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gandude's avatar
gandude
Explorer
Jan 27, 2014

Lilly (our black Lab) question.

Hello all,

Lilly is a bit overweight Lab and she is one of our two dogs, the other is Reggie and he is a Cur.

The two love to chase "the dot" red laser pointer in the back yard. Yesterday evening, Lilly stopped abrubtly while running for the dot and walked slowly back to our patio. She made little crys and kinda walked in circles. She followed me into the garage where I could look at her better, she then pee'd a few drops a couple of times while walking and acted strange. I checked her legs, paw pads and nails and didnt see anything. She did not respond to a rub down as I was looking for a reaction from a tender spot. For about an hour she wanted to lay on cold tile or concrete. Last night and today she is acting perfectly normal. I plan to take her to the vet, but wanted to see if anyone might know what this might have been? I didn't run her very long with the dot. Perhaps a cramp?

Thank you,

-Glen
  • x3 on the laser pointer. From experience. Hope Lily is OK.
  • Sounds like a reaction to pain, from what????????

    Your vet will probably check laxity and pain in the knees and hips and reflexes. Most of the time these things happen without us being able to tell you exactly what it was. :(

    Doug, DVM
  • Yes. Reggie is OCD with the dot or anything that blings. We were BBQ-ing yesterday and he goes for the reflection from the BBQ utensils. I NEVER get the dot it in their eyes though.

    I called the wife today, and Lilly is doing fine. Vet is set for friday.

    Thanks for the feedback.

    BTW she did eat just before the dot play. I should have thought about that.
  • Probably just a muscle cramp or something similar.

    I would NOT use a laser pointer with a dog. They're fine for cats but dogs can develop OCD type problems from their use.
  • Pulled Muscle, Cramp, ate then run around belly ache... My guess coule be any of a couple different things....

    Mike C.
  • Did you perhaps catch her right in the eye with that laser? You do know that many of them are capable of causing a severe burn on the retina if shone directly into the eye, right? I'm told that that can be excruciatingly painful.

    Our black lab shows no interest whatever in that red dot, but our cat goes crazy over it. I'm very, very careful to keep it away from his face, but the dog watches him and shakes her head in disgust that HER cat could be so stupid.
  • I'd take her to the vet. We're not qualified to diagnose - it could be a pulled muscle, but it could be a number of other things, too.

    Also, I'd refrain from using the laser light. Some dogs and cats can become quite obsessive in an unhealthy way, when this is used, then also become obsessive over other lights, sun beams, etc.