My chihuahua is not herself!! HELP!!

Question

Hi, I have a two year old chi named Chloe and she is the light of my life. A couple of days ago I noticed she was acting a little strange. I woke up to get ready for work and she followed me out of the room as usual but I noticed she was walking a little funny (like her leg fell asleep), I didn't t think anything of it at the time, I went to work and when I returned home, I noticed she was progressively worse. She was shaking uncontrollably and when i called to her she walked as if she had a hard time balancing herself. I took her into to E.R. right away, the vet assumed she might have gotten into something so they gave her fluids and sent us home. The next morning, still no change so I brought her into her vet. They thought that maybe it was due to a liver shunt so after having her fasted for 12 hours, i brought her back in to get more test done to rule it out. The tests came back normal and now the vet thinks it might be neuorlogical. Chloe is on Phenobarb for seizures( though she doesn't seem to have the ususal characteristics of seizures) just shaking like she is cold. Other than the symptoms i've listed, she acts normal. She eats, drinks, uses the bathroom, and she is playing. I have no idea what is going on with her and i am very worried. I am going to make a follow up to have a cat scan done but in the meantime i am trying to find if there are any answers out there. Has anyone experienced anything like this with their pet? If so, what was the outcome? I have heard in some cases where the dog is shaking uncontrollably, steroids have been used as treatment. Is that a realistic option without side effects? Thank you for any help/advice you may have.

margypops · Answer

One thought here get the meds checked out could she be having some effects from them if she is eating drinking yet shaking it seems like something other than her health ask about the Phenobarb she is on . good luck

chasha33 · Answer

If that med doesnt work well for her you can try Valium .Sometimes it seems to work best for underlying seizure conditions.I would by all mans have other scans ran on her by all means though.God luck and God bless...Chan

ginger899 · Answer

I'm sorry but I don't have any experience of what you described. But I am sure you will get more answers here.

You are doing your very best to get to the bottom of what is wrong. One good thing so far is that she doesn't appear to be suffering or in pain, if she is behaving quite normally other than this shaking/shivering. It sounds as though you will have to wait for the results of the Cat scan to know for sure what this is, and what treatment she might need.
I'm sorry I can't be more help.