Tumor? Seizures? Allergies, Intoxication Health

Discussion in 'French Bulldog' started by Luis Iraheta, May 31, 2021.

  1. Luis Iraheta

    Luis Iraheta New Member

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    Tumor? Seizures? Allergies, Intoxication



    Hello Everyone,

    My name is Luis, I have a soon to be 6 year old white Frenchie (Chato) who has been through sooooo much, after thousands of dollars, many vet and emergency hospital visits I decided to start doing my own research because no one out there has answers for us. Here’s a summary of some of our experiences:

    Chato first showed signs of allergies after his first birthday. The vet suggested the Cytopoint injection to control his allergies, it was supposed to help for a full month but instead he ended needing it every 2-3 weeks and it wasn’t helping that much... the third time he got the shot he ended up having a reaction to it, it was BAD, it caused him to have scabby, almost bloody hives and hot spots everywhere, the doctor quickly treated him with steroids. After that reaction the vet suggested Apequol, a daily pill that chato now takes daily, we saw really good improvement with the Apequol but he wasn’t 100% comfortable and had some hot spots every now and then specially on the face, paws and armpits. The Vet then recommended to bathe Chato 2 times a week with a hypoallergenic shampoo, prescribed a topical spray that can be used on any hot spots that pop up, this was great but it wasn’t a solution.
    After many second opinions we came across a vet that suggested to switch his food to a prescribed formula, the Royal Canine HP Hydrolized Protein, this was supposed to help by reducing GI and Skin reactions that are typical with other dog foods. Between the diet, apequol, baths and topical spray his allergies were for the most part under control.

    Until one day when he was around 3 years old new symptoms showed up, he was acting weird, almost as if he was dizzy, moving his head left to right and stumbling, it was hard for him to keep his balance, he would pee as he tried to walk and would pee in the bed when he was resting, he couldn’t control his urine. I took him to the vet and by the time we got there the symptoms had passed they had lasted for about 2 hours, the vet told me he had probably gotten into something maybe during a walk and that all his vitals looked perfectly fine. I didn’t think much of it at the time and went with the vet recommendations, after 6 months or so it happened again and again by the time I got to the vet the symptoms had passed and there was nothing they could see, I’m pretty sure the vets thought I was crazy LOL, he was having these episodes 2-3 times a year and the Vet had no idea what it could be because chato looked great every time he was examined. During one of the exams they found a mast cell tumor on his back left leg, he got surgery and the tumor was removed, there was a chance it could comeback but it hasn’t and hopefully won’t.

    When Chato turned 5 years old the drunk episodes as I calle them started happening more often almost 2 times per month, every time we would end up at the emergency hospital, at this point my phone was filled with hundreds of videos of me recording his behavior, I showed them to the vet and they thought he seemed like he was under the influence of some sort of drug, I explained to the vet we live in an apt complex and pretty sure the neighbors smoke weed, that sometimes I could smell it if I had the windows open, we ruled out drugs by doing a drug test on Chato, the vet also did blood work to check on liver enzymes and everything was coming back normal. At the same time Chato was starting to reject the food he was on, he wouldn’t eat it and when he did he would throw up, clear liquid sometimes yellow, his stools would be really soft. He was prescribed the Royal Canine Ultamino Diet that is exclusive for dogs with food sensitivities, his stool came back to normal but it was only for a few months...

    I decided to do my own research because nothing the vet had prescribed has worked for Chato, I tried home made food, raw food with little success but I think I finally found a food that seems to work for him and his allergies, I am feeding him Freshpet Vital Grain Free Salmon & Ocean Whitefish fresh dog food. He has been on it for about a month now, his stools are back to normal. So far everything seems good with his new diet...

    However the real reason I am here is because of the weird episodes, they are becoming more frequent and are lasting longer, we have scheduled an appointment with Neurology to rule out any tumors :( I’m hoping someone out there has had a similar situation with their Frenchie and can point me in the right direction.

    I’ve attached links to some of the videos showing the behavior.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/sq-uUYT9O6Y?feature=share

    https://youtube.com/shorts/zPl3nzuVGww?feature=share

    I hope our experiences help anyone out there that is going through this very frustrating process.

    Thanks in advance for all the replies.
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  3. Toedtoes

    Toedtoes Member

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    F irst, allergies are very common to Frenchies, and can be very difficult to diagnose the triggers, so well done with that.

    As for the episodes, I would lean towards epilepsy, or seizures. The cause could be a brain tumor. It may be a reaction to the allergies (uncommon, but possible in a dog with such severe allergy attacks). It may be something else.

    I would see what the neurological tests reveal.
  4. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Toedtoes likes this.
    I think your videos are showing signs of Petit Mal epilepsy. These are usually brief absences, and I would let him recover quietly on his own. There is some evidence that supplementing with fish oil can help with less serious cases of epilepsy.
    I hope there are no responsible tumours and the neurologist can find a remedy for Chato's problem.

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