We have the best vet ever - crying my eyes out right now

I'm actually at home this week, as well as halfway through last week, the reason being that we basically thought Dempsey was suffering from a serious heart problem.

I mentioned on here a couple of months ago that Dempsey collapsed when we went to Derby to see my brother. We'd put it down to hunger, over excitement and just plain exhaustion from the stress of the journey - nothing to worry about.

Last week, however, I took Dempsey downstairs in the morning to go to the toilet. There was a cat in the garden, which he hates, so he went chasing after it. The trouble is that the cat couldn't get away, so it perched up on a beam across our garden. Dempsey was going mad and, when the cat finally went, he was still trying to get up on top of the plant pots. I started to pull him away, when he suddenly coughed twice. He backed up, keeled over onto his side and thrust his neck outwards, jerking violently and foaming at the mouth. The strange thing is that I stayed perfectly calm throughout, giving him space and waiting for him to recover. Seemed like ages, but it can't have been more than four or five seconds. Once I was sure the fit had finished, I ran upstairs to get mum. When we got back down, he was laying with his head up and looking drowsy. Coaxed him to his feet and he seemed fine, but honestly I was scared stiff. After it had all died down, I couldn't stop shaking.

Spent the last half week terrified out of my mind that we were going to lose him. I've not had a decent night's sleep since then and both me and mum have been watching him like a hawk.

Mum phoned just now from work and said that our vet phoned her back (she'd left a message for him to phone her on Friday). We hadn't been able to take Dempey straight down to the vet simply because there's no way we could afford it right now, so we wanted his opinion beforehand, especially as the stress of a vet trip might have caused another episode.

Have to say that our vet is amazing. Seriously, there is nobody in the world outside our family I'd trust with Dempsey more than him. He's actually seen this before in bully breeds and has been doing a lot of personal research on it. He's as sure as he can be that this is S.O.S. (Sudden Overexertion Syndrome, which is his name for it); it apparently occurs in deep-chested breeds such as Bull Terriers and Staffies, hence why I'm putting it on here. Basically, deeper chests mean larger lungs. When the dog over exerts himself and the adrenline kicks in, it uses up a huge amount of blood sugar. Due to the size of the lungs, not enough oxygen can be taken in, which leads to collapse. He's told us to monitor Dempsey for a month, giving him a handful of his breakfast in the morning, some in the afternoon, and then his dinner in the evening, to ensure that his blood sugar levels stay even.

Our vet was able to rule out heart problems, tracheal collapse and diabetes over the phone, as he saw Dempsey only a couple of weeks before the first collapse. He'd listened to his heart then and has said that, for a heart problem to be bad enough to cause collapse after such a short bout of exertion, he would have heard it. The symptoms don't match diabetes and tracheal collapse either.

I literally can't stop crying!

Sounds like you have a very professional vet there for Dempsey Eleanor and he would always be in very safe hands with him. The way you have explained what the vet said makes quite a lot of sense to me, (my hubby has a medical background and some of it has worn off of me)

I'm sure with both you and your Mum there Dempsey will be watched very well and the first sign of anything will be caught far before anything were to happen. I'm sure Dempster will be fine with his blood sugar levels taken in hand and monitored.

Now go and have a cup of tea and a biscuit yourself before you fall over,

Aww Eleanor that's fantastic news, so happy for you and mum you all must be so relieved. Xx

aww Eleanor and Caryll  ,you must have been scared to death,well done for handling it so well,now you can take a deep breath and relax a bit  

Not the same thing as exercise induced collapse is it or different?

Glad you've gotten to the bottom of it

Thanks all Calmed down a bit now!

Ella, it's similar, but not the same thing. It isn't a recognised illness as such yet, because our vet has only in recent years started his research on it. He noticed it because our area has an extremely high number of staffies, staffie crosses and bully breeds, and he had a large number of cases of these breeds being brought into him with the same symptoms. It isn't genetic, like EIC. He's said that, from his research, the dogs are perfectly able to exercise as normal. The problem only occurs when a huge rush of adrenaline is released as a result of the fight or flight response and the dog's blood sugar levels aren't quite high enough to deal with it.

He's spread the word of it around the county and a lot of other vets have apparently also recorded the same symptoms in the same types of dogs. One of the things I love about this vet is that he's been a vet for years, but he still keeps refreshing his knowledge and keeps up with current medical issues.

So pleased its nothing serious xx

Aw Eleanor, so pleased Demps is alright. Now, are you alright? Sounds like a magic vet you have there.

Sounds a great vet Eleanor glad you and Mum have a diagnosis for it and that you can at least try to control it hugs to you both and the gorgeous Dempsey  xx

Sazzle wrote:So pleased its nothing serious xx

Me too I was so prepared for the vet to say it was a serious heart problem.

RoxysMum wrote:Aw Eleanor, so pleased Demps is alright. Now, are you alright? Sounds like a magic vet you have there.

Dempsey's going about his life as usual! I've calmed down a bit now. Still jumping at every strange noise he makes, but I'll settle down in a few days, I think.

Inez Maria wrote:Sounds a great vet Eleanor glad you and Mum have a diagnosis for it and that you can at least try to control it hugs to you both and the gorgeous Dempsey  xx

Compared to what I thought it was, this is a walk in the park! If it's just a matter of giving him a handful of fishy kibble in the morning and afternoon, I'm sure he won't be complaining!

Eleanor wrote:Thanks all :(hug):Calmed down a bit now!

Ella, it's similar, but not the same thing. :)It isn't a recognised illness as such yet, because our vet has only in recent years started his research on it. He noticed it because our area has an extremely high number of staffies, staffie crosses and bully breeds, and he had a large number of cases of these breeds being brought into him with the same symptoms. It isn't genetic, like EIC. :)He's said that, from his research, the dogs are perfectly able to exercise as normal. The problem only occurs when a huge rush of adrenaline is released as a result of the fight or flight response and the dog's blood sugar levels aren't quite high enough to deal with it.

He's spread the word of it around the county and a lot of other vets have apparently also recorded the same symptoms in the same types of dogs. One of the things I love about this vet is that he's been a vet for years, but he still keeps refreshing his knowledge and keeps up with current medical issues.

Was just interested thanks for that

Awww El, I am so pleased for you guys Xx

Oh my gosh! So glad you have a good vet. I likewise have one that I can get real answers from without a visit. Still must have been a frightening time.

Thanks all! So glad we switched over to this vet when Dempsey was younger. Makes us realise just how terrible the first vet practice was (asking a puppy with a cough to wait outside in the freezing car park because he might pass it onto other animals) and just how good our current one is. Goes to show that not all vets are just interested in making a profit!

It's big piece of mind to know you have a good vet ( we are lucky like that too ) hope he's feeling all better soon Miss E and sending hugs to Mrs C    

I'm so sorry I haven't caught up with this before now - I would have sent big hugs to you all. How frightening for you.

What a wonderful vet you have, and such a simple preventative - feed throughout the day to keep blood sugar levels up. I have always fed once a day when the dog is adult and this has made me pause for thought.

I am SO glad that Dempsey has been given a clean bill of health and that the answer is to spread his meals out. What a relief!

Love to you and Caryll (and Dempsey of course)      

Most dogs can manage perfectly well on one meal, and it's only the set of circumstances that happened to coincide twice (typical:roll: ) to produce the reaction. It may never happen again!

Aw you guys that must have been terrifying so glad he's okay xx