The evening of the May 24th – Snickers was acting weird at the dog run – breathing fast, staying right next to me. He was stung by a bee at the run last summer and flies made him nervous after that (till it got cold and they went away), but this was a bit extreme.
The morning of the 25th – We were at the dog run and he started looking all around like something was after him and then he started to shiver and shake and whimper and cry. I also noticed him pawing at the sides of his mouth and realized he’s been doing that more and more for the past few weeks. I took a close look and noticed that his bottom lip on both sides of his mouth is red and inflamed. The right side looked like he’d scratched some flesh away.
The evening of the 25th – Around 5pm, T called from home and said he was freaking out, crying and shaking and looking all around. I went home and he was so intent on whatever he was imagining that I couldn’t even get his attention. Eventually he calmed down and I took him for a walk. He acted weird again at the run after our walk and we went home.
The morning of the 26th – He was sleeping more soundly than I’ve ever seen him sleep. He didn’t wake up when I petted him or even when I moved his head with my hand. His ear finally twitched a bit when I said his name (rather desperately, I’m sure, as I thought at that point that he might have curled up and died during the night).
Saturday, the 27th – Snicks went to the vet. She did a full exam and drew blood and the tech went with me to walk him outside and get a pee sample. She prescribed Clavamox (antibiotic) for his lips, along with Chlorhexadine solution to clean his lips with once a day. She also prescribed Tramadol, which is a mild sedative and pain killer. He acts freaky sometimes with sedatives, but she said this is mild and also if there is something bothering him the pain killer part will help also.
Her initial ideas were:
– Focal seizures,
– Internal discomfort of an unknown source,
– Thyroid problems, or, simply
– FEAR.
Tuesday evening the 30th – After a long discussion with the vet Tuesday evening, I am treating Snickers’ issues as fear-based, not physical. All his test results came back normal. There is still the possibility that it could be focal seizures, but the vet and I both think from the timing of the incidents that he is having panic attacks.
I treated his infected, chapped lips (from drooling, then scratching) and they’ve slowly gotten better. We only stay at the dog run briefly now. If he starts to stress out about the flies (or imagined flies), we go for a walk instead. If he freaks out at home, I give him the Tramadol. I’ve only had to do that twice. I’m going to order Rescue Remedy to use instead.
It’s going to be a long summer…
Poor Snick! It’s strange how shibas obsess about things…Wolf got stung by a bee and freaked out about them for about a year after…now they don’t phase him at all (til he gets stung again). Hope things get better with Snick 🙂
At least Snick learned, albeit a little too well. Dakota got stung last year, too, right under the nostril, and he still goes chasing after bees and flies and anything that moves. If I remember correctly, he went chasing after bees the day after he got stung 😛
He does get freaked out by the cat, though, and refuses to go anywhere near our bedroom because the cat might be in there (usually not, but that’s where he got whacked).
We had the same problem with our shiba this year. It got to the point that he would only go out in the yard in the early morning or after the sun went down. If we made him go out he would lean on me and not go on the grass. We had tests done and all results are fine. After a few weeks he is doing better but if he sees a big bug he wants to go in right away.
Yow – I hope Snickers is okay! Do they have doggy Xanax? A friend of mine had a dog with lots of anxiety issues – mostly around other dogs – but I think the vet prescribed some sort of anti-anxiety med for her (the dog, not my friend). 🙂