Has anyone had a dog who started experiencing neurological problems? If so, I need ideas, comments, suggestions, stories...something.
Brown is a 14 year old Lab who probably hasn't let out a real bark in years. He instead makes a honking noise lol. Until recently, he had been in very good health despite his age. His vet said that he wished all old Labs looked like him. He's still very active for his age, but he has had problems staying upright since his first vestibular incident a few months ago.
About a year ago, his senior blood panel showed his thyroid levels at low normal, but they weren't low enough to warrant medication. His coat was horrendous, though, and he was about as lazy as they come. He also had started chattering his teeth when he yarned. Several months ago, I took him to the vet because of this gagging issue. I researched as much as I could and suspected laryngeal paralysis, which the vet confirmed. He had a round of Baytril just in case it was URI and has since stayed on prednisone (1/2 daily) to reduce any inflammation that occurred because of the constant gagging. Since then, that issue improved tremendously. He hardly ever makes that gagging noise anymore.
The vet also ran bloodwork again and decided to put him on thyroid meds since thyroid problems have been linked to neuromuscular issues, like vocal chord paralysis, laryngeal paralysis, and teeth chattering. The thyroid meds have lit a fire in him, and he has since gone back to doing things like he hasn't done in ages (namely digging in the garbage and stringing it across the house). However, about a month after starting the thyroid meds, he was slapped hard with a vestibular event. The vet gave him IV fluids and observed him and was pretty certain that we were looking at signs of vestibular disease, but he told me that I should monitor his condition for several days. If he improved, it more than likely was a vestibular event rather than something like a brain tumor. He did improve, and by a week later, you'd swear nothing ever had happened. He has never had another massive event like that since, but from time to time, he has been wobblier on some days more than others. Sometimes he's walking a little crooked. Other times he's walks so crookedly that his butt looks like it's going to walk in front of his face. Then, sometimes he flies up the steps like he's a puppy. It's so sporadic that I can't even identify a pattern. His back legs are noticeably weaker, but he's not arthritic. It's like his brain can't shoot off messages to his legs fast enough.
Yesterday afternoon, I was taking a nap and woke up because I heard him breathing heavily. I looked down the hall, and he was dragging himself to my room with his front paws. He had never done that before. I was in tears thinking that something worse had occurred. I got him to his feet, but he fell so I just sat with him. About 10 minutes later, as I'm relaying this story to my husband, while Addisen's feeding Brown fruity snacks lol, Brown gets up and trots to the front door to see what's going on outside. WTH!?! I thought things had gotten incredibly worse, and minutes later, he's upright like nothing had happened. He struggles to walk on our tile, so right now, my husband is off to the pet store to find rubberized booties. I'm sure Brown will be beyond thrilled with that, but I think they will help him grip better.
I know all of these neurological things are connected to his thyroid, but his thyroid levels are good with the meds. Everything I've read says that neurological issues subside once thyroid levels normalize. What am I missing?
As of his last blood panel, all other levels were fine. His appetite is as good as ever, and he doesn't sleep any more or less than before. In fact, aside from digging in the garbage and being a little peppier, he's had no behavioral changes.