Pug Puppy Head Injury

[143Dogs]

Hello - Our 8-9 week old Pug fell off a high bar stool in the kitchen and landed pretty hard on his head. At first he screamed and hid under the table but soon after he walked around a bit and played. Still worried, we brought him to the Animal 911 care to get checked out. The vet confirmed that he seemed to be okay and that he didnt show any signs of trauma. She also explained that vision was good and she was able to rotate his head left and right and saw no problems.No xrays or tests were necessary. They recmommended that we keep an eye on him for any changes. Although this is a great outcome and what we wanted to hear. What are the long term effects to him when he gets older that this happened??  And also, he seems to be great this morning but how long should we monitor his behavior after the accident??

Please help, Im worried. Thank you.

[Jaybay]

Really, he'll probably be just fine, but I understand your concern.  You can use a treat as a lure to check how well he can move his neck.  Move it slowly left and right, then up and down.  His eyes and head should follow the movement.  And don't forget to give him the treat.  LOL!  Watch his pupils when you go outside in sunlight.  They should shrink with the additional light and slightly dilate when you come inside.  Look for things like loss of balance during normal activity as well.  

I understand these accidents happen with a squirmy, wiggly pup - particularly when children are supervising the pup.  I remember looking outside one morning to see a neighbor's 5-year-old holding her new puppy off the ground by her neck and swinging her in circles.  !!!!  That family drove me crazy.  They saw all dogs as disposable.  They were left unsupervised, untrained, unsocialized, had no vet care, and as each one either got run over, died, or ran off, they went right out and got another one.  There was no educating them.  They were illegal immigrants from a Mexican border town, and that's the attitude towards animals down there.  Paying for medical care, and even providing food and water didn't compute in their minds.

[143Dogs]

Thank you, he was actually sitting on my lap on the bar stool and i was not holding him properly .. it was an accident but should of known better since he is a baby, but it just gets me. do you mean performing the head rotation test?? since we were not in the room with the ER vet, what other neurolgical tests can we do?

i feel a bit better, thank you so much

[Jaybay]

We've certainly had a rash of puppy head injuries here lately.  Note to members: treat your puppy as you would a human baby!  :-)

It sounds like you dodged a bullet with this fall, and as long as there are no injuries, there will be no long-term effects.  For the next few days, perform the same neurological tests that you saw the ER vet do.  As long as your pup passes those tests, there should be no damage to worry about.  And no more pups on bar stools!  :-D