I have a 3 year old alsatian dog who has been ill for 3 weeks now
he is eatting ok some days better than others
goes out for walks seems ok some days but so,so other days
the real problem is he keeps sitting up and closing his eyes abit like he is falling asleep ,falling from side to side does this most of the day.
we have taken him to springs vets gleadless townend
they said he my have a heart merma sent us home with tablets few days later i was not happy went back
she did blood tests
went back next day they said all his blood was ok sent us home with more tablets
went back tuesday to be told she has never seen it before and didn't know what was up
sent us all way to doncaster to see a women who she said would know what was up ,guess what yes
waste of time and money £141 pound to be told she doesn't know and come back end of the month for a mri scan and wait for it
to bring £1200 pounds with us just for the scan
in my eyes all this vet was botherd about was the money not my ill dog .
so cost us up to now £400 pounds and still know answer to what up with him
taking him to another vets tomorrow as lost all faith in springs vets to see if they can help.
i would love to hear from other owns if there dog had this problem,
as it is breaking my heart to see my happy full of life dog this way.

Hi, sorry to hear about your dog, I know how you feel. A dog we had that had a heart problem used to just keel over in the middle of a walk, or exercising. The rest of the time, it was absolutely fine and lived a long age. This problem sounds different. We have had a variety of vets for dogs in the past, including Manchester Animal Hospital, totalling a fortune. We have a wide experience of vets in the Sheffield area and personally recommend the following, for their care and compassion:

Peak Veterinary Practice
36 Olivet Rd
Woodseats
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S8 8QS
0114 2507733

Hope all goes well.

Sorry I don't know what could be wrong with your dog but just wanted to say sorry to hear he's not well, I know how much you love your dog.

thanks alot diva it just gets you mad when you keep taking them and costing you loads of money and just not getting know answers what is up
iam taking him to millhouses vets4pets tomorrow as they sound like they know what it may -be
as springs vets just have not got knew idear what there doing or on about
i have now spoken to lots of people who dont rate springs vets and there prices are alot more than other vets thanks any way xx

Sorry I don't know what could be wrong with your dog but just wanted to say sorry to hear he's not well, I know how much you love your dog.

:love:thanks alot moonbird there like your kids at the end of the day it would kill us if anything happens to him just hope i get some answers tomorror :love:

right going to take him for a walk will check later to see if anyone has replyed who may have had the same problem with there dog or had problems with springs vets bye for now x

Just wanted to say good luck tomorrow with your dog, keep us updated won't you and i hope you get some answers.

Hope your walks going ok, rather you than me, its freezing, i made my OH take ours out :hihi:

Peak Veterinary Practice, is one of the better ones in the town, the other used to be owned by McTavish (a really great vet) down on london rd, Highfield Veterinary Centre.

they are brilliant young enthusiastic and caring they did our dogs neutering and were absolutely fantastic vets for pets are the best and i hope everything goes well for you

Sorry to hear about your dog's problems, I know full well how frustrating it can be as an animal can't just tell you where it hurts or how it's feeling. I was also sorry to hear that judging by your experience Springfields still don't appear to have got their act together - in fact the very name still turns my stomach even after 13 years.

Our dog appeared to have some sort of stomach upset, at first I didn't think too much of it given that the daft mutt would eat just about anything, but after a week or so I became concerned and took him to Springfields; to cut a long story short they were unable to offer any sort of diagnosis despite several visits, after which they said there was no option other than exploratory surgery. When I rang the following day to find out how it had gone the rather abrupt woman on the end of the phone stated, quite matter-of-factly, that "we really can't figure out what the problem is, so it would probably be better just to put him down".

Having swallowed my disgust at her arrogantly offhand attitude, I told them I would pick him up as soon as he was fit to be released, which was a day or two later. I took him from their hospital straight to a different vet, who made a diagnosis within minutes...

Sadly, however, the delay caused by Springfield's inability to recognise the illness had allowed it to develop to the point where a cure was unlikely to be effective; coupled the effects of (utterly pointless) surgery it had weakened him severely and he died a few weeks later. Springfield's bill came to just short of £1000.

Since then I'm sorry to say I've heard similar stories about Springfield. One former work colleague took her cat to them only to be told it was displaying symptoms of cancer and should be put to sleep; she then went to another vet for a second opinion and was glad she did as it turned out the cat only had a cold.

Valleymob. It may not make nice reading, but this was our experience with our 14y-o Alsatian, Zak.

Some days he was OK, and some days he'd lose his balance. He kept falling to the left, and things like furniture, walls, stopped him from falling over completely.

On the Monday, I took the day off work, and we took him to the vets ( I wont say why for reasons later) and they said he had an ear infection. That cost us £15 for ear drops, £20 for anti-biotics and £45 for a steroid injection, that to this day we still don't know why.

On the Tuesday, he was fine, upright and fit and able. BRILLIANT!!!

On the Wednesday, I was at work (delivering in Bradford) and the missus phones to say he's bad again. An hour later, she phones again to say Pet Taxi is coming to take him back to vets. Couple of hours later, I was on my way back down M1 when she phones me to say not to rush back. He's been put to sleep. RIP Zak.

I went to the vets to collect a very upset missus, and the vets had the fcukin cheek, after we paid £120 for having him put to sleep, to ask for the remaining tablets, and ear drops to be returned, and that we would'nt be re-embursed the £35 for them. You can imagine our reponse. Since then I've always said you'll NEVER see a poor vet.

We both pray that you never have to go through what we went through, and that you're alsatian is better soon.

I'm so Sorry to hear about your GSD, Have they done a Doppler test on him? I take it they have done checked his hearing? I know it's not the same but We had a cat in once that kept falling over and it was because of a very bad ear infection, it affected her balance. A doppler test should beable to tell if he has a heart murmer. I'm not sure where would be the cheapest place to go for it as the Newfoundland club tested ours for free at one of their shows but Spire vets in chesterfield are quite reasonable.
Hope the outcome is a positive one. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed

Sorry to hear about your dog's problems, I know full well how frustrating it can be as an animal can't just tell you where it hurts or how it's feeling. I was also sorry to hear that judging by your experience Springfields still don't appear to have got their act together - in fact the very name still turns my stomach even after 13 years.

Our dog appeared to have some sort of stomach upset, at first I didn't think too much of it given that the daft mutt would eat just about anything, but after a week or so I became concerned and took him to Springfields; to cut a long story short they were unable to offer any sort of diagnosis despite several visits, after which they said there was no option other than exploratory surgery. When I rang the following day to find out how it had gone the rather abrupt woman on the end of the phone stated, quite matter-of-factly, that "we really can't figure out what the problem is, so it would probably be better just to put him down".

Having swallowed my disgust at her arrogantly offhand attitude, I told them I would pick him up as soon as he was fit to be released, which was a day or two later. I took him from their hospital straight to a different vet, who made a diagnosis within minutes...

Sadly, however, the delay caused by Springfield's inability to recognise the illness had allowed it to develop to the point where a cure was unlikely to be effective; coupled the effects of (utterly pointless) surgery it had weakened him severely and he died a few weeks later. Springfield's bill came to just short of £1000.

Since then I'm sorry to say I've heard similar stories about Springfield. One former work colleague took her cat to them only to be told it was displaying symptoms of cancer and should be put to sleep; she then went to another vet for a second opinion and was glad she did as it turned out the cat only had a cold.

thank you angus prune i agree 100% with you about springs and iam sorry to hear that you lost your dog because of them my heart really goe's out to you
when my other half and son tuck him to doncaster they had to get all the way there for 9.30 in the morning right from gleadless hours drive to were it was with a very upset and sick dog which ****** me of to start with
then the women on the desk when i rang had a right attitude only thing they wanted to know was how we were paying just not in the bit botherd over are dog and said make sure when you come back you bring £1200 CASH to pay for his scan and it will not cover other things that may need doing.
as my dog is all for my son this has hit him hard ,it as us all but my son could not get over when they were there that
a couple had just had to have there dog put down and the lady was heartbroken crying and the man on the desk showed no help only


to say to them can you pay £200 TODAY AND BRING US THE OTHER£700 TOMORROW i mean for gods sake were is there heart as a vet that just made me say ,thats it know more,stuff them he is going some where else
once again thank you for telling me your story and sorry you had to go though what you did x

Valleymob. It may not make nice reading, but this was our experience with our 14y-o Alsatian, Zak.

Some days he was OK, and some days he'd lose his balance. He kept falling to the left, and things like furniture, walls, stopped him from falling over completely.

On the Monday, I took the day off work, and we took him to the vets ( I wont say why for reasons later) and they said he had an ear infection. That cost us £15 for ear drops, £20 for anti-biotics and £45 for a steroid injection, that to this day we still don't know why.

On the Tuesday, he was fine, upright and fit and able. BRILLIANT!!!

On the Wednesday, I was at work (delivering in Bradford) and the missus phones to say he's bad again. An hour later, she phones again to say Pet Taxi is coming to take him back to vets. Couple of hours later, I was on my way back down M1 when she phones me to say not to rush back. He's been put to sleep. RIP Zak.

I went to the vets to collect a very upset missus, and the vets had the fcukin cheek, after we paid £120 for having him put to sleep, to ask for the remaining tablets, and ear drops to be returned, and that we would'nt be re-embursed the £35 for them. You can imagine our reponse. Since then I've always said you'll NEVER see a poor vet.

We both pray that you never have to go through what we went through, and that you're alsatian is better soon.

ow my that is what he is doing i have sat here reading yours and angus post and cryed ,my heart really goes out to you both and i just hope with age on his side it will not come to were we ever loss him yet
because are house and kids would not be the same
iam very house clean and would not have a dog no matter how the kids nagged me
but we lost there uncle nov 2004 so i gave in and we got him named him after there uncle to keep the memories of there loved uncle alive
buying him was the best money ever spent because he turned out to be a great dog and pal to us all so i just pray we get to the bottom of what is up with him
you will agree with me alsatians ,german shepps have got to be the most loving,caring,and they look after you like i dont know what dogs in the world .
thanks alot for telling me about your dog and i can understand how hard it must have been for you because i dont no how i and the family will cope if anything happens to him thanks x

So sorry to hear about your dog. Did you take him to vets 4 pets? They've been fantastic with our GSD, and in fact, ALL our animals. I hope they've managed to sort him out for you. x

So sorry to hear about your dog. Did you take him to vets 4 pets? They've been fantastic with our GSD, and in fact, ALL our animals. I hope they've managed to sort him out for you. x

THANKS ,there great dogsarnt they i think untill you own one it hard to understand the love they have for you and the love you have for them i mean everyone loves there pets but there is just something about these breads of dogs
yes ive taken him today they are great vets 4 pets she has told us she will know in 1week what is up with him so fingers crossed we have to take him weds to leave him that will be fun as he will not stop with knew one but us
so lets hope we have got to the right vets in time thanks
by the way if that is your dog in the picture great looking dog

THANKS ,there great dogsarnt they i think untill you own one it hard to understand the love they have for you and the love you have for them i mean everyone loves there pets but there is just something about these breads of dogs
yes ive taken him today they are great vets 4 pets she has told us she will know in 1week what is up with him so fingers crossed we have to take him weds to leave him that will be fun as he will not stop with knew one but us
so lets hope we have got to the right vets in time thanks
by the way if that is your dog in the picture great looking dog

Glad to hear you`ve found a vet that sounds a little more confident in finding out whats wrong. I really hope they find out what the problem is and are able to sort him out.
You`re dead right about the breed as well, I think once you`ve owned a gsd no other will do.
Good luck and let us know how he gets on.

There is a great website for all GSD owners [url]www.gsdhelpline.com loads of information and help on the breed.
They also send out a very good newsletter - subscribe it's free.

Cant you complain to the original vets and ask for a refund? you paid them to do a job that they clearly havent done.

I hope the dogs ok

Yeah that's my dog Blade on the picture. Big soft lump he is! He loves snow so I'm gonna take him to snuffle in it now lol. I take it you saw Caroline at the vets. She's lovely, but then again, so is her husband Scott. Fingers crossed for your dog, he's only a baby still, at that age. Keep us posted on how he goes on. There seems to be a lot of GSD owners on this forum. Good luck. x

Yeah that's my dog Blade on the picture. Big soft lump he is! He loves snow so I'm gonna take him to snuffle in it now lol. I take it you saw Caroline at the vets. She's lovely, but then again, so is her husband Scott. Fingers crossed for your dog, he's only a baby still, at that age. Keep us posted on how he goes on. There seems to be a lot of GSD owners on this forum. Good luck. x

your dog sounds just like mine,he too loves snow jumps all over in it and trys to catch it,when we do have a good snow fall
i go out with him and have loads of fun were are like kids
he has me laughing my head of because he is so funny with the snow.
he loves doing the same with the leafs in the woods were we live jumps in to big piles of them and all you can see is his nose its so funny.
yes you are wright it was carloline that we so very nice lady
the welcome and understanding we got there was great unlike springs ,she told us to rule a mri scane out unlike springs who wanted to do that next
she said first thing xray and sum test ,she has got it down to three things it maybe so testing him for these three things
so by end of the week fingers crossed we will know whats up with him,its the not knowing that drives you nuts ,like people say they can't tell you whats up bless them,like you said he is still a baby so thats what makes it even harder.

I would like to thank everyone on here for there posts and care also its great to see how many people own these great dogs and are dog lovers thank you once again
i will let you know the out come:love:xxxxx

I've just read your post about your dog and it sounds very much like my sisters dog she took him to the vets to be told they didnt know what was wrong with im he had to go for scans etc etc... test after test bill ran to just short of £2000 then he had to go to a specialist who diagnosed him straight away he had a brain tuma and was put to sleep it was inoperable, get your vet to check this as if the vet she took 'thomas' (RIP thomas) too had done this he would of been able to have the tuma removed

I've just read your post about your dog and it sounds very much like my sisters dog she took him to the vets to be told they didnt know what was wrong with im he had to go for scans etc etc... test after test bill ran to just short of £2000 then he had to go to a specialist who diagnosed him straight away he had a brain tuma and was put to sleep it was inoperable, get your vet to check this as if the vet she took 'thomas' (RIP thomas) too had done this he would of been able to have the tuma removed

thanks alot for that,we have asked this question know end of time as that was the first thing we thought it mint be but we are being told time and time again it doesn't seem to be that fingers crossed there wright.
where just going to see what tomorrow test show i just pray we get a answer and its not as bad as we thought i will let you know as soon as i am told what is wrong thanks anyway and i do feel for your sister as it is hard but to loss your dog at the end of it my heart goes out to her xx

just make sure they do a brain scan on your dog