Anyone out there know asbout dogs?

I have a dog about 11 years old and he does have heart worms.  Lately he is acting like he can't hear me or he doesn't know who I am  or he is just confused.  He follows me everywhere I go and rarely wags his tail. He has a weird look in his eyes.  He is current on rabies.  This morning my husband told me that one of the dogs bumped him and he fell over.  I am afraid that we will be putting him down soon.  I guess I am sounding off and also wondering if that sounds like anything anyone here has gone through with their dog.

Take him to the vet.  He could have something like an ear infection that's affecting his equilibrium, or it could be something else.

Hope your dog gets better soon!

Agree. And best of luck.

We are taking him tomorrow. Thank you for your post.  I hope it is something that simple.  He has been a great dog.  I never had to worry about being safe with him around.  We have 5 dogs and he really is the brightest of the bunch and the most fearless. 

I, too, will hope it's something simple!  {{{Lauri}}}

Is Lucy a pit?  She is beautiful.  One of my dogs is a registerd American Bulldog.  Awesome dog.  We also have his son which is half lab and half AB.  Solid brendal - named Tiger of course!!! I am going to take some pics  this weekend for my gallery.  But Lucy is really beautiful.

OMG!  This just brought back memories of my much beloved dog Yukon.  He did everything that you described.  He was the same age.  One day he gave a yelp, and I went to see what was going on, and he just looked at me.  I held him as he died in my lap. 

He never fell down, but he simply plopped down one day.  It took a lot of encouragement from me for him to get up.  I didn't know that the end was so near at that time.  It was only about a week later that he passed. 

No one wants to think about it, but with the heart worms, there's not a lot of hope, especially if your dog is as old as he is.  If it's any consolation, I don't think they're in any pain unless they've got arthritis.  Peace to you on this heartbreaking decision you'll have to deal with.  ~Tonnie

Oh, thanks, Lauri!  My vet said Lucy is most likely Lab/Rottweiler, but I definitely see some Pit Bull in the shape of her big blocky head.   :)  She has some brindle on her legs, too.  I adore her.

Original Post by tuff_n_nuff:

We are taking him tomorrow. Thank you for your post.  I hope it is something that simple.  He has been a great dog.  I never had to worry about being safe with him around.  We have 5 dogs and he really is the brightest of the bunch and the most fearless. 

 

  I hope that it's something simple. Keep faith! It's easy to become discouraged early when you love your pets.  Is he  eating well? My little sister's dog is younger, but behaved that way. The vet said she thought he'd been poisoned by someone/something. That he had somehow gotten into or been given something tainted.

My other sister had an Alaskan Malamute that was behaving that way. It ended up being due to a brain tumor. The good thing about finding out was that they could make it less painful.  They hadn't been aware he was actually in pain. They just knew he'd been acting quite awkard,ect.  That he'd been increasingly changing and acting confused, ect. There wasn't a lot they could do to fix it or change it. It was so heartbreaking, but Keico didn't have to suffer anymore.They tried chemotherapy, but ultimately ended up having the vet  ( Well... put him out of his misery ... He just continued to get worse and worse. The vet said she wouldn't advise anymore treatment. That sometimes we just have to let them die as peacefully as possible. )

http://ezinearticles.com/?Brain-Tumors-in-Dog s-and-Cats&id=515354 -The signs are listed there.

 It may or may not be something serious. It could be a sinus infection or ear infection of sorts.  I hope everything works out I don't want to scare you. It could simply be signs of old age catching up to him.

My dog had similar symptoms when she hit about 12.  She was not heart worm postitive, but was a bit overweight.  She had been acting oddly for about a week when she collapsed in front of me and had a seizure.  Our guess is that she'd been having them for a while before we finally witnessed it.  She was diagnosed with diabetes and lived for another 3 1/2 years thanks to daily insulin shots, but she was never really the same after the seizures.  She went deaf, and then slowly went blind.  We had to put her down when she could no longer support herself using her back legs. 

Honestly, anything could be wrong with your dog, but it is possible that with treatment you won't have to put him down immediately.  Good luck at the vet - hopefully it's nothing serious.

If ya got heartworm ya gotta ge the treatment.  Its expensive and arduous.  I picked up a stray about 15 years ago and she tested pos w/hworm.  The treatment back then was slow drip of arsenic for three days, in-house a the vet.  Nowadays, the procedure isn't so dangerous, but if you wait, the worms will tear holes in the dog's heart.  They will die from it.  Heartworm is a very serious condition. 

If your dog survives it, I highly recommend heartworm prevention med.  And even if he/she doesn't, then get al your dogs tested & put them on it.  Heartworm is more widespread than rabies, esp if ou live in an urban environment, where your dogs don't hunt wild animals.  Mosquitoes bite the dog and the larvae enter the bloodstream, get placed inthe heart and grow into these spaghetti-like strands, burrowing in the heart muscle tissues.  Its terrible! 

Here in the south, we have our dog on it all year.  Good luck. 

My dog acted kind of similar and it turned out he had an ear infection in both ears. He's had many over the years, apparently he has yeasty skin and is prone to loads of ear infections.

I really hope it's just that for your dog.

Please seek treatment for the heartworms like mspw said. And if treated, the prevention medication is fairly inexpensive and is given throughout certain months of the year depending on where you live. Where I live its April-December, places that are hotter all year round, obviously take it for longer or all year round. It's given once a month, and you can stick in a treat, I roll mine up in some cheese and he's none the wiser. :D

Good luck. I hope your doggie pulls through ok.

In case anyone goes back to this.  We had to put Trouble down today.  The vet believes it was indeed a brain tumor.  He did show all the classic symptoms and there wasn't anything we could do.  Thanks you for being there and your help.

He was a wonderful dog that will be missed greatly. 

I am so sorry tuff_n_nuff, It is beyond awful to lose a good friend.

Original Post by tuff_n_nuff:

In case anyone goes back to this.  We had to put Trouble down today.  The vet believes it was indeed a brain tumor.  He did show all the classic symptoms and there wasn't anything we could do.  Thanks you for being there and your help.

He was a wonderful dog that will be missed greatly. 

*hugs* So sorry. :(

Original Post by tuff_n_nuff:

In case anyone goes back to this.  We had to put Trouble down today.  The vet believes it was indeed a brain tumor.  He did show all the classic symptoms and there wasn't anything we could do.  Thanks you for being there and your help.

He was a wonderful dog that will be missed greatly. 

 I'm very sorry, Lauri.  {{{hugs}}}  You and your family are in my thoughts.

Aw honey, that's awful. Prayers out to you and your family. 

Original Post by tuff_n_nuff:

In case anyone goes back to this.  We had to put Trouble down today.  The vet believes it was indeed a brain tumor.  He did show all the classic symptoms and there wasn't anything we could do.  Thanks you for being there and your help.

He was a wonderful dog that will be missed greatly. 

 Oh no, I am so sorry. ((HUGS))