Hey guys
Just an update on Nookie Monster. We saw Dr. Milan today (Dr. Marsdens colleague). I had taken some videos of some "episodes" he has been having for a few weeks now. He seems to get huge energy bursts that escalate into him lunging, growling and snapping at us. It's really hard to tell with Mals if they're just trying to play, or being aggressive. I also took video of him chasing and biting his tail. She commented on something that I thought was pretty interesting and had not even noticed, when he chases his tail, he always chases it clockwise
She said that fact in itself makes her think neurological and possibly focal seizures. If that's the case, he has been having a few daily. But... when he is doing this, if we talk to him or touch him he will stop and look at us like "what?" and then get up, walk away and go find something else to do. The same with the escalation to possible aggression when he's playing, if I say sit (sometimes I have to push his bum and help a little!), he will stop biting/growling, sit and just look at me like "ok... what now?"
After I told her that she said it could still be neurological/seizure activity, but more unlikely because if it were a seizure, we would most likely not get him to respond to anything, or it could be OCD behavior
. She said it's really tough to tell the difference between the 2. She also thinks it may just be that he was never really a puppy because of all the illness and drugs and is now feeling good, having a lot of energy and being a "delayed" puppy... who knows! She said to try and give him things to do like puzzles to make him mentally tired, making obstacles in the house like figure 8's and making him walk them etc to see if that quells the weird episodes at all. So... I guess we have some work cut out for us trying to figure out if he is actually having seizures, suffering a bit of brain damage, being a puppy (finally!) or is just extremely bored
One thing I will say is this... I never knew having a furry companion could be this tough, both mentally and physically
, but I wouldn't give him up for anything
Now for the medical issues... I kinda freaked out a bit the other night because I pulled his sweater off and it was just covered with hair, his undercoat. Shedding or blowing a coat is not normal this time of the year, but not unheard of either. What worried me is that he is only 10 months old. He shouldn't blow his coat until he is between 18-24 months and his fur is a bit frizzy and a little brittle on his rear end. He has also been acting like he is on pred again... drinking a lot of water, peeing a lot (a few times in the house even though he's now potty trained), panting a lot more and breathing more rapidly. Dr. Milan thinks he may have immune-mediated thyroidism so she took blood and has sent it to Dr. Dodds. We should know in about 10 days. She said Malamutes are pre-disposed to it, and with what he's already been through, it isn't unlikely. The good news is that would explain some things (even the possible aggression) and it's treatable
I'll update once we have the results!