Need Help with Strange & Concerning Behaviour Please!

[Mindy & Lucy]

I'm not even sure how to explain this but have scoured the internet, been to the vet and am now seeing an animal chiropractor but still can't seem to get to the bottom of this concerning issue.

We have a female mini Labradoodle who turned 2 in October. We got her from a breeder who got her from another breeder, the second breeder was going to use her for her own breeding but decided her frame was too small. By the time we got her, she was 4 months old and seemingly healthy. We got her spayed before she turned 1 and have been feeding her good quality kibble.

This past summer we moved from the big city to the outskirts of a smaller city, more less in the country. Our Lucy has been loving it and the new dog park we've been bringing her to as well. A few months ago, Lucy began waking in the middle of the night (she was sleeping in her own bed in our room at the time) and running around and banging into walls and our bed, acting scared. She would look around her like she was seeing things and would be hard to console. This would last a few minutes and happen a couple times a week. I should back up a bit and mention that she was on a steroid in the summer for an infection on her feet that was thought to be an allergic issue. THIS is actually when we started noticing the strange behaviour and called the vet who advised although she had never heard of this kind of reaction in dogs to a steroid, we could stop giving it to her. She seemed to slowly improve. Then it started up again. We took her back to the vet, a different fellow this time - someone who we don't normally see and doesn't really know Lucy. He didn't pay much attention to her behaviour (which was now occurring during the day as well) and focused on the allergy issue and recommended we put her on a vet prescription diet (Hill's??). We decided to switch her diet to raw and took her to an animal chiropractor who said she had adrenal fatigue (makes sense based on everything we knew up until then) and gave us homeopathic medicine for her. She did indeed improve and in fact seem to be free of this problem. Then she started throwing up. Mostly acid, no food. Just a lot of coughing and wretching. Chiropractor said she had liver issues and gave us another medicine. We started giving that to her just last week and the vomiting issue seems gone except her episodes are back worse than ever before!!

I called the chiropractor this morning but he was busy and on his way to catch a plane and will be away for a week. He told the secretary to give us another remedy, this one to calm her. Also, to watch for "triggers" of her behaviour: who's the alpha in the house? Are we making her sit before she goes outside or is she allowed to jump everywhere? Does she jump all over when it's meal time or does she wait quietly for her food? Does she have these episodes when we're ignoring her (for attention)? I just don't understand what this has to do with anything. She will be fine and then all of a sudden crouch close to the ground while skootching around and hovering close to walls, cabinets, or our legs. She will paw at the air, her face/eyes/ears and look around her like she can see something that's not there. I once thought it could be an ear infection or eye issue but it doesn't seem to be the case. Also thought of dementia but she's only two years old!!

I'm at a complete loss. Just don't know where to turn. Anyone have a similar experience or have suggestions? We're running out of money with all the raw food, regular chiropractic visits and remedies...we don't mind spending money on our precious pooch but want to do it for something that will actually help her and get to the root of this issue.

I've attached a video of how she acts just before an episode, you can see a bit of it in the clip as well. There is no foaming of the mouth or anything like that...I've look up seizures and this doesn't appear to be it.

Hoping for some help...thanks so much for taking the time to read!

IMG_0856.MOV

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would forget the chiropractic, homeopathic, "remedies"  and all of the other unproven "alternative" treatment stuff and get my dog to a competent, qualified veterinarian who can run blood panels and other reliable tests and get to the bottom of this. It sounds neurological to me. 

[charlotte bednarsh]

I agree with Karen.  I would look for a qualified veterinarian or even a teaching hospital where they probably have treated an array of unusual challenges.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Absolutely. You could also forget the raw diet.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I agree that it would be good to get a full medical workup with labs even if only to rule some things out such as thyroid or adrenal gland issues.  And this could be done along with the holistic care if you feel she is benefiting from it. I understand the frustration and expense of trying to solve a medical mystery for an animal. It's so hard when they can't tell you what's wrong and the doctors sometimes have just as much trouble unfortunately. But keep at it, it sounds like your doing a good job of being your baby's advocate and hopefully you will get to the bottom of it soon. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree that you need to see a Vet who will run the appropriate tests to rule out a physical problem.  If there are no physical causes identified you may need a consultation with a Vet Behaviorist.  Since you don't have a diagnosis at this point, I would definitely consider getting Pet Insurance which would help as you pursue this.  Does it ever appear that she might be having a seizure during these episodes?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

There is a wait period for Pet Insurance however, so hopefully that will work out for you. As far as discontinuing the raw foods, I'm not sure why as it certainly is a good way to feed a dog, except it can be quite variable in its amount of nutrients from food to food.  If she is tolerating it well then I'd be concerned about switching to another food during all this on top of everything else. But I'm sure more experienced food advisors will be able to clarify this issue. 

Sorry to hear you and she are going through this. I do hope it gets resolved soon. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Homemade raw diets can be dangerous for dogs with certain types of health conditions. But the main problem is in thinking that a raw diet will cure allergies or any other kind of health condition; it won't, period. 

[Mindy & Lucy]

We get her raw food from a reputable place that sources only organic, hormone free meat. It's a balanced diet and I'm a raw convert. I don't think I would ever go back to kibble. I just don't think dogs were made to eat grains...they're carnivores. I'm pretty sure pet insurance would be hard to get with a pre-existing health condition.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The choice is not between homemade raw diets and kibbles containing grains. There are all kinds of other options.

1. There are dozens of kibbles that contain no grain whatsoever.

2. There are also commercially made ready-to-serve raw diets that are nutritionally complete and safer in terms of bacterial risks than homemade raw diets

3. There are also homecooked fresh food diets, freeze-dried diets, and canned diets. 

4. Dogs are omnivores. 

5. Regardless of all of the above, raw food cannot cure illness or disease. Neither can kibble. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It doesn't sound like you have any diagnosis yet, so it would be worth a try in my opinion.  They will ask for Vet records, but it sounds like the only actual diagnosis was the infection on the feet.

[Mindy & Lucy]

We don't feed her a homemade raw diet, it's "commercially" made and seems to be a good fit for her needs. I'm not expecting it to cure anything but it has definitely seemed to make a difference in her skin issues and makes for consistent bowel movements and less water consumption. The dry dog food that we were feeding her was a very high quality one with no wheat but the raw we feed her contains kelp and other healthy things. Perhaps there is no "one size fits all" solution but it's working for her and I wouldn't go back to kibble. For me, it was worth the research I did on manufactured dog food versus raw and I'm a convert! :) Not knocking anyone for choices they make for their own pets though, to each their own.

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Good for you for sticking to your raw.  The benefits are tremendous.  I have fed Skadi 5 1/2 years  raw now for over 3 years after experiencing so many problems with premium high quality kibble.  When I adopted our re-homed Elli, the previous owner says she has lots of problems with grains...and hands me a big bag of kibble with oatmeal as the main ingredient.Sigh. I brought her home and cold turkey(no pun intended) switched to raw.  She's been with me a year and no trips to the vets except for check-ups and vaccines.   I am so sorry to hear your baby is having so much trouble.  Keep us updated.