I need help, please help me figure this out.

[KristyHall]

Thank you again for your support and suggestions everyone. I am st ill looking this up. i am afraid, if it is a toxin, it will happen again. Peaches Lee, he is an Australian Shepherd. We only guess that he is five, because I got him from the pound 3 years ago. This means I know nothing of his medical history. He had some behavioral issues when I got him, but that, I think, came from the fact that he was returned 3 times by people who didn't realize the challenge of caring for such a smart energetic dog. Patience and giving him several jobs to do, and he is the perfect gentleman now.

He is completely back to his old self. He seems even more joyful than usually, actually. I think he's glad to be home. Redhen. What kind of seizures did your dog have?

Peaches Lee, they only thought that at first because of the fact that he had tangled with a skunk recently. The vet said it is really rare for vaccinated dogs to get rabies, but it isn't impossible. He had also cornered three possums in the past few weeks as they crept around the chicken coop. He never hurts them, he just backs them into a corner and refuses to let them move until I get there. This put him at risk for something called Psudo Rabies, especially since I have a pig.

 

[bakerjw]

I am very happy that he is doing better. As with any kind of situation like that, not knowing what is wrong or what caused it is sometimes as bad as the illness itself.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

You mentioned he is an Australian shepherd. Did you worm your horses recently? Many herding dogs have severe reactions to ivermectin. It happened to our dog and it presented as a neurological issue. Vet thought it was a brain tumor but we weren't about to spend two grand to find out. Lots of research later and we figured out it was ivermectin poisoning. My dad had just wormed the horses and he licked some up. Never had a problem before. His recovery time was about two weeks. He went blind, temporarily lost his ability to walk and presented with seizures. That all went away and he eventually got his sight back. It was very scary though and we thought we would lose him.

Generally with ivermec poisoning, if it doesn't kill the dog soon after signs begin, they generally recover. Only some breeds of dogs have the genes which cause the ivermectin to have a bad reaction. Collies are one that is known to be common in having reactions, but it happens in many types of herding dogs. Ours is a red heeler.

I also agree that seizures could be a possibility. However, if you have wormed your horses with a week or two, it is possible the dog got some that fell out of the horses' mouths onto the ground.

 

[KristyHall]

You mentioned he is an Australian shepherd. Did you worm your horses recently? Many herding dogs have severe reactions to ivermectin. It happened to our dog and it presented as a neurological issue. Vet thought it was a brain tumor but we weren't about to spend two grand to find out. Lots of research later and we figured out it was ivermectin poisoning. My dad had just wormed the horses and he licked some up. Never had a problem before. His recovery time was about two weeks. He went blind, temporarily lost his ability to walk and presented with seizures. That all went away and he eventually got his sight back. It was very scary though and we thought we would lose him.

Generally with ivermec poisoning, if it doesn't kill the dog soon after signs begin, they generally recover. Only some breeds of dogs have the genes which cause the ivermectin to have a bad reaction. Collies are one that is known to be common in having reactions, but it happens in many types of herding dogs. Ours is a red heeler.

I also agree that seizures could be a possibility. However, if you have wormed your horses with a week or two, it is possible the dog got some that fell out of the horses' mouths onto the ground.

Holy cow... I did worm my horses with Ivermectin recently

 

[duckinnut]

Glad Bear is doing better. My past dogs name was Bear so it kind of hits home. Read thru all the posts and no one seemed to mention alcohol poisoning. I know it sounds crazy but not unheard of. It sort of would explain the rapid decline and rapid recovery. Thinking it could have been a possibility from rotting fermented fruit to somebodies shine(I know I am watching to much of Moonshiners) to a beer cup full of beer. Just a thought.

 

[KristyHall]

Glad Bear is doing better. My past dogs name was Bear so it kind of hits home. Read thru all the posts and no one seemed to mention alcohol poisoning. I know it sounds crazy but not unheard of. It sort of would explain the rapid decline and rapid recovery. Thinking it could have been a possibility from rotting fermented fruit to somebodies shine(I know I am watching to much of Moonshiners) to a beer cup full of beer. Just a thought.

It would be a very difficult thing around here. I tend not to keep alcohol around unless I have a party coming up, and usually it is muscadine wine from a local winery which has a low alcohol count (my favorite wine in the whole world, my father's elderberry wine is a close second) None of my orchards are fruiting yet, and any fruit scraps barely hit the ground before the chickens and pig gobble them up. I had not though about it though. I have never seen a drunk dog before, but poor boy, he did act like he was plastered.

His full name is Woolly Bear Trixter. The pound called him Trixter because they had to use a special lock on his pen. He had a habit of letting himself out to wander the halls. I saw this big ball of fluff, and jokingly referred to him as a woolly bear, and.. it just went from there.

What kind of dog was your Bear?? Is it me, or is it that every dog named Bear tends to be a big bundle of love?

 

[duckinnut]

What kind of dog was your Bear?? Is it me, or is it that every dog named Bear tends to be a big bundle of love?

My Bear was a Golden. Not that they are affectionate or anything but my DW was like how can a dog or any animal have such love for a man(me). He was almost 14 when he died in my arms carrying him to my truck to take him to be put down because he had become so sick. But wouldn't have had it any other way, really didn't want that decision to have him put down and was wrestling with that. But had many great years with him anyway.

Back on point, yeah the alcohol idea was just a thought. Don't know what is around you, if a neighbor had a party or kids drinking in the woods or something. Like I said it was just a thought. My brothers last Lab got into some antifreeze in house. Someone poured automotive stuff in a toilet to keep it from freezing instead of nontoxic. So off to the vet they went so protocol to help clear the glycol out of the liver to keep it from crystallizing was to put him him on an alcohol IV. He was on it for 3 days, my brother said he was like a drunken sailor after the sedation to keep him down wore off but was still a mess. He recovered from that but became a bit of an alcoholic,you had to watch your beer as he would knock it out of your hand or off the table.

But having read up on Ivermectin it could easily be that. From what I read Collies and herders have certain gene mutation that Ivermectin has an adverse reaction with.

 

[KristyHall]

Oh my goodness. it doesn't end. I'm on my way to the emergency vet again with bear. this time he's vomiting blood. To top things off I didn't get home till 3 am last night and wet to close up the coop ad found something had wiped out half my flock, all because of my carelessness.

 

[cupman]

I'm sorry to hear that, Kristy. I did the same thing last night.. left the coop door open until I got home from a friend's house and something had chewed up one of my birds pretty bad. Then I had to cull two roosters this morning which, I didn't think would be a big deal.. but it's been bothering me all day. Nothing worse than seeing your pets hurt or sick. This is just a random suggestion but did the vet check for giardia? My neighbor's dog got sick this week and had blood in his stool and vomit. Well whatever it is I hope they figure it out. Keep us updated.

 

[KristyHall]

Thanks Cupman. I just got home. He is home with me. Apparently his digestive track is inflamed and he has some sort of intestinal infection... probably from eating something... again

I'm going to tape this dog's mouth shut. This randomly eating inedible stuff is getting old. Seriously. twice in one week. he is now officially the most expensive dog I have ever had, and the second most expensive animal I have ever had. He is beat out only by my 21 year old Arabian mare.

Also, good news, I lost far fewer than I thought. It seems a good number of my birds fled into the trees when what ever attacked.. attacked. Oh and a fried was here today and took a couple pictures. One of my bear, showing how much better he feels, and some of my surviving birds