everything crossed here for flynn xxx

Well, nothing came up in the blood tests. He had a full screening where she checked just about everything possible and, apart from slightly high glucose level, everything was fine. So, we can rule out a metabolic issue.

The vet is going to speak to the cardiologist tomorrow (apparently my vets have one) to see what her opinion is and see if it's worth hooking Flynn up to a Holter monitor to see if anything happens to his heart when exercising. If we can rule out a problem with his heart, that will go some way towards making me feel better about whats happening because one of my biggest worries is that I just dont know whether he's going to suddenly die on a walk.

I got the impression that the vet doesnt think it's worth the expense considering the infrequency of the 'turns'. But, I dont have peace of mind and it's massively affecting our walks. I've also started having mild panic attacks when walking him because my stress levels are so high so to me, it's absolutely worth it.

I agree peace of mind counts for alot, especially if you may be dealing with a heart condition. I would insist on the cardiologist having a look at him.

Best of luck - at least any metabolic issues are ruled out - so that is one step closer to finding an answer (hopefully).

His symptoms sound similar to my mums cavalier (only he would have turns at home too) he had a spinal tap and mri scanand was diagnosed with SM. Vet school said his turns were partial sezuires, which could be due to pain or for no reason at all.

I really hope you find out whats going on with your boy soon xxx

So at least you are beginning to narrow it down; but it sounds as if you need to convince your vet that you are prepared to spend more money on this. He/she is probably thinking of you and your pocket rather than his own, which is something of a novelty, but it is slightly encouraging that he is not unduly worried.

Now it is a huge good luck with the heart monitor thing, although if something does show up then at least you know what you are dealing with and hopefull how to treat it.

Try taking big deep breaths when out walking, and instead of concentrating on what MIGHT happen, think lovely happy thoughts; plan the meal for the evening; compose a letter to a friend in your head, anything to keep yourself calm.

I can't imagine how stressful not knowing what's happening must be, fingers crossed that they can get to the bottom of what's causing it x

Peace of mind is SO important, I hope that more light can be shed on this


Wys
x

We are booked in with a cardiologist next week so will have to wait to see what she thinks.

Good luck next week. Hope you get an answer.

Just a quick update...

Had quite a lengthy chat with the cardiologist earlier and she took lots of notes, asked me lots of questions. She said they can only rule things out and we may never find an answer which is fair enough but I think the ruling out is just as important as a diagnosis.
Anyway, if I give her the go ahead she proposes to do:
3 x glucose blood tests (taken immediately after exercise)
ECG
X- ray
X- ray images
Cardiac ultra sound
Blood pressure measurement
Holter Monitor

All coming in at just under 1k. Far cheaper than I expected but I need to check with my insurance company to make sure they will pay the bill. If they dont, I think I shall have all those done except the Holter monitor since thats the biggest cost.

She said it could be a number of things from basic faintness to more serious heart problems (she doesnt think it's neurological).

Anybody who knows Flynn will agree that when out walking or participating in an activity, he is in such a high state of arousal which can get out of control. He displays many behaviours which are never 'normal' such as going round in circles when excited, leaping from side to side like a kangaroo, making an atrocious amount of noise etc. My personal view is that sometimes, it gets too much for his body. The vet suggested the blood pressure could build to a point where the brain takes measures to bring it down and this results in these episodes. My personal view tends to be along those lines as well. I dont think he is 'ill' as such, I just think he is his own worst enemy when it comes to anxiety and excitement.

But, we shall see I guess.