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Senior dog woke up howling and freaking out

2K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Buzzu2 
#1 ·
We have a 13 year old white lab that listens very well and has never been on a leash (we live in the country on a lot of land). She is very well trained and has some arthritis so she has slowed down, but that’s the only health problem we know of. She has never barked in her life.

In the middle of the night last night, we woke up to her howling, barking and crying, pacing and RUNNING around the house frantic. Urinated in the kitchen during all of this.. and continued to freak out, howling and running. She would not come to us, or look at us-so we let her outside thinking maybe she needed to use the bathroom. She bolted out the door (keep in mind, she moves slow and doesn’t run much due to her joints). She ran and leaped off of our porch skipping the last 2 steps and ran faster than I’ve ever seen her run crashing into limbs into the woods (that she never goes to). We ran after her with a flash light- found her in the road and she was still trying to run but her back legs had gave out and were dragging. She still did not look at us - it was like she didn’t even know we were there. We had to carry her back in the house and she proceeded to pace and pant for an hour and wouldn’t drink water - before laying back down and going back to sleep.
Any ideas? Could this have been pain related? Could this be cognitive decline disorder? My understanding is cognitive disorder would come on slowly... we haven’t noticed anything prior to this.
 
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#6 ·
The vet found that her anal glands were very impacted-which I thought was strange because I haven’t noticed her trying to lick at her bottom or anything. They excreted them and said that some dogs have crazy episodes when they are in pain from something like that. He’s hoping that the anal glands were all that it was. He sent us home with gabapentin to go with her NSAID to assist with pain and to help keep her comfortable. Blood work will return tomorrow ... she’s drinking water now and we are home and she is resting.
 
#8 ·
Hopefully that's all it was. Terrible for her, but better than other possibilities.

Since she is older, and has arthritis, what is she taking to help with that? Pain meds, anti-inflammatory, fish oil, cbd oil can all be beneficial and are definitely worth talking to your vet about (if you haven't already).
 
#9 ·
Im glad you found an answer. Im glad my first thought was wrong and I hope this points out why asking medical advice from an internet forum can be so misleading if not downright dangerous....

Limited information and not being able to physically see the dog means there is little chance of a correct diagnoses plus the fact none of us are vets.
As this proves there is no subsitute for a real life vet...
 
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