Another Setback??

Sigh…..where do I even begin?

It’s a long story but I’ve always felt it’s important with this blog to be as detailed as possible; the better you can compare the possible circumstances of your dog’s life to my Stella.

On Friday, March 22 we took the girls for their usual walk.  We noticed Stella was walking really slooooowww.  No limp, just really slooooowww.  She seemed fine in every other way so we chalked up to her just not feeling like going for walkies that day.

Saturday morning (3/23) when I woke up she did not bring me a toy.  Every day when I wake up or come home (whether I’m gone for minutes or hours) Stella ALWAYS brings me a toy.  She pretends to want to play tug-of-war but she really just wants to taunt me with it.  We will “fight” over the toy and, of course, she always wins – happy little girl.  This has been going on every single day for as long as I can remember.  This day there was no toy and Stella in fact did not even rise from her dog bed to greet me.  I went to her and noticed that her belly was trembling, almost vibrating.  She had eaten that morning and did her usual “business”.  Nothing else seemed amiss.  We decided to watch her closely and not jump the gun.  But the fact that this was a Saturday around 9am was at the front of my mind as I knew our vet’s office would close at noon for the weekend and if Stella got worse we would end up in the emergency room.  A few hours later there was no change – her belly was still trembling, she was very withdrawn and had no typical Pug animation to her face.  We took her to the vet.

Our vet examined her and found Stella’s blood pressure, heart rate and respiration rate were normal.  She also had no fever.  Dr. A. decided to take some abdominal x-rays thinking that Stella might have a blockage.  Although Stella had “gone” that morning (and the days before) and did not appear on x-ray to have a blockage there was still a lot of stool in the colon so Dr. A. suggested that Stella may be constipated.  She sent us home and told us to watch her and watch for the usual “sick symptoms” like vomiting, confusion, etc.

Later that day Stella seemed worse.  It was dinnertime and she wanted to eat but could not reach her food bowl, just inches from her face.  She did this sort of chicken dance jerking her neck trying to reach the bowl.  It appeared she could not bend her neck.  We hand fed her and she ate a full meal.  A little while later we noticed her gait and her stance was somehow “off”.  Something did not look right with her rear left leg.  We massaged her entire body but she did not seem to have any pain.  Again, we decided to wait it out.  We went out for a few hours and when we returned Stella seemed somewhat better as her face was more animated and she didn’t seem so withdrawn.  Still her gait appeared off to us and when we offered her a treat on the floor, she wanted it but still could not pick it up – this time she did not even try.

Sunday (3/24) still no toy.  Stella’s condition seemed unchanged since the night before.  We raised her food bowl on a box and she was able to eat by herself.  We noticed that when we attempted to give her a treat she was super gentle and somewhat shy about taking it; it wasn't that she did not want the treat, it was as if she wasn't sure it was there.  Normally, Stella practically takes all your fingers off trying when given a treat of any kind.   Regular bowel movements today, normal appearance, normal amount. 

Monday morning (3/25) she was improved and could now reach her bowl but we raised it on a box anyway in case there was some healing injury involved.  Monday afternoon when we arrived home from work she finally brought me a toy and her face was back to being animated.  Her gait was still off and we knew she just wasn’t 100%.  She also kept wanting to sit and did not want to walk around much. Again, regular bowel movements, normal appearance, normal amount.

Tuesday (3/26) she was the same as the day before but we discussed the approaching weekend and how we did not want to end up not being able to see our vet and having to go to the emergency room if something should happen.  We decided we would let our vet re-examine her just to be sure. We attempted to go for a walk but she was still walking really slowly so we came right back home. 

Incidentally, Stella has been very timid the past 4 days with taking the "doggy steps" up to the couch, so we have been giving her "elevator" rides.

Wednesday (3/27) Dr. A. re-examined her.  Her opinion was that Stella’s walk looked “normal” but we told her it was a dog-owner thing, something only the dog’s owner would see and we were certain something was not right.  Because of the chicken dance thing Dr. A. decided to pursue that first and see if Stella had a neck or spinal injury – it appeared she didn’t.  Dr. A. then tested the pressures in Stella’s eyes and found that they were high.  In her opinion, borderline glaucoma.  She also told us that Stella appeared to be almost blind in her right eye but this is something we have known for years.  In one of my very early posts I explained how Stella was kicked in the eye by a littermate and later when she had eye surgery (to close off the eyelids because of the exaggerated bugginess of her  eyes) our veterinary ophthalmologist told us that Stella probably had very little vision in that eye.  Dr. A. then examined the rest of Stella’s body and suddenly exclaimed “oh my goodness, Stella’s left ACL (anterior cruciate ligament of the knee) was torn in her opinion.  Dr. A. believes that 1) Stella’s balance being off was due to the pressure build-up in her eyes.  Pressure build-up can cause vertigo and a headache (what to us would feel like a migraine) and 2) her gait was off due to the ACL being torn.  It seemed odd to us that Stella seemingly had no pain (in the knee) and no limp but then again she has always been a tough little trooper.  So our instructions were to see both the ophthalmologist and orthopedic surgeon; the same orthopedic surgeon that performed Stella’s neck surgery in 2011.  Meanwhile Dr. A. gave us pressure-relieving eye drops so we could tend to the knee issue first.

By the way, how does an 8 year old, 25 pound couch potato tear her ACL???

We made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for Tuesday 4/2.  Maybe she won’t need surgery?  I’ve read where sometimes adult dogs under 30 pounds that are not super-active sometimes do not have to have surgery.  But I’ve also read that not having surgery can sometimes cause other issues like bone spurs and debilitating arthritis.  Enough internet searching for now, we’ll let the expert give us the proper information.

The next day, Thursday (3/28), we came home from work and the usual happened – Stella brought me a toy, taunted me with it and I proceeded to mock scold her for stealing MY toy.  I was careful not to let her run around like usual to not stress her knee any further.  She then went out and did her business and we had her come back in the house so as to not run around the yard.  I then went to the bathroom sink and while I was standing there I felt Stella walk between me and the sink cabinets – something Pugs do all the time to sit or lay on their owner's feet.  This time was different – I felt Stella slide down and when I looked down her arms were extended in front of her, her legs extended behind her, her chin on the floor;  she was laying flat on the floor, spread eagle.  I could tell her eyes were open and bent down to see if she was ok.  She managed to sit up at the same time I sat on the floor and started to nuzzle into me. She kept pushing her head into me like she couldn’t get close enough.  It reminded me of a shy child who is introduced to a stranger and they bury their face into their mother’s side; she was doing just that.  I soothed her and held her tight as her entire body trembled, all the while she was pushing her head really hard into my chest.  Trying to talk to her I noticed her eyes were open but she wasn’t responsive to my voice.  She would not look up at me and appeared to be in a trance-like state as if hypnotized; her eyes were completely glazed over.   I held her and comforted her and in less than 2 minutes whatever this episode was, I’m assuming a seizure, was over.  She got up and walked away and went to sit on the dog bed.  Within 5-10 minutes she was her normal self again.  The rest of the night she was fine – no residual “after effects” that we could see.

The next day, Friday (3/29), she still seemed fine and we went to work.  I contacted our vet and asked if the episode was indeed a seizure and she responded that it sounded like it.  I also asked if it could be caused as a result of sudden pain from her knee or the pressure building up in her eyes – she responded no, a seizure would not happen in those circumstances.  She also pointed out that although Stella’s eyes were open it did not mean she was “conscious”.  Dr. A. was very upset by this new incidence and stated that our “game plan” would now have to change.  She stated that this seizure and figuring out why it happened should take precedence over all else.  She said Stella had some sort of brain or vascular event.  As this was a Friday afternoon we were in that situation again where no one, specifically a neurologist, would be able to see her until the weekend had passed.  The neurologist is at the same specialty facility where Stella would see the orthopedic surgeon and also where her oncologist is.  As we already have an appointment on Tuesday 4/2 to see the orthopedic surgeon Dr. A.’s advice is to watch Stella closely.  If she should have another seizure we are to bring her to the emergency room immediately, otherwise we should report this to the orthopedic surgeon who will coordinate her care at that point. 

This past week Stella (and her sister Betty) has been gated off in the house so she cannot jump on furniture or otherwise hurt herself.

Meanwhile today is Sunday 3/31 and Stella seems better now than she has in a week.  The only thing noticeable to us is that her gait and stance are slightly off.  Still no limp and seemingly no pain, just off.  She is back to eating with her bowl on the floor and wants to run around but we have to restrict her.  Her personality is her usual happy silly self.

The panic in me is starting to rise.  Why did she have a seizure?  My baby girl has been through so much in her life, especially in the last two years, and she just had a third Mast Cell Tumor removed a few weeks ago.  Could this event be something catastrophic……the thought is unimaginable.