Diagnosis on dog whom was thought to have SOA
Found this on another forum and thought I would share, it was thought this dog may have had SOA or rage syndrome until they found the true cause...
In the middle of September last year, we decided to adopt a third dog.
Max, Mini Bullterrier, exactly one year old. He was urgently looking for
a new home, since he had trouble with his current owner. In the
beginning, all he did was try to nip his owner in the ankles when
running. But it became more and more serious and he wouldn’t stop.
Finally he was beat twice by his owner, because nothing else helped. He
started nipping (all of this occurred when he was about 8 months old).
The breeder recommended obedience training, the dog trainer gave them
excercises. At some point, it couldn’t go any further, and the family
council decided that the dog had to go before something bad happened. So
we made our way from Freiburg towards Berlin [Edit: about 800km / 500
miles] to pick up Max. Oh my god, a poor dog that had been beat, we will
offer him a great home, lots of love, consistency, and everything will
be fine, we thought – but it came very different!!
So Max moved in. The first two weeks were great!! Yet he was a little
timid, wanted to be alone often, and on walks he just followed (always
with ears back, constantly scratching himself and shaking), he needed
out between 10-14 times a day to pee large amounts. But it was a great
trio: a Jack Russell, a Newfie, and Max. Ok, he didn’t like the twilight
and night from the start. He was very spooky then, twitchy movement,
barked at everything, and we had to drag him behind ourselves on leash.
He just didn’t want to go out. His favourite spot was in the kitchen
corner, where he had the overview over everything. With head low,
blinking fast, and any talking and cooing was unimportant to him. When
he did not sit in the kitchen, he was in his dig bed, bit into the rim
of his bed and slept in that position. A little weird, but we were
happy.
Pretty close to two weeks in, the drama started. He sat in the kitchen
corner and we moved around as usual. Suddenly he jumps up, jumps on one
of us and nips at the thigh. No reason, no warning. The normal reaction
would have been a slap, but the dog had already been beaten, so we did
nothing. And Max?? Breaks down, sits in his corner, blinks and shakes.
Hmmm, well, maybe he’s remembering something familiar?? But that wasn’t
the case, these situations increased in frequency. Only at night in the
beginning. Ok, maybe the dog has bad vision?? Off to the veterinary
ophthalmologist. All tests negative. On the contrary, Max’s vision is
very good. Diagnosis: well, there are just aggressive dogs, look for a
good trainer. The situations increased in frequency. So we contact the
breeder: Yes, Max needs obedience. The previous owners have done
everything wrong. Look for a good trainer and only feed him by hand.
It became worse and worse. He attacked the other dogs without reason.
Without growling, without threatening. In the end, they wanted nothing
to do with him and walked away as soon as he came close. So, separate
the dogs. Crate Max over and over. Us humans had red and blue
contusions. So – big checkup at the vet clinic, since our regular vet
had no more ideas: well, there are just aggressive dogs, if bad comes to
worse you’ll just have to put him down when it becomes too dangerous.
Vet clinic: all values normal, Leukocytes and Monocytes slightly
elevated, but nothing major. Well, there are just aggressive dogs, and
if it doesn’t get better you’ll just have to put him down before he
becomes dangerous. In the meantime, we were at 2-3 attacks per day,
morning, noon, and at night… daytime didn’t matter. Sometimes even when
putting on or taking off the harness / collar. The dog trainer said:
He’s just fearful and hasn’t arrived yet. He needs a bit of time…
We were convinced that Max is neither mean nor aggressive. It was clear
to us that something was wrong with Max. In the meantime, we had read up
on “bully rage†and hydrocephalus. So we searched on, looked for help
wherever we could find it. Ok, next stop: Frankfurt (Wetzlar) [Edit:
about 330km / 200 miles] to see a behavioural specialist who specialised
on thyroid. Diagnosis after 4 hrs of observation: not the thyroid (it
would have been too easy), but Max has chronic pain. His whole behaviour
indicates it. Biting into the rim of the dog bed, holding his head
high, permanent gulping, shaking, scratching. But where does the pain
come from? No idea. So back to the clinic. X-ray the entire locomotor
system, Toxoplasmosis, Borreliosis, Leptospirosis, Distemper,
Anaplasmosis. Checked everything. Everything negative. And his behaviour
became worse and worse. In the meantime, he drew blood from our arms
and legs. But we were still not convinced that it wasn’t his fault. Now
all that was left was checking the head. There were so many moments
where I didn’t know what to do anymore. Where I thought, maybe it would
be better to let him go? After every nip or bite, the dog broke down and
was devastated. And every time I had this thought, I saw the behaviour
vet in front of me who looked at Max and said: “He’s suffering. He’s in
pain. It’s not his fault. His bad behaviour is a rection to the pain.†I
even contacted an animal communicator. She said too: Max does not want
to go, he has to bite, even though he doesn’t want to. He’s in pain, but
doesn’t tell where.â€
So University clinic Berne [Edit: about 170 km / 100 miles]. MRT of the
head. No, that’s not the way it goes. They want a complete neurological
exam first. Liver- and bile values. Could be something else after all…
so we drive to Berne three times. Finally the MRT. Tap some
Cerebrospinal fluid. Diagnosis: no hydrocephalus. But there’s a little
cyst at the palate, which surely can’t be responsible for Max’s
behaviour. It’s operable, by endoscopy, but there are just behaviourally
disturbed dogs. They recommend a good trainer, and if that doesn’t
help, we’d just have to get rid of the dog. Who knows what he has
already experienced…
Ok, that was it for us. We went all the different ways possible. But
that couldn’t be it. I kept thinking of the words of the behaviour vet.
So I got a few copies of the MRT and sent it to all the neurology
specialists. And lo and behold! After one week I get a phone call from
Berlin: a neurologist who’d been in England for a long time has looked
at our history and the MRT. He just said he knew this. It’s
cranyopharyngeoma, “Tornwaldt†cyst, “Rathke†cyst. He says it’s usually
benign and oparable. Ok, off to Berlin [Edit: about 800km / 500 miles].
Surgery on Max. The palate was split 4cm and the tumor was removed. All
of this is nine days ago now, adn in all these days we just had a
normal dog. He plays with the other dogs, pees normal, sleeps, sometimes
sits in the kitchen corner and observes what’s around him. Sleeps at
night without having to go out three times. Max is just our four-legged
Christmas present.
We want to encourage all of those who don’t know what else, who have
been told by all vets that there is such a thing as “bully rageâ€. As
long as you can, do not stop looking for the reasons for weird
behaviour. Don’t shy away from an MRT. By the way, you can get one done
in Berlin very good and also fairly cheap. There is a great clinic in
the Berlin-Grunewald.
In the middle of September last year, we decided to adopt a third dog.
Max, Mini Bullterrier, exactly one year old. He was urgently looking for
a new home, since he had trouble with his current owner. In the
beginning, all he did was try to nip his owner in the ankles when
running. But it became more and more serious and he wouldn’t stop.
Finally he was beat twice by his owner, because nothing else helped. He
started nipping (all of this occurred when he was about 8 months old).
The breeder recommended obedience training, the dog trainer gave them
excercises. At some point, it couldn’t go any further, and the family
council decided that the dog had to go before something bad happened. So
we made our way from Freiburg towards Berlin [Edit: about 800km / 500
miles] to pick up Max. Oh my god, a poor dog that had been beat, we will
offer him a great home, lots of love, consistency, and everything will
be fine, we thought – but it came very different!!
So Max moved in. The first two weeks were great!! Yet he was a little
timid, wanted to be alone often, and on walks he just followed (always
with ears back, constantly scratching himself and shaking), he needed
out between 10-14 times a day to pee large amounts. But it was a great
trio: a Jack Russell, a Newfie, and Max. Ok, he didn’t like the twilight
and night from the start. He was very spooky then, twitchy movement,
barked at everything, and we had to drag him behind ourselves on leash.
He just didn’t want to go out. His favourite spot was in the kitchen
corner, where he had the overview over everything. With head low,
blinking fast, and any talking and cooing was unimportant to him. When
he did not sit in the kitchen, he was in his dig bed, bit into the rim
of his bed and slept in that position. A little weird, but we were
happy.
Pretty close to two weeks in, the drama started. He sat in the kitchen
corner and we moved around as usual. Suddenly he jumps up, jumps on one
of us and nips at the thigh. No reason, no warning. The normal reaction
would have been a slap, but the dog had already been beaten, so we did
nothing. And Max?? Breaks down, sits in his corner, blinks and shakes.
Hmmm, well, maybe he’s remembering something familiar?? But that wasn’t
the case, these situations increased in frequency. Only at night in the
beginning. Ok, maybe the dog has bad vision?? Off to the veterinary
ophthalmologist. All tests negative. On the contrary, Max’s vision is
very good. Diagnosis: well, there are just aggressive dogs, look for a
good trainer. The situations increased in frequency. So we contact the
breeder: Yes, Max needs obedience. The previous owners have done
everything wrong. Look for a good trainer and only feed him by hand.
It became worse and worse. He attacked the other dogs without reason.
Without growling, without threatening. In the end, they wanted nothing
to do with him and walked away as soon as he came close. So, separate
the dogs. Crate Max over and over. Us humans had red and blue
contusions. So – big checkup at the vet clinic, since our regular vet
had no more ideas: well, there are just aggressive dogs, if bad comes to
worse you’ll just have to put him down when it becomes too dangerous.
Vet clinic: all values normal, Leukocytes and Monocytes slightly
elevated, but nothing major. Well, there are just aggressive dogs, and
if it doesn’t get better you’ll just have to put him down before he
becomes dangerous. In the meantime, we were at 2-3 attacks per day,
morning, noon, and at night… daytime didn’t matter. Sometimes even when
putting on or taking off the harness / collar. The dog trainer said:
He’s just fearful and hasn’t arrived yet. He needs a bit of time…
We were convinced that Max is neither mean nor aggressive. It was clear
to us that something was wrong with Max. In the meantime, we had read up
on “bully rage†and hydrocephalus. So we searched on, looked for help
wherever we could find it. Ok, next stop: Frankfurt (Wetzlar) [Edit:
about 330km / 200 miles] to see a behavioural specialist who specialised
on thyroid. Diagnosis after 4 hrs of observation: not the thyroid (it
would have been too easy), but Max has chronic pain. His whole behaviour
indicates it. Biting into the rim of the dog bed, holding his head
high, permanent gulping, shaking, scratching. But where does the pain
come from? No idea. So back to the clinic. X-ray the entire locomotor
system, Toxoplasmosis, Borreliosis, Leptospirosis, Distemper,
Anaplasmosis. Checked everything. Everything negative. And his behaviour
became worse and worse. In the meantime, he drew blood from our arms
and legs. But we were still not convinced that it wasn’t his fault. Now
all that was left was checking the head. There were so many moments
where I didn’t know what to do anymore. Where I thought, maybe it would
be better to let him go? After every nip or bite, the dog broke down and
was devastated. And every time I had this thought, I saw the behaviour
vet in front of me who looked at Max and said: “He’s suffering. He’s in
pain. It’s not his fault. His bad behaviour is a rection to the pain.†I
even contacted an animal communicator. She said too: Max does not want
to go, he has to bite, even though he doesn’t want to. He’s in pain, but
doesn’t tell where.â€
So University clinic Berne [Edit: about 170 km / 100 miles]. MRT of the
head. No, that’s not the way it goes. They want a complete neurological
exam first. Liver- and bile values. Could be something else after all…
so we drive to Berne three times. Finally the MRT. Tap some
Cerebrospinal fluid. Diagnosis: no hydrocephalus. But there’s a little
cyst at the palate, which surely can’t be responsible for Max’s
behaviour. It’s operable, by endoscopy, but there are just behaviourally
disturbed dogs. They recommend a good trainer, and if that doesn’t
help, we’d just have to get rid of the dog. Who knows what he has
already experienced…
Ok, that was it for us. We went all the different ways possible. But
that couldn’t be it. I kept thinking of the words of the behaviour vet.
So I got a few copies of the MRT and sent it to all the neurology
specialists. And lo and behold! After one week I get a phone call from
Berlin: a neurologist who’d been in England for a long time has looked
at our history and the MRT. He just said he knew this. It’s
cranyopharyngeoma, “Tornwaldt†cyst, “Rathke†cyst. He says it’s usually
benign and oparable. Ok, off to Berlin [Edit: about 800km / 500 miles].
Surgery on Max. The palate was split 4cm and the tumor was removed. All
of this is nine days ago now, adn in all these days we just had a
normal dog. He plays with the other dogs, pees normal, sleeps, sometimes
sits in the kitchen corner and observes what’s around him. Sleeps at
night without having to go out three times. Max is just our four-legged
Christmas present.
We want to encourage all of those who don’t know what else, who have
been told by all vets that there is such a thing as “bully rageâ€. As
long as you can, do not stop looking for the reasons for weird
behaviour. Don’t shy away from an MRT. By the way, you can get one done
in Berlin very good and also fairly cheap. There is a great clinic in
the Berlin-Grunewald.
Comments
It is things like this that has woken me up to begin looking more and more and more into nutrition. people think huge problems always come from huge issues, and thats not always the case. sometimes huge problems can come from things we think are "no big deal"
Great story. Amazing how many "Professionals" this dog was seen by that couldn't provide an accurate and correct diagnosis. The owner of this dog should be commended for their steadfast determination to find the route cause of the behavior problem and pursue a means of correction. Can you just imagine how many dogs of all types are born with a similar problem and are euthanized because of their medical disorder that could have been corrected? Sadly most Vets don't have knowledge, test equipment, and experience to properly diagnose dogs like this one.
The owner of this dog could have conducted all the training in the world and it wouldn't have corrected the problem.
I can just imagine how much money was invested into the medical tests conducted on this puppy. However, you can't put a price on a dog that's truly loved and treated just like a family member. Again, my hat is off to the owner of this dog. great story with a great ending.
Thanks for sharing Danielle.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
just like that show mystery diagnoses, where people are in the same predicament.