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Ask the Veterinarian/Cocker Spaniel loss of muscle control

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Expert: - 5/11/2011


Question
Hi, we have a 3 year old English cocker spaniel and he just had an episode where he totally lost control of his legs. He was not convulsing nor were his eyes rolling around like when he had a seizure back in December. Instead he could not sit, stand, walk, etc. He was very panicked and scared and was crawling between the two of us into our laps for about 5 minutes. His eyes were extremely dilated also. After the initial 5 minutes he regained his ability to stand, sit and walk, but his eyes were still dilated and he was still very scared. Another 2 minutes later he was fully recovered and just wanted a lot of love and attention. He was panting and we gave him water to drink to help him calm down. He did not urinate, convulse, or roll his eyes around as I said before. When he had a seizure in December he did all of those things. Any information as to what this might be or what might have caused it would be very helpful and very much appreciated. Thank you

Answer
This sounds like a seizure, even though it was not the same as the last one. Dogs can have many types of seizures, but they fall mainly into two main categories: Petit mal, which are small, focal seizures, or Grand mal, which is the type he had back in December.

Petit mal, or focal seizures, can be as scary as the grand mal type, but typically affect one part of the body only. They can be as inconspicuous as a twitching eyelid or as pronounced as losing control over their legs, yet without the eye rolling, vocalization, etc.

This warrants a trip to the vet and a check up. Any type of hind end paralysis needs to be investigated. He could have had some other type of brain disturbance, but from what you are describing, with his subsequent recovery, sounds more like seizure activity.

Time to make an appointment with the vet.

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

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PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

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I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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