Milly 'wobbling'

[noelleybelley]

Hello, I'm after some advice please.  

Milly, who is 10, has always had a heart murmur and last October, it was 3/6.  I took her back to the vets two weeks ago because she's started losing control of her back end and keeps falling over, for no apparent reason.  She also has strange 'shaky' fits, where her head sort of wobbles for about 15 seconds.  The vet says she now has a 5/6 heart murmur and has put her on tablets.  She's been on them for the two weeks now and is going back tomorrow.  The thing is, they don't seem to have changed the falling over/ wobbling thing.  I'm not sure if these are caused by the heart murmur, but he did mention 'heart faint'.  She's also getting very skinny.

Can anyone explain this and do you think it is to do with the murmur, or is there something else going on?  She fell down the stairs in the night and I'm worrying about her because I never heard a thing, it was my daughter who told me.

Thanks,

Noelle

[Holly2009]

Hi, not sure if this is any help but my mum and dads old yorkie pepi use to do the shaky judder thing you are discribing, he also had a heart murmur, hed be walking along stop and start juddery shaking for a bit this would stop then he would carry on as normal, walking a bit funny to start with...we put this down to his eye sight as he couldnt see very well at this point. It usually happened if someone walked past him or when he was close to things.
Have you considered her eyes atall?
I remember one night Pepi had been out in the garden and hadnt returned as usual, my mum went out to find him standing in the pond poor we might. Hope you get things sorted
Nic & Holly

[spanielcrazy]

It may be "heart faint" as the vet said, if the blood supply to the brain is not good it can cause those types of episodes. Definitely mention it to th vet tomorrow

[suzysu]

Poor Milly  ...sending gentle cuddles and hope the vet can help x

[bluegirl]

As others have said heart problems can cause the back legs to go, but whether there are other things going on aswell it would be hard to tell unless your vet did a physical examination and maybe took some routine blood samples from her.

[BabyB]

I just read the bit about Milly falling down the stairs and wanted to send her a  

[noelleybelley]

   Thanks for your replies everyone.  The vet has put her on steroids now, as well as the heart tablets.  He's not sure why she's having these 'episodes', but is pretty sure she's not epileptic, because it happens too frequently.  Have to take her back in another two weeks.

[noelleybelley]

Just an update   

Milly has been on the heart pills and steroids for a few weeks now.  She still has the wobbly fits and they seem to be getting worse this week.  Maybe the vet will increase the dosage?

Whilst I was in the vets last week, she was doing her normal busy thing (which is non-stop) and he said, 

"In the words of my mother, I'd rather ha'e her for a week than a fortnight!"  (In a very Scottish accent  ) 

I love this, because it's sooooo fitting for her.

[noelleybelley]

Hello again - another question for you.

Milly has been on the heart pills and steroids, (half of each per day), and this last week she seems to be doing the staggering / falling over thing more.  We have an appt with the vet on Monday, but am just wondering if he's going to up the dose, or decide maybe it's not the heart faint thing.  He has mentioned that there might be something neurological going on.  Tonight she's really quite wobbly, poor thing   

Is half a tablet of each quite a low dosage?  I'm guessing it is, because she's on half rather than whole tablets?

Any idea anyone?

Thanks   

[spanielcrazy]

Poor Milly  I hope you can get to the bottom of this. Your vet may well want to look into neurological issues.

Is half a tablet of each quite a low dosage?  I'm guessing it is, because she's on half rather than whole tablets?

The only way to know if a dosage is high or low is to look at the milligrams given. Both meds come in different strengths, so yes, half a tablet is half strength, but it could still be more than another full tablet of a lower strength IYSWIM. So just because you are giving half it does not necessarily mean you are giving a low dose.

[noelleybelley]

Well Milly is going downhill quite fast now, she used to weigh 17kg and is now only 10.5kg   

The vet says her heart is failing, she has an enlarged liver and the mammary tumour is getting bigger.  She is still eating, drinking and staggering around.  It takes her ages to get up the stairs whereas she used to skip up them a few months ago....   

What I'm wondering is whether she's in any pain?  How would I know?

[pinkcarys]

I'm so sorry to read this thread and see that Milly is getting worse. It must be so heartbreaking to see. I can't give any advice, but wanted to send you some hugs. 

[Ninasmum]

Oh i am so sorry to read this    poor Milly & you. 

Sorry i don't know the answer to your question, although i do think i would speak to the vet about it. 

Thinking of you & Milly. 

[elaine.e]

Really sorry to read this  big hugs to Milly and you 

As Ninasmum said, you probably need to talk to your vet, but you're the one who knows Milly best so think about the quality of life that she has and if she's still happy despite her disabilities.

Thinking of you both 

[*Jay*]

I've only just seen this thread - sorry to hear about Milly 

My old dog had these staggering episodes - he wasn't permanently staggery though, they would only last about 10 minutes or so at a time and the vet said it was due to his liver. I know you said she has an enlarged liver but have bloods been taken to assess organ function?

I would definitely speak to your vet again regarding her condition. Like Elaine says, it boils down to what quality of life you think she has. If she's still eating, drinking & seems happy enough, then it might be an option to try her on anti-inflammatories - my friends bitch was on them when her mammary tumour started to cause her a bit of pain. Dogs can mask their pain quite well so it can be hard to tell just how affected they are - a couple days of painkillers can be enough to see if that is the case.