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13 yr old Beagle - What is wrong?
Hello. We are currently living outside the US and I am concerned about our 13 yr old beagle. We took her to the vet because of frequent panting and he said she had periodontal disease. He started her on a regiment of Prednisolone and Stomorgyl 20 once a day, 12 hrs apart for 7 days. Three days after the initial visit, we took her back for blood work before a cleaning. The red and white blood cells were within normal range but the hemoglobin was higher than it should be. (I think he said it was at 800) Afterwards, we left her there and he pulled 4 teeth and cleaned the others and we picked her up that evening.
Since bringing her home see has been experiencing the following behaviors.
Excessive panting (worse than initially) , especially in the evening hours. Last night she carried on from 6pm – midnight before finally settling down to sleep. But once she wakes up she is panting again.
When she is at rest, she shivers and twitches constantly when she inhales.
She has in the past, had seizures prior to her heat cycle and our US vet said it was probably hormonal but she has never had the shivering and twitching to this extent before. This happens regardless of whether the AC is on or off.
Any thoughts on what is going on here? I do have video’s of the panting and twitching.
Thank you
Since bringing her home see has been experiencing the following behaviors.
Excessive panting (worse than initially) , especially in the evening hours. Last night she carried on from 6pm – midnight before finally settling down to sleep. But once she wakes up she is panting again.
When she is at rest, she shivers and twitches constantly when she inhales.
She has in the past, had seizures prior to her heat cycle and our US vet said it was probably hormonal but she has never had the shivering and twitching to this extent before. This happens regardless of whether the AC is on or off.
Any thoughts on what is going on here? I do have video’s of the panting and twitching.
Thank you
Best Answer
I have a 12 year old Beagle that is on Prednisone also due to seizures as well as Phenobarbital. She does a lot of panting & I feel it is due to the medication. Hoping your beagle is doing fine now.
Hmmm. Others have said more or less what I would say, so this is just a way of saying get her to another vet as soon as possible. Beagles are prone to certain ailments, including kidney and heart/circulation problems, and the panting and twitching is likely to be connected to these issues or to other pain. Clearly, your first vert is second-guessing things, which is a bad way to diagnose. She needs a full and professional examination and a full blood panel test.
Tony
Tony
Thank you so much for the quick replies.
We are living in a rural part of Costa Rica so there are no emergency vet clinics here. However there are 3 vets and the one we chose speaks good English and has the more modern facility. He is also able to do the blood work right there without having to send it out.
The teeth procedure was done 3 days ago and she was not sent home with any pain meds. Thinking that it might be pain as well, I gave her some leftover pain tabs (Deramaxx 25mg) from when she had some teeth issues in the states a year ago. The result was only a very slight improvement in the panting.
Her mouth looks extremely good… and no more odor!… the gums are nice and pink so I think the infection is under control. (she is still on the Prednisolone and Stomorgyl for 2 more days).
We did stop by the vets today and I showed him the videos I had taken. He did not have a definitive answer as to what he thought it was. He suggested possible epilepsy (has been mentioned before by our US vet), hypothyroidism and even increased sensitivity to her environment due to age and mentioned doing more blood work. Before we left, he gave us some Nucleo CMP Forte tablets (used for treatment of peripheral nervous system disorders in humans) and said to give her 1 a day. She goes back on Wednesday for her recheck.
This really is very frustrating, as I feel helpless and confused as to what is going on. I also feel guilty because she is use to sleeping with us at night but we have to shut her out because of the panting. Last night I turned off the lights and TV and stayed up with her until she calmed down and went to sleep. Then I tiptoed into the bedroom to sleep myself. It looks like I will be doing the same thing tonight too.
We are living in a rural part of Costa Rica so there are no emergency vet clinics here. However there are 3 vets and the one we chose speaks good English and has the more modern facility. He is also able to do the blood work right there without having to send it out.
The teeth procedure was done 3 days ago and she was not sent home with any pain meds. Thinking that it might be pain as well, I gave her some leftover pain tabs (Deramaxx 25mg) from when she had some teeth issues in the states a year ago. The result was only a very slight improvement in the panting.
Her mouth looks extremely good… and no more odor!… the gums are nice and pink so I think the infection is under control. (she is still on the Prednisolone and Stomorgyl for 2 more days).
We did stop by the vets today and I showed him the videos I had taken. He did not have a definitive answer as to what he thought it was. He suggested possible epilepsy (has been mentioned before by our US vet), hypothyroidism and even increased sensitivity to her environment due to age and mentioned doing more blood work. Before we left, he gave us some Nucleo CMP Forte tablets (used for treatment of peripheral nervous system disorders in humans) and said to give her 1 a day. She goes back on Wednesday for her recheck.
This really is very frustrating, as I feel helpless and confused as to what is going on. I also feel guilty because she is use to sleeping with us at night but we have to shut her out because of the panting. Last night I turned off the lights and TV and stayed up with her until she calmed down and went to sleep. Then I tiptoed into the bedroom to sleep myself. It looks like I will be doing the same thing tonight too.
Wow, I would be concerned. Not sure on the meds, don't have time to check them right now.
How long ago was the cleaning done? You sometimes see this after anesthetic. Is she on seizure meds?
Shivering could be due to pain. How dies her mouth look where the teeth were extracted?
Did he do a complete panel to check kidney and liver function due to her age?
No other Vet you can consult with?
Please do update and hope she will be ok.
How long ago was the cleaning done? You sometimes see this after anesthetic. Is she on seizure meds?
Shivering could be due to pain. How dies her mouth look where the teeth were extracted?
Did he do a complete panel to check kidney and liver function due to her age?
No other Vet you can consult with?
Please do update and hope she will be ok.
If she wasn't able to settle down for 6 hours with twitching and shivering then she's obviously in pain. Have you been to an emergency vet?
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You can tell a lot about a dogs mouth - is she eating and drinking normally? I'd hate for her to come down with any sort of dehydration on top of any infection too.
I wouldn't wait until Wednesday to see this vet, I'd go somewhere else. Take a translator with you, if you can. Your dogs health depends on it. This guy seems like he's just giving you pills to help something he isn't even sure what it is.
Sometimes even the most modern hospitals have to have bloodwork sent out and that's ok. I paid a small fortune for my Daisy to be in a modern ER hospital and they still had to send it out. Getting a complete result is worth paying for.
I hope you can find some answers.