My Weimaraner has wobbly legs & seizures. Is a heart echo needed?

Question

Our weim started having episodes this summer with running when she stops&gets wobbly legs. We had her checked by our vet, labs were normal, she thought heat vs less likely cardiomyopathy. Last week she had a grand mal seizure when running off leash. We were out of town and saw my parents' vet who thinks she may have either Addison's or epilepsy. She doesn't suspect cardiac. After going over everything with our personal vet, she still feels it may be cardiac & recommends echo. Thoughts? Pet's info: Dog | Weimaraner | Female | spayed | 9 years and 9 months old | 50 lbs

Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA · Accepted Answer

All three of those issues (epilepsy, Addison's, heart disease) are completely possible based on the symptoms you have described. I would agree with your vet that an echo is a good next-step diagnostic. We are also able to test for Addison's Disease, and if the echo is negative for any identifiable problem, then your vet may recommend this test next. There is no test for epilepsy, it is what we call a diagnosis of exclusion. Meaning we look for all other possible causes first. There is also a possibility that none of these are the true cause. There can be rare muscular, nerve, or brain issues that can cause these types of symptoms, but are very hard to diagnose and often require advanced diagnostics with a veterinary specialist, so it is a good idea to test for the more common things first.

My Weimaraner has wobbly legs & seizures. Is a heart echo needed?

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