roscoepup
New member
Hi Everyone,
I am in need of some help. My 10 month old English Bulldog has been LICKING AT THE AIR in front of him excessively and PACING non-stop and quickly at the same time. He is doing this almost constantly when he is not on a walk or eating. He is now doing it in his crate which is difficult because that has been his (and our) place of peace from the licking.
We took him to our local vet who reffered us to an animal hospital nearby. Within 30 minutes, they reccomended we get an MRI. We decided to seek out a second opinion from a vet who specializes in bulldogs before proceeding with the MRI to see if there is anything we can rule out first.
On our first visit, Dr. T did not think it was neurological, so we held off on the MRI. He encouraged us to try to train him out of the behavior with commands, which unfortunately hasn't been working. He also told us we could try switching his food. So we have transititioned to another grain free food with a different protein, but no change.
The second visit, we explored more into the concept of OCD/ADD and that this could be behavioral. He reccomended that we get Roscoe neutered as soon as possible to see if that relieves some of this. He also said he could grow out of it with age, but he is not sure. He is scheduled to be neutured on Friday (as of now).
He also said that this could be attention-seeking behavior, but over last week we have watched closely for this and realized he does it even when we are actively playing or petting him. He will get distracted and then start on the pacing, licking and/or chewing on his paw.
Also at the second visit, he gave Roscoe an allergy shot which would last 10 days. He told us that if Roscoe was like "a new dog" in response to the shot, then it was definitely allergies. Unfortunately, we noticed no change over the 10 days.
From our standpoint, we simply can not tell if he is actually seeing something in front of his face that he is licking at or if it is something internal in his nose or head that he is trying to get at. It is very hard to tell. We have taken several videos and will show the Dr. at our third appointment today.
We just feel so bad for the poor guy. He is very distracted and seems increasingly uncomfortable. In the last few days he has rolled around on his head/ears a couple of times. It really does seem like something is driving him nuts. Needless to say, we feel pretty helpless but are doing our best to distract him and spend as much time on this as we can. We know we are in good hands with Dr. T but unfortunately, it seems that this could be MANY things. We are just trying to rule out one thing at a time.
Our biggest question now, is it time to get an MRI? If so, is it safe to have him neutered, and while under do an even more thorough exam of his mouth, ears and nose. And then have an MRI in the upcoming weeks (during which he would have to be put under again). Or is it best to have both procedures done at the same time? We are going to discuss this with Dr. T today.
I appreciate anyone's feedback who may have had a similiar experience. I have read several feeds but very few share the outcome. I will be sure to keep in touch, and I am so grateful for your help.
We desparately want to solve this for our little guy. We love him so much!
Thank you,
Kate
I am in need of some help. My 10 month old English Bulldog has been LICKING AT THE AIR in front of him excessively and PACING non-stop and quickly at the same time. He is doing this almost constantly when he is not on a walk or eating. He is now doing it in his crate which is difficult because that has been his (and our) place of peace from the licking.
We took him to our local vet who reffered us to an animal hospital nearby. Within 30 minutes, they reccomended we get an MRI. We decided to seek out a second opinion from a vet who specializes in bulldogs before proceeding with the MRI to see if there is anything we can rule out first.
On our first visit, Dr. T did not think it was neurological, so we held off on the MRI. He encouraged us to try to train him out of the behavior with commands, which unfortunately hasn't been working. He also told us we could try switching his food. So we have transititioned to another grain free food with a different protein, but no change.
The second visit, we explored more into the concept of OCD/ADD and that this could be behavioral. He reccomended that we get Roscoe neutered as soon as possible to see if that relieves some of this. He also said he could grow out of it with age, but he is not sure. He is scheduled to be neutured on Friday (as of now).
He also said that this could be attention-seeking behavior, but over last week we have watched closely for this and realized he does it even when we are actively playing or petting him. He will get distracted and then start on the pacing, licking and/or chewing on his paw.
Also at the second visit, he gave Roscoe an allergy shot which would last 10 days. He told us that if Roscoe was like "a new dog" in response to the shot, then it was definitely allergies. Unfortunately, we noticed no change over the 10 days.
From our standpoint, we simply can not tell if he is actually seeing something in front of his face that he is licking at or if it is something internal in his nose or head that he is trying to get at. It is very hard to tell. We have taken several videos and will show the Dr. at our third appointment today.
We just feel so bad for the poor guy. He is very distracted and seems increasingly uncomfortable. In the last few days he has rolled around on his head/ears a couple of times. It really does seem like something is driving him nuts. Needless to say, we feel pretty helpless but are doing our best to distract him and spend as much time on this as we can. We know we are in good hands with Dr. T but unfortunately, it seems that this could be MANY things. We are just trying to rule out one thing at a time.
Our biggest question now, is it time to get an MRI? If so, is it safe to have him neutered, and while under do an even more thorough exam of his mouth, ears and nose. And then have an MRI in the upcoming weeks (during which he would have to be put under again). Or is it best to have both procedures done at the same time? We are going to discuss this with Dr. T today.
I appreciate anyone's feedback who may have had a similiar experience. I have read several feeds but very few share the outcome. I will be sure to keep in touch, and I am so grateful for your help.
We desparately want to solve this for our little guy. We love him so much!
Thank you,
Kate