Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are dealing with something that we can't understand, so I'm coming to you folks for some ideas or thoughts. Murphy has always been afraid of thunder and fireworks...and strangely enough, some sound in Target commercials. Things we could pretty much understand what was causing him to tremble and pant, etc.

Three weeks ago, we had a family wedding, which resulted in many people be in and out of, and in some cases staying, in our house. Murphy seemed to deal with it just fine and had lots of fun. The couple staying with us would get up early and go out and smoke on the patio and he would go out with them. For a few days after they left, he wanted to continue getting up VERY early, but didn't get a lot of cooperation from us on that, so he stopped waking so early.

However, a little while after that was over with, he began to have night time panic attacks. Sometimes just after his last outside trip of the day, sometimes in the middle of the night. A couple of these have lasted as long as 3 hours, with hard shaking, panting, scratching at doors, and such. We can't determine anything that could trigger this. We've tried closing the windows on the bedroom side of the house (he sleeps on our bed most of the time) thinking maybe there is some sort of critter roaming around. After these night time terrors, he is fine the next morning...happy and perfectly normal. At 3:00 this morning, he suddenly jumped off the bed and began to scratch doors and pant and shake. I got him back to bed and held him close for an hour and then he got down. He wasn't scratching anymore, but was still panting softley. This went on for about another hour, then Bill left the bathroom door open and he went in there and was quiet. When we woke up he was sound asleep in the bathroom.

We are thinking maybe we need to have our vet check him over, but it does sound strange, since he is perfectly normal at all other times. Any ideas or suggestions?

I wish I could tell my mom and dad what is making me so unhappy....I don't like this either!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

No night terrors the past two nights, but he doesn't sleep on the bed or in the bedroom anymore. He's been sleeping in his kennel, at the far end of the house....something he's never done before. In the daytime he's his normal self, in every way!

There have been so many fires, actually ever since this began and now the huge one 60 miles from us. Hazy and strong fire smells. Could something like this be affecting him?
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Can't imagine what has gotten into Murphy. Do you think something may have happened at night like being kicked accidently or anything like that? The fires you are having out that way could have something to do with it. It's hard to pin point one thing over another especially when out dogs get older.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Hi Bob--

No, he didn't get kicked or hurt in any way. We've wondered about the smoke from the fires. We've had 3 nights in a row now with no terror episodes but he's still not acting quite his normal self.....and won't sleep with us or in our room. We've just about decided to take him in for a good check-up, on Friday, to make sure his kidney function is OK and nothing else shows up. He seems to be improving, but we think this has gone on long enough....3.5 weeks. Would you consider age 6 as beginning to be an "older dog"? Could some of this just be "shibatude"?
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Anne... yeah I would consider age 6 to be the beginning of being an older dog. When Keiko was alive he always was anxious when there was thunderstorms or fireworks. They didn't seem to bother Beni or Toshi. A couple of years ago they started to bother Beni and this year Toshi got a little nervous with the thunderstorms. It could be Murphy is going through the same transformation.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Kita was always a bit wary of strange noises. Major storms and fireworks would scare her badly each year. The smoke alarms and some random tones on TV would also be a concern for her.
Shibas generalize things very quickly and when they are afraid, they generalize even faster. WHAT they generalize to fear though isn't always the noise, they will lump things together like the vacuum cleaner noise associates with the mailman or something bizzare like that. With the "episodes" happening at night, it coudl be a generalization about something happening at night.

It could also be something more serious though like a seizure. Kita had panic attacks before her seizures. Many of her seizures happened at night and we did not notice the pre-seizure events. The ones that happened when we were awake, we knew something was going to happen. I am not trying to scare you and honestly, without seeing a seizure, it's very hard to diagnose seizures unless you see them.

Hopefully the episodes go away and things settle down soon. It is not fun when tehy are having trouble.

Oh, one more thing- if the dog is starting to lose their hearing, noises that used to not be an issue, tend to become an issue because how they hear that noise changes. It's brand new to them. I LOVED when Kita's hearing finally completely left. It was better for her and us when she no longer heard thunder or wind blowing through the fireplace.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

In order to be certain that Murphy wasn't ill, or hiding pain, we decided he should have a good exam, complete with lab work. He had that this morning.

His vet says everything is absolutely normal in every way. He spent a long time, checking him over completely, and talking with us. I had typed up a factual report on all that's been going on, complete with dates and so on. In looking it over, Bill and I both could see a pattern of stress issues beginning after the busy weekend, escalating for the past two weeks, and now beginning to abate somewhat. Dr. B could see that same pattern.

We are thinking that there has just been too much going on around here, including severe thunderstorms, and he's just kind of overwhelmed by it all. To help him through this thunder stormy season, and upcoming fireworks (although hopefully, our fires will create a severe ban on such activity) we will be putting Rescue Remedy in his water dish, and also giving him a dose of it a bit before bedtime. Hopefully, this will help him continue to get back to normal.

Thanks Bob & Chelle, for your replies. We hope Murphy will soon be back to his sweet shiba self!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Sorry to jump in so late, but glad to hear you think you figured it out, and hope all is well going forward!
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Amanda's Pack: Greg the Husband, Kate the daughter, Liam the son, Brewster the Shiba Inu, Cassie the Torbie & Fenway the Leopard Gecko!

Animals show stress in different ways, so it is a good possibility that he is just overwhelmed.

You'll have a better idea as you watch him over time.
It's good that it seems to be subsiding, though.
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Maureen's furry pack:
MoJo (THE Shiba Imp)
Risa (Chocolate Demon Child..I mean Lab)
Pyewacket (Bengal Cat)
R.I.P. Kitties: Cricket the Tabby and Puff the Russian Blue
www.scottsbt.com/maureen/mo2.htm

Thanks for your notes! I'm happy to say that Murphy is doing wonderfully now! The whole episode lasted for four weeks, but he continued to move back into his normal modes and is now such a happy, calm, and loving boy. He seems even more affectionate than before....maybe he's glad to feel good again! I guess we will never know what was troubling him.

It doesn't matter mom. I feel good and I'm not scared or worried anymore. Let's just forget it!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

So glad he's feeling better. Artemis comes unglued about any beeping sound--a smoke detector (even two floors down) that needs a new battery, iPhone text message alerts, the refrigerator door open a bit too long (which makes a beeping sound). That and thunderstorms and fireworks. Sensitive little pups. . .