# Behaviour changes



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Although Molly has been mostly fine and nothing I would identify as ill health she has got grumpier at times recently and a few weeks back decided to get really growly with Chance when I was trying to put them both in the car. Chance was not happy and the end result was two tense dogs and a fairly tense me. I am now managing the car differently to avoid the issue but was concerned about why this had suddenly become a problem.

At Crufts I attended a lecture about pain and behaviour changes and have also recently attended a lecture about the effect of thyroid issues on behaviour. So - Saturday we went to the vets to have some blood tests to check her thyroid and see if they showed up any other issues which may be causing her problems.

Got the results this morning and her thyroid levels were fine, but some of the other results were not and what both the vet and I had dismissed on Saturday as a bit of sickness (she was sick twice that morning after eating grass) was actually a pancreatitis attack  discussed with the vet and he has again discussed with the lab who analyse the results and we have decided to add some thing to her diet to hopefully avoid future problems but I think I have answered the question about if she has pain as pancreatitis is incredibly painful  

Hopefully the addition to her diet will put her back on an even keel and she will return to her previous level of semi-grump.

The moral of the story is - if your dog shows any signs of odd behaviour or something you dismiss as naughty which is not usual it is well worth checking out to see if their is a medical reason.


----------



## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Oh poor Molly 
I hope that the additions to her diet help sort out the problem and she is soon more comfortable. It is fantastic that you are so in tune with your dogs.


----------



## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Hugs to Molly, your right about going with instinct - if it's not normal behaviour, it's not normal for a reason.
I hope little Molly hasn't suffered too much and is back to normal very soon xx


----------



## JasperBlack (Sep 1, 2012)

Aww poor Molly! No wonder she was grumpy! Good job you followed your instincts. I hope the additions to her food help her xxx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

Hope she feels better soon. :hug:


----------



## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Oh hugs for all three of you from here xxx


----------



## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Poor little Molly, thank goodness she has you 2nd. I shudder to think what an inexperienced owner might do/think if she acted grumpily. Can you give painkillers to ease the attack? Hugs to all three of you as you navigate this bout. :hug:


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks all  

Lots of drugs including many painkillers can actually cause pancreatitis so it is more a matter of adding the stuff to her food to try and get things back on an even footing and maybe alter her diet slightly to try and avoid future problems. I will be getting the stuff from the vets this evening 

To be honest I am gutted as I really thought her pancreatitis was fully under control and it clearly is not and has not been for a while with grumpyness the only sign  The vet was also fooled as he said on Saturday morning that by how active she was and willing to allow him to examine her stomach he was sure she was not in pain at that point - but the blood tests say differently


----------



## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Maybe dogs are like people and experience pain in different ways? If she was active and not sensitive to touch it couldn't have been excruciating pain. Good thing you took her in and can make the necessary adjustments. 2nd why does the pancreas do this exactly? Does anyone know?


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Some info about pancreatitis here http://www.2ndchance.info/pancreatitisdog.htm
Nobody really knows why it develops but from the blood test results she was certainly in a fair degree of pain  even when she was seriously ill with it a couple of years ago and on a drip at the vets she was bright and alert and welcoming people with a happy waggy tail as normal  

I think dogs normalise things a lot more than we do to be honest and it concerns me that a level of pain has become normal to her and she shows little signs other than being a bit more grumpy. Hopefully she will be a lot happier once I get her back on track but I am concerned about damage caused and that effectively this is a worsening of her condition


----------



## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Pain is very subjective and dogs must be like people and experience it differently. I am not so sure an active dog with no sensitivity to touch can be in that much pain. My mum has a bizarre pain threshhold and the doctor has warned us to watch carefully for changes in her activity level. When she experienced just a twinge of stomach pain my dad took her to emerg and they took her appendix out right away. All this to say don't beat yourself up about Molly being in pain. She very well might not be.


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Wow - well done to your dad 

I won't beat myself up too much - thank you - but the whole reason for the blood tests was I suspected pain due to her being more controlling with Chance and a slight increase in grumps so I am fairly sure the pain is there - she remains my treasured ratbag anyway so will just take a bit of working to get her as pain free as I can and happier for all our sakes


----------



## JasperBlack (Sep 1, 2012)

Sending healing hugs to your treasured ratbag, bless her heart  hope she's much happier soon xx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## caz3 (Mar 27, 2014)

Aww bless her.....hope she isn't in too much pain thinking of u all and sending hugs ️xxx


----------

