I saw a 10 year old FS Border Collie almost 2 weeks ago for sudden onset ADR, maybe painful, possibly in spine. Dog has always eaten fresh food only, minimal vaccines, none lately. Owner claimed that up until two weeks previous, had been active/happy like a dog half her age. She'd had a negative snap Lyme test the previous week, pretty normal BW, but I was still suspicious of Lyme. Hx of being "hot", red tongue, pulse seemed weak, lately had been pacing at night, had always had ravenous appetite, unchanged now. Her hind legs were a bit base wide, but no ataxia, sometimes her spine seemed a little roached, and she had been having difficulties rising from lateral recumbency. I treated her with manual therapy and injected a few points on either side of T-L junction with Traumeel and Discus. Her movement and demeanor seemed a lot better from the physical treatments. Sent home on Yi Yi Ren Tang.
A couple of days later, desperate email from owner that dog had been gagging all night-- she sent videos. Lying lateral seemed to trigger it. Owner got on with Dr. Google and decided it was GERD, and began giving 5-6 small meals rather than 2 large ones, and this seemed to resolve the problem. She was still worried about the dog's energy, so I mailed her some high potency Ledum for a Lyme protocol, and arranged for her to come in and pull blood for a Lyme multiplex test. She reported an immediate improvement in energy on the Ledum (Ledum 1M 3x/day for 3 days is the protocol here), but came in for testing yesterday anyway. She lives 3 hours away, and when arriving, reported that the gagging had restarted during the car ride. She did not do it while with me, but I was thinking "plum pit" sensation, and her pulse seemed strong, almost wiry, tongue dark red. Plus she is an anxious high strung herding dog, so I was thinking liver stagnation and sent home on Xiao Yao San.
Another terrible night of gagging ???? Owner losing mind (she is high strung too!) I just saw a case here from 2021 that had some similarities, but complex bulldog with airway issues. It had responded to XYS.
Here is a really weird thing-- her other dog was doing a weird humpy behavior thing out of the blue, and the next day she pulled a garden of plant stems and seed pods out of his urethra!! Now I am wondering if this could be a FB, and am sending her to find an endoscopic exam somewhere. I can't imagine larpar as sudden onset and resolving, even temporarily, with more frequent meals.
Have you ever seen anything that pulls together all these weird signs? I have videos of the gagging-- maybe will post on Ask Dr. Steve.
thanks so much,
Karen