Any ideas on what may be causing these episodes in my dog?
Hello! First time poster 🥹
My dog, Merlin, has been suffering from weird episodes for almost 2.5 years. The episodes last anywhere from 5min to a more usual 1h45m to as long as 3h for the most recent episode. They used to occur anywhere from once every 2–5 months, but the frequency is increasing and now I'd say they occur once every 1–3 months.
The episodes are characterized by what looks like full body nerve pain or a neurological event. At onset my dog will begin arching his back and then get extreme ataxia—like each paw/leg is unbearably uncomfortable. He will topple over. He looks stressed and sometimes terrified during these episodes and when it gets really bad he's almost like a flopping fish, craning his neck around as well. Usually around the one hour mark he starts to slow down a bit. He is able to lie down, and while he's still clearly in distress, he's able to have whole minutes of relative stillness before another wave of uncontrollable leg spasms/neck craning begins.
We have tried many the medications and have seen many specialists.
A short list of specialists/procedures run:
- MRI and neurological screening with two different neurologists
- CT Scan with neurologist
- two ultrasounds with two different internists
- Radiograph (x-ray) with general vet
- Blood tests galore (all standard panels)
- Urinanalysis
What we found from all these tests:
- No indication of obvious neurological disorder (though the neurologist suggested ruling out epilepsy by trying anti-seizure meds)
- No spinal issues in MRI
- He has a HUGE gallbladder (which both internists assured us is not the cause of his episodes and does not require any medication at this point in his life)
- He has a bit of an issue concentrating his pee (though medication gave him a lot of side effects)
Medications tried:
- Gabapentin 100mg/day and given at onset of an episode. Slowed him down, but does not end the episode (we have since discontinued use)
- Diazepam given orally at onset and rectally at episode onset and midazolam given intranasally at episode onset. These made him very woozy, but did not stop the episode
- Keppra (anti-seizure med that's slightly less hard on the liver, given his big gallbladder) given orally at onset of episode as an experiment to see if it would shorten the length once the med hits his system around 45m–1h in. Again, did not end the episode. Tried this for our most recent episode.
There are no obvious triggers, though they often (but not always) happen in the evenings between 5–8pm. They will often start while he's outside in the yard or sitting next to me while I eat dinner/wash dishes. He immediately runs to me when one starts if he's not already close by.
He also ebbs and flows between spaced out (lost in the pain or something that looks like that) and fully present. For instance, if a delivery happens during an episode he will make an attempt to run to the door.
This last episode was 3h and I noticed this time that he likes to push his legs hard into something while he's in the episode. I cradled him in my lap and rolled him back about 45° so he could push some of his paws into my legs and hands, which seemed to help a bit here and there before he'd need to flop around again and attempt walking. He does lose the ability to stand on his back legs for a portion of the episode. About 1h30m in he started lying down on his own and became much more present, though when he attempted walking he still had quite a bit of ataxia.
I'm very much at a loss, especially as I'm running out of specialists to see!! I welcome anyone with insight or ideas. Especially if your dog has experienced anything similar. We just want Merlin to be as healthy as he can—he's my best boy!! At only ~6 years old, I'd like to see what we can do for him with hopes that he gets to live a long happy life.
Thank you so much for your help and generosity of insight here.
I attached some videos of our most recent episode in progress. They are not easy viewing, so watch with care only if you're comfortable.