Dog symptoms are lathargy, disorientation

[Margo]

My 10 yr old SIberian Husky recently has recently become weak, extremely sensitive to noise, disoriented at night, has excessive clear saliva, and experiences sporadic full body shakes. # wks ago she was on medication for a 'urinary infection'. Blood and urine analysis show 'tests are great'. But she's not. Something has changed. she is very fit and I need your help please!

[mark]

awful to hear this about your pet. huskies are adorable dogs as are every dog actually. anyway, you don't mention the name of the medication your dog was given for this urinary tract infection. unfortunately, many vets are giving the dogs prednisone or prednisolone under the name of vanectyl P. This is a waste basket treatment used when the vet or owner doesn't know what else to do for the most part. Well meaning vets want to treat the poor animal with something and the pet owner wants to go home with something.
it is not mentioned in the literature that i have read yet some dogs react poorly to these cortisone treatments. given that huskies weigh 35 kg plus, if prednisone was given in quantity, an adverse reaction would be extreme thirst, insatiable hunger, lethargy, uneven and bizarre fat redistribution with or without weight gain and some have an almost seizure like effect. the dog's head will weeble, then the rump will go down followed by the head as they do a face plant into the ground. many vets and dog owners themselves will suddenly come up with the diagnosis of epilepsy. if not epilepsy then they will say that it is a heat stroke or stroke of unknown etiology.

as Stated, if the vanectyl P has not been used, there are a number of things this could be;
adverse reaction to the meds for the UTI . epilepsy, stroke, heat stroke.
what was the course of meds taken, for how long and to what outcome?

[Margo]

Thanks for your reply. The first was Apo-Sulfactrim 2x/day. After one week, i noticed the shakes. I went back to vet, they gave her Amoxicillin. I was only able to get her to take those pills for one week, and the blood in urine stopped.
She does not seem as weak lately. she's been running, while before she couldn't. Her behaviour does not seem as strange (she got scared of a noise and jammed her head and almost whole body between banister spindles). She still shakes though.
Last wk, vet had me run her for 25 min with my bike then take her into clinic. they were going to test for myathasia genia (splt?). I told them she doesn't have sever weakness. After biking, the vet looked at her and realized she oculd have ran more. Now the vet is saying maybe it's arthritis. i had enough and went home.
My husky was a sled dog for 3.5 years and has a bumm back right leg. Do you think it's possible that the shakes are from that? They are whole body shakes though- usually once she gets up from being in one position for a long time. What kind of test should i get done?
thanks!

[mark]

apo-sulfatrim is the generic version of Septra. Septra is a combo of antibacterial agents that do cause some adverse effects in mammals. it could be that huskies are more susceptible to these drugs. nervousness, apathy and other psychiatric effects, sluggishness and some kidney and liver malfunctions occur when taking products containing trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole which apo-sulfatrim is.
myasthenia gravis is ruled out unless the vet believes that the antibiotics brought about MG in your dog.
this could be a case of the vets ( and most health care professionals) searching for zebras when in fact it is a horse staring them in the face. All the adverse effects happened after the course of antibiotics. thankfully, you didn't have your dog on them for very long ( what is your dog's name ?).
most of the time, arthritis doesn't come into play unless you are talking about a genetic version of arthritis. if your dog was fit and active then suddenly was not, then something untoward happened. my dog's hind legs shake like the dickens when he stands there but this has been going on for his entire life and I have always considered it as being part of his general sense of over excitement. it may indeed be pathological yet it doesn't interfere with his enjoyment of life nor my enjoyment of his life as well. if arthritis is the problem, then NSAIDs may be the remedy, aspirin in small dose given with a meal. several dog owners have resorted to treating their loved ones with aspirin after their having witnessed their dogs have a stroke, MI or go lame. The first two are more serious of course. Let me sleep on this for a day or two. I hope someone else offers their advice as well.