Sometimes, the reason for abnormal behavior is not readily apparent. Persevere in a quest for answers and include your veterinarian; there may be medical reasons for behavior problems.
Bringing Rambo Home
This nine-year-old intact beauty’s family surrendered him to a tiny rural shelter in 2016. The reason on the surrender form: moving and can’t take with. The shelter staff contacted rescue for help because he “wasn’t adjusting” to the shelter environment, he was too stressed. I agreed to temporarily foster him, get him to our Georgia veterinarian, and schedule the neuter while the rescue organization worked to find a more long-term foster home for him. It’s how I often volunteer as a temporary foster.
As I put him into my car, the volunteer who’d sprung him from the shelter and met me up the road said, “He’s wild.”
Indeed, he never settled down during the hour ride trip to the veterinarian: standing up, laying back down. up. down. up. down. turn around. up. down.
Not Your Routine Vet Visit
Usually, a 9 year old surrendered by a family checks out pretty well. Rambo did not.
During physical exam, the vet discovered two problems: Rambo had some abnormalities in his heartbeat, and one of his testicles was larger than the other. Our veterinarian encouraged two further diagnostics: a chest x-ray (to look at the heart) and an aspiration of testicle.
Rambo’s x-ray revealed heartbreaking news: he had a tumor at the base of his heart. These tumors, while often benign, usually cannot be surgically removed, and as they grow, they impact the functioning of the heart. Without any vetting history, we had no idea how long this tumor had been present, how fast it was growing, or how long Rambo had to live.
We didn’t think Rambo was safe to put under anesthesia for neuter because of his heart, and we were waiting pathology reports on the testicle aspirate.
I notified the rescue that Rambo was most likely hospice.
The last thing a reputable rescue should worry about is a spay or neuter. Worry about providing a SAFE spay or neuter.
No Rest For The Weary
At home, I arranged Rambo’s compound where he was away from Otis’ home activities so he’d have every opportunity to feel safe and comforted – I thought Rambo seemed overly stressed and high-strung, and wondered if he was still reeling from family abandonment and the chaos that is often present in shelters. I pulled out all of my “tools” out of my “toolbox.”
I’m not confident enough in my knowledge to use essential oils with pets, but I’m familiar with Adaptil products (pheromones) and the use of calming music, such as the music compilation, Through A Dog’s Ear. So, I set up music and my Adaptil diffuser, and provided Rambo with some space while I observed him from a nanny cam. I may have even tried the Thundershirt, I can’t remember.
He was restless. Constantly moving. He’d lay down for 15-20 seconds, then he’d pop back up and pace. Occasionally, he’d make a whining sound, but for the most part, he was quietly in constant motion.
He’d settle down, I thought.
Three days, no sleep.
Rambo didn’t settle down the rest of that afternoon or evening. I’d never observed a dog this “stressed” before. His digestive system was upset – diarrhea, another sign of stress. I decided to sleep on the sofa next to his crate. I remembered another foster dog, Bart, that had night terrors from suddenly being made to sleep outside. It took about 6 weeks before Bart was able to sleep through the night, and I slept on the sofa with him the entire journey. I was prepared and committed to do the same thing with Rambo.
I’d soon see the difference between Bart and Rambo: Bart could actually rest, becoming startled by any sound of the night. Rambo didn’t rest at all. It wasn’t for trying – he COULDN’T rest.
I gave Rambo a full 48 hours to try and settle down, and when he didn’t, I contacted the veterinarian.
I Admit: I Use Google
Ask a veterinarian one thing they’d wish their clients would stop doing: Use Google (or Facebook!) for veterinary diagnostics and treatment. I admit, I often go to Google to research a question I may have about my dog’s health or behavior. But I leave the diagnostics and treatment recommendations to my veterinarian. They are the experts, not Google!
But I’d done some reading on dogs and testicular growths and read enough to ask the veterinarian some specific questions. One question I had: is the tumor in Rambo’s testicle one that will cause an over-production of hormone, such that would impact his behavior?
The aspirate pathology said no.
You don’t argue with a pathology report, right?
If there was no chemical explanation for Rambo’s abnormal restlessness, what was it? Pain? Psychiatric?
Rambo was restless, tired, miserable, had a “terminal” condition (his heart tumor) and I wondered if euthanasia wasn’t the kind choice. Despite his restlessness, he was affectionate, interested in interacting, and had a healthy appetite.
He wasn’t ready to give up.
Trying All Things Holistic
The heavens blessed Rambo with a long-term foster home in the same metro area as my home. This meant that Rambo could continue to see the same veterinarian who’d put much effort already in this case. It also meant I could stay in touch and follow his progress more easily. I was quite attached to this boy by this point and happy he’d be nearby.
His new foster began to try additional “calming” remedies such as calming treats. These seemed to help Rambo most in the evening time, and allowed him to get a little bit of sleep. Rambo was also given the all-clear to take mild, short leash-walks a few times a day. This seemed to help Rambo as well – he enjoyed watching the wild birds and sniffing out new smells.
While these helped, and allowed Rambo to sleep, Rambo still was an amped up, overall restless dog.
Two months after rescue he also was not showing any symptoms that would suggest that his heart tumor was increasing in size or affecting cardiac function. No shortness of breath. No Syncope. Certainly, no lethargy!
Could we neuter him? Would neutering him help his behavior? His restlessness? It was worth a conversation.
We scheduled a conference with the veterinarian.
Safe Neuter Plan
We all sat on the floor and talked while another rescue dog, Tuukka, received his acupuncture treatments for compressed discs in his neck. I discussed my fear of Rambo dying during surgery. The veterinarian talked about the risk/benefit of putting Rambo under anesthesia, and expressed her confidence that she could provide surgical excision of Rambo’s testicles with the shortest amount of time needed.
Also part of the plan:
Two veterinarians at the surgery table
Intubation and IV catheter
Full cardiac monitoring
We would also send the entire abnormal testicle out to a laboratory for further analysis.
Rambo did have a brief complication during surgery, but because we’d planned for safe surgical protocol and the possibility of complications, the response was delivered immediately and effectively. Rambo was in and out of surgery in mere minutes, and his recovery was smooth.
When In Doubt, Send It Out!
Even though we’s already paid for a needle aspirate pathology report, there was PLENTY of reason to spend more money and send out the entire testicle to pathology for evaluation.
We learned that indeed, Rambo did have a second growth, a different type of growth that indeed caused a spike in hormones. The needle aspirate hit the OTHER tumor. Removing the testicle meant that probably his hormone level would go back down to normal. And it did.
Two Years Later...
Rambo is no longer restless. He sleeps through the night. He snuggles with his foster now forever dad in the recliner. He takes shorter, fewer walks. He barks at the pizza delivery guy.
He has beaten all odds against him. He shouldn’t be alive today, but he is! He still has his heart tumor, and he’s developed an enlarged heart and takes medication for congestive heart failure. Rambo, the dog who came into rescue with three different types of tumors in his body received a thoughtful, careful plan of action that would give him the best opportunity to live his best life. That is what rescue is about, even if we’d decided to let Rambo keep his junk.
Have you had a foster dog who’s behavior was caused by a medical condition? Share your story, I’d love to hear it.
Wow, that’s an incredible story. How wonderful that neither you, the veterinarian or the new foster home gave up on him and finally got to the bottom of his restlessness!