Seziure or leg cramp?

[Starry15]

So, Star is crate trained and he has been sleeping at night in a cage for the past 17 years. He has always been fine and he really likes it. At night he walks into his crate and curls up on his pillow we have in there. Well, last night my boyfriend and I were watching music videos on TV and Star was in his crate. I assumed he was sleeping, it was about 10 p.m. and my parents were upstairs entertaining my aunt. Well, all of a sudden Star let out a harsh whimpers like as if someone was trying to murder him. It was so horrible, I ran over to him and I saw something he never did before It was horrible.

His side was against the cage and he couldnt get up or walk straight. I stuck my hand in there to pet him and try calming him down, I had no idea what was wrong with him. He almost bit me, which he has never done before in his life. He wouldn't stop letting out those murderous yelps and I felt so bad, I started to cry and I screamed for my boyfriend to come. Star pushed himself out of the cage and he almost fell over no the way out and then he stretched his leg, and then was fine. After that he had a random sudden burst of energy. At this time my mom was down here asking what happened and he was running around and jumped up on her and barked loudly. It was a playful bark. Then he proceeded to go get his toy and wanted to play with me. I was shook up about this and scared. He has never acted like that before and I thought he was dying or something. After he settled down he came over to me and I hugged him and he was sitting next to me and licked a lot, like as if he was apologizing. Then I went upstairs for something and he didn't even notice, he was in same position that I left him and  he didn't hear me until I ran back down the steps. On the plus note, he isnt walking funny or anything.

I decided to call my friend who is a vet assistant and he said that he thinks it was a seizure but next time it happens and he said it will happen again, to video it for the vet. So, I decided I wanted a second opinion and I called another friend who is a dog groomer.I  called and she told me that she don't think it was a seizure. She said dogs dont yelp loudly and bark during a seizure because during a seizure they don't feel pain and his yelping meant he was in pain. Second, how quickly he recovered and had energy, she said after a seizure he would be out of energy and unaware of people around him but right away he had energy and went to me and my mom.

So, I am getting conflicting answers, and I know I will never fully know what went on...it was scary for me. So what do you guys think it was?

[EskieMa]

I have had dogs yelp, and it is a horrible yelp, and in a blink of an eye be in a seizure.  Many dogs will want to sleep after a seizure but there are some who need to run off excess energy and even play.

[109ACE]

Your groomer friend is more right then your vet tech friend. But is still wrong about part of her advice. Yes, dogs wont yelp during a seizure. They feel nothing. However after the seizure passes they are normal, and very aware of what is going on around them and continue about their day as if nothing happened. This is my experience with two Eskies that have had or do have siezures. We have one on meds for them and the other we are in the early stages of determining course of action.
I'm wondering if your Eskie got jabbed by a sharp part in the kennel? Maybe suffered a leg cramp? Gas pains?

[Yukon]

I am by no means an expert, but I understand that dogs can have different types of seizures.  Not all seizures are the grand mal type seizures that we commonly picture.  Sometimes dogs will run, poop on themselves, "vocalize" (involuntarily -- so making sounds doesn't necessarily mean they are in pain) etc, during a seizure.

Here are a couple of online resources from veterinarians on seizures:

http://www.hurricaneanimalhospital.com/forms/info%20handouts/Seizures.pdf

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/seizures.aspx

If it were me, I would write down as much as I could remember about the incident -- what day it was, what time of day, where it happened, what Star did, what he ate that day, literally everything I could think of. Hopefully it was nothing serious, but if it was a seizure and it does happen again, you might be able to discover a pattern.  And videoing this sort of stuff -- if you can react quickly enough to get it on camera -- is always a good idea.  It can't hurt, and it could help with diagnosis. 

[Starry15]

I am sure that it wasn't anything jabby, his cage is pretty comfy. He has a big pillow in there. He actually goes in there when he wants to sleep or relax. Could be a leg cramp.

Thanks Yukon. In the part about vocalizing, his head wasnt back like that or anything in the description.

Thanks for ya'lls opinion. I will keep record of what happened and watch and try taping if anything else happens for a vet.

[Geno]

It sounded to me like a pain reaction. And at his age, it could be anything causing the pain. It could be arthritis pain and moving around helped manage it.

Hope he's stays feeling better.

Geno