LovemyBoyboy
New member
- Mar 13, 2024
- 3
- 1
- Country
- United States
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Sebastian
Thank you so much for your post. I have a full breed English bulldog whom passed away a few days ago and had the exact same symptoms as yours does. We were only able to get him to the emergency room once and had medicines like steroids, to manage his pain. He was also a rescue and was turning 6 when we got him. He passed a week after those symptoms.Hello, and thanks for reminding me to update you all. I also thought for sure it was a brain tumor, but she had an MRI yesterday, and it seems she has cognitive dysfunction syndrome. The big surprise is that we thought we had an 8-year-old dog, but the neurologist said that after looking at how advanced the degeneration was and also at her teeth, etc., she's likely a good bit older. (We adopted her from a rescue, and the shelter had made its best guess on age.) The neurologist also said she was surprised there had only been one seizure, given the extent of the degeneration. (She had a small seizure last Friday that I forgot to post about on here.) So now we have an anti-seizure prescription along with a drug for the CDS itself. Hopefully the meds will let her live out the rest of her time with us somewhat comfortably. She's still eating, going outside to the bathroom, wagging her tail, sleeping fairly well, etc. She's not had a panting/trembling episode or a seizure since last Friday.
The takeaway, which I hope helps someone else reading, is that bulldogs don't often manifest symptoms the way other dogs do. When I first started bringing her to the vet for this issue, the videos I had taken looked like any other dog demanding attention- whining, whimpering, even barking at one point, panting. But our dog, who is 75% English bulldog, was really content for most of her life to sit beside us. She rarely had any of those behaviors, because it wasn't her temperment. She also hasn't yet manifested a lot of the symptoms of CDS (house-soiling, wandering around the house at night, standing in corners confused), so again, a tough one to diagnose.
Also, as someone mentioned up thread, I encourage people to get diagnostic testing before trying prescriptions, if it's financially feasible. Lastly, please always trust your gut and advocate for your pet as best you can. You know your dog better than anyone. Thanks again to everyone replying and offering support!