My Dog Might Have A Brain Tumour...

[stormie]

Hi all...

Our 14yo golden recently went through vestibular disease. She came out the other side ok, but still had a few effects. But lately, her eyes have started tearing excessively and over the last few days she seems to be showing some real mental problems. She lies on her bed bearing her teeth to anything that moves. It's the most awful sight to see. She's also lashing out, though is a bit too old to be able to spring up off her bed for the attack.

Am hoping it is possibly just a vision problem that is leaving her feeling afraid and feeling the need to defend herself. But I have just spoken to my vet who is concerned that with her recent health history, that she has a brain tumour.

So I have given her some valium to settle her for the night, then she's coming to work with me in the morning to get the verdict.

Has anyone else ever been through anything similar with their oldies?

Fingers and toes crossed....

[Erny]

Stormie - it's scary thinking of the worst, even though we might need to be prepared for it. But keep as positive as you can (I am hoping it's an eye-sight thing too) and simply take each moment and day as it comes and whatever it brings you.

I (along with many of the DOLers here, I'm sure) will be thinking of you tomorrow and wishing you and your precious goldy girl all the best. Hoping the verdict is not too bad.

Fingers crossed.

[Staffyluv]

Best of luck with your pooch today Stormie...

Will be thinking of you.

Jodie

[Ons]

sending you all best wishes for your visit to the vet today.

[stormie]

Thank you so much for all your thoughts.

Looking good so far!! Vet is happy with her, all looks the same as it did last visit. Still can't find the reason for her excessive tearing. Her behavour is completely normal this morning also, so at the moment we are just going to put down to some sort of disturbance between the dogs at home which has caused her to be so on edge and aggressive towards anything that moves. Not sure why it is only happening at night, though!

Can only just monitor for now I guess, and hope that her behavour doesnt get worse.

Our dogs have not had a fight for many years, though I guess its likely they have had a disturbance within the ranks, especially seeing this one is top dog and is getting slower etc. Just strange that her bizarre aggression came first. She has been growling and snarling at the others and even the cat through the window, for about two weeks now. I am convinced that their little fight last night was due to her lashing out.

Will see how she goes at home tonight and probably give her something to ease her anxiety.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts!

Will let you all know how she goes.

[dogbesotted]

glad the news was positive from thevet.

As your dog is becoming aged... it may be worthwhile reading up on canine cognitive disorder ( doggy alzheimers).

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings...6&O=Generic

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/cognitive-dys...dogs/page1.aspx

and others.

Cheers

Helen

[~Anne~]

Could the aggression be put down to dementia???

Edited: Sorry, I just realised that dogsbesotted already said this above.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Puggles

[Mushaka]

glad the news was positive from thevet.

As your dog is becoming aged... it may be worthwhile reading up on canine cognitive disorder ( doggy alzheimers).

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings...6&O=Generic

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/cognitive-dys...dogs/page1.aspx

and others.

Cheers

Helen

Exactly what i was thinking!!!

Best wishes to u and ur doggy!

[Monah]

Hi Stormie. I'm really glad it doesn't appear to be a tumour. Our lakeland died of a brain tumour. What we found was that there were a few pointers, we thought it was just old age. The symptoms with him were, he could only eat sideways out of one side of his mouth, he walked crooked, couldn't bark, couldn't jump up, was generally all over the place, lost a lot of weight but ate more than ever (apparently the tumour takes all the calories), and finally, one side of his head completely 'caved in' due to muscle wasting, like a skull. I kept him going for 2 more weeks on painkillers because I couldn't let him go, but eventually had him pts in our lounge on my lap. Poor boy. He was my happy chappy, adorable. He had a few vet visits as each symptom occurred, and as soon as I saw a vet who had seen it before he knew straight away. The other vets did a great job, but because I described behaviour that could probably mean anything at his age, and they didn't see how he behaved during a quick vet visit, none of us thought of a tumour. I'd definately know if it ever happens again though. Good luck and best wishes with your lovely doggie. I thought it was doggie alzheimers.

[stormie]

Thanks guys!

My vets here and I have known for a while that she has been going senile. We started her on 'doggie dimentia' drugs a while back but they didn't help. Quite possibly her aggressive behaviour is due to her dementia, so thank you for that information.

The vestibular syndrome that she had certainly hasn't done her any favours - most of what she does now, she does sideways. But she's learnt to cope and it slowly improving.

Will see how she behaves at home over the next few days and if gets worse, will bring her back in for some x-rays perhaps.

Thanks again....

[anthony mazzeri]

Have you raised the possibility of toxoplasmosis with your vet? Similar symptoms of not being able to see/focus and fear/aggression (because of the lack of sight and pain) when my dog got it. The reason I'm bringing this up is because the specialist also suggested a brain tumor in my dog, so that is similar as well. But then a simple blood test and some antibiotics fixed it.

[BittyMooPeeb]

Hi Stormie,

did the vet say anything about her eyesight? I've experienced dogs who cant see well getting defensive at night when they can see even less - I assume it is fear motivated. Maybe her eyesight is reducing as you suggested, and she is worried about an attack from another pack member, or she may not recognise them as household members if say they are on the other side of a window and she cant smell them.

My cat (now at the bridge) had a non-malignant brain tumour. It was very large, and was successfully removed at Sydney Uni Vet hospital. It turned out that the tumour was masking an agressive cancer though, and once the tumour was gone, the cancer took over and he died a month later . So tumours can be removed, but get a thorough health check first before progressing down this path. (which we of course did too, but the cancer wasnt picked up)

Best wishes for your girl. If she is feeling defensive, try to put her somewhere she feels safe at night - maybe in a crate or a puppy pen where the other animals cant get to her.

[stormie]

Hi Stormie,

did the vet say anything about her eyesight? I've experienced dogs who cant see well getting defensive at night when they can see even less - I assume it is fear motivated. Maybe her eyesight is reducing as you suggested, and she is worried about an attack from another pack member, or she may not recognise them as household members if say they are on the other side of a window and she cant smell them.

My cat (now at the bridge) had a non-malignant brain tumour. It was very large, and was successfully removed at Sydney Uni Vet hospital. It turned out that the tumour was masking an agressive cancer though, and once the tumour was gone, the cancer took over and he died a month later . So tumours can be removed, but get a thorough health check first before progressing down this path. (which we of course did too, but the cancer wasnt picked up)

Best wishes for your girl. If she is feeling defensive, try to put her somewhere she feels safe at night - maybe in a crate or a puppy pen where the other animals cant get to her.

She does have a degenerative condition in her eyes, though it has not changed or worsened since she was here a couple of months ago. We stained her eyes to look for any problems and also to check her tear ducts etc. Had a really good look and they seemed ok.

Vet says very unlikely to be toxoplasmosis, as her mental degeneration has been coming on for a couple of years now. More likely to be her old age catching up with her. Over the past 12 months she has become more and more vague regarding her surroundings and people. She went through a phase of terrible anxiety which left her pacing and barking 24/7, and desperate to escape the yard. She has since quietened right down, but I think that's more due to her condition getting worse.

She is also finding getting up and lying down increasingly difficult, even with her arthritis drugs/supplements. Possibly this realisation is stressing her a little within the pack as she would be feeling more vulnerable.

She wasn't too bad last night, so will just see how she does over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you all for you info and support!