The American Beagler Forum

I have a female about 4 years old she is a little overweight but nothing like most of my beagles, she may be 6-7 lbs heavy now.

1st time was last summer I was running her in extreme heat in open coal country of Southern Indiana....she did well for about 45 minutes and came staggering up like a drunk, she had seizure like symptoms and was stiffening up...breathing hard, loss of balance, unable to walk. I scooped her up and carried her out to water and air conditioning in the truck and she was fine within an hour or so.

A couple of weeks ago I was running her for over an hour in very thick growth....she ran fine and came out about 1 1/2 hours into running with same problems. I figured that time I just pushed her too far in the heat with her not being in running condition.

Then tonight...I was running and she struck and jumped a rabbit 2 minutes after cutting them lose. They only ran 15 minutes before they put it in a hole. I went up and called them over and headed back the other way where they soon jumped a deer, my 2 males came back to me and stopped hunting but I couldnt find the female. She is a very clean hound and wont run deer but I couldnt find her, so after hollering for her for a few minutes I bumped her shock collar and heard her yelp at the truck. WHen I got to the truck I was shocked to find her in the same condition.....laid up under the truck stiffening out and having what seemed to be a seizure. I thought she was dieing on me this time.

I am done running her on rabbits for now. Not worth killing her over, but I would sure like to know if she is healthy, and if not, how I can help her.

Will heat stroke act like a seizure? Does this sound at all like a heat stroke only 15-20 minutes into running? Any idea of the cost to find out if dog has seizures and what causes a seizure?

Any advice or thoughts will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Randy

Randy,
My guess is low blood sugar, you might try giving her nutra- cal before running her or carry a candybar in your pocket.
Never had a beagle that did what you are saying but I have had birddogs that did bout exactly what you are saying she does.
Hope this helps, but I aint a vet either.
Trent

I'm no vet but I have had a good dog of mine that had a heat stroke.
I hope this isn't the case for your female Randy.Take her to the vet for a check up.
Brian from Mi.

I'm with swing on this. Sounds like low blood sugar. You can give her a candy bar but stay away from chocolate. I think they sell some blood sugar supplements for dogs. Just giver her one prior to running and she should be okay. Dogs can get overheated and show similar side effects, some people take this heat stroke. Heat stroke is much more serious and can take your dog out of this world in a hurry.

Big Dog

Could be that she is having epileptic seizures. I have a cocker spanial now that has them and had a bluetic coonhound with epilepsy also. These seizures don't last but a few minutes, they stiffin out, eyes roll back in their head and almost loose consciousness. When it's over they seem to act just fine and like nothing happened. You can take your dog to the vet and get meds for epilepsy which has to be given daily. I have taken our dogs to 2 different vets and they both said if they don't fall or hurt themselves when having a seizure that the seizure itself would not hurt them. Both of the dogs that I have had with it were 4 years old and seemed to have the seizures when they got excited. The coon hound would have them when she was treed and the cocker spanial (house dog) would have them when we got home from work after being alone all day. We still have the cocker spanial and she is around 9 years old now and she hasn't had a seizure for about a year and a half now. I'm not a vet either but this is what I have witnessed with a couple I have owned.

Low blood sugar would be my guess as well. I had a birddog experience the same type thing after a three hour run/swim, etc. He looked fine the entire time, but then he started running alitte sideways, then collapsed. I didn't really think much about it, but after about an hour he was still out like a light. It was like his mind was asleep, but his body was still in motion. As I drove him to my neighbors house (she's a vet), his legs were still running. Kinda interesting looking, but concerning to say the least. He was too out of it to drink or eat anything, so we rubbed corn syrup all along his gums for a while. A few hours later he was back to his normal self.

You have all been a great help at putting my mind to ease somewhat. I am going to get her to the vet in the morning and have some blood pulled. I will keep you all updated. I think she seems fine now.....just got in from her kennel and she looks ok.

Thanks for your help!

Randy

I have heard both of the above responses.....the low sugar thing has been called "running fits" but my vet says that they are from eplepsy....
i have 1 female that would get them once in a while...she hasnt had one in atleast a year....i have been watching her diet and keeping her on a feeding schedule and keeping lots of water available....still not 100% sure of the vets idea...a blood test should tell the truth..

good luck...


joe t

I have heard both of the above responses.....the low sugar thing has been called "running fits" but my vet says that they are from eplepsy....
i have 1 female that would get them once in a while...she hasnt had one in atleast a year....i have been watching her diet and keeping her on a feeding schedule and keeping lots of water available....still not 100% sure of the vets idea...a blood test should tell the truth..
i have another male that i bought,,,was told he would have "fits" they put him on phenolbarbitol and he has been fine since....


good luck...


joe t

Could also be she isn't getting enough blood flow to her muscles. ONly a vet can find the cause of the problem.

a buddy of mine has a walker coonhound that has the same symtomes, i go along with low blood sugar first time it happened scared us to death now in hot weather he carrys a bottle of sugar water just in case

Dogs are just like us, they may have many different illnesses. I am a diabetic and can relate to low blood sugar. This could also be heart problems.

By all means, if you care about her take her to a vet. If this was a child would you give her a candy bar or would you seek out the advise of a qualified physician. Come on people, wake up!