Rage syndrome in dogs
Our bull terrier was at the local shelter and a friend from a local BT rescue association called us. We could tell she had a sweet temperament, but was obvious she had been neglected and/or abused. 99.9% of the time she is the sweetest dog, lovable, playful,fun...but she has "sudden onset rage sydrome". Have you ever heard of it? Mostly at night in her sleep, but she wakes up growling, snarling and biting. She snaps out of it pretty quickly and doesn't seem to realize what she has done. I've been bitten twice. As of now she is scheduled to be put down on Monday. It's breaking our hearts because we love her. She is currently taking xanax (Alprazolam) 2x a day .50 mg. The last time she bit me, we had forgotten to give her the medicine that night. We had a BT for 12 years and she passed 21/2 years ago. This is really hard to go through again. Do you know anything about this? I understand it is a genetic defect and not much can be done. Thank you. This is a great service you have. |
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Dog with problems walking
When I came home from work yesterday, Sparrow(6yo female neutered mix breed), who stays in my basement with access to the crawl space under the house, was having trouble going up the stairs. She seemed sick - hot nose & depressed. She has a knot midway up her tail about the size of a quarter. Her hindquarters are slightly swollen and tender. Her behind was dirty with dust, some fecal matter, and little black dots that looked like flea eggs (she doesn't have fleas - she's on med from the vet.) It seemed she had been dragging her bottom on the ground. My gut feeling is that she may have been bitten by a spider or god forbid a snake (in my basement?!!) but I'm also worried that she's hurt her back. She can still walk - even jump on the bed - but she is not moving correctly. She is still eating and drinking. She's not any worse this morning, but no better. She's not limping, but she acts stiff - is not moving her hind legs with ease, but I don't see where they look out of whack. For example, when she goes up steps, she just goes one step at a time, very slowly and carefully when she usually bounds & skips steps. It doesn't look like she's knuckling over, and her feet and legs look normal. Another thought after babying her this morning - she has had trouble in the past with her anal glands being blocked. Usually I try to massage & expel them when I bathe her. I haven't noticed her dragging her butt, which usually happens when her glands are filled and need expelling, but is it possible this could be the problem? Or constipation?
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