First post - members' experience needed - Page 1

My 22 month old gsd bitch is the picture of health until she exerts herself (running).  After just a minute of chasing her ball, she will collapse and hyperventilate.  This behaviour started in June and has got progressively worse over the summer.  She has been to the vets twice regarding this problem and earlier this week they did a chest xray and ECG... everything has come up normal.  The vet is baffled.  I am just wondering if any members here have any clue as to what may be wrong.  Could she be affected by pollen?  She doesn't have a problem when walking... only running.  The vet says she demonstrates the symptoms you would expect from a faulty heart valve where not enough oxygenated blood can be forced around the body when exerting herself, but her heart was fine.

Here is a video link showing her collapse... you can see better when I pan to the tummy area.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoO6fCauXPk

Many thanks
Kaz

Kaz,

Sorry you have this issue. I would be very upset as well.  Has she been tested for heartworms?

I would also try to ultrasound her as that might show more than an X-ray.  I think that may be more helpful.

Good luck with your beautiful girl...

Has she been tested for Lungworm?

that was supposed to be saw instead of show   lol

First i would like to say" WELCOME" since this is your first post.

Second im sorry your girl is not doing so we'll. YOu are in a good spot as there are some fabulous members here with great ideas.
I to thought about the heart and lung worm when i read your story. Has she been tested for either of those?

She is a beautiful girl and keep us updated on how she is doing. Thats how we all learn about new ailments etc.

Good luck!

Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my post... I am obviously very concerned about Abi.  I forgot to mention that she did have an ultrasound, but no abnormalities were detected.  I have always given her the heart worm treatment and she is up to date on jabs.  The vet took bloods, so I'm not sure whether that will expose a problem (or even how long it will take for results to come in).  I feel desperately sorry for her because she is full of a teenage desire for playful exertion, but she just can't cope.

The breathing in the video didn't strike me as anything really exceptional. I have 2 dogs that breathe very rapidly after any exertion pretty much exactly as your dog showed in the video. We refer to it as their machine gun pant. The 2 dogs are half siblings (same mother, different fathers). Their legs also tremble along with the pant. They both will continue with whatever activity, so it's never concerned me in the least. Now if they were collapsing and were unable or unwilling to walk or drink or whatever then that is a different story, of course. 

Annette

Contrary to what some other folks see, I agree with you that her respiration is both far too rapid and far too shallow to be viewed as normal, especially after such a short period of exertion.

kazUK, would it be possible for you to film the entire sequence, starting with her playing and following until the episode resolves, and post that on youtube? 

And speaking of that, how DOES each episode resolve? I presume her breathing returns to normal, but how long does it take to do so? Does she rest or sleep afterward, or is she right back up wanting to be active again?

Also--check the color of her gums while she's at rest to familiarize yourself with what it normally looks like: the gum tissue should be pink (where it's not marked with black), but not a really bright pink...just a soft but true, deep pink.  There shouldn't be any blueish tint, nor should they be reddish or gray. Now press your finger on a pink area of the gum, hold it for a second until the area blanches white, then release the pressure and count how long it takes for the pink color to return.   Once you know what's normal for her, check her gums again after she's collapsed post-exercise, and determine if there's any difference in either the color in general, or in how quickly the color returns after your finger pressure on the gum causes it to go pale. 

I'm also going to presume that everything else is normal with Abi--no coughing, eats well and without hesitation, has no trouble swallowing, has not experienced any physical trauma involving the ribcage/chest/abdomen.  Has the vet ruled out a vascular ring, or patent ductus areteriosus (the latter is NOT uncommon in GSDs)?  Am I correct in thinking that the ECG was not done immediately after Abi'd been running and while she was hyperventilating? Nor was the blood drawn for testing at that time as well? Given that Abi only experiences this problem after she's been running points to a need to have test results from blood drawn while she's 'at rest' as well as when she's in the midst of an episode--there may be increases or decreases in one or more of the chemicals in her circulating bloodstream that are key to determining why this exercise intolerance has developed.

How far are you from the closest veterinary school (you're in the UK, correct)? You may end up being better served to take Abi there, as opposed to you and your vet trying to run down every possible angle, one test at a time. I suspect you're going to need more than just an ECG done at the vet's office to get a diagnosis--I expect Abi's going to need to wear a Holter monitor in order to get an accurate picture of what's happening with her heart during strenous exercise, and that's going to involve a specialist. But that's also where you're most likely going to find the most advanced diagnostic and treatment options as well. For example, there is a condition in the breed known as Inherited Ventricular Arrhythmia of the German Shepherd Dog, the Veterinary School at Louisiana State University here in the US is currently part of a trial program of implanting defibrillators in dogs with this condition (http://cardiology.vetmed.lsu.edu/)
perhaps the vet school nearest you has similar trials underway that would be applicable to whatever Abi is finally diagnosed with.

Hopefully the problem turns out to be minor and easily solved, and your young dog can race around for as long as you'd both like her to do. 

I agree with hexe, something is not right from watching that video.  When my dog is super-panting his tongue drops all out and back in. This dog held its tongue between its teeth,  pretty constant, always rapidly breathing. There is some kind of stress there. My 2 cents.