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| Kindy - a dear little chihuahua who lived to 14 years with a heart murmur from birth. |
HELLO, I just read your article about Hawthorn. I have a Boston terrier, she is about seven years old. When we first had her given to us four years ago our vet said she had heartworms and she needed treatment right away. Well we put her through treatment and it was rough, we almost lost her several times but she finally pulled through and made it. It wasn't long after that we got her spayed. Not long after that she had a spell where she ran out in to the yard and on her way back she collasped. I thought she was dead! She was fine within a few minutes. We took her to the vet and he said it was probably a seizure. She didn't have another one until a couple of years later.
She would collapse only when she got out and ran really fast, but now when we let her out of her room she is collapsing before she gets to the door to go out. Her heart is racing and its like she is so pumped up she just falls out, but if I stop her and don't let her get excited she is fine. She is not the small Boston but she is not the biggest either. She weighs 32lbs. The vet said it could be seizures or her heart due to medicine treating her or heart damage from the heartworms. I am so upset - she is my life. What do I do? How do I find out for sure what the problem is? What test will determine the truth? Please help. If you can't help, please let me know who might or can help. - Debra
Hello Debra,
Well it doesn't sound like epileptic seizures - they are usually accompanied by involuntary movements, or actions such as wetting or not knowing where they are when they get back on their feet, though only your vet could tell you that for sure. It could very easily be heart damage after all the problems your little girl had with heart worm.
However, many dogs do suffer from low blood sugar, especially if they are the types of dogs that are working, or always on the go! So I would try her over a few weeks on a high calorie food just before you are going to take her out for a walk - a dessertspoon of Karo or golden syrup or something else easily digested and with a high calorie content. Just take note of whether this helps and keeps seizures away during that pre-walk excitement. If it is no help at all, that would indicate that low blood sugar is not the problem so do not continue to offer the sweet food before a walk. You will need to get some tests done.
If the calorie snack does help, then you will need to work out a lifetime eating plan for her as the high calories need to be regulated so that they do not turn to fat. After you get her stabilised you could get some diet help from many websites that assist such problems - just search "low blood sugar" or "canine hypoglycaemia" and remember that it is not just a matter of feeding more ... it is food quality that matters and less, but more often, is the call.
If that is not the problem, and if you have faith in your vet and can talk to him/her, ask for some tests to be done to eliminate heart problems as the cause. If it IS heart problems you need to identify exactly what it is and what it is doing to your little girl. If something is identified then I would look up that particular heart problem on the net and read as much about it as possible and try for a natural strengthening of the heart through natural remedies. If she is in danger from the heart (and I do think the vet should have tested her for that if he/she suspected it the first time you visited) she may need to be on tablets but I would still aim at a very healthy 'heart' diet for life.
Epilepsy would be a third possibility but it does not sound like that to me. Do not let the vet just 'put her on epilepsy medication because a few other possibilities have been eliminated'. You do need to have tests done and come to a definite diagnosis on that before you put her on often quite debilitating medication for life. It could be something else altogether of course, and the possibilities are endless, and that is why I would stress you need to visit your vet, but from the way you have described your vet visits so far it would seem that your particular vet is not very interested in a diagnosis.
I would stress that as you are paying for vet visits, you must insist that tests are done - some vets will treat the symptoms without resolving the cause, but the cause may be still there, being disguised by the medication. If you do not think you can be firm with your particular vet and insist on a diagnosis, then maybe it is time to visit a new vet. I am not saying you shouldn't have your dog treated for epilepsy if that is what it is - just that you must make doubly certain that what she has is definitely epilepsy before submitting to lifelong medication.
Remember, you are in charge and if in the end you and the vet can not reach a definite (proved) diagnosis, then if you CAN control the collapsing by keeping her calm, it is better to do that and to combine it with a very healthy natural food plan, than to just put her on pills that may or may not help.
Many years ago I had a chihuahua who had a heart murmur from birth. The vet told me he would be lucky to live until he was six, then told me when he was eight that he would maybe last another year to 18 months ... but the wee guy lived to 14 years old (see top of page) and was actually put down at that age when his arthritis got so bad he was almost unable to walk. So the wee heart could have got who knows how much further and he never had any medication at all for it, but always a very healthy and natural diet. - Elezabeth
