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Misty's just had an alarming episode

murphy's mum

Well-known member
Misty's just had a strange and upsetting episode. I think it was related to her SM :(

She has been scratching more over the last few days, she's just increased to 150mg of Gabapentin three times a day, from 100mg because of it. Plus her Zitac, and her Carprieve twice a day.

She was sitting on my Hubby's lap, she had been for about five minutes, when she suddenly started yelping. She was just sitting there, he wasn't even touching her, he was on his laptop. She didn't stop or attempt to move, so I gently lifted her onto the floor. She stopped yelping, but was holding her front right paw out in front of her, and when she tried to get up she couldn't put it down. I petted her head, and she sat there quietly. The oven timer went off and I got up to turn it off, and Misty happily trotted after me.

She has never done anything like this before. I found it strange and scary. Listening to her yelping like that was horrible. Is this something I should tell her Neuro about? I'm worried that she's getting worse.
 
Sorry Misty had this strange episode. That must have been really scarey for all of you. I can't help with any SM questions, but my instinct would be to call the neuro just to be on the safe side.

Sydney has MVD/CHF and had something similar to that happen to him. He was on the floor and the same thing, his front leg jerked up he yelped and he couldn't put it down or walk on it for a few minutes. All was fine after that. His vet said it could have been a focal seizure.

Hope it doesn't happen again to either Misty or Sydney.
 
Thanks, I'm going to call in the morning. :)

She stole my bottle about 30 minutes later and chased it around the living room, and is now snoozing, but it does have me concerned.
 
Poor Misty and poor you, must have given you a scare, lets know how you get on when you call xx
 
So scary! Call her neuroloist. It does sound like it could be an SM episode. I have had similar episodes with mine.
 
Thanks everyone :)

Allison(our Neurologist) agreed it sounds as though it was her SM. I've to continue to try her on the 150mg of Gabapetin for another week, she was on 100mg before. If I don't see an improvement by next week she suggested we may need to try her on Tramadol.

Has anyone experience with Tramadol? I've used it myself, and couldn't drive or work because I was so doped up while on it. What kind of effect does it have on dogs?
 
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Intermittent pain episodes can occur with SM. I have seen things like this happen in my SM dogs.

This may be a one-off episode, if so it may only be necessary to take a detailed note of what happened and tell the neurologist when you next see them.

If it happens again then it would be wise to check & see if her medication needs to be tweaked some more.
 
Sorry Margaret, I never made it very clear, Allison is our Neurologist. Reading my post that wasn't obvious at all :)

We'd spoke to her last week because Misty's scratching had grown more frequent again, and she had started licking/chewing her hindlegs. This is why we've started her on the 150mg of Gabapentin, along with the Zitac and Carprieve. I am hoping the 150mg dose will bring an improvement, but I hope to never hear her in distress like that again.

I've made a note of everything about what happened in my diary just in case it does happen again. I guess I just need to keep my fingers crossed.
 
SO sorry to hear this yes definitely sounds like an SM episode. You were really clever to write down what happened that's very helpful to the neuros and vets.

Tramadol is generally used for Palliative care as it has very mixed results and doesn't always work for very long. Glasgow prescribed it for Teddy in that way.

Do hope that the increased dose will help Misty, the sudden change in the weather hasn't been helping.
 
I know many people who use Tramadol for their dogs, and have never heard one of them mention it affecting their dog with a 'doped up' scenario.

I'm so sorry she is experiencing so many issues now. Hugs to you.
 
Good morning

I noticed on your posting that your dog is receiving 150 mgs of Gabapentin three times a day. Does mgs = mils. My Charlie is taking 0.60 mils twice a day.

Meanwhile I hope Misty is feeling better.
Sandra
Misty's just had a strange and upsetting episode. I think it was related to her SM :(

She has been scratching more over the last few days, she's just increased to 150mg of Gabapentin three times a day, from 100mg because of it. Plus her Zitac, and her Carprieve twice a day.

She was sitting on my Hubby's lap, she had been for about five minutes, when she suddenly started yelping. She was just sitting there, he wasn't even touching her, he was on his laptop. She didn't stop or attempt to move, so I gently lifted her onto the floor. She stopped yelping, but was holding her front right paw out in front of her, and when she tried to get up she couldn't put it down. I petted her head, and she sat there quietly. The oven timer went off and I got up to turn it off, and Misty happily trotted after me.

She has never done anything like this before. I found it strange and scary. Listening to her yelping like that was horrible. Is this something I should tell her Neuro about? I'm worried that she's getting worse.
 
Hiya,

the last time Ruby had a serious episode with yelping and screaming she lost the ability to jump for a couple of days. It does sound as though it is related to the SM. Its fairly normal Im led to beleive that these one off episodes occur.
When I took Ruby in after the above episode (it led to outbursts of screaming for a while that lasted a very long time- she was extrememly distressed) to see Clare she said that it has no bearing on whether her consition has deteriorated- its an outburst that on its own doesnt really tell us much apart from than at that momment she was in alot of pain.

I hope she is feeling better- Clare told me that if it does happen she can have an extra dose of her Pregabalin (although not if with in 3 hrs of the last) and Metacam- she offered a prescription for Tramadol but I declined on the advise that it is quite addictive and once on it, it can be hard to get them off again.

Im happy to say she hasnt had an episode since then to that extreme and that was just over 15 months ago!
 
I don't have any experience of a yelping episode, but about 7 years ago (before he was diagnosed with CM/SM) Oliver suddenly lost the use of his back legs - they kept collapsing under him. This lasted about 2 hours and then he was fine again. The vet thought he might have had a small seizure, but in retrospect I would guess it could have been CM/SM related. He's never had a similar episode, although now at age 10.5 his back legs are a bit wobbly but still perfectly usable on the flat, and this is almost definitely SM related. Short of some kind of mobile scanning device that dogs can carry around with them(!), we can't know exactly what happens all the time with this disease that interferes with the nervous system - except that these sudden one-off episodes seem to occur with a number of dogs. Scary - but may never happen again.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Good morning

I noticed on your posting that your dog is receiving 150 mgs of Gabapentin three times a day. Does mgs = mils. My Charlie is taking 0.60 mils twice a day.

Meanwhile I hope Misty is feeling better.
Sandra

I don't think so mgs is milligrams. Misty is on capsules which I split so she can get 150mgs a day :)
 
She hasn't done it again I'm please to say, but is still scratching, but not as much. We'll see how she goes, I'm hopeful the increase in the Gabapentin is doing the trick.

Kate Misty's back legs aren't great either, she's never been able to jump into the car, while Murphy flies in. She's also hesitant to jump off of things too, like the couch or the bed. If she's having a bad day, she takes the stairs one at a time. It's been snowing here today too, and I notice she drags her back left foot at time, as it was three paws and a line in the snow while she was trotting.
 
Good morning

I noticed on your posting that your dog is receiving 150 mgs of Gabapentin three times a day. Does mgs = mils. My Charlie is taking 0.60 mils twice a day.

Meanwhile I hope Misty is feeling better.
Sandra

Sandra, in the UK we are not able to obtain the liquid form of Gabapentin - I have been told that this is because it is very irritating to the gut lining so they do not recommend it.

From Formulation in Pharmacy Practice 2nd Edition
http://pharminfotech.co.nz/manual/Formulation/mixtures/gabapentin.html

Gabapentin 250mg per 5mL so 0.6mls would be a minute dose - there should be information on the label or leaflet with your Gabapentin to confirm the formulation.



 
I took another look at the label and this is what it says
Give 0.62 mL orally every 12 hours. \The bottle contained 100 mg/mL oral liquid.
when checked things out with pharnacist (human variety) he said the human grade syrup contains something toxic to dogs. Charlie's came from the local vet college.
Sandra, in the UK we are not able to obtain the liquid form of Gabapentin - I have been told that this is because it is very irritating to the gut lining so they do not recommend it.

From Formulation in Pharmacy Practice 2nd Edition
http://pharminfotech.co.nz/manual/Formulation/mixtures/gabapentin.html

Gabapentin 250mg per 5mL so 0.6mls would be a minute dose - there should be information on the label or leaflet with your Gabapentin to confirm the formulation.



 
Sorry I missed this.


so Charlie is only taking 62mg twice daily? How much does he weigh? That still sounds like a really small dose.Is it controlling his symptoms?

Clare Rusbridge's recommendation is 10-20mg/kg 2-3 times daily. Kayleigh at 7.5kg started off on 100mg twice daily and then three times daily - so daily total 200 to 300mg - she's currently taking 450mg.

You can obtain blood tests to check the therapeutic level of the drug in the blood stream
 
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