Possible tooth problem?
The vet thought we were taking him to be put down 
(apparently the receptionist got her wires crossed). They have been seeing a lot of pets struggling with the heat. She did a quick blood test, all fairly good for an old dog, slightly high blood sugar (blood not āa jeunā) and urea. Put him on a course of anti-inflammatories, tryto keep him cool and feed him chicken - thatās tonightās dinner buggered up thenā:rofl:.
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Development of diabetes might explain the weight loss.
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Exactly, Iāve agreed to take him back in a couple of weeks so they can do a series of rapid blood sugar levels. Hopefully it will be a bit cooler too.
The verdict for Jules is that he had a stroke, perhaps mild, but nevertheless needs managing for the future.
He is totally back to normal now, happy in the garden searching for and trailing the overnight cats. Pity we canāt have a traditional small dogflap so that there wasnāt so much cat poo to clear up every day.
Anyway, 3 small pills at the same time with his evening meal every day for 10 days and then 2 per day for the rest of his life.
Getting to be a habit in this family though, strokes. First Match, our Breton Spaniel, who survived for a long time afterwards, Tosca, the English Setter who sadly didnāt, Fran, who has had 3 minis and is clawing her way back to relative normality at the moment, and now Jules. Looking back a couple of days it seems obvious now that little else could have caused such a catastrophic change of behaviour in a single second.
Me? Apart from streaming cold, cough, and asthma, Iām fine. Not that anyone here notices. 
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Maybe I should take up veterinary medicine - as stroke was the first thing that I though of.
Possibly not such a great plan at my time of life, Iād be retired by the time I qualified.
At least it was minor with a quick recovery, you got him seen quickly and have him on some meds to try to prevent recurrence - some sort of blood thinner I presume?
Iāve been following this. So pleased that he is better and you know what it was. Hopefully, the medication will prevent another one.
Great news that you now have Julesā condition recognised and under control.
Youād better look after yourself too, have you still got a nice bottle left tucked away?
But pleased that vet has a diagnosis for you - though sorry that itās a stroke. Hopefully he will be stable with the drugs now.
Thanks everyone. I discounted a stroke at first for 2 reasons. There was no lopsidedness to his features or limbs and he was instead running erratically all over the place and in all rooms. I would have expected at least for his route to be biased one way or the other. Also his concentration with his nose to the floor suggested following a trail and that maybe he had detected mouse noises in the walls. That is often what he does outside with his hunting genes to the fore.
@JaneJones Might have a bit of gin left for later, a Bergerac sec and of course, porto. But Iāll stick to orange juice for the time being. Got to face Fran again now though. I went in to draw the curtains against the heat of the sun and got a mouthful for my trouble, but if I donāt do it she will get sunstroke, it is very fierce on that side of the house.
Not sure if dogs can be compared with cats, but I found one of my cats (14 years old) unexpectedly lying outside completely inert, lying on his side, so unnatural looking. I thought he was dead, but no. When I picked him up, he began struggling, and when settled on my garden recliner he jumped off and walked in a half circle and fell over, overbalanced onto his left side, and lay as I found him before.
The vet thought heād gone blind and kept him overnight during which time he recovered completely without any treatment, and none to follow.
No diagnosis except perhaps heād had a cerebral event. He seems to be OK several weeks later. But much more in need of my company. But otherwise, all seems normal again. As I see now that Jules is.
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It could be ragweed pollen causing some of youāre symptoms. My hay fever symptoms started with a vengeance just over a week ago, and although levels have dropped here, they spread further north after that. Think youāre now in a moderate area but itās been higher recently. See
I had hay fever as a child and then it stopped when asthma took over. In my 20 s I had a massive life threatening attack and, when I survived it no more symptoms for 50 years. Then another equally serious one in 2019. Mild today once I left the bed and got upright .
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I am so sorry for Jules but glad you found out what it was and have the medications to control. Poor dog may have had a nasty shock and fright! I hope everything goes well from now on and that you yourself feel much better soon.
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Thank you but Iām sure he understands nothing about it, there are some things, sometimes. that make you wish you are a dog. 
Heās never heard of Brexit, for example.
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David - Sorry, Iām late reading this thread, but I am absolutely certain that your initial reaction was correct. Jules has not had a stroke. He does not exhibit a single symptom.
Strokes in dogs are much less common than in humans; so it would be more than unfortunate if four of yours in a row had the problem.
In your video there is ample evidence that he is totally in control of his movements. This would not be the case if he had had a stroke - whether it was ischemic or hemorrhagic the consequence is the same; brain cells are destroyed. The consequent evidence results in staggering, inability to follow a determined line, loss of bladder/poo control. Probably his eyes would not focus together; and one or more legs would be weak; he would most likely just lie down in mental confusion.
He shows none of that.
The good news is that you say he has recovered - excellent! But IMHO he has been mis-diagnosed, and is receiving unecessary treatment.
I donāt know - strokes donāt *have* to cause one sided weakness and some types of epilepsy can cause odd visual/auditory or even olfactory hallucinations.
Give that almost full recovery took place quickly this might be more in line with a āmini strokeā which doesnāt necessarily result in ābrain cells being destroyedā.
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My lovely old lab/pointer bitch had various strokes which left her with few discernable after-effects after (for the worst one) a week or so, and she lived to be 17and a half. Jules may well have had a transient ischemic attack which would be unlikely to leave him with awful after-effects.
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Spardo "there are some things, sometimes. that make you wish you are a dog.
Heās never heard of Brexit, for example. "
his is the funniest comment on here for a while.
āI wish I was a dog so I wouldnāt understand Brexitā
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Karen, Iām not a dog, and I donāt understand Brexit (meanwhile, Gigiās French and frivolous, so she donāt care)
Actually the first bitās a lie - unfortunately, I understand Brexit all too well. It will be a decades before itās āsortedā and in the meantime, all one can do is hope for a decent exchange rateā¦
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