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I have two beagles and one of them started doing something weird. He will be fine one minute and then the next he will have a lot if trouble walking as in he is not balanced but he doesn't fall over and he starts to shake and he arches his back and then he is fine in 2 minutes. I need to know if this is a serious problem I cannot afford to go to the vet if I don't need to and it's also pretty far away

You need to check and see what those dogs of yours got into and ate.

And you really should get it to a vet.

You might actually want to CALL a vet and ask.

First of all: take him to a vet. It's expensive as hell, but it's the best thing to do.

Secondly: don't rush to conclusions. Every advice you get here is anecdotal experience and we do not know your dogs.

Thirdly: Keep in mind, this is anecdotal experience! A good friend of my wife's had a similar issue with her dogs 3-ish years ago. At some times, he almost fell over without reason and shivered a bit, but then quickly recovered. She took him to the vet and it turned out that it was a tumour causing the problem. Fortunately, it could be removed and he's still alive today. Just don't ask what the operation cost.

Ok they haven't eaten anything out of the ordinary that I have seen and they don't have any oppertunity to, someone said that it may be epileptic seizures and this is only the second time it happened


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Ok I know that there arnt any experienced people here but I am just looking for suggestions i will take him to the vet as soon as I can

Maybe an inner ear issue. Maybe something more serious. Get off dakka and call the vet.

There are actually quite a few common food items as well as plants used in landscaping which can cause nervous problems with dogs and other pets.

Raw fish can cause seizures and loss of appetite in dogs.

Xylitol is a common sugar substitute in chewing gum, candies, other similar things which also can cause seizures. Its VERY VERY toxic to dogs and is something you might not think about. You could easily drop a piece of sugar free gum on the floor and think nothing of it.

You might want to try to get there on Monday if this has only happened two individual times. We have a 24 hour emergency vet here, and it's super crazy expensive so I've only taken my dogs there when it was critical. Of course, if this is happening over and over again all day, I personally would consider it critical and take my dog.

I think he has xylitol poisoning they bit got into some sugar free gum with it about a week ago but that was a while ago and the other dog isn't having any problems

If it were a person, I'd be all like, well, wait and see. They probably know what they did and you can make an intelligent guess from that.

This is a DOG though. GO TO THE VET.

A form of epilepsy, perhaps.

Seriously though, the only advice worth taking from DakkaDakka is to go to a vet. Some of our members are medically qualified for humans, but not animals.

How old is the dog?

The symptoms you described appear to be very typical of IVDD. Beagles are one of the more susceptible breeds. It's considered a medical emergency.

FFS go to a vet

One of my parents dogs had something similar. Turned out to be organophosphate poisoning, probably from eating something he shouldn't have when being taken for a walk. All he needed was IV fluids and overnight care at the vets. As you can see there are many possibilities and a wargameing forum is not the place to get an answer, a vets is, so take the dog to the vets!

Again, for clarity, if your pet is ill, GO TO THE VETS!

I'm going to the vet tomorrow because they are not open today I guess I just needed someone to talk to while I was worried

My wife is an ex-Vet Tech.

I just asked her advice for you. She said it could be anything up to and including several life threatening illnesses. She said take the animal, asap, to the vet.

The other really helpful thing she advised was to film your dog doing exhibiting this behavior with your phone, to show the vet to aid in diagnosis.

Dakka is a great place for seeking opinions, you get a wide range here and many are well informed or at least opposed in an insightful way.

However DONT get medical or legal advice from the internet unless its both non emergency and from the correct website, preferably government approved.

Let me give an example.

My neighbour had a nosebleed that didnt stop, so I looked online because he easily couldnt get to A&E and it was too late in night to go to his doctors surgery.
So I looked online for him, now I went to the national NHS website and typed in the symptoms. There is one there for this purpose.
The page I visited said that if you cant stop a nosebleed on half an hour go to hospital. So I helped him get to hospital. Just a nosebleed, but I went to the professional website and was directed to the professionals face to face.
This was the last I saw of my neighbour, it was 'just a nosebleed' but he died of related issues four days later, the nosebleed was part of something else.

Imagine what might have happened if I said 'its just a nosebleed' and just asked on Dakka? People might post friendly well meaning and normally useful advice about ice cubes and tiling heads a certain way and pinching the nose.....

I've had lots of experience with dogs.
It's a seizure of sorts from your description. Most likely epilepsy.
And yes you must take your dog to a vet as soon as possible.

Former owner of two lovely little 110 lb Rotties..

Any new info? :(

My cousin actually has a beagle with epilepsy. The vet said that the breed is very supseptible to it. So it could be that simple.

My Scottish Terrier experiences what's known as Scotty Cramps from time to time that makes him overextend his joints and looks very similar to seizures but is relatively harmless especially with treatment. Could be something similar.

Also I'm not a vet, but I've been around one many times with similar situations. Best advice is to visit the vet.

GO TO THE VET WITH THE DOG.

 Alienoid wrote:
I'm going to the vet tomorrow because they are not open today I guess I just needed someone to talk to while I was worried

Been about a week mate..... any news? (hopefully good)

 Alienoid wrote:
I'm going to the vet tomorrow because they are not open today

Sadly... no trace of him was ever found.

Hey sorry my computer decided to die, turned out he was ok he ate a raw potato that was old and the roots were giving him trouble the vet just told me to give him laxatives he's ok now

 Alienoid wrote:
...he ate a raw potato that was old and the roots were giving him trouble the vet just told me to give him laxatives he's ok now

Well glad to see your dog is doing okay. Still, I have to say...

 Alienoid wrote:
Hey sorry my computer decided to die, turned out he was ok he ate a raw potato that was old and the roots were giving him trouble the vet just told me to give him laxatives he's ok now

Welcome to having a dog. I love my dog (Border Collie Australian Shepherd mix) but she gets into EVERYTHING. Pain in my ass