Friday morning something happened to Cat and I can't figure out what it was...

Paul and I were getting ready to go to town. I was in the bedroom and Cat was laying on the bed. Paul called the dogs to go outside and when Cat got up, she wobbled weird and I looked at her.

She kind of staggered and then fell off the bed. Of course I dove towards her but she was flopping around trying to get her feet under her. By the time I got to her she had gone about 5 feet in a staggering flop movement.

I got to her and put both arms around her to hold her up. She was shaking badly. She let me hold her and I screamed for Paul. By the time he got to us, she was able to stand on her own but was swaying from side to side...

A few minutes later and she was able to take a couple of steps and then she was fine. She has not stumbled or anything since that incident.

I was wondering if anyone else has had anything like that happen. It was like she couldn't feel her legs, or she didn't know where they were... it did not feel like a seizure or a vestibular incident. The whole incident, beginning to end was maybe 5 minutes.

For those that don't know, Cat is a 9 year old Malinois. She has SLO (an auto immnune disease that affects her nails), but I don't think that had anything to do with this incident- though she did break off two more nails in her scramble to get up.

Paul thinks she may have pinched a nerve or both back legs fell asleep while she was laying there and it scared her when she tried to get up.

Cat was to the vet about a month ago and had all her "senior" dog bloodtests done and everything came out great.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you!

--Kel and Cat

Very scary! I do wonder if it could have been something vestibuler, Amber had a similar incident as a pup, did you happen to notice if she had nystagmus (eyes darting sideways), that's a classic sign of vestibuler incoordination. With Amber, she woke me up in the middle of the night staggering, unable to get her legs under her. It resolved quickly, she had a well puppy visit the next day and the vet said something as simple as a piece of wax getting into the ear canal could cause it.

I also wonder about sleep paralysis if she was awakened from a very deep sleep...but that's a very longshot.

Hopefully, it was a one time only event, would have scared me.

Kelly, is she breathing ok? Gums not pale? Any weakness since?

I know the panic/helplessness you felt; it's horrible. I had a dog who experienced something similar, which the vet "passed off" (?) as a type of seizure. Sometimes she would stiffen, but other times she just couldn't get her legs to work.

Could this be a possible "stage" of her condition...? Probably not.

Did she tremble/shake at all? Seem disoriented, even momentarily?

I know she's pretty old. I hope it's not the beginning of something awful.

But my sense is that she was sleeping deeply and tried moving off the bed before she was fully awake. In an old dog, that would be my first guess. Second guess would be pain from a pinched nerve (disc) or arthritis of spine or hips that just made her not operate her hind end correctly for a minute, then she was off balance and flopping. Perhaps something she compensates for normally when awake and operating on decent footing.

Jodi- no nystagmus- Drift was born with vestibular syndrome so unfortunately I am quite familiar with vestibular events. Cat was looking at me wide eyed and shaking as I held her up, but she appeared to know which way was up.

Tammy- her breathing is and was normal. Heart rate was a little higher than normal at the time, but I think that's understandable. Capillary refill is good, and she has not shown any weakness since- other than choosing not to jump onto the bed... she jumps into chairs fine and stands on her hind legs all the time, so I think her back legs are OK- she is just afraid of falling off the bed again.

Sharon- she was trembling which I attributed to her being frightened with what was happening- it did not feel like seizure shaking- her limbs were not stiff. She did not appear disoriented- she looked at me as soon as I touched her and relaxed into me when I put my arms around her.

Betty- I too hope its not the beginning of something. I've been watching her all weekend for "knuckling under" which would be the first signs of DM and haven't seen anything. Her tick panel a month ago was clear so I don't think it was Lymes...

I am really hoping that it was just because she was startled awake and is a one-time event. When we go in for her laser treatment this week, I will have her chiropractor adjust her and check her out too- Linda is amazing at catching the slightest change in gait and pinpointing where it's originating.

Thank you to everyone!! It was so out of the blue that it really shook me up. Other than the SLO, Cat is in pretty good health.

If anything else comes up, I will update you all.

--Kel and Cat

Kelly,

Did you test her for "knuckling under"? It can be seen in other neurological conditions, as well as, DM.

Possible seizure?
I had a GSD/Dane some 30-35 yrs ago that was put down because of DM and I don't recall it starting anything like you described.

Kelly, has anything else happened?

This past 2 weeks have been a nightmare....

Cat had 2 seizures 6 days after this incident. I am assuming that what I was witnessing here was the after effects of the seizure.

Her first seizure she was on the bed with me and her head came back into me and her front legs went out. I thought she was just being silly but she wouldn't move- other than her front legs, the rest of her body was limp. I went around to the front and called her name- her eyes turned to me and she thumped her tail so she was oriented to me and conscious.

I got her upright and off the bed. I held her up while she gained control of her legs. It took a total of 3 minutes, but felt like an hour.

When she was able to stand, I had her walk and do some positions. She did fine and was normal. 10 minutes later, she had another seizure.

I called to Paul to get the dogs crated and warm up the car. He came in and asked why and I told him Cat was having a seizure. He got the phone while crating the others so that I could call the vet.

He carried her to the car and she sat in the back with me very subdued. It took half an hour to get to the e-vet (my vet was off) and he carried her in to the exam room.

For the next 3 hours, the vet did every blood test imaginable and everything came up clean. We had no idea what caused them, but had a dose of Diazapam in case she had another one.

The next day I was taking Shyner to my regular vet and took Cat along with. My vet had no answers either, but said that since they were mild petite mal seizures, we would wait and see if she had anymore before starting meds. I have since learned that one of the supplements she takes for the SLO (Niacinamide) can cause seizures in VERY rare cases... I have taken her off and she has not had any more seizures - knock on wood...

Shyner's news was not as good- the vet basically said she has about 2 weeks to live (this was 10 days ago). The cancer is advancing into her brain very quickly. She is on Rimadyl for pain- it's not like we have to worry about side effects at this point. She will only eat Solid Gold Sun Dancer kibble so that's what she gets... she continues to eat and act normal, so we will keep her going. I know she will let me know when she's ready to go, and she hasn't told me yet....

I haven't been here much the past 2 weeks- sorry.

--Kel