[aberorange]

Hi everyone,

My Golden Retriever male Brady just turned 10. Up until his 10th birthday he always acted like a puppy. He still ran to his toy bin upon my arrival home and brought me his toys to play with. He also always greeted me at the door.

Over the past two months, he has slowed down tremendously. He seems to be having some arthritis in his back hip and he has started having slight twitches in his face occasionally. They do not seem like grand mal seizures, if anything possible petit seizures, but he has never had seizures in the past. At first he would twitch a few times a day, now he does it more often. He hasn't had a full seizure or episode though. He also is having increased difficulty with his hind legs and hips, which could also be due to the cold weather and age or could be connected to the twitching.

I had him tested for lyme and other tick borne diseases, as well as a full senior blood panel. All checked out fine. The vet put him on previcox for his arthritis for 10 days to see if this helps. His eating, bowels and urination are all fine, but he is just not himself. He has urinated in the house 4 times in the past 2 months and had one formed bowel movement in the house. He hadn't had an accident in the house since he was 6 months old. He sleeps most of the day, which he didn't used to do. He only sleeps in our bed now, whereas he used to love sleeping on the couch or in the hallway on the carpet. He also sniffs with his nose literally in the ground and never marks his territory anymore on walks. He doesn't seem to be all that interested in walking, whereas he used to pull and want to walk forever. I know he is getting older, but his behavior changed way too quickly. Does anyone have any input on this possibly being epilepsy? Anyone have similar issues with their retriever? Any input would be greatly appreciated. He is the best friend to my family and I'm willing to do anything to help him. I've been to the vet 3 times in the past month and other than the previcox, not much else has been suggested.

Thanks,

Andy in Massachusetts (Brady's loving dad)

 

[CAROLINA MOM]

Welcome to the forum, glad you've joined us.

I'm sorry to hear about the problems Brady is having.
I don't have any experience with epilepsy or seizures, but several of the members do.
Hopefully they will be able to give you some help.

I did a search here on the forum, found this thread that may be of help to you, it has some information on epilepsey.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...es/108429-seizures-101-basic-information.html

I hope you will be able to get the help and information you're looking for
My thoughts are with you and Brady.

 

[Doug]

Your beautiful boy needs to go to a neurologist.
Pheno helped a lot with the twitches in my 11 year old.
Unfortunately we found that vets had no clue but at this age a brain tumour could be the cause.

However the lack of interest and bladder issues are not typically seizure related. We also used a supplement called Joint Guard for arthritis which helped with a significant improvement for us.

You can see more of our story here: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...eizure-roller-coaster-has-begun-11yr-old.html

and visit our seizure section here
Golden Retrievers with Seizures - Golden Retrievers : Golden Retriever Dog Forums

I wish you the very best with your boy and hope that you find out what is bothering him

 

[Anon-2130948gsoni]

Did your vet discuss the possibility of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction? It's essentially the dog equivalent of senility and is marked by changes in behavior, no longer being housetrained, changes in sleep patterns and confusion.

There's a medication called Anipryl which really helps some dogs with some of these problems. My 13-year-old hound was having many of these symptoms, particularly being restless and wandering around at night. After a week on Anipryl he was dragging me down the driveway at a full gallop and playing again...for however long it lasts, it seems to have turned back the clock for him.
Just wanted to mention this in case it might help your boy, but starting with a neurologist is a good idea regardless.

 

[GoldensGirl]

I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with this. I am going to move your thread to the Seizures sub-forum, where it will be most likely to draw the attention of people with related experience.

The twitches that you describe sound like "focal seizures," which are very localized and not nearly as dramatic as grand mal seizures. The Seizures 101 thread mentioned above has pointers to some videos that might help you understand the differences. As Doug suggested, the best people to evaluate such symptoms are veterinary neurologists.

Two things would be helpful to your vets: 1) Keep a journal that describes these episodes as they occur, including date, time, symptoms, behavior before and after, food and meds consumed, any new chemicals introduced, etc. 2) Capture a video of the twitches if you can, so the vets can actually see them.

Please keep us posted and know that we care.

 

[aberorange]

thank you and more information on Brady and his behavior changes

Hi all,

Thank you very much for all of your input. I will definitely be seeking out the care of a veterinary neurologist. He hasn't had an official seizure so to speak, but his twitching has increased. He just twitches slightly, but I'm concerned that this is just the beginning. He is a allergy sensitive dog and to prod him to be more interested in his food (Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream) I have been adding a little beef, boiled chicken or egg occasionally to get him to eat it. I have tried to just limit it lately to adding a little beef to rule out any allergies triggering the behavior, but the behavior started prior to me adding goodies to his food.

Other odd things that he does now are when he sleeps at night he snores a little louder than usual and when he sniffs outside he literally sniffs into the ground rather than above it. That's what leads me to believe it is something neurological. He still will play with his ball if I bring the ball to him and start play time, but he was always the play instigator up until a few months ago. I will be looking for any good neurological vets in the Providence RI- Boston MA area. If anyone is from this area and has any recommendations please let me know. I will be calling my vet for a referral as well. Thanks again and I will continue to keep an eye on all of your input.