate those symptoms. I also video'd the JOLT that I am talking about and you can view it here:
http://vimeo.com/5686020
Does anyone have a clue what is going on? He is 14 and I am not in denial about putting him down if he is in pain but its very difficult because other than the fact he can't sleep without the aid of sedatives and this constant jolting event, he appears to be fine, playing with his toys, eating, etc... what do i do? a brain scan would be $1,000 and I couldn't do anything even if it did show something. I'm just confused because if it were a tumor, I would have expected the prednisone to do something to help.
I'm at a loss at this point of what is best, and the lack of a firm diagnoses makes it even more difficult. If he had acute kidney failure, heart disease, etc... the decision on what to do would be much simpler, but his quality of life appears to be just fine still other than the stuff I mentioned above. Thoughts?
Also, anyone know if aceapromazine is safe to give to dogs effectively, every day? If he can't sleep, then I have no choice but to give him this daily. The vet said it's very safe but I still feel bad knocking him out every day.
About 7 months ago I went to the vet to inquire about some skin problems he was having. Long story short, the doctor did some bloodwork and saw that his thyroid level was on the low side of normal. He had me try thyroid supplement which I did, and in line with that, I began to notice he was getting very hyper, restless (particularly during the day), pacing alot, and just generally bouncing off the walls. I decreased the dose thinking he was getting too much thyroid but that didn't really do much. He was also coughing here and there so the doctor x-rayd his chest to see if there was anything obvious in the way of congestive heart failure, etc... The cray came back clean. A couple weeks back I complained to him that he was still acting really crazy, bouncing off the walls, wouldn't settle down, endless amount of energy, etc.. Still eating well but he began losing a lot of weight.
The doctor thought we needed to rule out any cancer in the abdoman so early last week he got an ultrasound and other than slightly enlarged adrenal glands, they saw nothing out of the ordinary. His restlessness got so bad that he refused to fall asleep, would hide under desks, and even in the shower, and otherwise contuniously pace. He was given ace sedative which I started giving him to sleep. A few backs, I also reported to the vet that a weird thing would happen where when he is laying down on his right side, he would be in the rest position, and he would get some kind of a JOLT that would make him jump up out of sleep and then he would get scared and begin pacing yet again. The vet didn't think much of it. Late last week I told the vet that the restlessness wasn't getting better and that sometimes even the sedative wouldn't keep him from pacing and panting, etc... the jolts kept happening. The doctors now think it might be a tumor in his brain so they put him on prednisone starting Friday (3 days ago). I expected his pacing and restlessness to get a little better but so far the prednisone has done nothing to alleviate those symptoms. I also video'd the JOLT that I am talking about and you can view it here:
http://vimeo.com/5686020
Does anyone have a clue what is going on? He is 14 and I am not in denial about putting him down if he is in pain but its very difficult because other than the fact he can't sleep without the aid of sedatives and this constant jolting event, he appears to be fine, playing with his toys, eating, etc... what do i do? a brain scan would be $1,000 and I couldn't do anything even if it did show something. I'm just confused because if it were a tumor, I would have expected the prednisone to do something to help.
I'm at a loss at this point of what is best, and the lack of a firm diagnoses makes it even more difficult. If he had acute kidney failure, heart disease, etc... the decision on what to do would be much simpler, but his quality of life appears to be just fine still other than the stuff I mentioned above. Thoughts?
Also, anyone know if aceapromazine is safe to give to dogs effectively, every day? If he can't sleep, then I have no choice but to give him this daily. The vet said it's very safe but I still feel bad knocking him out every day.